3D Mammograms Technology Now Available In Sacramento

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - It's called breast Tomosynthesis, a fancy way of saying it's a mammogram in 3D; and it's now offered in Sacramento for the first time.

Dr. Michael Norton is a diagnostic radiologist at Radiological Associates of Sacramento. He says 50 percent of the women getting mammograms have dense breasts, or thicker tissue, making cancer detection difficult. This new technology helps to fix that.

"It arcs across the breast and takes 15 images, and then those images are digitally reconstructed by computer," said Norton.

Norton says it's almost like a CT scan of the breast.

"That allows us to detect cancer at the earliest stages and cancers otherwise obscured by dense breast tissue; and also allows us to reduce the number of false positives," said Norton.

For patient Jan Cardosa that's all she needed to hear.

"It's always best to have cutting edge technology," Cardosa.

Jan's been coming in for regular mammograms at the Sacramento office for years, but she says this one was the easiest she's had.

"I was really surprised at how easy it was. Actually, the time factor seemed quicker, compression wasn't as tight or intense," said Cardosa.

Then, there's the cost. The new 3D technology is covered under the current screening guidelines, so it'll cost just as much as a normal mammogram.

For Jan it's a no brainer that she believes could save her life.

"Personally, I think it's fantastic. You can have the most advanced technology and have no price associated with that. That's really special," said Cardosa.