Siemens Healthineers touts 1st US installation of next-generation mammography system
Siemens Healthineers recently announced the first U.S. installation of its next-generation mammography system, the Mammomat B.brilliant.
Grace Breast Imaging & Medical Spa of Iowa—with locations in the Des Moines metro area communities of Clive and Urbandale—is rolling out the new 3D technology. Cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year, this represents the first completely redesigned mammography system from Siemens in over a decade.
Grace Breast Imaging is run by radiologists Rachel Preisser, MD, and Andrea Lamphiear, MD, and bills itself as the “only imaging center in Iowa designed, owned and operated by women.”
“We believe this [installation] will best help us expand our vision of providing individualized breast care in a wellness-based and serene environment and making healthcare feel like self-care,” Lamphiear said in a statement, adding that it also will allow “us, as radiologists, to have the best chance of finding breast cancer at its earliest stage.”
The Mammomat B.brilliant incorporates new 3D image acquisition and reconstruction technology. It has features for full-field digital mammography (or 2D breast imaging) and can aid with performing biopsies. The system is built on the 50-degree, wide-angle image acquisition capabilities typically seen with Siemens breast-imaging systems. Offering one of the widest angles available on the market, the Mammomat B.brilliant utilizes “PlatinumTomo” technology to enable image acquisition in “under five seconds.” Such tomosynthesis features separate overlapping layers of breast tissue to allow radiologists to visualize “otherwise obscured lesions.” New UltraHD image reconstruction features help to reduce metal artifacts, better visualize macrocalcifications, and customize settings.
Siemens Healthineers scored initial FDA 510(k) clearance in April, while the agency OK’d the system’s 3D capabilities in the fall.
“Other features improve patient comfort, enhance user workflow, and improve user ergonomics compared to the system’s predecessor, the Mammomat Revelation,” Siemens said in a Jan. 22 announcement. Features aimed at aiding the radiologic technologic include a display monitor that allows for viewing the information and work steps, regardless of where the tech is positioned. The automated ComfortMove ergonomic feature helps to reduce physical strain on techs, who can move the tube head independently of the bucky without bending or twisting. A laser positioning guide additionally helps to accurately place the patient’s breast during a procedure, Siemens noted in April.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.