The American Cancer Society recommends that all women over age 40 get a yearly mammogram, an X-ray screening exam that catches disease early and can reduce death rates from breast cancer by 20% to 30%. By upgrading this gold-standard test with full-field digital mammography — which takes a digital image instead of a conventional film picture — technicians can get a more richly contrasted view of the breast, improving their ability to detect small lesions hidden in dense breast tissue and to rule out non-cancerous masses.