Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) is a supplemental imaging technology designed to find tumors that would otherwise be obscured by surrounding dense breast
tissue on a mammogram.
Breast density is the term used to describe the variation in dense
tissue on a mammogram image.
Not exact matches
Tumors and dense breast
tissue can both appear white
on a
mammogram, making tumors indistinguishable from background
tissue in women with dense breasts.
Regions of a breast that comprise fatty
tissue will appear darker
on a
mammogram, while regions that comprise dense
tissue appear whiter.
Women with higher breast density — detected
on mammograms — have more compacted breast
tissue and are more likely to develop breast cancer, but until now the reasons for this have been unclear.Manchester scientists, funded by leading UK research organisation Breakthrough Breast Cancer, worked with IBM researchers and academics in the USA and Cyprus to uncover the biological mechanisms at play.
Cosmetic breast implants have become increasingly popular, but some studies have suggested that implants can make it more difficult to detect breast cancer at an early stage because they create shadows
on mammograms that can obscure some breast
tissue.
Density is measured according to the ratio of connective and epithelial
tissue, which appears
on a
mammogram as white, as compared to fatty
tissue, which appears as black.
A high degree of dense - appearing
tissue can make it difficult to spot cancer because tumors also appear as white
on mammograms.
They also rated the density of the women's breast
tissue as seen
on a
mammogram.
On mammograms, dense breast
tissue looks white.
Most breast cancers can be seen
on a
mammogram even in women who have dense breast
tissue, so it's still important to get regular
mammograms.
Implants can hide some breast
tissue, making it more difficult for the radiologist to detect an abnormality
on the
mammogram.
Fatty
tissue appears dark
on a
mammogram, whereas fibroglandular
tissue appears as white areas.