Abstract: To enable a biopsy needle to be inserted into a breast under examination on a mammograph, a crank handle-shaped structure is provided which is vertically supported by a shaft and which carries a needle carrier on its handle portion, the vertical axis of rotation passing through a tumor whose position within the breast has been calculated. It is shown that the insertion distance of the needle can be predetermined and that under these conditions a variety of ways of reaching the tumor are made available by rotating the crank-handle shape about its axis. The insertion direction can be selected as a function of criteria applicable to the subsequent surgery and not solely as a function of the structure of the mammograph itself.