A new mammography machine at Bendigo Health will improve the potential for early diagnosis and detection of breast cancer.
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Bendigo Health radiologist and director of breast screening Jill Wilkie said the machine would be a great addition to the hospital.
"It's a huge excitement to us," she said. "It is the first of its kind available to public (in country Victoria) and a great addition to the cohort of imaging technologies we already have.
"We hope it will mean more accurate and specific diagnoses... and getting more information about the extent of the disease in women.
"It also gives us the confidence in clearing women we think have not got breast cancer."
Dr Wilkie said there had been a great and rapid progression of imaging technology in medical facilities over the past 20 years.
"There has been a steady increase in the quality of the imaging we have and this is an extension of that," she said. "The image quality we have had until now has been excellent... but this takes it a step further."
The machine takes a series of images that are bound together to produce a three-dimensional image of a patients's breast instead of a two-dimensional one meaning doctors will see any problems more precisely.
Bendigo Health chair Bob Cameron said the hospital had to keep improving and equipment like the new mammography machine would benefit women in the Bendigo region.
"This is the best machine going around and we are fortunate to have it," he said. "It's the next step in equipment (and to be) the only place in country Victoria to have it means access to very best equipment (for patients)."
The $320,000 machine was made available through the state government's medical equipment replacement program.
"We know on average 266 women in the region are diagnosed with breast cancer each year," Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards said.
"This machine means treatment is much more specific and we know having these screenings make a difference to women's lives."
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