Factors affecting film-screen mammographic image quality.

This paper discusses the technical aspects of mammographic image quality and the factors that affect it. Emphasis is placed on the role of the service professional and the challenges he or she faces as a result of implementation of the Mammography Quality Standards Act of 1992 (MQSA). The passage of the MQSA represented the first attempt to legislate diagnostic image quality. Such legislation will only succeed, however, if all members of the mammographic imaging team fully understand the factors that affect image quality, the role that each member plays in assuring image quality, and the mandates of the MQSA.