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The Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas has taken delivery of the Naviscan PEM scanner at its Darlene G. Cass Women’s Imaging Center. Baylor will use PEM (positron emission mammography) to complement their existing anatomical tools by providing a three-dimensional metabolic perspective of breast cancer. The metabolic view allows physicians to make cancer care decisions by providing an improved ability to distinguish between benign and malignant lesions in what researchers call “specificity.” A recent multi-center NIH-sponsored study comparing PEM and MRI highlighted that PEM had improved specificity relative to MRI at comparable sensitivity, what researchers use to describe the ability to see lesions.

The Darlene G. Cass Women’s Imaging Center has been providing breast imaging services in the Dallas area for more than 20 years, performing more than 50,000 breast imaging procedures annually. The center also performs mammography, stereotactic breast biopsy, breast ultrasound, and ultrasound-guided breast biopsy.

“We recently received prestigious designation as one of five ‘Top Women’s Imaging Centers to Watch in 2009’ from Imaging Technology News, acknowledging our commitment to providing the highest level of breast care to our patients,” said Zeeshan Shah, MD, at Baylor University. “Our leading technology, radiology expertise, and our dedication to the detection of breast cancer has allowed us to provide exquisite care to thousands of women. Our expectation is that PEM will prove indispensable to effective breast cancer management for both our referring physicians and our patient population.”

The Naviscan PEM scanner uses PET (positron emission tomography) technology to produce high resolution tomographic images at two millimeter resolution, allowing physicians to visualize breast tumors about the size of a grain of rice. The scanner is the size of a mammography unit and consists of two high-resolution detector heads placed in close proximity to the breast. Compared to the higher-force compression necessary for mammography, the Naviscan PEM scanner uses gentler breast immobilization.