A Positioning Tidbit

Recently I was asked to give a talk on mammography positioning for the Michigan Society of Radiologic Technologists. I was initially very honored, and because I really do love talking and have been performing mammograms almost since the beginning of time, I readily agreed.

But panic set in when I started to wonder if I really had enough information to fill a whole hour!

I then started to gather all of my research material. When I started breaking down all of the different views that are part of mammography, I soon realized that crunching all of that information into only an hour presentation would be a challenge.

For the most part, positioning has not changed a lot since 1989 (although I always have to remind myself to position from the medial aspect on the CCs). Even so, it really is a good idea to either read over some basic positioning material or attend a seminar. I guarantee you will rethink how you currently position.

While I was reading over all of my positioning research material, I ran across a small sensible tidbit that may help some mammographers out there.

Using a BB marker for orientation on large breasts is such a simple idea, but one that I had not heard of before. Mark the center of the breast with a metallic BB. Then make sure that each film demonstrates the BB, when taking multiple films for each view. This guarantees that you have included all breast tissue. 

I would add that it is probably a good idea to document that the BB was used for positioning only and not marking something of interest. Many of you out there are probably already using this idea, but it may be new to some. It will sure make you feel confident that you have covered all of the patient's breast tissue.

So it really doesn't matter how long we have been doing our jobs---there is always something to be learned. When I shared the above technique with some co-workers, the newer technologists were very familiar with it, while those like myself, had never heard of it.

By the way, the presentation went very well, except for when the computer and Power Point presentation turned off in the middle of my presentation! After a few panicked moments, I realized that in my diligence in making sure all connections were connected, I had failed to plug in the computer to a power source!