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X-ray machine offers new hope to breast cancer patients in Scotland
A SPECIALIST X-ray machine is being used at a hospital in Fife in a bid to speed up the diagnosis of breast cancer.
The Pixarray 100 Digital Specimen Radiography system from Daax has been installed at Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline and allows biopsy samples to be tested immediately in the operating theatre, avoiding the need for tissue to be taken elsewhere in the hospital for analysis. It therefore allows instant confirmation of whether a sample is cancerous, meaning the surgeon no longer needs to suspend operations while waiting for results to arrive. The Scottish Health Secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, met with specialist breast cancer care staff who use the equipment last week following a meeting with the Association for International Cancer Research (AICR).
She said: “We are committed to improving the care and treatment of cancer in Scotland, as well as supporting research.
“Our NHS is constantly improving its cancer treatments to offer the best-quality care as quickly, as safely and as close to home as possible.
“The specialist breast cancer diagnostic equipment now being used at Queen Margaret gives quicker results and cuts the length of time patients spend in theatre, which is good news for women awaiting their diagnosis. But it also makes the system more efficient, since the time that used to be spent in X-ray departments testing samples can now be used to carry out more mammography. As well as making the best use of NHS resources, this is another reminder that a more-efficient NHS directly helps patients.”
NHS Fife’s lead cancer clinician, Clive Preston, added: “The purchase of this equipment enhances the standard of care for patients undergoing surgical excision or core biopsy procedures by reducing time in theatre waiting for results to come back from another department.”
The Health Secretary also met with scientific and fundraising staff at the St Andrews base of the Association for International Cancer Research (AICR).
She said: “In addition to the work done by our NHS and the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office, the voluntary sector makes a major contribution to supporting cancer research and care. Thanks to the AICR here in Fife, hundreds of projects in more than two dozen countries are looking into how to improve cancer treatment and prevention.” |
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