A brand new breast biopsy machine at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead will vastly make the process quicker and less invasive for patients - and help medics to diagnose more people with lethal cancer for less money.
A new machine - called the Brevera Biopsy Unit - means biopsies can now be taken and scanned in real-time. This means that rather than needing up to six biopsies to ensure the correct tissue is sampled, the clinicians can work out as they go, using the imaging, if they need to take further samples.
The team at the QE are excited about the new technology, which went live on June 12, and hope it will have a real impact on catching breast cancer as early as possible by boosting biopsy capacity.
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Joanne Brand, lead radiographer for breast screening at the hospital, said: "Previously, what we have had two is use two separate machines. This new machine combines the two into one. We had one machine that did the vacuum biopsy - actually taking the sample out. But then the member of staff would have to leave the patient and take that sample out to go and analyse it."
"What this now means is we can x-ray the sample as it is extracted. It's not a pleasant procedure to have to have done, Before you would need to take six samples and then x-ray them. Now, if you the first sample is viable you can stop there."
The new machine is the first in the North East. James McCourt, service lead at the hospital trust, added: "Our focus is on what's best for our patients. This is better for patients as it's a quicker procedure and will mean that we have to take less tissue samples. Also with it being quicker, we can be more efficient and ultimately able to get more biopsies done."
The real-time imaging means less tissue has to be removed, and the new machine also means the samples do not have to be handled as much by staff, helping to preserve them. As such, the team at the QE hope it will reduce the time taken for each procedure and boost productivity.
Joanne added: "This is a significant investment for our Breast Unit and we are proud to be the only trust in the region to have invested in this state-of-the-art technology. We are confident that this new system will have a positive impact on both patients and staff in the breast unit by reducing procedure time and improving the patient experience during a biopsy."
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