Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN VOICE
OCTOBER 14/1993
X-ray technology once used to examine nuclear warheads
may be useful in early detection of breast cancer
Washington, DC—Machinery designed to
detect and analyze flaws in nuclear warheads
and experimental laser weapons soon may be
used to provide women better early detection
of breast cancer.
The Energy Department signed an agree
ment Oct. 6 for a S3.28 million joint venture
between the department’s Lawrence
Livermore Laboratory in California and a
Colorado manufacturer of X-ray equipment
to develop improved “digital” detection tech
nology for breast cancer.
Fischer Imaging Corp. of Denver, a lead
ing manufacturer of diagnostic X-ray machin
ery, will finance $2.4 million, while the gov
ernment will contribute $880,000, according
to the agreement.
The digital technology will allow clearer
images for medical technicians and lead to
earlier and more precise detection of cancers
in the breast, cancer experts said.
Dr. Faina Shtem, chairman of diagnostic
imaging at the National Cancer Institute, said
the new technology, once it is widely used,
will represent “a real revolution” in the abil
ity analyze breast X-ray images and detect
early cancers.
While a prototype of commercial equip
ment may be ready for government review in
about a year, industry and government offi
cials acknowledged at a news conference it
may take as long a decade for the technology
to widely replace the 12,000 current X-ray
machines now in use.
But Morgan Nields, chairman of Fischer
Imaging, said the equipment is likely to be
available at some hospitals much earlier.
“We think it will be compelling for major
medical institutions to take this technology as
soon as they can get it,” said Nields.
He expects the new equipment to .cost
two to three times as much as most conven
tional X-ray machinery—but be cheaper to
operate.
The digital technology has been used for
years at government weapons laboratories
such as Lawrence Livermore to check for
possible flaws in components of weapons and
other defense-related hardware.
Some of the government’s machinery
costs several million dollars, compared with
roughly $75,000 for conventional X-ray equip
ment used in hospitals.
The joint venture is the latest in an at
tempt to convert scientific expertise at gov
ernment weapons laboratories into commer
cial and civilian uses.
“Our goal would be that we have this
product ready for FDA (Food and Drug Ad
ministration) approval in 1994,” Nields said
Tuesday.
Clint Logan, mammography project leader
at Lawrence Livermore, said it might take a
bit longer, perhaps three years, to resolve
technical problems and two more years to
obtain FDA approval.
Breast cancer claims the lives of an esti
mated 46,000 women in the United States
each year. While X-ray imaging, along with
physical examinations, is considered the most
effective means of early detection, health ex
perts estimate a fifth of mammograms, using
current conventional technology, fail to de
tect cancers that are present.
The digital equipment would provide bel
ter image quality, require less radiation dose,
allow detection of smaller tumors and detect
early signs of a problem in younger women
whose breast tissue is more dense, which
makes conventional X-ray machinery less re
liable, said Nields.
Nields said the supercomputers available
at Livermore, one of the leading government
The new digital equipment
would provide better image
quality, require less radiation
dose, allow detection of
smaller tumors and detect
early signs of a problem in
younger women whose breast
tissue is more dense.
research facilities, also will allow researchers
to find the optimum wave length to achieve
the best image at the lowest dose levels,
thereby reducing X-ray radiation exposure to
patients.
Fischer Imaging hopes to develop a digi
tal version that costs two to three times what
conventional X-ray equipment costs. Nields
said such a price would be commercially com
petitive since the digital equipment is cheaper
to operate, provides cheaper storage and pro
duces less waste.
Digital mammography uses electronic ra
diation detectors to capture the image created
by X-rays passing through the breast. A con
verter changes the X-ray energy to visible
light. While a conventional X-ray machine
captures the images on film, the digital sys
tem allows it to be viewed directly on elec
tronic displays similar to a home computer.
Nields said because the image is much
clearer, with greater contrast, it will allow
belter detection with fewer X-rays actually
being taken and detect smaller tumors.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Weapons turned to breast cancer war
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