Perth Radiological Clinic

You will be asked to remove clothing from the waist up. Your breasts are placed on the x-ray surface and a compression device is applied. The compression is crucial in producing accurate images of the breast tissue and may cause some mild discomfort temporarily. It is not dangerous and does not cause damage to the breast tissue.
Breast compression is necessary in order to:

Even out the breast thickness so that all of the tissue can be visualized.
Spread out the tissue so that small abnormalities won't be obscured by overlying breast tissue.
Allow the use of a lower x-ray dose since a thinner amount of breast tissue is being imaged.
Hold the breast still in order to eliminate blurring of the image caused by motion.
Reduce x-ray scatter to increase sharpness of picture.

Routinely, the radiographer takes two views of each breast. After the images have been processed, they are checked by the radiologist before you leave. If you require additional images, and/or an ultrasound, please do not panic. These extra images are often used in order to obtain more detailed images of areas that have not been adequately demonstrated on the initial views and are of great help to our radiologists in making an accurate diagnosis.

Yes. While mammography does involve a small exposure to radiation, at Perth Radiological Clinic, we take special care to use the lowest radiation dose possible while producing the best images. This is achieved by using class leading digital mammography machines.

Sometimes the initial mammogram images may be insufficient to determine if an abnormality within the breast is benign or malignant. If a suspicious area is found, our radiologists may recommend further diagnostic studies. Because some breast cancers are hard to visualize, our radiologist may want to compare the mammogram images with views from previous examinations in order to detect if subtle abnormalities have developed in the intervening period.
Breast implants can reduce the accuracy of mammograms because silicone and saline implants are not transparent to x-rays and can block a clear view of the tissues behind them.
While mammography is an excellent tool for detecting breast abnormalities, mammograms do not detect all breast cancers. Also, a small portion of mammograms indicate an abnormality is present when it is not (called a false-positive result).