Officials with the Cass County Health System Foundation have announced their 2017 Campaign to purchase a 3D Mammography Unit for Cass County Memorial Hospital. Foundation Director Dawn Marnin says “Breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women, and we all know someone who has been affected by it. Having this new diagnostic tool available right here in Cass County will allow women to be diagnosed up to 15 months earlier. Early detection remains the key to the successful treatment of breast cancer, which makes this campaign so vital.”

At a cost of $450,000, the 3D Mammography technology is a big investment, and the Foundation is busy planning a direct mail campaign, employee and community campaigns, spring gala, and golf tournament – all aimed at helping raise the needed funds. Once purchased, the 3D unit will completely replace the current equipment, and it will become the standard technology for all patients who receive an annual screening mammogram.

Carrie Schmitt, Director of Diagnostic Imaging, says “This technology provides greater detail and visibility than previous units.  It not only provides earlier diagnosis, but it will reduce the number of call backs for additional imaging, which means less radiation exposure for those patients as well as much less stress.”

A 3D mammogram is conducted in a manner very similar to a traditional mammogram, with a technologist positioning the patient and taking images from different angles. The images produced from 3D Mammography provide a radiologist with greater visibility of breast tissue than ever before, allowing for a more thorough assessment of the results.

In recent studies, 3D mammograms not only were able to find cancers that remained undetected by traditional mammograms, but also were able to significantly reduce the number of false results – cutting back the number of callbacks for unnecessary additional screenings. Overall, 3D Mammography has shown a 41 percent increase in the detection of invasive breast cancers compared to traditional technology, and a reduction in reported false positives of up to 40 percent.

To make a donation or learn more about this campaign, contact Dawn Marnin at mardd@casshealth.org or 712-243-7409.