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Mammography |
Medical
Infrared Imaging |
Ultrasound |
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Passes radiation through the breast to
produce an image. Suspicious areas need
to be dense enough to be seen. |
Uses infrared sensors to detect heat and
increased vascularity (angiogenesis) as
the byproduct of biochemical reactions.
The heat is compiled into an image for
computerized analysis. |
High frequency sound waves are bounced
off the breast tissue and collected as
an echo to produce an image. |
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No radiation, non-invasive, harmless |
No radiation, non-invasive, harmless. |
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Can be used as often as indicated to
trace a problem, observe the
effectiveness of treatment, or monitor
the health of the breast over time. |
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Structural imaging. Ability to locate
the area of suspicious tissue. |
Functional imaging. Detects physiologic
changes. Cannot pinpoint the exact area
of suspicion inside the breast. |
Structural imaging. Ability to locate
the area of suspicious tissue. |
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Compresses the breast. |
Non-contact. Nothing touches the
breasts. |
Uses mild sound head contact. |
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Can detect cancer earlier than physical
examination. |
Earliest method of breast cancer
detection known. |
Not a screening procedure. Used to
investigate an area already detected by
mammography, thermography, or physical
examination. Low spatial resolution
(cannot see fine detail). Good at
distinguishing solid masses from fluid
filled cysts. |
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A biopsy is the only test that can
determine if a
suspected tissue area is cancerous |
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Can detect tumors in the pre-invasive
stage in mainly slow-growing cancers. |
Can detect a pathologic state of the
breast up to 10 years before a cancerous
tumor is found by any other method. |
Ability to detect some cancers missed by
mammography. |
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Cannot detect exponentially fast growing
tumors in the pre-invasive stage. |
Has the ability to detect fast growing
aggressive tumors. |
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In 7 out of 10 women, thermography will be the first alarm that something is happening.
A positive infrared image represents the highest known risk factor for the existence of or future development of breast cancer – 10 times more significant than any family history of the disease. |
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Average 80% Sensitivity (20% of cancers
missed), in women over age 50.
Sensitivity drops to 60% (40% of cancers
missed) in women under age 50. |
Average 90% Sensitivity
(10% of cancers missed) in all age
groups.
Of these missed cancers, the vast
majority are slow growing and poorly
invasive. Of the type of cancers to
miss, this is highly preferable. This
makes thermography highly valuable as a
prognostic indicator. |
Average 83% Sensitivity (17% of cancers
missed) in all age groups. |
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Hormone use decreases sensitivity. |
No effect. |
No known effect. |
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Average 75% Specificity (25% false-positives).
85% of all mammography initiated biopsies are negative. |
Average 90% Specificity (10% false-positives).
Due to thermography’s ability to act as the earliest warning signal, further studies are needed to follow patients over a prolonged time period. |
Average 66% Specificity (34%
false-positives). |
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Large, dense, and fibrocystic breasts
cause reading difficulties. |
No effect |
No known effect. |
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In most women, the medial upper
triangle, peripheral areas next to the
chest wall, and the inframammary sulcus
cannot be visualized. |
Not applicable.
Due to the nature of infrared imaging, pre-cancerous and cancerous tumors as deep as the chest wall can be detected. |
All areas visualized. |
Sources:
Index Medicus – ACS, NEJM, JNCI, J
Breast, J Radiology, J Clin Ultrasound
Index Medicus – Cancer, AJOG, Thermology
Text – Atlas of Mammography: New Early
Signs in Breast Cancer
Text – Biomedical Thermology |
