What is digital mammography? How is it different from conventional (film) mammography?
Both digital and conventional mammography use x-ray radiation to produce an image of the breast; however, conventional mammography stores the image directly on film, whereas digital mammography takes an electronic image of the breast and stores it directly in a computer. This allows the recorded data to be enhanced, magnified, or manipulated for further evaluation. The difference between conventional mammography and digital mammography is like the difference between a traditional film camera and a new digital camera. Aside from the difference in how the image is recorded and stored, there is no other difference between the two. In January 2000, the FDA approved the first digital mammography system. In September 2005, preliminary results from a large clinical trial (research study) of digital vs. film mammography were published. These findings show no difference between digital and film mammograms in detecting breast cancer for the general population of women in the trial. However, thos
