TECHNOLOGY, AUTOMATED BREAST ULTRASOUND

How Sonocine automated breast ultrasound works

Sonocine automated breast ultrasound uses a motorized transducer to scan the entire breast in a systematic pattern, capturing a complete image set for a radiologist to review. It supplements mammography for women with dense breast tissue, with no radiation and no compression.

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Sonocine automated breast ultrasound system in Glendale

NO RADIATION · NO COMPRESSION

01Whole-breast coverage

02Automated, systematic scanning

03No radiation, no compression

04Radiologist-reviewed

This page explains the technology. Ready to book?

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The Problem It Solves

When dense tissue hides things.

Dense fibroglandular tissue appears white on a mammogram, and so do many tumors. When there is a lot of dense tissue, a small cancer can sit inside that whiteness and be genuinely difficult to see, even for an experienced breast radiologist reading a perfectly performed study.

Density is common: roughly 40% of women have dense breasts. It is not a disease and it is not something you did, but it does reduce mammographic sensitivity, and it is an independent risk factor for breast cancer. California law requires that patients be notified of their breast density, and if yours is dense, supplemental screening is worth a calm conversation rather than an anxious one.

Side By Side

Handheld vs automated ultrasound.

METRIC

Handheld Ultrasound

Sonocine Automated

Coverage

Operator-directed, often targeted to one area

Systematic whole-breast coverage

Reproducibility

Varies with the sonographer and the day

Defined scan pattern, repeatable year to year

Documentation

Only the images the operator saves

Hundreds of thin slices, complete set retained

Best used for

Investigating a specific lump or focal finding

Supplemental screening in dense breast tissue

How The Scan Works

Four steps, start to finish.

Guided pass

A motorized transducer is guided across the breast in a defined, repeatable pattern.

Thin-slice capture

Hundreds of thin-slice images are captured automatically as the transducer travels.

Set assembly

The slices are assembled into a continuous, reviewable image set covering the whole breast.

Radiologist review

A breast-imaging radiologist reviews the full set alongside your mammogram.

Straight Talk

What supplemental screening can and can’t do.

Supplemental ultrasound increases cancer detection in dense tissue, but it also increases the chance of finding something benign that needs a follow-up image or a biopsy. That trade-off is real and worth knowing before you book.

Sonocine supplements mammography; it does not replace it. If we find something, we explain it clearly, in person, and coordinate the next step with you rather than leaving you to interpret a report alone.

Complete Breast Care

Breast imaging at Lucent.

3D Mammogram

Thin-slice tomosynthesis, the foundation of breast screening.

Dense Breast Screening

What breast density means and how we screen for it.

Breast MRI

High-sensitivity imaging for high-risk screening and problem solving.

Sonocine service page

Who it is for, what to expect and how to book your screening.

FAQs

Questions about automated breast ultrasound.

Automated breast ultrasound uses a motorized transducer that moves across the breast in a defined pattern, capturing hundreds of thin-slice images without relying on an operator to choose each view. The complete image set is then reviewed by a breast-imaging radiologist.

A handheld study is directed by the sonographer, usually to look at a specific area of concern, and it captures only the images they save. An automated study covers the whole breast in a reproducible pattern and documents everything, which makes it better suited to screening and to year-over-year comparison.

No. Sonocine supplements mammography, it does not replace it. Mammography remains the only screening test shown to reduce breast cancer mortality, and calcifications are seen on mammography, not ultrasound.

Dense fibroglandular tissue appears white on a mammogram, and many tumors also appear white. When there is a lot of dense tissue, a small cancer can be hidden within it, the same way a snowball is hard to see against snow.

It should not be. There is no compression and no radiation. You lie down, warm gel is applied, and the transducer passes gently across the breast. Most patients find it considerably more comfortable than a mammogram.

Dense tissue shouldn’t hide anything.

Request Appointment (818) 679-2867

Sonocine service page Dense Breast Screening Breast MRI