3D Mammogram FAQ

A mammogram may take about 15 minutes from the time you walk in to the time that you leave our office.

According to the Mammography Quality Standard Act, a routine annual mammogram can be self-referred. You DO need to have a healthcare provider who will receive the report.

You will receive results within a week, unless we are waiting for your previous comparison mammograms from another facility. That can sometimes take two to three weeks.

It’s valuable to compare your results to your last exam to see if anything has changed.

Yes, the compression is the same but the amount of time the compression is applied is shorter.

Patients with breast implants can have mammograms in the same way as patients without implants.

Deodorant and powder can sometimes appear as an area of calcification on a mammogram.

Yes, slightly less than with film or screen mammograms.

We perform screening mammograms at three of our four clinics. At our main South Avenue location we maximize our time and focus on diagnostic mammos; routine walk-in screenings are available before 9 a.m. and after 4 p.m.

3D mammography enables the radiologists to adjust the images’ contrast and magnification to aid them in diagnosis. For women with dense, fibrous breasts 3D mammography is especially superior.

Our radiologists also use a tool called CAD (computer aided diagnosis), a computer program that is designed to evaluate mammograms. This means that mammograms are evaluated by both our radiologist and the CAD program.

ABUS or Automated Breast Ultrasound System is a secondary screening exam designed for women with dense breasts. Tumors and dense breast tissue both appear white on mammograms, which can make detecting a tumor more challenging. Because of that we also offer ABUS, which uses 3D ultrasound technology that provides clearer images through dense breast tissue, making it easier to see potential tumors.