Compression devices and mammography units using the same, and methods of
using the same during imaging of a patient's breast are provided. The
devices compress the breast against a bucky without the need for a
traditional mammography unit compression paddle. The devices comprise at
least one x-ray transparent inflatable chamber for containing a fluid,
for example, a pressurized gas. In use, at least one surface of the
chamber expands in the direction of the bucky. The devices secure the
breast to the bucky by wrapping over the tube-side surface of the breast.
Compressed air, for example, can be introduced, manually or
automatically, to inflate the chamber. As the chamber expands, breast
motion is limited and the breast is compressed against the surface of the
bucky.