Leading the future of Medical Imaging
Excellence in care and experience is at the heart of everything we do. Our daily commitment to all patients and clinicians is to provide the highest quality service and be responsive to your medical imaging needs.
We provide a comprehensive breast imaging and intervention service including mammography, tomosynthesis, biopsies and breast MRI. Our breast imaging team work closely with other Northern Health specialists including breast surgeons and oncologists.
Mammography is an imaging test which uses low-dose X-rays to diagnose breast disease.
During your appointment, a radiographer, who is a healthcare professional trained in performing imaging exams, will explain the procedure to you and ask several questions about your personal and family history of breast disease.
During the scan, your breast tissue will be positioned within the mammography machine and X-rays will be taken. You may experience some discomfort as the breast tissues are compressed during the test, but this is only for a short period of time.
Mammograms are a safe and an important test, particularly for women over 50 years of age. Research data shows that around 1 in 7 Australian women develop breast cancer in their lifetime. Mammograms help increase the chances of detecting breast cancer early and help to provide better outcomes from treatment.
Mammograms will expose your breasts to a low-dose of X-rays. However, this is unlikely to cause any harm and the benefits of having the test outweighs any small risk associated with radiation exposure.
You may be asked to change into a gown for your scan. Following this, your sonographer will apply ultrasound gel on the area being scanned. This gel allows the ultrasound waves to effectively pass through your body and produce clear images. The sonographer will place an ultrasound probe on the area to be scanned to commence the imaging process.
Ultrasound scans can take between 30 minutes to 1 hour to complete. If you experience any discomfort or pain, please let the sonographer or other staff know. Northern Health respects your comfort, safety and privacy. This will be maintained at all times, particularly for examinations which are more intimate in nature.
Do not use deodorants, powders, lotions, creams or perfume under your arms or on your breasts. These substances can show up on your mammogram and produce incorrect findings which will reduce the accuracy of the test. If you have previous mammogram images and results from another hospital or clinic, please bring a copy of this with you to your appointment. This will enable our radiologist to compare your new and old scans and provide better advice to your doctor.
Please contact the Imaging team on (03) 8405 9600 for further information.
Each time you attend a Medical Imaging appointment, please bring the following items.
- Medicare card
- Health Care Card (if you have one)
- Private Health Insurance card (if you want to use it)
- List of medications you currently take (including those without a prescription)
- X-ray films, scans or other relevant test results
- Concession Card (if applicable)
- Adverse Drug Reaction Card (if you have one)
Key points
- A mammogram is a low radiation dose X-ray for imaging breast tissue.
- Mammograms help the early detection of breast cancer and can detect abnormalities that may be missed by a physical examination.
- Mammograms are commonly performed together with other imaging tests such as an ultrasound scan.
- A radiologist, who is a specialist doctor trained in the interpretation of mammograms, will report their findings to your doctor.
Select below to learn more about our other imaging services
