On Thursday, Siemens Healthcare announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the company's latest digital X-ray mammography system called the MAMMOMAT Inspiration Prime Edition. The system is based on the MAMMOMAT Inspiration platform and is aimed at lowering radiation dose.

Siemens claims that the new and improved system can lower patient dose by up to 30 percent without compromising image quality. It accomplishes this through a new algorithm for progressive image reconstruction instead of a standard scatter radiation grid.

Scatter radiation grids are used on most conventional mammography systems. They absorb excess radiation, which comes off the primary radiation used to create the X-ray image. Since scatter grids also catch the primary radiation, providers use a higher dose to create quality images.

But radiation dose continues to be a concern in imaging, especially for mammography, where women are encouraged to get regular screenings. Vendors like Siemens see the ability to minimize dose for patient and provider as a top priority going forward.

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