I am a radiologist with Radiology Associates of Macon.  After completing residency and fellowship twenty-five years ago, I moved from Pennsylvania to Macon for my first and only job.  Radiology Associates of Macon provides diagnostic and interventional radiology and radiation oncology services to a number of hospitals and many doctor’s offices throughout middle Georgia.  While all radiologists provide a variety of services, especially on call, each of us has become more specialized as our practice has grown.  I spend much of my time in breast imaging, and specifically screening for and diagnosing breast cancer.
 
   Mammography has evolved as a tool for breast cancer diagnosis over the last three decades, from xero mammograms, fuzzy images printed on paper, to breast tomosynthesis, also called 3D mammography.  Traditional mammograms produced images of the breast in different views, but with the whole breast superimposed on itself.  Tomosynthesis generates images of the breast that are viewed in slabs or slices, eliminating the limitations from superimposed structures. With the 3D technique, radiologists are finding approximately 40% more cancers and recalling approximately 40% fewer patients for additional views.  I believe the 3D mammogram will also find smaller and earlier cancers.  
 
     Women are fortunate that the future of breast imaging is bright and exciting, and annual mammography after age forty is a means to help keep one’s own future bright