A THREE-dimensional breast scanning technique that uses 25 times less radiation and produces better quality images has been developed by scientists.
The improved method produces X-ray images with a resolution three times higher than current two-dimensional images. It also uses a much lower dose of radiation than the 2D ones used in clinics
Computed tomography (CT), an X-ray technique that allows a precise 3D visualisation of body organs, is not usually used in diagnosing breast cancer because the risk of long-term health issues is considered too high.
But regular scans may now become possible after the discovery of a detection method called “phase contrast imaging” and a mathematical algorithm known as “equally sloped tomography” to construct the images from X-ray data.
Professor Maximilian Reiser, of Ludwig Maximilian of Munich University in Germany, said: “This can open up the doors to the clinical use of computed tomography in the breast diagnosis, which would be a powerful tool to fight even better and earlier against breast cancer.”
The development could be useful for younger women after a study found young females who had mammograms to locate possible cancer could be at increased risk of developing the cancer. Researchers say radiation from the tests may be harmful to women who carry mutated genes that put them at higher risk for the disease.
Experts say it will be some time before the new scanners are likely to be in clinics as they need to be developed and trialled.