For Immediate Release

January 23, 2003

New Breast Imaging Technology at Mercy Women's Center

Oklahoma City-Breast MRI of Oklahoma, LLC, in cooperation with Mercy Health Center, is acquiring breast-dedicated magnetic resonance imaging. Only the ninth such unit in the country, this technology allows a radiologist to identify and biopsy breast abnormalities that cannot be diagnosed through conventional imaging.

Breast MRI takes hundreds of images, without any radiation exposure, and allows the radiologist to "travel" by computer through the tissue in order to identify abnormalities. Dr. Rebecca Stough, clinical director for Breast MRI of Oklahoma, LLC, began a breast MRI program at Mercy Health Center one year ago using the current state of the art equipment - a conventional MRI scanner adapted with a "breast coil."

Over the past year, Stough has conducted MRI studies for more than 250 patients. "I am convinced we are entering a new era of breast diagnostics," said Stough. "It's hard to describe the feeling the first time you study a patient with minimal or no abnormality on her mammogram, only to discover a fairly large breast cancer. It makes you realize there's a lot more going on in the breast than we previously saw on imaging studies."

"Although breast MRI is the most sensitive imaging tool available for detection of breast cancer, this new technology is not self-interpreting," added Dr. Alan Hollingsworth, medical director of Breast MRI of Oklahoma LLC and Mercy Women's Center. "It's equally important to have a dedicated radiologist such as Dr. Stough with experience in both MRI and mammography since MRI is a much greater challenge than other types of breast imaging."

Although breast MRI using a "breast coil" adapter can be done at several locations across the state, Breast MRI of Oklahoma at Mercy Women's Center is one of only two sites in Oklahoma introducing the breast-dedicated Aurora unit with its biopsy capability.

"Our goal is to identify those cancers that are being missed on mammography, and even to identify them earlier than mammography," said Stough. To ensure quality interpretation in this new era of breast imaging, Hollingsworth and Stough are establishing a roundtable conference at Mercy composed of radiologists, surgeons and pathologists where images are compared to biopsy results.

Aurora™ Imaging Technology, Inc., located in North Andover, Massachusetts, is currently the only company providing breast-dedicated MRI equipment. Mercy Women's Center in Oklahoma City will begin seeing patients in March after installation is complete.