By Nicolette Helling, FOX 21 News

SUPERIOR - At some salons, a hair cut isn't just a hair cut anymore.  They are donating a quarter–a–cut to help to improve the lives of breast cancer patients in the Northland.

When Julie Nelson, the owner of Trends Salon and Spa, heard about a new fundraiser to help breast cancer patients, she got out her sissors, and went to work.  "It's hit so many lives that people are more than willing to help," she said.

Julie's salon and eight others in Superior started raising money in April in the quarter–a–cut campaign.  The money raised will help St. Mary's Hospital of Superior buy a digital mammography unit.

"The type of equipment that we're looking to purchase allows us to see through more dense breast tissue in order to identify whether there are some abnormal growths in that breast tissue," said hospital administrator Mary Shaw.

The hospital now uses analog mammography.  While the analog unit provides quality images, going digital has many advantages.

All of the images will be electronic.

Mammogram images taken with a digital unit can be viewed immediately, instead of waiting for film to develop.

Images can then be sent via the internet to radiologists in Duluth who can view them right on their computer.

Shaw said, "Both types of mammography machines detect abnormalities, but hospital officials say digital images are clearer – making it that much easier to detect the beginnings of breast cancer."

Nelson said having this new technology in Superior will make life a little easier for local breast cancer patients.  "If we get it here they don't have to cross the bridge, which a lot of people, especially older people, they want to stay here in superior and do it," she said.

Nelson has a personal reason for wanting to help.  "My sister passed away from breast cancer, she said.  "So I've been very involved in the breast cancer campaign."

And at her salon and spa, you can't go far without seeing or hearing about the fundraiser.

"And we keep our boxes right on our stations. We have signage on our stations. So people see it every time they sit in our chairs," Nelson said.

Local salons hope to raise enough money over the next six months to put a dent in the mammography unit's final cost: $480,000.

That's a lot of quarters, but the price tag doesn't scare Nelson.  "I know it's a small step. But it's a step," she said.

The salons participating in "quarter a cut" are Belknap Plaza Beauty Salon, Blondie's Salon, Cutting Edge Businesses Unlimited, Denise's Hair Design, Harvey's Family Hair Care, Instyle, Patti's Hair and Wig Boutique, Trends Salon and Spa, and Utopia Salon and Spa.