Mammography system and method for sonographic and radiographic examination of a breast

a method to examine a breast comprising the steps of:

• positioning a breast on a support plate of a mammography system and compressing the breast between said support plate and a compression plate;
• irradiating the breast compressed between the support plate and the compression plate to obtain a radiographic mammogram of the compressed breast;
• compressing the breast between an ultrasound transducer, comprising a plurality of ultrasound transducer elements arranged in a plane, and one of said compression plate or said support plate, with said ultrasound transducer in direct contact with the breast;
• and
• irradiating the breast with ultrasound from said ultrasound transducer to obtain a sonogram of the breast compressed between said ultrasound transducer and said one of said compression plate or said support plate.

A mammography system comprising:

• an x-ray imaging system;
• a compression plate and a support plate adapted to compress a breast therebetween to obtain a radiographic exposure of the breast by operating said x-ray imaging system;
• a replacement plate that temporarily replaces one of said compression plate or said support plate, said replacement plate containing an ultrasound transducer at a side thereof facing toward the breast, said ultrasound transducer comprising a plurality of transducer elements arranged in a plane;
• and
• said replacement plate compressing the breast between the replacement plate and the other of said compression plate or said support plate that is not replaced by said replacement plate, to obtain a sonogram of the breast by irradiating the breast with ultrasound from said ultrasound transducer.

A mammography system comprising:

• an x-ray imaging system;
• a support plate and a compression plate adapted to compress a breast therebetween to obtain a radiographic mammogram of the breast with said x-ray imaging system;
• one of said support plate or said compression plate comprising a mount at a side thereof facing the breast;
• an ultrasound transducer configured to be removably fitted into and held in said mount, said one of said compression plate or said support plate with said ultrasound transducer fitted therein being adapted to compress the breast against the other of said support plate or said compression plate to obtain a sonogram of the breast by irradiating the breast with ultrasound from the ultrasound transducer.