Navajo Nation Telemammography Field Trial Funded.

2001 JUL 5 - (NewsRx Network) -- Funding from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation is helping the U.S. Indian Health Service. Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine provide Native American women on Arizona's vast Navajo reservation with easier access to screening mammography.

A field trial using digital breast imaging, storage, and long-distance data transmission is scheduled to begin in early June 2001 in Tuba City, Arizona, in the heart of Northern Arizona's remote Navajo Reservation.

Physical access to breast screening services is often difficult for Native American women. The problem can be compounded by lack of transportation to screening sites, as well as lack of information on the importance of early detection and appropriate, consistent follow-up. Language barriers and cultural factors can complicate matters.

To prepare for the trial, health educators at Indian Health Service will develop culturally sensitive information that will familiarize the women with breast cancer, the screening procedure, and the need for consistent follow-up screening. The digital imaging equipment is aboard a Mobile Breast Care Center (MBCC) designed by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The van will travel to pre-determined reservation locations throughout the 15-month field trial. An estimated 2,000 Native American women are expected to undergo screening.

The trial will put the technology of digital breast imaging and long-distance transmission of the data it generates to a rigorous test. If it proves effective and reliable, this approach could provide a viable solution to mammography accessibility problems sometimes experienced by women in rural areas across the United States.

"A critically important part of the Komen Foundation's mission is to improve access to breast care services for women, no matter where they live. This project allows us to test whether digital mammography and long-distance data transmission to medical `centers of excellence' such as Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, is a workable answer to the problem of accessibility so many rural American women face," said Nancy Brinker founder of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

The MBCC contains a digital mammographic unit and an interfaced workstation that will allow Native ...