Researchers Develop Less Painful Cancer Test

Dutch researchers have developed a device that may reduce the discomfort many women feel during a mammogram while preserving the quality of the image.

Breast compression is necessary in mammography for imaging purposes, but it can be painful. The new device displays the average pressure during compression, so the pressure can be adjusted and standardized, which reduces pain, according to the researchers.

Currently, mammographers only can estimate pressure applied to the breasts, according to study researcher Woutjan Branderhorst, from the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and a scientist at Sigmascreening, the company developing the device.

Funding for the study was provided by Pink Ribbon, an organization that supports breast cancer research and awareness, and Sigmascreening, a spin-off company of the Academic Medical Center.

Those who perform mammograms have a difficult task, Branderhorst explained, noting they must ”adjust the applied compression force to breast size, composition, skin tautness and pain tolerance.” Currently, he said, the technologist performing the mammogram  only can use visual and tactile clues to estimate pressure on the breast. This results in large variations, Branderhorst said.

”Especially for small breasts, this can lead to extremely high pressure,” he said. “The device used in our study measures and displays the pressure in real time, which provides an objective guide for the technologists and enables standardization of the pressure.”

This makes the procedure less uncomfortable because high, painful pressures are avoided, he noted.

In their study, Branderhorst and his team performed mammograms on more than 400 women undergoing routine mammograms. The researchers theorized that a protocol based on pressure, not force, would make the tests more comfortable.

Using the new device, they conducted four compressions on each woman. Three were standardized to a specific force; one was standardized to a specific target pressure. The mammogram targeted for pressure was rated as less painful, on average, by the women. The pressure-targeted mammogram didn’t reduce image quality, Branderhorst said.

The device can be integrated into the infrastructure of new machines or used as an upgrade to existing machines at minimal costs, he claimed.

Branderhorst is scheduled to present the results of the study at the upcoming Radiological Society of North America annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. (Nov. 30-Dec. 5). Findings presented at meetings are generally considered preliminary until they’ve been published in a peer-reviewed journal.