Every woman knows the importance of getting mammograms. Along with monthly self-exams at home, it's the best way to detect breast cancer but now there's a new option out there: digital mammography.

A mammogram is a yearly event for Andrea Paxton but while this year's mammogram feels the same as ones done in the past, something is different at Alegent Lakeside Hospital. Instead of developing film, digital images appear on a computer screen while Paxton gets her mammogram.

Andrea says, "I think you get a better look at the breast tissue."

That's not to say that every woman needs a digital mammogram. Doctors say three groups of women benefit the most: those under 50; those who have had their last period within 12 months of the mammogram and especially women with dense breasts.

Alegent Lakeside Radiologist Dr. Joel Elson says, "Those people, we're able to take a digital mammogram and we have much better exposure to the breast. Rather than it looking like a snowstorm you can actually see through the breast."

There are other pluses for Dr. Elson. He can look at the four images separately and study them in different ways, "and with this, we have better magnification and resolution," he says.

That makes it easier to detect fine lines, calcifications and asymmetry.

Dr. Elson spotted an area of concern on Paxton's mammogram. The digital system allowed him to have the computer read it as well.

There was good news when the tech went back and used a compression paddle. Dr. Elson said it turned out that there was no reason for concern. Another year, another clean bill of health for Andrea Paxton.

She says, "We need to take care of ourselves, get ourselves treated if there are problems and not be afraid of getting tests done and to have them regularly."

Alegent Lakeside is the only facility in the metro with this technology. Digital mammograms cost nearly twice as much as the film version but we're told insurance companies do cover them.

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