NEMA has published more quality control (QC) standards, this time for full-field digital mammography (FFDM). They are:

• *XR 22-2006, “Quality Control Manual” Template for Manufacturers of Displays and Workstations Labeled for FFDM, and
• *XR 23-2006, “Quality Control Manual” Template for Manufacturers of Hardcopy Output Devices Labeled for Final Interpretation in FFDM.

“These documents include templates providing both a consistent presentation format and a minimum set of QC tests that should be included as part of the quality assurance plan of a display or workstation or hardcopy output device (e.g., printer) labeled for final interpretation in a full field digital mammography (FFDM) system,” said Kish Chakrabarti of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Device Evaluation.   

The American College of Radiology views these standards as playing “an important role until the ACR FFDM QC plan is completed; ACR is working with NEMA representatives on the development of that plan,” said Priscilla Butler, senior director for breast imaging accreditation programs, ACR.   

The standards can be downloaded at www.nema.org/stds/xr22.cfm and  www.nema.org/stds/xr23.cfm.