More women prefer Advanced Radiology than any other imaging provider in Maryland because we combine the latest technology with the unmatched expertise of our caring staff to deliver precise imaging tests. With one in seven women now suffering breast cancer at some point in their lives, getting the most advanced breast screening, diagnosis and treatment is more critical than ever. Our comprehensive breast diagnostic services include digital mammography, breast ultrasound, breast MRI, PET/CT, and minimally invasive cyst aspiration and breast biopsies. Precision localization and diagnosis of your breast lesion is essential to getting the prompt, targeted treatment you need.
Our nationally renowned Chief of Mammography, Dr. Judy Destouet, was named one of the Top Ten Women’s Imaging Specialists by Medical Imaging magazine and a “Top Doc” by Baltimore Magazine. She and the entire team of women’s imaging specialists at Advanced Radiology are devoted to combining top quality imaging with personalized, caring service.
For an Advanced Radiology center near you, click here.
To learn more about our women’s imaging services, click on the links below or scroll down:
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- Mammography
- Where you have your mammogram matters
- Digital Mammography comes to Advanced Radiology
- What is mammography and how does it work?
- What happens during your mammogram?
- What happens when your mammogram is complete?
- Breast Ultrasound
- Breast MRI
- What is Breast MRI and how does it work?
- Who is a candidate for Breast MRI?
- What happens during and after your Breast MRI?
- What to look for in a Breast MRI Center
- Cyst Aspiration and Breast Biopsies
- Core Needle Biopsy
- Stereotactic Biopsy
- Ultrasound-guided Biopsy
- MRI-guided Biopsy
- Vacuum-assisted Biopsy
- PET/CT
- Pelvic Imaging
- DEXA
Mammography
Where you have your Mammogram Matters
All mammography centers are not alike. Accurate reading of a mammogram continues to be highly dependent on the training and experience of the radiologists and technologists performing it, complemented by the latest digital technology. Advanced Radiology performs more than 140,000 mammograms each year, more than anyone else in Maryland. Our team of skilled, fellowship-trained mammographers brings their years of experience to precisely interpreting your mammograms. Our modern, comfortable facilities are designed to respect your privacy. And our compassionate, knowledgeable technologists will treat you with the respect and consideration you deserve.
Ask your mammography center about their audited results. A recent comparison of Advanced Radiology’s mammography results with those from a national digital mammography study called DMIST showed that we have a higher rate of detecting breast cancer – about 95% compared with the national average of about 80%. Our ability to correctly determine when breast cancer was not present was also better than the national rate.
Digital Mammography Comes to Advanced Radiology
Mammography is now digital at all of Advanced Radiology’s breast centers.
The new technology is similar to using a digital camera instead of a camera that uses film. With digital technology, the mammography images can be manipulated to increase the chance of finding cancer. They also can be stored and sent electronically, instead of using films that must be printed and sent by courier or mail.
“Digital mammography is much faster for patients, taking only about 7 minutes instead of 20,” states Judy Destouet, M.D., head of mammography for Advanced Radiology. “Further, almost no patients will have to return for a repeat mammogram, as digital allows us to see immediately if we have the images that we need. Digital will also help us continue improving our already excellent rate of detecting breast cancers. Even before digital, our practice found some 95% of breast cancers through analog imaging – far better than the national average of 80%.”
Digital is especially useful for women with dense breasts, women entering or in menopause and those under 50.
When selecting a center, look for centers that have FDA accreditation and certified technologists, and ask about their cancer detection rates, which are audited.
Call 888-972-9700 to make a mammography appointment at one of Advanced Radiology’s centers.
What is mammography and how does it work?
Mammography uses a safe, low-dose X-ray to create images of the inner structures of the breast. This test is a valuable tool for detecting breast cancer in its earliest stages, even before you can feel a lump. The American Cancer Society recommends that women have a yearly mammogram starting at the age of 40 and continuing every year as long as they are in good health.
What happens during your mammogram?
- You will be asked to complete a medical questionnaire, then a member of our staff will escort you to an individual dressing room. You will undress from the waist up and put on a gown.
- The technologist will review your medical history and any symptoms you've been experiencing related to your breasts.
- In the exam room, the technologist will position you standing at the mammography machine and place your breast over the receptor.
- The machine applies moderate compression to your breast for a few seconds to obtain the clearest image. Two X-rays are usually taken of each breast.
