A new device could help make mammograms more comfortable for women without reducing the image quality of the scan.
The new device would allow physicians to see exactly how much pressure they are putting on a patient's breast, preventing painful over-compression, the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) reported.
Compression of the breast is required during a mammogram, and this can cause discomfort and pain that often deters women from getting the exam. Under-compression of the breast can also occur, causing the mammogram's image quality to be degraded.
"This means that the breast may be almost not compressed at all, which increases the risks of image quality degradation and extra radiation dose," said Woutjan Branderhorst, researcher in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Physics at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam.
To remedy these problems researchers came up with a device that displays the average pressure during breast compression and studied how it affected 433 asymptomatic women scheduled for mammograms. Three of four administered compressions were standardized to a target force of 14 dekanewtons (daN) and one was randomly assigned to 10 kPa.
The participants were asked to score their level of pain on a numerical rating scale. The average woman scored the 10 kPa screening as less painful than the others. This level of compressions did not compromise the radiation dose or image quality and the paddle used to measure force is easy to install in existing mammography systems.
"Essentially, what is needed is the measurement of the contact area with the breast, which then is combined with the measured applied force to determine the average pressure in the breast," Branderhorst said. "A relatively small upgrade of the compression paddle is sufficient."
Further research is needed to determine if 10 kPa is the optimal target pressure. The findings will be presented next week at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
