US – GE Healthcare, a leading global medical technology and digital solutions innovator, has installed Serena Bright, the industry’s first contrast-guided biopsy solution, helping empower clinicians and patients in their fight against breast cancer, in five hospitals across the United States (US).

The technology received U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance in May 2020, will allow patients to have their breast biopsy exams with contrast guidance using the same mammography equipment, in the same room, and with the same staff as the screening or diagnostic mammogram.

Among others, Serena Bright has been installed at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (Philadelphia, Pa.), Boca Raton Regional Hospital (Boca Raton, Fla.), HCA Blake Medical Center in (Bradenton, Fla.) and Lake Medical Imaging & Breast Center (The Villages, Fla.).

According to WHO, survival rates for breast cancer vary with high-income countries recording a survival rate of > 90% as India and South Africa recording a survival rate of 66% and 40% respectively.

WHO also added that early detection and treatment has proven successful in high-income countries and should be applied in countries with limited resources where some of the standard tools are available.

Prior to GE Healthcare’s Serena Bright, the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) made regular use of mammograms and Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

The mammogram, a breast X-ray, is considered the best way to detect early breast cancer according to the CDC and it also recommends that having mammogram tests regularly can lower one’s risk of succumbing to breast cancer.

However, Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), that uses magnets and radio waves to take pictures, is not quite recommended for women with higher breast cancer risk because of how MRIs appear abnormal even in the absence of cancer.

With early detection still a problem, GE Healthcare’s Serena Bright is set to ensure this is not the case in future.

Serena Bright will reliable and accurate results that lead to a clear path of action, usually without further testing contrary to the past when clinicians typically needed MRI and contrast-enhanced biopsy procedures for a biopsy test.

With backlogs of cancer screenings caused by COVID-19 persists, delays in diagnosis are leading to some presentations at more advanced stages and poorer clinical outcomes, with one study pointing to a potential increase of 33,890 excessive cancer deaths in the U.S. alone.

GE Healthcare solution is hopeful that its solution may help decrease these delays, allowing follow-up biopsy procedures to be done in a matter of days, rather than waiting several weeks for an MRI biopsy.

When compared to MRI-biopsy guided therapy, the potential benefits of Contrast-Enhanced biopsy include shortened procedure time and improved overall patient experience.