How is Digital Mammography Performed?
During mammography, the technologist will position the patient and image each breast separately. One at a time, each breast is carefully positioned on a special detector plate and then gently compressed with a paddle (often made of clear Plexiglas or other plastic). This compression flattens the breast so that the maximum amount of tissue can be imaged and examined. Your mammography technologists may place adhesive markers to the breast skin prior to taking images of the breast. The purpose of the adhesive markers is twofold: first, to identify areas with moles, blemishes or scars so that they are not mistaken for abnormalities, and secondly, to identify areas that may be of concern (e.g. a lump was felt during physical examination). Some centers routinely mark the nipple with a small dot to provide a clear “landmark” for the radiologist on the mammogram images. To “take” a mammogram, the low dose x-ray source is turned on and x-rays are radiated through the compressed breast and onto
