Tumor Detection without Radiation

The Mackay breast ultrasound is one technique used in detecting tumors and other abnormalities of the breast. The ultrasound utilizes high-frequency sound waves to produce detailed images of the insides of the breasts.

This procedure is different from X-rays and CT scans because ultrasound does not use any radiation. It is considered safe even for pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers.

Recommendations  

Typically, your doctor may perform a Mackay breast ultrasound if he finds a suspicious lump in your breast. The ultrasound can help him determine whether the lump is fluid-filled cyst or a solid tumor. The ultrasound also locates where the lump is.

However, the ultrasound can assess the lump in the breast but it cannot be used to determine whether the lump is cancerous. With an ultrasound-guided biopsy (tissue sample gathering), your doctor will have his sample to be sent to a lab for assessment whether it is cancerous or not.

It might be of interest to women to know that four out of five breast lumps are non-cancerous.

Aside from the use in determining the nature of the breast lump, a breast ultrasound may also be performed on women who need to avoid radiations.  These include women who are under 25, pregnant women, those who are breast-feeding and women with silicone breast implants.

Performing ultrasound

Before the ultrasound, your doctor will examine your breasts, and apply gel to your breast.

(The gel helps sound waves travel through your skin.) A wand-like device is moved across your breast (transducer).

The transducer emits and receives high-frequency sound waves. When this sound bounces off the internal structures in your breast, the transducer records the changes in the pitch and direction.

This is a real-time recording of the inside of your breast on a computer monitor. If there are suspicious images, they will take multiple pictures. Once the images are recorded, the doctor will clean the gel off your breast and you get dressed.

Risks

Mainly, the scan is risk-free because there is no radiation used. The radiation is not considered safe for pregnant women. The ultrasound is the preferred method and considered the safest breast examination for women.

It is noteworthy that ultrasound is the same sound waves used in the monitoring of unborn fetus in pregnant women.

Results

The images made by ultrasound are in black and white. Cysts, abnormal growths, and tumors, will appear as dark areas on the scan. A dark spot on the ultrasound result does not mean you have breast cancer.

Most breast cancers are usually benign. However, there are also some circumstances and conditions that can cause benign lumps in the breast.

They include fibrocystic breast that are painful due to hormonal changes, intraductal papilloma or benign tumor of the milk duct, and mammary fat necrosis which is bruised, injured or dead fat tissues that cause the lumps.

If your doctor discovers a lump that needs further testing, he might perform an MRI first.  Afterwards, they will perform biopsy to get a sample of the tissue or fluid in the lump.