- In some situations, the radiologist may request additional X-rays or a sonogram to further evaluate your breasts.
- The procedure takes about 15 minutes.
What happens when your mammogram is complete?
- You will return to the dressing room and get dressed.
- You can leave immediately after your test and resume your normal activities.
- The radiologist will review your mammograms and send the results to your physician. If urgent findings are uncovered, the results will be called into your physician immediately.
- If your breasts feel tender after your mammogram, you can take an over-the-counter pain reliever.
Breast Ultrasound
What is Breast Ultrasound and How Does it Work?
Ultrasound is useful for women with dense breasts or for evaluating suspicious 
areas seen by mammography or felt during a breast exam. It can also find breast lesions that are close to the chest, where mammography is less useful, and it can distinguish between cysts, which are filled with fluid, and other types of breast lumps.
Ultrasound uses sound waves instead of x-rays to exam breast tissue. A transducer is passed over the breast and the transmitted sound waves are translated into a picture on a monitor. It does not cause discomfort and because it does not use radiation, it carries no real risk.
What happens during and after your breast ultrasound?
- Wearing a two piece outfit for the exam will allow you to undress only above the waist.
- After donning a gown, the technologist will have you lie down on the ultrasound table. He or she will apply warm gel to the breast, to help the hand-held transducer transmit the sound waves.
- The ultrasound should take only about 15 to 20 minutes.
- After the test, you may be asked to wait for the radiologist to review your results.
- The radiologist will provide a written report to your physician. If any of the findings warrant follow-up, you may be referred for additional tests or possibly a biopsy to sample tissue from the lump.
Experience and Technology Combine for Outstanding Breast MRI Services
After the American Cancer Society released new guidelines for using Breast MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) early in 2007, public awareness and interest in this technology soared. Advanced Radiology has performed thousands of breast MRIs over the years, and combines its extensive experience with the latest in MRI hardware and software to give its patients outstanding accuracy.
What is Breast MRI and How Does it Work?
Breast MRI helps to detect small lesions sometimes missed by mammography-- without using radiation or compressing the breasts. MRI uses powerful magnets and radio waves to take very clear pictures of soft tissues, so that it can be extremely useful in looking at breast tissue. However, it should not be used routinely to look for breast cancer because it tends to have a high rate of “false positives.” That is, MRI finds lesions that often turn out not to be cancerous. It is also much more expensive than mammography or ultrasound.
“MRI’s sensitivity makes it a wonderful tool for certain groups of women, but it should be used selectively so that it doesn’t create unnecessary worry or needless breast biopsies for women who aren’t at high risk,” notes Dr. Rosy Singh, co-director of breast MRI services at Advanced Radiology.
Who is a Candidate for Breast MRI?
Appropriate candidates for this test include women with:
- Two or more close (first or second degree) relatives with breast or ovarian cancer
- Carriers of BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations
- Past radiation to the chest
- Suspected rupture of breast implants
- Selected cases of known breast cancer
- Selected cases of inconclusive mammography or ultrasound findings
What happens during and after your Breast MRI?
- Because the MRI uses a powerful magnet, our staff will carefully screen you to make sure that you don’t have any ferromagnetic metals on or in your body that could interfere with the magnet. For your safety, it is essential that you inform staff of any such objects.
- During the procedure, you will lie face down on a special scanning table that allows your breasts to hang into special depressions that contain the breast coils.
- The table will move into the MRI magnet and a series of images will be taken over a period of about one hour. You will be asked to lie still while images are taken.
- The technologist will provide you with earplugs to reduce the noise, but you will be able to communicate with him or her throughout the procedure.
- After some initial images are taken, the technologist will inject a contrast dye into your body to determine if any tissue “enhances”, or gets brighter. Enhancing tissue may indicate a cancerous lesion.
- After the procedure, you will change back into street clothes and you may immediately resume normal activities.
- The radiologist will provide a report of your results to your physician within a few days.
What to look for in a Breast MRI Center
When deciding where to have your breast MRI performed, look for radiologists with specialized training in MRI as well as experience in reading breast MRIs. The technologists should be certified and the center should have a high strength magnet (1.5 Tesla magnet is considered high-strength). A center that offers specialized software to provide the most advanced interpretation of the breast MRI is preferred.
