Equipment Requirements and Quality Control for Mammography-BF8A09E6

An increased awareness of the benefits of early detection of breast cancer has caused a resurgence of the use of mammography. This has resulted in a large increase in the number of installed units and also in the number of manufacturers marketing equipment. Mammography is one of the most technically exacting radiographic procedures. A small change in technique or processing factors can have a significant effect on image quality and radiation dose delivered to the breast. In order to produce mammograms at the lowest doses consistent with high diagnostic sensitivity and specificity, it is necessary that careful consideration be given to the selection of equipment, patient positioning and imaging techniques and the establishment of an effective quality control program. This document is intended to assist the medical physicist in providing the required expertise to make such decisions. It is assumed in this report that the reader is familiar with the basic principles of radiological imaging and we have concentrated here on their specific application to mammography. For those interested in reviewing these principles several excellent texts on radiological physics are available.