Avoid taking calcium supplements for at least 24 hours before your bone density test.
Some women find the pressure of the plates on their breasts to be uncomfortable or even painful. Timing your mammogram when your breasts are not tender is important. In premenopausal women, this is usually 1 week after your menstrual period. If you do experience discomfort or pain, ask the technologist to reposition you to try to make it as painless as possible. Remember that each X-ray takes just a few moments and could save your life
A woman should not use deodorant, powder, or lotions and should wear 2-piece clothing on the day of her mammogram. A specially trained radiology technologist will perform the X-ray. The radiology technologist will ask the woman to undress, put on a gown, and stand next to the X-ray machine. Two flat surfaces, or plates, are slowly squeezed together and compress each breast for a few seconds. This compression may be somewhat painful. But it is necessary to produce the best pictures using the lowest amount of radiation possible.
You may want to ask your healthcare provider about the amount of radiation used during the procedure and the risks related to your particular situation. Special care is taken to make sure that the lowest possible amount of radiation is used when you have a mammogram.
A screening mammogram is an X-ray of the breast used to detect breast changes in women who have no symptoms, no abnormalities for follow-up, or have 3 years of stable mammograms since their breast cancer diagnosis.
Diagnostic mammograms are for women who need their mammograms reviewed immediately at the time of their appointment due to active problems or being followed for a finding on a previous imaging appointment. Your primary care provider and your radiologist will carefully determine which appointment is best suited for your current needs.
Today’s high-quality screening mammogram is the most effective tool available to detect breast cancer before lumps can be felt or symptoms appear. Early detection of breast cancer not only helps provide a woman with more choices. It also increases her chances of having the best possible outcome.
A Physician, Registered Nurse in the Extended Class, Dentist, Chiropractor, Designated Chiropodist or Osteopath can order an x-ray or an ultrasound.
A Registered Nurse may complete an x-ray/ultrasound requisition upon implementing a medical directive. The RN completes the requisition and includes his/her signature, the name of the physician responsible for the care of the patient, and a reference to the specific medical directive.
Sonographers are not permitted to discuss the results with the patient. The results of the examination will be sent to your doctor. Your doctor will discuss the results with you.
All of our sonographers are certified under the American Registry of Diagnostic medical Sonographers (ARDMS) and/or the Canadian Association of Registered Diagnostic Ultrasound Professionals (CARDUP). This means they have:
- Education in ultrasound and patient skills, including both theory and clinical instruction.
- A passing grade on ARDMS/CARDUP rigorous examination, which evaluates the intensive knowledge base required to practice sonography.
- Stay on the cutting edge in both ultrasound technology and patient care skills through ARDMS/CARDUP required continuing medical education program.
- Practice within the guidelines set by the Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR), Canadian Society of Medical Diagnostic Sonographers (CSDMS) and the Ontario Society of Medical Diagnostic Sonographers (OSDMS).
Sonographers are trained by one of the following:
- 3 year total program that requires the completion allied health education program (eg. Nursing, radiology, nuclear medicine) prior to one year of additional specialized ultrasound training in medical sonography.
- Bachelor’s degree in medical radiation sciences.
- Physician (generally a foreign trained physician) with an additional 1 year of tull-time theoretical and clinical ultrasound training.
If you are seeing your doctor immediately after your ultrasound appointment, a verbal report will be called or faxed to your Doctor. If you are not seeing your doctor after the ultrasound test, a final report will be faxed to your doctor within 24-48 hours.
An abdominal ultrasound requires that you fast for at least 8 hours prior to your scheduled appointment. This reduces the amount of gas in your abdomen (which obstructs the abdominal organs). Eating triggers the digestive system to take effect. This causes the gallbladder to contract, preventing the sonographer to visualize abnormalities such as gallstones.
The type of ultrasound exam will determine whether you need to drink water for the test. If the exam is an abdominal ultrasound, the patient does not need to drink water. A pelvic ultrasound requires at least 40 Oz of water 1 hour prior to the appointment time. The full bladder serves as a window to see your pelvic organs (i.e. uterus, ovaries, or prostate). Without a full bladder, it is difficult to see them.
