Purpose : To evaluate the efficacy of a newly designed cassette and film system used to obtain a craniocaudal (CC) image during mammographic examination. Materials and Methods : We designed a film-cassette system for use in obtaining a CC image. The merit of this system is that the contact plane between the film and film cassette and the thoracic wall of the examinee changed from linear to concave, thus including more tissue on the image. Twenty women examined by screening mammography underwent

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... conventional and new CC plane examinations. The distance from the nipple to the posterior margin of the included breast tissue, as seen on CC mammograms, was measured using the two techniques, and the difference between the respective results was analyzed by paired t-test. Results : The distance from the nipple to the posterior margin was 12.9 1.7cm and 14.5 1.4cm at the lateral portion of the conventional and new CC image, respectively. This distance was thus significantly greater on the new than on the conventional image (p<0.001), but there was no significant difference between their medial portions. Conclusion : The newly designed cassette and film system used to obtain a craniocaudal image during mammography includes more breast tissue than the conventional system and may be helpful for the mammographic screening and diagnosis of peripheral breast lesions.