Advances in Medical Imaging

Have new techniques changed the long-standing paradigm of breast cancer detection by mammogram? Dr. Dawna Kramer, radiology quality assurance officer and section head of the patient access area in the radiology department at the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, talks with host Dr. Beverly Hashimoto about the applications and inter-relationship of mammography and breast ultrasound in the diagnosis of breast masses. Dr. Kramer highlights the reasons mammography continues to account for the majority of breast mass detections. What are the benefits of digital mammogram and what is the usefulness of breast ultrasound and MRI?

Dr. Theodore Dubinksy reviews the conventional use of ultrasound imaging to detect and diagnose thyroid nodules, including fine needle biopsies. He then explains how ultrasound elastography, a newly developed technique, to analyze the stiffness of non-palpable nodules by measuring the amount of distortion from the carotid artery, an highlights the results of this method, as well as the potential for this technique to replace fine needle aspirations as a means for diagnosing thyroid nodules. Dr. Jason Birnholz hosts.