Patent ID: 7639778

Claim:
A mammographic apparatus comprising: a radiation source for applying a radiation to a breast of a subject; an image capturing base including a radiation image information detector for detecting the radiation which has passed through said breast to capture radiation image information of said breast; a breast compression plate including a breast compression surface movable toward and away from said image capturing base, for compressing said breast against said image capturing base with said breast compression surface; said breast compression surface including a first compression portion of a predetermined range continuously extending in a direction from a chest wall of the subject to a nipple of said breast and a second compression portion disposed substantially perpendicularly to said direction from said first compression portion; a compression plate support mechanism supporting said breast compression plate such that said first compression portion is closer to said image capturing base than said second compression portion; wherein said compression plate support mechanism supports said breast compression plate with said breast compression surface being tilted with respect to said image capturing base; and wherein said compression plate support mechanism supports said breast compression plate so as to be tilted with said first compression portion being positioned vertically below said second compression portion when said image capturing base is tilted with respect to the horizontal direction.