Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis

Carol W. and Julius A. Rippel Breast Center at Morristown Medical Center and the Breast Center at Overlook Medical Center offers advanced breast cancer screening and diagnostic procedures to detect breast cancer in women quickly and get them on the road to treatment. We have a staff that includes board-certified, fellowship-trained breast imaging radiologists and mammography and ultrasound technologists.

Our breast cancer screening services include:

• Breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) – uses a large magnet, radio waves and a computer to scan body tissue and produce clear images of the breast from side-to-side, top-to-bottom, and front-to-back without radiation
  
  
• Breast cyst or fine needle aspiration – the removal of tissue or fluid with a needle for examination under a microscope to check for signs of breast cancer
  
  
• Bone density scan – uses x-rays to measure how many grams of calcium and other bone minerals are in a segment of bone, testing whether someone has osteoporosis
  
  
• Diagnostic mammography – x-rays of the breast which provide information about tumors in women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer
  
  
• Diagnostic ultrasound – uses high-frequency sound waves to produce precise images of structures within your body
  
  
• Digital mammography – takes an electronic image of the breast and stores it directly in a computer; uses less radiation than x-ray-based mammograms
  
  
• Galactogram – after injecting a contrast dye into the breast, the diagnostician uses mammography to obtain pictures of the inside of the breast's milk ducts
  
  
• Histopathologic marker assessment – assesses presence of genetic markers for breast cancer
  
  
• Lymph node mapping with sentinel node biopsy – determines whether cancer has spread from the breast to the primary lymph node
  
  
• Needle or wire localization – a thin wire is inserted into the breast under x-ray guidance to aid the surgeon in locating an abnormality that cannot be felt; can be used with surgical biopsy, fine needle aspiration or core needle biopsy; this can be performed using a mammogram, ultrasound or MRI
  
  
• Screening mammography – x-rays of the breast which check for breast cancer in women who have no symptoms of the disease
  
  
• Stereotactic breast biopsy – a scanning device pinpoints the precise location of the abnormal area and a needle is then inserted into the breast to obtain a tissue sample; a type of core biopsy
  
  
• Ultrasound guided breast biopsy – pinpoints the precise location of the abnormal area; a needle is then inserted into the breast to obtain a tissue sample; a type of core biopsy
  
  
• Vacuum assisted, MRI-guided core biopsy – uses a vacuum-powered instrument to collect multiple tissue samples during one needle insertion