Central Coast women have another local health center where they can get screened for breast cancer using new technologies for earlier detection, thanks to an anonymous donor.

The 3Dimensions Mammography System, available at Mission Hope Breast Imaging Center at Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria, takes high quality, clear images, from which radiologists can detect smaller cancers that would have slipped through the previous system, radiologist Ramanjyot Muhar said.

"I do think it's one of the best machines out there on the market. I love looking at the images from here because they are beautiful, and any small abnormality can stick out here," she said.

Before, people would come in for a mammogram and the center used 2D imaging technology, which wasn't as accurate and could bring up false positive cases, Muhar said.

"We would have called people back when it wasn't anything. It raises a lot of anxiety, and [now] the amount of that has decreased," she said.

The new imaging technology also makes it more comfortable to have screening done thanks to a curved paddle that sits on the breast tissue in a less compressive way, and it detects more areas on the breast tissue, Muhar added.

"The machine we had was older and we were not visualizing abnormalities like we are now. Because we are a cancer-specific center, we need[ed] that machine," she said.

Alongside 3Dimensions, the Brevera Breast Biopsy System is another new piece of equipment that shortens biopsy procedures and reduces the amount of breast tissue doctors have to take, Muhar said.

During previous procedures, doctors would have to take biopsy samples, leave the room, take an X-ray to confirm what they are looking for, and then come back to the patient. Now, Muhar and other radiologists can see what they are removing from the breasts and don't have to leave the patient's side or repeatedly remove more breast tissue for testing, she said.

"The other thing the techs tell me is it's much easier for them to use, and we can see more patients during the day. With the ease of the machine for the technologists, we are able to see more patients and care for more people in the community," Muhar said.

These are newer machines to the Central Coast area, but not unique to Marian, she noted.

"This is something that we needed for a while, and we have it now and it's great. It increases the confidence for the radiologist when looking at mammograms; technologists have mentioned they like working with the machine as well," she said. "The biopsy portion really was something we needed here. The biopsy table we had before really needed to be upgraded."

Muhar encouraged people to schedule a mammogram at 40 and every year following because it detects cancer at smaller sizes and improves prognosis. If younger people in their 20s or 30s feel something, Muhar said they should talk to their doctor.

"It's better now than ever. Patients feel bad they had something, but at the end of the day you have to be thankful you are arriving at the time you did."

Fast fact

People's Self-Help Housing recently received $12,000 from the Community Foundation of San Luis Obispo's Fund for Vineyard and Farm Workers. The funding will help the nonprofit organization's Camino Scholars program, which runs 11 learning centers at People's Self-Help Housing sites to help students with tutoring, college application assistance, financial aid navigation, and more. Brian and Johnine Talley established the Fund for Vineyard and Farm Workers to provide grants to organizations that improve the lives of SLO County agriculture workers. For more information, visit cfsloco.org. For more about the Camino Scholars program, visit pshhc.org/education. Δ

Taylor O'Connor, from New Times' sister paper the Sun, wrote this week's Strokes. You can reach her at [email protected].