Delphinus Medical Technologies announces the installation of its SoftVue 3D whole-breast ultrasound tomography system at East Alabama Medical Center, making the site the second in the world to purchase and offer patients the U.S. FDA-approved technology for screening women with dense breast tissue.
Dense breast tissue is common, affecting 40% of women and making them four times more likely to develop breast cancer. Compounding the increased risk, dense breast tissue typically appears white on a mammogram, as does cancer, making clinicians miss roughly half of new cancer cases.
When paired with a screening mammogram, SoftVue has been shown to identify up to 20% more cancers while also reducing false positives and decreasing unnecessary call-backs and biopsies, according to Delphinus Medical Technologies officials.
“We developed SoftVue to fit a very real unmet need for patients with dense breasts who need better screening modalities that can find more cancers,” adds Mark J. Forchette, president and CEO of Delphinus Medical Technologies. “As an Auburn University graduate, I am excited that the East Alabama community is at the forefront of dense breast screening innovation and has an opportunity to lead a global transformation in imaging that will save hundreds of thousands of lives.”
The FDA approval of SoftVue, used as an adjunct to mammography, allows women with dense breast tissue to have both cancer screening tests during a single appointment. Taking approximately eight to 10 minutes, a SoftVue exam uses warm water and ultrasound technology to create a 3D image of the whole breast to detect the presence of cancer in its earliest stages—including masses in dense breast tissue often missed by mammography alone—while avoiding radiation exposure and compression, allowing the radiologist to make a more accurate diagnosis.
“We are committed to providing our patients with superior screening technology. SoftVue will further strengthen our fight against breast cancer, which accounts for one in three new cancer diagnoses in women each year,” says Laura Grill, East Alabama Health president and CEO. “The key to breast cancer survival is early detection, and this new screening device will be lifesaving for so many women in our community.”
