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CU up of a mammography machine as well as a patient seen from the back who is receiving instructions by a nurse who is prepping for her mammogram using a mammography machine. The device moves and adjusts as the woman is positioned by the doctor or nurse. Mammography is the process of using low-energy-X-rays (usually around 30 kVp) to examine the human breast and is used as a diagnostic and a screening tool. The goal of mammography is the early detection of breast cancer, typically through detection of characteristic masses and/or microcalcifications. Most doctors believe that mammography reduces deaths from breast cancer, although a minority do not. In many countries routine mammography of older women is encouraged as a screening method to diagnose early breast cancer. In 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended that women with no risk factors have screening mammographies every 2 years between age 50 and 74. They found that the information was insufficient to recommend for or against screening between age 40 and 49 or above age 74. Altogether clinical trials have found a relative reduction in breast cancer mortality of 20%. Some doctors believe that mammograms do not reduce deaths from breast cancer, or at least that the evidence does not demonstrate it.