An ultrasound exam may be used along with mammography to find out whether a lump is solid or filled with fluid (a "cyst"). This imaging technique is also used to evaluate lumps that are difficult to see on a mammogram.
In an ultrasound exam, high-frequency sound waves bounced off tissue and internal organs to produce a picture called a sonogram. The clinician spreads a thin coating of lubricating jelly over the area to be imaged to improve conduction of the sound waves. A hand-held device, called a transducer, directs the sound waves through the skin toward specific tissues. When the sound waves are reflected back from the tissues within the breast, the patterns form a two-dimensional image of the breast on a computer.
Ultrasound is an excellent technology for differentiating fluids (such as fluids found in cysts) from normal breast tissue. They may not, however, show tiny calcium deposits—frequently the first indicators of a possible cancer, nor are they as good as mammograms at showing spatial resolution. For this reason, they are used to evaluate certain types of breast masses and guide needles used in a biopsy, but are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a screening tool for breast cancer.
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