By Prof K Grimbergen, Prof A den Heeten
Current mammography procedures require compression of the breast by a compression paddle. Such procedures involve application of a certain force with generally no account being taken of the size of the breast. The process can result in various levels of pain and discomfort.
his article describes the rationale behind the development of a pressure-based compression system, i.e. one that takes into account the contact area of the
breast with the paddle. Validation studies of the new system show that the use of standardized pressure-based compression not only provides high quality images
at the same radiation dose but also significantly reduces the pain and discomfort reported by the women undergoing mammography examinations.