What role does Contrast-Enhanced Spectral Mammography (CESM) play in dense breast imaging?

Breast MRI has long been the gold standard for high-risk patients, but its high cost, long scan times, and accessibility issues remain significant hurdles. Contrast-Enhanced Mammography (CEM) has emerged as a viable alternative, utilizing iodine-based contrast agents to highlight neovascularization associated with malignancy. This provides functional information similar to MRI but within a standard mammographic workflow.

Why is the Breast Imaging Equipment Market diversifying into functional imaging?

The Breast Imaging Equipment Market is shifting from purely morphological assessment toward functional diagnostic capabilities. In 2024, manufacturers are integrating dual-energy hardware into standard mammography units to facilitate CEM. This allows community hospitals to provide high-sensitivity imaging for dense-breast patients without the multi-million dollar investment required for an MRI suite.

Streamlining the diagnostic pathway for surgical planning

CESM is proving invaluable for pre-surgical mapping. By clearly identifying the extent of a lesion and detecting multifocal disease, it helps surgeons plan more accurate lumpectomies or mastectomies. This precision reduces the rate of positive margins, which is a key clinical quality metric for modern oncology centers.

• Rapid adoption in outpatient diagnostic centers as a high-margin service.
• Clinical trials in 2024 evaluating CEM as a primary screening tool for high-risk groups.
• Development of non-ionic contrast media specifically optimized for spectral imaging.

Strategic Outlook for 2025

By 2025, we anticipate that CEM will be formally included in many national clinical guidelines for the workup of suspicious findings. This will trigger a secondary wave of hardware replacements as facilities seek to upgrade their older digital systems to spectral-capable units.

Author: Sofiya Sanjay

Designation: Healthcare Research Consultant, Market Research Future

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