AUTOMATED QC FOR INTERVENTIONAL SYSTEMS AND MAMMOGRAPHY SYSTEMS.

Abstract

Quality control (QC) of X-ray equipment is an important task for patient safety. Periodic QC should not take long to perform, especially in a stressful clinical environment where downtime should be minimised. DOSESTAT-QC® is a new quick QC software with automatic image analysis that has been developed into a quality-assured and user-friendly tool for daily use. Trained X-ray personnel can easily perform the QC with selected image phantoms and immediately approve the results onsite before the equipment is used clinically. Image analysis includes visibility of contrast detail groups, homogeneity, signal-to-noise ratio and contrast-to-noise ratio. In the event of unapproved QC, a message is automatically sent to medical physicists and/or medical engineers. The results are stored over time and are available for trend analysis. The present paper describes the DOSESTAT-QC® software and its application in QC of interventional X-ray systems and mammography systems.