A side by side comparison of 2D versus 3D mammography images.
If all goes as planned, Morton General Hospital may have a three-dimensional mammography unit to call its own in the near future.
The East Lewis County Hospital Foundation recently began a fundraising effort to help purchase the $300,000 piece of high-tech health care equipment.
Diane Markham, director of marketing and development for Morton General Hospital and executive director of the East Lewis County Hospital Foundation, noted that the hospital currently has a two-dimensional mammography unit, but she noted that a new, more detailed machine would provide East Lewis County residents with access to one of the best tools available in breast cancer detection.
“Our radiology department is the one that broached the idea,” noted Markham. “This will be state of the art equipment.”
Jeri Whitnell, imaging manager in the Morton General Hospital radiology department, says that the 3D mammography unit allows doctors to avoid missing details.
“It’s a better quality image, certainly. Currently we do two projections from different 90-degree plains,” Whitnell said. “It takes a series of pictures so that you can see what’s hiding behind the trees that are directly in front of you.”
Whitnell said that the 3D imaging can reduce the need for patient return visits by 25 percent due to the quality and complexity of the images.
“They can see those little things that are hiding there earlier before they have metastasized to other places,” said Whitnell, who emphasized that early detection is the most important factor when it comes to successful cancer treatment.
“Early detection is key,” Whitnell said. “If you can catch it before it goes to other places in the body your five-year survival rate is about 95 percent, but if it is found in other parts of the body that five-year survival rate drops to about 26 percent … It’s that drastic.”
Markham said that the goal is for the East Lewis County Hospital Foundation to raise $100,000 toward their goal by the year’s end. The foundation will also apply proceeds from their dinner and auction on Oct. 7 to the fund in addition to the roughly $7,000 raised back in May during the first annual Corks ‘n Caps dinner and auction. In total, Markham says that $56,000 has already been set aside for the purchase of the 3D mammography unit.
“This is the biggest endeavor our hospital foundation has even taken on,” noted Markham. “The hospital directors are all excited to participate in this. We have great motivation behind us.”
The East Lewis County Hospital Foundation auction and dinner will be held at 5 p.m. at the Morton Lions Hall on Oct. 7. Markham said the foundation aims to raise $25,000 during that event, and they hope that donations from private citizens and organizations will help to bridge the rest of the financial gap.
“The community is very supportive, very generous,” said Markham, who added that Morton General Hospital is planning on making a group purchase with two other hospitals that also want their own 3D mammography units in order to obtain a bulk purchase discount.
