Better, faster mammography is now available at Allen Hospital and the Allen Imaging Center at United Medical Park.

DIGITAL vs FILM Click image to enlarge and view side-by-side comparisons.

Note: Images are shown for illustrative purposes. Do not attempt to draw conclusions or make diagnoses by comparing these images to other medical images, particularly your own. Only qualified physicians should interpret images; the radiologist is the physician expert trained in medical imaging.

Allen introduced digital mammography at both locations in June 2008. The new digital units are the first of their kind in the Cedar Valley.

"Digital mammography gives Cedar Valley women and their doctors a new way to detect breast cancer earlier," says Christine Mattingly, Allen Imaging Center director. "Early detection saves lives."

Digital mammography allows radiologists to view the x-ray image more closely, zero in on suspicious areas and make immediate decisions about additional images. Digital mammography takes less than half the time of traditional film-based exams. It's so fast that radiologists can review the images while the patient is still in the examination room.

"Women may notice little difference when coming in for a digital mammogram," Mattingly says. "The procedure is the same as traditional film mammography. But our radiologists can gather and process images much faster."

Because digital mammography uses no film, there's nothing to be developed. Images are analyzed on a high-definition monitor and stored in digital memory. Images can be read by any physician who has access to the system and can be transmitted to any site at the click of a mouse.

In conjunction with the digital mammography unit, Allen is also offering digital Computer-Aided Detection (CAD). CAD provides a "second read" of the mammogram by a computer. CAD software helps the radiologist in making an accurate diagnosis, like spell check assists word processing.

Digital mammography is only available in the Cedar Valley at Allen Hospital and United Medical Park. At your next visit, tell your doctor you want a digital mammogram at Allen Hospital or the Allen Imaging Center at United Medical Park. For information and scheduling at Allen Hospital, call 319-235-3716. For information and scheduling at the Allen Imaging Center at United Medical Park, call 319-833-6000.

If you have had prior mammography images taken at non-Iowa healthcare facilities, pleas bring your most recent images with you. Please contact your doctor’s office for help in obtaining the images. Our radiologists will not be able to process the examination images from this visit without your prior images for comparison.