Bellevue-based Overlake Medical Center recently announced that all patients undergoing mammography screenings will get the benefit of MammoPad cushions, providing a warm, more comfortable surface between the patient and the image receptor. The radiolucent foam is invisible to X-rays, ensuring the quality of the image is not compromised. This announcement comes as Breast Cancer Awareness month gets underway in October.

Studies have shown that anxiety about the pain and discomfort of mammograms inhibit some women from undergoing routine mammogram screenings.

“In the name of comfort it is the right thing to do,” said Overlake Medical Center’s Director of Imaging David Winokur. “By reducing discomfort, we hope women will be motivated to get the screenings for early detection of breast cancer.”

Overlake conducts more than 20,000 screening mammograms each year.

The MammoPads are placed on the glass plate of the X-ray machine allowing the technologist to better position a patient’s breast tissue for screening and obtain more of the chest wall in the image.

While the cushion’s grip-like surface holds the breast tissue in place, the patient is more comfortable and as a result more relaxed.

Overlake recently opened its doors to the new Overlake Cancer Center that transforms the way cancer treatment is delivered. The facility designed from the ground up by cancer survivors, their families, doctors and staff offers coordinated and comprehensive treatment and care in one central location.

According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women behind lung cancer. The society estimates that more than 40,000 women will die from breast cancer in 2017, and about 252,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women.

According to the American Cancer Society, screening mammography in women aged 40 to 69 years is associated with a reduction in breast cancer deaths across a range of study designs.