Usually, for breast cancer screening an X-ray mammography image of a breast is evaluated for suspicious areas that may indicate a tumor in the tissue of the breast.
For acquiring the X-ray mammography image, the breast may be compressed and flattened between two compression paddles and an X-ray detector arrangement with a digital detector may radiograph the breast, may generate X-ray image data and the X-ray image data may be displayed on the screen of a workstation connected to the X-ray detector. A physician then may investigate and evaluate the displayed X-ray image.
WO 2014/001925 A1 relates to a compression element for a breast holding arrangement for mammography examinations. The compression element comprises a supporting structure, a first surface and a second surface. The supporting structure is configured to be attached to a mounting structure for exerting a compression force on a breast under examination. The first and second surfaces are attached to the support structure; and the first and second surfaces are arranged facing in opposite directions. The second surface is provided to compress the breast under examination.
For further information about the tissue of the breast, magnification views using only local compression are a common technique to further investigate unclear and suspicious findings. In contrast to an X-ray mammogram that aims at compressing and imaging the complete breast, magnification views are executed with the breast compressed only in the region of interest. However, also the uncompressed portions of the breast tissue are still exposed to radiation which increases the total glandular dose.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds