LAKEWOOD RANCH -- New cutting edge 3D technology has been added to the fight against breast cancer at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center.

The medical center’s Breast Health Center is scheduled to begin offering screening using the Selenia Dimensions 3D Digital Mammography System from Hologic next week. Hologic is based in Bedford, Mass.

Lakewood Ranch Medical Center is the first in Manatee County to offer the technology, which was approved in February by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

With imaging from the 3D, or tomosynthesis, system, radiologists can scroll through the different levels of breast tissue, said Tracy Legutko, breast health supervisor. The system allows radiologists to determine whether they are seeing overlapping tissue or a mass, she said.

Three dimensional imaging is a “huge step” forward compared to two-dimensional digital imaging, which was itself a step forward beyond X-ray film, Legutko said.

The 3D technology reduces patient callbacks, the need for additional scans and biopsies, as well as patient anxiety, said Legutko, a Southeast High School grad, who got her first X-ray training at the former Manatee Community College, now State College of Florida.

“Many of the patients say it is more comfortable, too,” Legutko said.

With the new equipment, the Breast Health Center will offer diagnostics test, where women with a suspicious lump or family history of breast cancer will get the results of the screening the same day.

The results of screening for other women, who are assumed not to be high risk, will go to the doctor within two days, and the patient will receive a letter with the results within a week.

Radiologists like to compare screening results year to year. With the tomosynthesis system, the radiologist can compare the 3D image, which is immediately available after screening on a digital display, with a previous year film X-ray illuminated by a light box, said Michele Trogden of the Breast Health Center.

Shortly after the FDA approved 3D breast tomosynthesis this year, Lakewood Ranch Medical Center began receiving calls from women asking about it, said Linda Widra, chief operating officer.

“The ladies our hospital serves are pretty well informed on healthcare issues,” Widra said.

One of the prime motivators for the hospital seeking the funding approval for the pricey new technology from its parent company was an email from a local resident who went to Orlando because 3D scanning wasn’t available here, Widra said.

That resident, Micky Bohan of Sarasota, said her family has a history of breast cancer.

A cousin died from it and her mother had breast cancer.

“My sister had faithfully done her mammography with the old 2D machine and it never picked it up. That made me so angry,” Bohan said Wednesday.

Over the years, Bohan developed respect for the quality of Hologic screening devices, and when she heard that the FDA had approved the new 3D screening technology, she began to lobby Lakewood Ranch Medical Center.

Moreover, the radiation from the 3D technology is well within FDA allowable standards.

The sooner a problem can be identified, the quicker doctors can begin working to fight the disease, Widra said.

For more information, call (941) 782-2662.

To schedule a screening, call (941) 782-2264.

James A. Jones Jr., East Manatee editor, can be contacted at (941) 745-7021.