There are two barriers in producing a good quality exam –gas and bone. Contrary to what many think, fat is not the main barrier. Sound waves need a medium to travel. Air is not a medium and therefore blocks the path of the ultrasound beam. The liquid is a good conductor and that is why gel is applied to the body to allow for greater contact between the probe and skin. Bone is a sense solid medium, too dense for sound to penetrate. As a result, bone disorders cannot be diagnosed by ultrasound.
In order to produce good quality images, the patient is required to fast for at least 8 hours prior to the exam. This reduces the amount of gas content in the abdomen. This includes chewing gum. Drinking water with medication does not prevent the sonographer from attaining good pictures.
Ultrasound energy that produces sound waves is not harmful when properly applied for the purpose of medical diagnostic imaging. Sonographers ensure that they follow the ALARA principle (as low as reasonably acceptable) and limit exposure to what is required. Ultrasound does not use ionizing radiation such as is required for x-ray.
Dose limits have been defined for radiation workers and the population by the government, but there is no specific permissible level recommended for patients having diagnostic x-ray examinations. The risk must always be compared to the medical necessity for an accurate diagnosis. There is no minimum or a maximum number of x-rays allowed in one year or accumulative in a lifetime.
The embryo is a rapidly developing/dividing cell system. This makes it sensitive to radiation, especially in the first trimester. A significant dose could increase the incidence of congenital (existing from birth) abnormalities by 1% over the natural incidence. It is proven that radiation in utero is harmful but it should be noted that the probability of this occurrence is small. If you are pregnant, think you may be pregnant, or are trying to become pregnant, PLEASE, notify the technologist before your exam takes place. That way an assessment can be made of your specific situation to determine any risk to an unborn child. If it is decided that the risk is too high, then you may be asked to come back at a later date for your x-ray examination.
The amount of radiation dose you receive will be much less than the national acceptable dose for entrance exposures for your exam. Strict guidelines and regulations exist in Ontario for all Imaging facilities and Medical Radiation Technologists to ensure patient safety and protection. Humber Bay Diagnostic Imaging uses efficient imaging systems that allow us to reduce our patient exposures to as low as reasonably achievable and still acquire excellent diagnostic images.
Your doctor has prescribed this x-ray examination to help in the diagnosis of your injury and/or illness. All radiation doses—including background radiation (this is radiation received from the earth), are considered to be harmful. However, as a diagnostic tool, the benefits of medical x-rays (a highly controlled dose) greatly outweighs the small, possible harmful effects that may be induced. You do have the right to refuse the x-ray examination.
In a lot of cases, wearing a gown is necessary because many things can show up on your film and can add, obscure, or cover pertinent information. There are obvious things such as coins, zippers, keys, etc. Sometimes, plastic buttons, folds of clothing, wallets, cards, etc., can show up as well.
You will not feel anything during the exposure. It is the same as having your picture taken with a regular camera.
Your results are reviewed first by the radiologist and the report is usually faxed to your doctor by the end of the day. Urgent results will be phoned or faxed to your doctor as soon as possible. Your doctor also has the option to view your results online.
We have teamed up with PocketHealth for you to be able to view your images online! You may also purchase a CD of your images. Please speak with our receptionists for more information.
Our technologists are registered and are specially trained to perform your exam, but only radiologists are qualified to interpret your results. For this reason, our technologists cannot discuss what they see with you.
General exams can range from 10 minutes to 1 hour. Please ask our receptionists for more details.
We request that you do not bring children with you to your exam. To prevent exposure to the radiation they cannot enter the x-ray rooms with you. Because our staff needs to focus on other patients they are not able to supervise children in the waiting room. Please arrange to leave the children at home or to bring another adult to watch them in the waiting room.
If you have time to prepare before the exam, we ask that you shower, refrain from wearing scented products and wear clothing that is easily removed if necessary. You may be asked to remove items that may interfere with the exam. It is recommended that you leave valuables at home, as the clinic does not offer secure storage of personal items. Some exams may require further preparation, please click here for more details.
Yes, you will need a requisition from your doctor or nurse practitioner for all examinations.
X-Rays are offered on a walk-in basis, no appointment is required. Ultrasound, Mammography/OBSP, and BMD exams required appointments to be made in advance.
