Both digital and conventional mammography use X-ray radiation to produce an image of the breast.  The difference is, conventional mammography stores the image directly on film while digital mammography takes an electronic image of the breast and stores it directly in a computer. This allows the recorded data to be enhanced, magnified or manipulated for further evaluation.

The procedure for having a mammogram with a digital system is the same as with conventional mammography. The difference between the two systems is comparable to the difference between a traditional film camera and a digital camera. With a digital mammogram, the image’s brightness and darkness – or contrast – can be adjusted, and sections of the image can be magnified. This makes it easier for radiologists to see subtle differences in the breast. The ability to increase contrast when imaging dense breasts is particularly important because dense breast tissue and malignant cells both appear to be white on film mammogram, making it more difficult to detect abnormalities in dense breasts.

Dense Breast Tissue

Breasts appear dense on a mammogram if they contain many glands and ligaments (called dense tissue), and do not have much fatty tissue. Because breast cancers tend to develop in the dense tissue of the breast (not in the fatty tissue), women whose mammograms show more dense tissue are at an increased risk of breast cancer. Dense breast tissue can be seen in women of any age but typically is seen in women under age 50 and women who are pre-menopausal or peri-menopausal (had a last menstrual period within 12 months of their mammogram.)

“Getting a mammography screening, whether digital or film, remains the best method for early breast cancer detection. Digital mammography, however, provides increased image sensitivity especially for cancer that presents as micro calcifications, and for detection of early cancer in dense breasts,” said Lydia Liao, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., Director of Women’s Imaging in the Department of Radiology at Cooper. “This technology affords radiologists added assistance in interpreting the findings, thus improving cancer-screening accuracy especially for women with dense breasts,” Dr. Liao said.

Digital Mammography Services

Digital mammography can be done only in facilities that are certified to practice conventional mammography and have received FDA approval to offer digital mammography.  Cooper’s digital mammography services, available at Cooper University Radiology facilities in Voorhees, Cherry Hill and Camden, are further distinguished as “Breast Imaging Centers of Excellence,” as designated by the American College of Radiology (ACR). Cooper is the only hospital-based breast imaging center in South Jersey to receive this designation. This national award recognizes Cooper’s broad spectrum of breast cancer early detection and treatment services, and assures patients that all personnel are highly qualified through education and certification to perform and interpret medical images, and administer radiation therapy treatments.

The designation also certifies that equipment is appropriate for the test or treatment being delivered and that the facility meets or exceeds quality-assurance and safety guidelines.

“As part of the breast-care program at The Janet Knowles Breast Cancer Center at Cooper Cancer Institute, our breast imaging services achieved the highest standard for providing screening exams, with full-field digital mammography and diagnostic imaging modalities that include high-resolution breast ultrasound, breast MRI and PET-CT, and state-of-the-art breast interventional procedures for problem solving, cancer staging and treatments,” Dr. Liao said.

For patients, an ACR-designated Breast Imaging Center of Excellence provides a quick way to identify the best mammography and breast imaging center available. The designation at Cooper means that patients not only have access to the highest quality of diagnostic care, but also to the multi-disciplinary clinical approach offered at a premier academic-medical center.

To schedule a screening at Cooper’s Breast Imaging Center of Excellence, call 1-888-499-8779 or 856-342-2380.

The Breast Imaging Center of Excellence designation is awarded to breast imaging centers that achieve excellence by seeking and earning accreditation in all of the ACR’s breast-imaging accreditation programs and modules, in addition to the mandatory Mammography Accreditation Program.

For patients, the designation provides a quick way to identify the best mammography and breast imaging centers available. At Cooper, the designation means that patients not only have access to the highest quality of diagnostic care but also to the multi-disciplinary clinical approach offered by a major academic-medical center.

“We are proud to receive this important designation from the ACR, which recognizes our broad spectrum of breast cancer early detection and treatment services,” said Lydia Liao, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., Director of Women’s Imaging in the Department of Radiology at Cooper. “Being part of the breast-care program at Cooper Cancer Institute, our services achieved the highest standard for providing screening exams, with full-field digital mammography, and diagnostic imaging modalities that include high resolution breast ultrasound, breast MRI  and PET-CT, and state-of-the-art breast interventional procedures for problem solving, cancer staging and treatment. Our service is also an important part of a unique multidisciplinary treatment team. The Cooper Cancer Institute is the only center providing comprehensive, multidisciplinary care for breast cancer patients in South Jersey,” Dr. Liao said.

A Center of Excellence designation by the ACR signifies that the breast imaging program at Cooper not only has met mandatory accreditation requirements but also has voluntarily participated in a rigorous review process to ensure it has met or exceeded nationally accepted patient-care standards. In addition to ACR accreditation in breast imaging modalities, the designation assures patients that personnel are well qualified through education and certification to perform and interpret medical images and administer radiation therapy treatments. It also certifies that equipment is appropriate for the test or treatment being delivered and that the facility meets or exceeds quality-assurance and safety guidelines.

This national recognition has been given to a select few centers that have demonstrated excellence in breast imaging by successfully achieving accreditation in mammography, stereotactic breast biopsy, breast ultrasound and ultrasound-guided breast biopsy. Cooper is the only out-patient, hospital-based accredited imaging center in South Jersey to earn this distinction. Nationally, this Center of Excellence status has been granted to only 177 – or roughly two percent – of the more than 8,800 certified breast imaging centers in the United States.

“Being named a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the ACR assures patients that Cooper University Radiology is a premier provider of comprehensive breast imaging services offered at the highest standards of the radiology profession,” said Raymond Baraldi, M.D., Acting Chief Medical Officer and Chief of the Department of Radiology at Cooper. “We are proud of this achievement which reflects our dedication to providing patients with the best care possible.”

The ACR is a national professional organization that evaluates and accredits facilities for the achievement of high practice standards, following peer-review assessment by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. Assessments include the qualification of facility personnel and the adequacy of facility equipment.

The Breast Imaging Center of Excellence at Cooper University Radiology offers state-of-the-art breast screening and diagnostic technologies, including digital mammography, computer-aided detection system, breast ultrasound, vacuum-assisted core breast biopsy with stereotactic or ultrasound guidance, MRI scans and MRI-guided breast biopsy.