Barnes G T, Hendrick R E
Department of Radiology, University of Alabama Hospitals and Clinics, Birmingham 35233.
Radiographics. 1994 Jan;14(1):129-38. doi: 10.1148/radiographics.14.1.8128045.
Not all sites performing mammography produce optimal images at acceptably low doses. To address this situation, a voluntary accreditation program was instituted through the American College of Radiology. Each site applying for accreditation completes a detailed questionnaire about facilities and equipment, personnel, and quality control. Each unit at each site is evaluated by a medical physicist for clinical and phantom image quality and for average glandular dose. Although a site is accredited for 3 years, the performance of each unit is audited annually. Of 11,162 units for which accreditation was sought, only 5,856 (68%) passed at the first attempt, with another 18% passing after reapplication. The major reason for failure was inadequate clinical images, followed by inadequate phantom images, both inadequate clinical and phantom images, and inadequate quality control records. In a performance audit of 20 new units, an average of 5.8 problems were encountered per unit, the majority of which adversely affected image quality. These results support the requirement of equipment performance audits and raise the question of whether similar problems exist in other areas of medical imaging.
并非所有进行乳房X光检查的机构都能在可接受的低剂量下产生最佳图像。为解决这一情况，美国放射学会设立了一项自愿认证计划。每个申请认证的机构都要填写一份关于设施与设备、人员以及质量控制的详细问卷。每个机构的每个单元都由医学物理学家评估临床和体模图像质量以及平均腺体剂量。虽然一个机构获得认证的有效期为3年，但每个单元的表现每年都会接受审核。在申请认证的11,162个单元中，只有5,856个（68%）首次尝试就通过了，另有18%在重新申请后通过。未通过的主要原因是临床图像质量不足，其次是体模图像质量不足、临床和体模图像质量均不足以及质量控制记录不完整。在对20个新单元的性能审核中，每个单元平均遇到5.8个问题，其中大多数对图像质量产生了不利影响。这些结果支持了设备性能审核的要求，并引发了一个问题，即医学成像的其他领域是否也存在类似问题。
