Mammography Alternative Uses Electricity

Mammography Alternative Uses Electricity
August 30, 2008
Researchers are studying a device that uses electrical current to detect breast cancer and could one day be an alternative to mammography.
The Azura BreastScan System from Z-Tech Medical Inc. of Westford, Mass., relies on an electrical impedance technology known as Homologous Electrical Difference Analysis, or HEDA. The technique is based on the theory that electrical current passes through cancerous tissue differently than through normal tissue.
In a Z-Tech scan, the clinician places a flower-shaped grouping of electrodes over each breast and sends a small, painless amount of electricity through them. Unlike traditional mammography, the scan does not involve breast compression or radiation.
A computer immediately calculates and presents a report based on the electrical signature of the breast tissue. Rather than waiting on a breast image from a traditional mammogram, the computer immediately notes whether the scan is positive or negative for cancer.
"It's like doing an EKG of the breast," said James Craft, M.D., from the Medical College of Georgia, or MCG, in Augusta, Ga. "This method doesn't use radiation, is portable and there is no pain associated with the squeezing that mammograms require."
MCG is one of 20 centers internationally participating in a study comparing mammography with the Azura BreastScan on women ages 40 to 50 years. The patients will undergo examination with the Azura device and then have a mammogram within 90 days.
The study will help determine if the Azura can improve detection rates in younger women with mammographically dense breasts.
"Normal breast tissue is very dense, especially in younger women, and can hide tumors," said Dr. Craft. "While we've known for a while that water flows more freely through cancerous cells, we also know that electrical current flows easier through cancerous and tumor tissue."
The technology's developers hope that the new test will provide an alternative to mammograms. However, Dr. Craft believes the test more likely will serve as an adjunct to traditional mammography.
"I can see it being used as an additional test," he says. "I don't think it will replace mammography, but it could increase our chances of catching breast cancer."
The second phase of the Z-Tech trial is open to women ages 40 to 50 years having routine mammograms as well as those who have a suspicious lump scheduled for biopsy.