1 out of 8 women in the US will develop breast cancer in her lifetime.

3 out of 4 have no family history.

Early detection saves lives.  Getting regular mammograms can catch cancer sooner when treatment options are less aggressive – and outcomes are more positive.

Better detection means many women can opt for less invasive treatment options.  That’s why annual screenings – and the right mammography choice – are so important.

Mammograms use low-energy x-rays to examine breast tissue for screening and diagnosis.  Because x-rays don’t go through tissue easily, the machine has two plates that compress or flatten the breast to spread the tissue apart.  This produces a clearer image of your breasts.

The Genius exam allows doctors to examine your breast tissue layer by layer.  So, instead of viewing all of the complexities of your breast tissue in a flat image, as with conventional 2D mammography, fine details are more visible and no longer hidden by the tissue above or below.

More than 200 clinical studies have shown that by using this technology, doctors are able to screen for breast cancer with much greater accuracy—regardless of a woman’s age or breast density.

When you arrive at Sparta Community Hospital, staff will direct you to an imaging room to disrobe from the waist up and wear a hospital gown. Remember to put the opening in the front!

During the exam, just you and a technologist will be in the room. They’ll position your breasts one at a time in between two surfaces, which will apply pressure while taking the x-ray images. The technician will take two sets of images for each breast. This includes a craniocaudal view, where the beam captures a top-down image of the breast, and a mediolateral view, which captures the breast’s side profile. Even if you feel like a contortionist for a few seconds, it’s important to relax your body as much as possible. With a Genius® 3D™ exam, the positioning and compressions are similar to traditional mammograms, but the result is multiple images in a less than 4-second scan time.

Breasts come in different shapes and sizes.  Volume and fullness mean overlapping tissue, which can be an issue in getting a clear picture of your breasts’ health.  Compression—or squishing—spreads out the tissue, allowing radiologists to see and detect abnormalities that might be hidden.  If the breast is not well compressed, overlapping tissue can look like a mass or anomaly, which might mean getting called back for more imaging.

Compression also reduces motion so that images can be as clear as possible.

Self-Request Mammograms

Sparta Community Hospital District’s Diagnostic Imaging Department is now offering a Self-Request Mammography Screening Program.

Self-Requesting patients are patients who come for screening mammography on their own initiative (without a providers order), but are able to name a health care provider who accepts responsibility for that patient’s clinical breast care. Women who meet the screening criteria may now schedule a mammography screening at Sparta Community Hospital without an order from their provider.

Used as a wellness tool, the goal of our Self-Request Mammography Screening Program is to guard your health and provide you easier access to testing that can detect breast cancer in its earliest form, thus increasing your chance of survival should cancer be detected.

Whether you have a current provider or not, you can call and schedule your mammography screening appointment. The Self-Request Mammography Screening is covered by most insurance plans.
Eligibility Requirements

To qualify for the Self-Request Mammography Screening Program, you must meet all of the following criteria:

  • Female 40 years of age or older at the time of screening
  • Asymptomatic (have no current breast complaints)
  • No personal history of breast cancer
  • No breast implants