The most advanced mammography equipment currently available on the market has been installed at the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin.

The new Hologic 3Dimensions mammogram machine began operating in the hospital earlier this month and it is hoped that its use could lead to better breast cancer detection rates.

One in nine women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime and the earlier the disease is diagnosed, the better.

The new machine uses specific technology called tomosynthesis, which allows radiographers to obtain a series of thin images through the breast. This offers visual images in the highest definition available, which improves detection rates.

This new technology also allows radiologists to cut the time it takes to perform a biopsy, from 20 minutes to 10 minutes, which improves the patient's experience.

"The new mammography equipment will allow radiographers to obtain images in 2D and 3D, offering the highest visual images possible. We are the only hospital in Ireland with these 70 microns (0.07 mm) high resolution tomosynthesis technology," explained Prof Paddy Gilligan, chief physicist and registered radiation protection advisor at the hospital.

He added that the hospital has invested over €400,000 in the new equipment, ‘so that we can improve detectability and decrease biopsy procedure times by half'.

The Mater Private's Specialist Breast Centre currently carries out around 4,000 mammograms per year. For more information on it, call (01) 885 8294.