This is a very elegant technique for making an exact diagnosis. Several methods are now available and they are outpatient procedures done in the Mammogram Department. It is never necessary nowadays to perform a Surgical biopsy in hospital to achieve a diagnosis.
The most elegant, sophisticated and simple method is called an image guided Fine Needle Biopsy. Using either Ultrasound or Stereotaxis for guidance, a very thin needle is placed into the suspicious area with great accuracy. It is painless because local anaesthetic is used and there are no after effects or possible complication other than a small bruise. Only ceLLs are extracted and a highly specialised Pathologist is required to interpret the results.
Rarely, other needle based technologies can be used using thicker needles with or without suction to obtain larger tissue samples. These, of course result in complications and excessive bleeding which could be a problem.
These techniques are quick and office based. There is no need for a patient to take off from work and no recovery time is required. Mostly they are done with the patient sitting in a chair.
