A $300,000 state-of-the-art digital mammography machine at Wodonga hospital will be able to detect 40 per cent more breast cancers in Border and North East women.
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The new machine, now operating at Albury Wodonga Health, will give women greater access to early diagnosis and detection of the cancer and patients are already singing its praises.
Patient Cheryl Pollard has been getting regular mammograms since finding a lump 15 years ago.
"It is wonderful - it is obviously more accurate for diagnosing," she said.
"I know a lot of women who have this procedure done ongoing so this is so good for them and for the women of Albury-Wodonga.
"Having the procedure done felt less intrusive, it is just a wonderful piece of mind knowing it is more accurate for me is wonderful."
The machine was purchased using a $300,000 Victorian government grant and utilises 3D technology combined with contrast enhancement.
AWH medical imaging manager Natalie McIntosh said instead of being a conventional type of machine which takes just one image, the new machine takes a series of images to create a three-dimensional one.
"The comments from patients is it has a lot more comfort associated with the examination so that has been a great purchase for the department," she said.
"The analagy is that it is like a loaf of sliced bread and we are picking out different slices so we can hone into that particular slice so we can get a lot better interpretation of what we are looking at.
"In excess of 4000 diagnostic mammograms are performed locally, each year.
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"The new machine means treatment is more specific and we can get a greater picture of breast tissue, meaning potentially less follow-ups for women, false-positives and other invasive measures to detect breast cancer.
"The quality of medical imaging is always advancing and this new machine is an extension to the range of quality early diagnostic and breast cancer services we offer at Albury Wodonga Health."
AWH chief operating officer Emma Poland said this is the first mammography machine of its kind available in North East Victoria.
"We know that the key to beating breast cancer is early diagnosis and early treatment, and this new machine at the Wodonga Hospital will provide local women with access to cutting edge technology," she said.
Albury Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre Trust Fund delivered $337,000 in new equipment earlier this year to signal the start of reconstructive surgery on the Border, with two successful breast reconstructions completed in Albury.
