Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Equipment To Detect Breast Cancer Painlessly To Make Debut

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 (Bernama) -- A Russian-made equipment to detect breast cancer will be introduced at an awareness campaign here on Nov 5 and 6.
The campaign, organised by the MCA Wanita divisions of Wangsa Maju, Setiawangsa, Titiwangsa, Batu and Bukit Bintang with the cooperation of Chinese herbal medicine dealer Eu Yan Sang, will be held from 11am to 8pm on the two days at the Eu Yan Sang head office in Shaw Parade, Jalan Thamby Dollah.
The equipment, named Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT), is painless to the user unlike the mammogram procedure.
"The pain experienced during the mammogram procedure is one of the reasons why many women do not go for periodic checks," said Parliamentary Secretary in the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry Chew Mei Fun.
Women who took the EIT scan during the campaign would need to pay only half the cost of RM120 with the other half sponsored by Eu Yan Sang, she told a news conference, Monday.
Chew, who is the MCA Wanita deputy chief, said the EIT could also be used to prevent breast cancer as it could detect damaged tissue that might lead to breast cancer, which would enable the patient to seek early treatment.
Bio Impedance Sdn Bhd, the supplier of the equipment, said it could be used by women aged from 15 years, unlike the mammogram procedure which was only suitable for women aged 40 and above.
Bio Impedance's business development director Jailani Abdul Rahman said a scan using the EIT would take between 12 and 20 minutes, and the result would be known immediately.

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