Our Services

Digital Mammography

What is digital mammography?

Digital mammography is a specific type of imaging that uses a low-dose x-ray system to examine breasts, used to aid in the diagnosis of breast diseases in women. There are two basic types of digital mammograms - screening and diagnostic. Screening via digital mammography examines the entire breast looking for lumps, masses or abnormalities. Diagnostic digital mammography is used to view a specific portion of the breast to evaluate an area of interest - such as a breast lump or specific areas of pain.

What can I expect during my digital mammogram?

A technologist will take you back to a dressing room connected to the mammography suite. A brief breast health medical history will be taken. The technologist will position your breast in the mammography unit. Your breast will be placed on a special platform and compressed with a clear plastic paddle, and images captured. The exam takes about 30 minutes.

Will it hurt?

Portland Medical Imaging employs the use of MammoPad, a thin foam pad placed on the lower portion of the digital mammography unit. The MammoPad has been proven to reduce patient discomfort during such digital mammograms and increase the quality of the images.

Breast Ultrasound and Biopsy

What is a Breast Ultrasound?

Ultrasound imaging, also called ultrasound scanning or sonography, involves exposing part of the body to high-frequency sound waves generating black and white images of the tissue being scanned.

What is a Breast Biopsy?

In cases where an ultrasound or mammography cannot characterize the nature of a breast abnormality, your physician may order a breast biopsy. Because ultrasound provides real-time images, it is used to guide biopsy procedures to obtain a tissue sample of an abnormality to determine whether it is healthy or not.

What can I expect during my exam?

During an ultrasound, after you are positioned on the examination table with your arm above your head, the sonographer will use a transducer to capture images of the area of concern. During a breast biopsy, the area deemed for sampling is identified by ultrasound first. A local anesthetic is used to minimize discomfort. A radiologist specializing in women’s imaging will use a biopsy needle to remove a small amount of tissue for evaluation. After the biopsy is complete, pressure is held over the site for 5 minutes to stop any bleeding that may have occurred. The tissue will be sent to the lab and the results given to your doctor. A breast ultrasound generally takes 30 minutes. A breast biopsy will take about 30 to 60 minutes depending on how many biopsy samples are required.

Will it hurt?

Most ultrasound examinations are painless, fast and easy. During a breast biopsy a local anesthetic is used to block the pain, similar to the local anesthetic a dentist uses. After the anesthetic is administered, the actual biopsy is painless.

Breast MRI

What is a Breast MRI?

MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging, which is a noninvasive, painless test. MRI uses a powerful magnetic field instead of x-ray radiation to produce detailed pictures of your breast. Breast MRIs may be used to investigate breast concerns that are first detected by digital mammography or ultrasound.

Do I have to do anything special to prepare for my breast MRI?

All metal and electronic devices (eg, watches, jewelry, cellular phones, and credit cards) must be removed from your clothing and body before the exam. Because MRI technology uses a strong magnetic field, please tell your physician and your technologist if: you have a pacemaker, implanted pump, or nerve stimulator, surgical or brain aneurysm clips, metallic ear implants, bullet fragments, had prior surgeries, you may be pregnant or you suffer from claustrophobia.

What is a contrast agent?

Our technologist will start an IV in your arm prior to your breast MRI. The contrast material used for an MRI exam, called gadolinium does not contain iodine and is not likely to cause an allergic reaction. However, if you have had a reaction in the past, please be sure to let your technologist know.

What can I expect during my breast MRI?

During the exam, you will lie on your stomach, and the breasts will be supported in a specialized imaging device. Images will be obtained before and after an injection of contrast material that is given through an IV. The breast MRI exam will take approximately 45 minutes.

If you would like to learn more about your specific procedure, visit radiologyinfo.org.