Lafayette Clinic Offering Free 3D Mammograms To Promote New Technology

Dr. Brad Piatt believes so much in the new 3D mammography technology that he's offering it for free... at least until the end of the year.

The doctor's Inview Imaging office on Dewing Avenue in Lafayette is the only medical clinic in the East Bay with a 3D mammography machine. It's only one of a handful in California with one, in fact.

Inview Imaging has had the machine for the past 18 months and hasn't charged patients for the test. A standard two-dimensional mammogram must be done along with the 3D test and patients are still charged for that exam.

Piatt recently decided to make the free 3D offer more public in order to promote the advantages of the new technology.

"The general public still doesn't know a lot about this technology," said Jonathan Raymond, Inview's director of development and operations. "This is a good way to introduce it."

Piatt said there are several advantages to using the 3D image. He said it gives medical professionals a better look at a breast image because it provides pictures of different layers of tissue.

"You're looking at the individual pages one at a time as well as the whole book," he explained.

The 3D machine, he added, can give professionals a clearer look, especially through dense breast tissue.

Piatt said the better view reduces the number of women who are called back in for another test because the initial results aren't definitive. He said it also reduces "false positives" by 20 to 40 percent and increases detection of invasive cancer by 40 percent.

There are critics of the new technology.

Some medical experts say the double dose of 2D and 3D tests exposes women to more radiation, increasing their risk of other cancers.

The American Association of Retired Persons says the new technology is promising but needs more testing.

Piatt acknowledges there is additional radiation with the 3D test, but he says it's still below FDA limits for mammography and it's worth the risk because of the higher probability of finding cancer growth in its early stages.

Piatt said there are several reasons why more clinics don't have 3D mammograms.

For starters, the machines cost more than $500,000.

In addition, insurance companies don't reimburse yet for 3D mammography because it's still going through clinical trials even though the technology was approved by the FDA in 2011.

Raymond and Piatt both said they hope the 3D technology will encourage more women to get regular breast exams.

"There is such a gap now between women who should get the exam and women who do," said Raymond. "We want to eliminate that gap."

The 3D exam is done at the same time as the 2D exam. Piatt also limits the 3D examinations to women who are at least 40 years old.