Posted on Wed, Jul. 8, 2009
When it comes to breast cancer, the newest technology is a technique utilizing an arm. The technique uses a mechanical arm to guide the needle during the biopsy and possesses a braking system that allows accurate placement and lessens motion of the needle. Researchers say the new method will decrease procedure times to about a third of what they currently take while alleviating discomfort and morbidity caused by bleeding and other upshots of the biopsy.
Dr. Aaron Fenster, lead author of the study, and his team at the University of Western Ontario's Robarts Research Institute, London, Ontario, compared the method to traditional, freehand biopsies on phantoms and found the new one had better results.
"Our results showed that biopsy success rates were greater when using our new guidance system," Dr. Fenster says. "We also showed that experienced and inexperienced radiologists performed a biopsy significantly faster when using our needle guidance system."
Experienced radiologists averaged around 31 seconds to perform a biopsy freehand and approximately 10 seconds with the arm, and among those radiologists the success rate of the biopsy improved from 91.3 percent to 95.9 percent.
"Techniques for improving biopsy procedures are needed to make the procedures more efficient and reduce the variability due to physician experience and size of the target lesion," Dr. Fenster says. The arm is currently a prototype and must be redesigned for everyday clinical use. Tests are planned on human subjects this fall.
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