Digital mammography: A decade battling breast cancer

In addition to being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this October is the tenth anniversary of digital mammography, a technology introduced by GE Healthcare in 1999. Similar to digital photography, digital mammography replaces the film used in traditional mammography with digital files viewed and stored on computers. To commemorate the anniversary and its long-standing commitment to fighting breast cancer, GE Healthcare created a digital wall of personal stories from those whose lives have been touched by breast cancer, as well as doctors, scientists and fundraisers who are fighting the disease.

Among those on the digital wall are Sylvia Soo and her personal story battling breast cancer at a young age. A flyover of Asia will take site visitors to Andra Pradesh in India, where Dr. Raghu Ram, after a successful career in the UK, returned with the mission to improve the delivery of breast cancer at home. Back in Europe, a tour of Belgium reveals a “Mammobiel” that is providing breast scans in rural areas.

GE pioneered the development of advanced breast-imaging technologies, making mammography devices since the 1960s. In 1999, GE Healthcare was the first company to introduce full-field digital mammography, having spent 13 years and more than $100 million developing the technology.

source: GE Medical