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The Medical College of Georgia is studying whether a painless, portable device that uses electrical current rather than X-ray to look for breast cancer could be an alternative to traditional mammograms.

MCG is one of 20 centers internationally studying new technology developed by Z-Tech Inc., to compare traditional mammograms with impedance scanning, a technique based on evidence that electrical current passes through cancerous tissue differently than through normal tissue.

Dr. James Craft, MCG radiologist in the School of Medicine and principal investigator, explained that this phase of the study will focus on women ages 40-50. Because older women have less dense breast tissue, cancer is easier to find.

Mammograms, also performed in the study, are more accurate in this population, so this phase will be a tougher test of the new technology, Dr. Craft explained. The first phase of the study, which began in 2005, was open to women of all ages.

"Normal breast tissue is very dense, especially in younger women, and can hide tumors," Dr. Craft says. "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 Z-Tech scan works by placing a flower-shaped grouping of electrodes over each breast and sending a small, painless amount of electricity through them. Unlike traditional mammography, the scan does not involve breast compression or radiation.

"It's like doing an EKG of the breast," Dr. Craft says. The new test - called HEDA for Homologous Electrical Difference Analysis - will hopefully provide an alternative to mammograms, although not necessarily replace mammography.

"This method doesn't use radiation, is portable and there is no pain associated with the squeezing that mammograms require," he says. "I can see it being used as an additional test. I don't think it will replace mammography, but it could increase our chances of catching breast cancer."

After the scan, results are calculated by computer with a report based on the electrical signature of the breast tissue. The computer immediately notes whether the scan is positive or negative for cancer.

However, for study purposes, neither Dr. Craft nor the patient will know the results. Patients must undergo a mammogram within 90 days, which Dr. Craft interprets. Z-Tech compares those results to the electrical study.

The second phase of the Z-Tech trial is open to women ages 40-50 having routine mammograms as well as those who have a suspicious lump scheduled for biopsy.

Adapted from a press release from the Medical College of Georgia
https://my.mcg.edu/portal/page/portal/News/archive/2008/New%20breast%20cancer%20test%20under%20study