Mammography Technique

When you have a mammogram, a skilled technologist positions and compresses your breast between two clear plates. The plates are attached to a highly specialized camera, which takes two pictures of the breast from two directions. Then the technologist repeats the technique on the opposite breast. For some women, more than two pictures may be needed to include as much tissue as possible.
Mammography can be painful for some women, but for most it is mildly uncomfortable, and the sensation lasts for just a few seconds. Compressing the breast is necessary to flatten and reduce the thickness of the breast. The x-ray beam should penetrate as few layers of overlapping tissues as possible. From start to finish, the entire procedure takes about 20 minutes. A diagnostic mammogram generally takes more time than a screening mammogram because it takes more pictures from more angles.
Mammography involves minimal radiation exposure. In fact, the amount of radiation exposure from modern-day mammography machines is much lower than it was in past decades. The American Cancer Society notes that the dose of radiation received during a screening mammogram is about the same amount of radiation a person gets from their natural surroundings (background radiation) in an average 3-month period.
If you’ve had breast surgery for another reason, such as a benign biopsy or surgery to reduce the size of your breasts, the radiologist will want to know where those scars are in case the scar tissue has to be distinguished from another kind of breast abnormality. If you've had breast cancer surgery, small metal balls will be taped on your skin to mark your scar. Your scar defines the site with the highest risk of recurrence.
At least one radiologist reads the mammogram. A radiologist is a doctor who specializes in analyzing imaging studies of the body to diagnose disease or other problems. Having two radiologists read your mammogram reduces the chance of missing a problem by about 10-15%. Some centers routinely have your mammogram read twice, but this is expensive, and most insurance companies won’t pay for it. You can also get a “second opinion” on your mammogram by having the images analyzed by a computer. This is called computer-aided detection (“CAD”). Special computer software reviews the images and marks any areas of suspicion. The radiologist then examines each area and decides if it needs further evaluation.

All information from Breastcancer.org

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