New advanced ultrasound unit comes to Waterloo Wellington Breast Centre
Posted Nov 20, 2013 03:28:59 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Wait times for potentially cancerous biopsy results are now being cut down at the Waterloo Wellington Breast Centre at the Grand River Hospital’s Freeport Site.
This thanks to the latest and greatest in ultrasound technology being donated to the centre.
Judy Burns VP of Cancer and Diagnostic Services at GRH tells 570 News this technology will get test information to patients who have had abnormal mammogram results faster. She says this is huge for future patients eagerly awaiting test results.
“If you have had an abnormal mammogram and have to have a biopsy then reducing that waiting time before you have an actual answer to whether or not you have cancer is critically important.”
Burns hopes this will encourage more women to get tested for breast cancer.
“We want to raise the awareness of breast screening so more women get screening and then be able to follow up much more quickly on the results as a result of having a new piece of equipment.”
With the new ultrasound unit, urgent biopsies can be addressed within two weeks and urgent breast screening cases within a few days.
Right now, Burns says 75% of Ontario screen-eligible women (aged 50-74) with an abnormal OBSP who needed a tissue biopsy were diagnosed within seven weeks of the abnormal screen date.
The Centre is looking to boost that number to 90%.
She adds, when it comes to quality of equipment, the advanced ultrasound machine puts them at one of the top centres in Ontario.
“It puts us on the leading edge of the technology that is available…it does certainly enable you to do things better, and more quickly, and more efficiently.”
The donation of the advanced Philips Matrix IU22 ultrasound machine comes from The Kavelman-Fonn Foundation in Dr. Eugene Rafferty’s name, a leading Radiologist at Grand River Hospital.
Full interview with Judy Burns VP of Cancer and Diagnostic Services at GRH
