Surgical Center - the outpatient surgical complex at Thomas Jefferson University - explained that surgeons can use ultrasound to locate tiny breast masses that are so small they can't be felt during a physical examination.
Schwartz and radiologist Dr. Barry Goldberg began using ultrasound for breast biopsy because it presents a precise picture of the problem area.
The more traditional way to locate a lump involves inserting a needle into the breast, taking an X-ray of the breast to find the position of the lump in relation to the needle, and then taking the patient from the X-ray facility to surgery.
The process is more uncomfortable for the patient, takes longer, and gives the surgeon a less precise idea of where the tumor will be found - often resulting in a larger surgical incision and scar.
Ultrasound can be used instead of the traditional method in about 40 percent of cases, Schwartz said.
With ultrasound, a probe called a transducer is used to create a picture of the trouble spot by bouncing sound waves into the breast. The resulting echoes are translated into an image on a small television monitor.
Doctors watch the monitor until they find the lump with the ultrasound probe, then draw an X on the patient's skin to mark the spot for the incision. The ultrasound equipment measures the lump's depth, and displays the results on the screen.
In Satalof's case, the lump proved to be tiny - the size of a small pearl.
The operation was performed with local anesthesia - painkillers injected near the incision.
"This was certainly less stressful than the first time," said Satalof, 36, who has had suspicious lumps removed on another occasion.
"Then, I was hospitalized for three days and put to sleep for the operation. When I woke up, I didn't know what the doctors had done, and that was terrible," she said.
Satalof, 36, is monitored closely for signs of breast cancer; it runs in her family, which means she has an increased chance of contracting the disease. Her sister, Linda Creed, died of cancer in 1986.
Last week, The Linda Creed Epstein Foundation - formed in the songwriter's honor - announced that its primary goal is to pay for mammograms for poor women. Federal aid programs don't pay for routine breast cancer screenings.
