Earlier, a participant inquired about a circle on one of the images from the pilot data set, and included the image in question within the post. As this is a public forum - meaning non-registered participants are able to access this forum - we had to remove the post. However, here is the answer to the participant's question: That circle on the image is a ?mole marker.? The technologist usually labels things on the skin with such a sticker to mark areas that are skin moles so the ?masses? that appear on the mammogram are not mistaken for internal breast masses by interpreting radiologists. There are different kinds of markings on the skin (mole markers, scar markers, etc.) that may appear on screening exams.

Created by Justin Guinney Justin.Guinney
We should create a page that illustrates differences that can be expected in the images: * Skin markers * Rotated/flipped images * etc.
Regarding markers, they vary in shape (some are circles, some are triangles, etc.). The mole markers' appearance depends on the vendor used. If participants see any hollow circle or triangle, consider them mole markers. The other type of marking on the skin is a scar marker, and these are usually appear as radiopaque lines (they look like an unbent paper clip on mammograms). This vendor site shows several examples of mole markers and scar markers: http://www.parscientific.com/Mammography.html

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