유방촬영술에서 방사선 반 투과성(Radiolucent) 패드(Mammo Pad)의 유용성 관한 고찰

A Study of the Utility of Radiolucent Mammo Pad in Mammography

Purpose : When it comes to Mammography, pain and inconvenience that come from compression have existed for a while. Regarding this issue, I would like to study the utility of the radiolucent Mammo Pad to reduce the pain during the Mammography. Materials and Methods : For last three months from March 2009 to May 2009, we carried out examinations on 400 people (One hundred people in 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60~70s each) who did not go through Resection and plastic surgery among those who came to Gangnam Center, SNUH Hospital. With those 400 objects, we let them use the Mammo Pad on their right breast and not use on their left breast and then conducted Cranio-Caudal and Mediolateral-Oblique examinations. The method that we used is that during the examination we compared Compression Force and Exposure Dose (kVp, mAs). Moreover, right after Mammography, through questioning, we checked whether the Compression pain had been reduced when using the Mammo Pad. We also used ACR Mammo Phantom to measure whether the quality of the image has changed or not when using the Mammo Pad. Results : Through questioning patients in different age groups, we found that average 88 percent of them (352/400) experienced the Compression-related-pain reduction when using the Mammo Pad. By comparing Compression Force (daN) of those who used the Mammo Pad and those who did not in different age groups, we discovered that the daN of those who used the Mammo Pad increased by average 14~15 percent compared to those who did not use the Mammo Pad. Exposure dose decreased by average 0-0.2 percent and mAs also decreased by 5.8~6.8 percent. Refering to the clinical image checklist, five radiologists examined the ACR Mammo Phantom images depending on the usage of the Pad. As a result, we found that when using the pad the score was 12.8 out of the total score of 16. In contrast, when not using the Mammo Pad, the score was 11.5 and the Total score was more than 10. Therefore, we can say this result satisfies the Radiodiagnosis safety management standard. Conclusion : When it comes to Mammography, the usage of Radiolucent Mammo Pad did not eliminate the issue of the Compression, but it surely reduced the natural pain and the inconvenience regarding the compression without lowering the quality of the image. Furthermore, I feel convinced that the difficulty of the radiologists and patients for the effective examination will be solved. At the same time, it is very meaningful that the reduction in Radiation Exposure dose is possible and so, it is thought that there is a continuous need for the reduction in Exposure Dose (kVp, mAs).