Test Details & Preparation

Breast Ultrasound

Breast ultrasound is an image producing test which uses sound waves to look at the inside of your breasts. It can help your doctor to find the breast problems. It also lets your doctor see how well blood is flowing to areas in your breasts. This test is often performed when a change has been viewed on a mammogram or when a change is felt, but does not show up on a mammogram.

The doctor moves a transducer over your skin to make the pictures of your breasts. The transducer sends out sound waves that bounce off your breast tissue. The sound waves are too high-pitched for you to hear. The transducer then picks up the bounced sound waves. These are made into pictures of the inside of your breasts.

Your doctor can add another device called a Doppler probe to the transducer. This probe lets your doctor hear the sound waves the transducer sends out. The doctor can hear how fast blood is flowing through a blood vessel and in which direction it is flowing. No sound or a faint sound may mean that you have a blockage in the flow.

Ultrasound is safe to have during pregnancy because it does not use radiation. It is also safe for people who are allergic to contrast dye because it does not use dye.