BUTLER — The new Tomosynthesis breast imaging machines at the Butler Health System's Women's Imaging Center are producing exciting results.

Dr. Ruthane Reginella, the director of BHS Women's Imaging, said the Tomosynthesis machines provide doctors with a three-dimensional view of the breast.

Reginella explained that in Tomosynthesis, an X-ray of the breast is taken every one millimeter. The entire set of X-rays are then viewed by doctors like a digital flipbook to assess the breast's condition.

Depending on the density of a patient's breast tissue and glands, up to 100 one-millimeter X-rays might be taken in a Tomosynthesis image.

“It's a very dynamic view of the breast,” Reginella said. “We can look at it back and forth, up and down and right to left.”

In a traditional two-dimensional mammogram, breast tissue or glands can overlap themselves.

“That can make it look like there is something there or it can actually mask a tumor,” Reginella said.

She said many women who have had traditional mammograms are called back into the imaging center for a closer look because of the limitations of a two-dimensional view.

“It causes a lot of undue anxiety and 90 percent of the time there's nothing there,” Reginella said.

She said studies have shown the recall rate for Tomosynthesis is down 15 percent.

“More importantly, there is a 30 percent increase in cancer detection,” Reginella said.

She said the procedure to take the images is similar to a traditional mammogram.

The only difference is that instead of taking one image by aiming the radiation in a single direction, the camera moves across the compressed breast and takes the one-millimeter images.

The Butler Health System got its first Tomosynthesis unit in November 2015, when the new Women's Imaging Center was opened at the health system's Crossroads Campus, Reginella said.

The center had one Tomosynthesis and one traditional mammogram unit until June, when a new Tomosynthesis unit was installed.

Women who are having Tomosynthesis also get a traditional mammogram during a visit, Reginella said.

The two-dimensional image reveals information that the Tomosynthesis cannot, like calcifications in the breast.

“Calcifications can be an early sign of cancer, so it's something we specifically look for,” Reginella said.

She said the traditional machines also make it easier to compare a previous image taken in the past with the current image to assess for changes in the breast.

Reginella said the Tomosynthesis method has allowed her in the last two years to see a tumor that would have been completely invisible on the two-dimensional images.

“It just gives me goose bumps,” she said.

Reginella said state law requires insurance companies based in Pennsylvania to pay for Tomosynthesis.

“For example, if you had Blue Cross or Blue Shield of Alabama, the (Tomosynthesis) portion of your bill would be out-of-pocket,” Reginella said.

The Tomosynthesis also allows doctors to pinpoint the exact path for a needle biopsy of the breast when an abnormality is found.

The Butler Health System also boasts three state-of-the-art ultrasound machines, which enhances the way doctors assess breast abnormalities, Reginella said.

A new magnetic resonance imaging unit recently installed at Butler Memorial Hospital allows Reginella and other doctors to perform breast imaging with increased spatial resolution. That helps with pre-oncology planning, Reginella said.

“It helps with women with a new diagnosis to see if they have other lesions,” Reginella said.

Another new addition in the Butler Health System's breast cancer care is a nurse navigator.

That nurse assists in assessing patients who have procedures, getting newly diagnosed patients to the oncologists or surgeon, and talking patients through the process of treating their breast cancer.

”We have really everything here that any breast center of an academic or university standing would have,” Reginella said. “This really is a state-of-the-art facility that we have right here in Butler.”