You are in Our Partners . At the Women's Wellness Center at HealthSouth Doctor's Hospital in Coral Gables, Santelices has performed more than 3,000 stereotactic breast biopsies and has traveled throughout Florida, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico training hundreds of physicians in the technique. He was the first surgeon in the state of Florida to practice the procedure. Stereotactic breast biopsies provide accuracy within 1 millimeter, at one-third the cost of conventional surgical biopsies.
Patients have no scarring and avoid the risks of anesthesia.
Stereotactic procedures require specifically designed equipment and a team of physicians and technologists who have received highly specialized training. During biopsy, the patient sits or lies prone with the breast suspended through an opening in the table and compressed by a windowed plate. Santelices prefers patients undergo biopsy while lying face-down, where gravity helps the breast rest in a position that allows imaging of the entire breast circumference. The computer determines how the lesion appears in this three-dimensional space, allowing the physician to electronically mark the lesion's precise location. A small electric motor advances the machine's biopsy needle to the exact x, y, and z coordinates identified on X-ray.