Advanced Radiology performs more than 700 breast MRIs each year at six of its centers, and is expanding to new sites in the coming year. It offers specialized radiologists highly experienced in breast MRI and certified technologists. Advanced Radiology also uses special software called CADStream to provide the most advanced detection of cancerous lesions, and it uses VIBRANT technology to image both breasts at the same time without a loss in quality.
If you have a question about whether breast MRI is appropriate for you, you should consult your physician. To schedule a screening mammogram or other imaging procedure at one of the 19 Advanced Radiology sites in Maryland, call 1-888-972-9700.
Advanced Radiology offers a range of state-of-the-art minimally invasive procedures to help diagnose or treat breast lumps or suspicious findings. These procedures include the aspiration of cysts, where the radiologist uses ultrasound and inserts a small needle to withdraw the fluid inside a cyst to relieve discomfort or confirm a diagnosis.
Our expert mammographers also provide a full range of advanced biopsy procedures, including: core needle, stereotactic, ultrasound-guided, MRI-guided biopsies and breast localization. Each of these procedures allows doctors to pinpoint the precise location of a suspicious area of the breast and then remove it with minimal pain and disruption of surrounding tissue. Remember that four out of five biopsies are benign and not cancerous.
In a core needle biopsy, the radiologist locates the lump or abnormality that can be seen on a mammogram or sonogram or MRI. A hollow core needle is then placed inside the abnormality. The needle will then withdraw a small amount of tissue that will be sent to a lab for analysis.
Prior to the procedure, you will be given some local anesthetic similar to the anesthetic used for dental procedures to numb the area. You may feel some pressure and mild discomfort but most patients do not feel pain. The doctor will insert the needle several times to get adequate tissue samples.
After the procedure, you can immediately resume normal activities. You may experience some slight bruising but should not have a scar. It may take several days to one week to obtain results from the lab.
A stereotactic biopsy uses mammography, a special breast x-ray, to guide doctors to a lump or abnormality that can’t be felt or seen on ultrasound, but that can be seen on the mammogram. It creates a 3-D picture of the lump’s location to guide the radiologist to the right area with maximum accuracy.
During this procedure, you will lie face down on a special table that allows your breast to be placed in an opening. The radiologist will raise the table and perform a core needle or vacuum assisted biopsy from under the table. Your breast will be somewhat compressed during the procedure.
This biopsy is similar to the stereotactic biopsy except that you will lie face up and the radiologist will use ultrasound to locate a lump rather than mammography. This procedure is useful when the lump can’t be seen on a mammogram, but can be seen on the ultrasound.
As with the biopsies noted above, the MRI-guided biopsy uses MRI to guide the radiologist to the exact location of the lump. MRI biopsy is usually used when the lump can be seen on breast MRI, but cannot be readily seen on mammogram or ultrasound. The procedure is similar to those described above.
Vacuum-assisted biopsy devices are used for stereotactic and MRI guided biopsy and selected ultrasound guided biopsies. The device is a special probe that applies suction and allows retrieval of more tissue. Breast tissue is drawn into the sampling chamber of the probe with the vacuum and then cut. Several pieces of tissue are always obtained during biopsies, regardless of the type of needle used.
As with the other biopsies described here, there is minimal discomfort and no scarring following the procedure, and you may resume normal activities.
This new technology, which combines PET’s ability to assess cell function with CT’s ability to pinpoint the size, location and extent of tumors and other lesions is so remarkable that Advanced Radiology has committed to upgrading all of its PET scanners with PET/CT scanners. This tool is especially useful for detecting and monitoring breast, cervical, lung and many other cancers, and also is becoming important in heart disease, dementias such as Alzheimer’s and bone and joint problems.
For more information on PET/CT, click here.
Minimally invasive options mean recovery in days rather than weeks
Women with uterine fibroids can suffer incapacitating periods each month. If you have painful periods and have researched available treatments, you know that hysterectomies or surgical removal of the fibroids are not appealing options. Thankfully, Advanced Radiology offers a minimally invasive option called Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE) that blocks the blood supply to fibroids through a tiny incision. In a few days instead of weeks, you can resume normal activities and be symptom free.
Protect the health of your bones
Advanced Radiology offers you a quick, convenient, painless assessment of your bone health with DEXA scans. DEXA is an enhanced form of x-ray that allows radiologists to determine bone loss. Older women or those who are at risk of bone loss due to steroid use or other factors should talk with their doctor about this important tool to diagnosis osteoporosis.
For more information click here.
