Quality assurance and quality control in mammography: a review of available guidance worldwide

Reis, Cláudia Sà dos; Pascoal, Ana; Sakellaris, T; Koutalonis, M

doi:10.1007/s13244-013-0269-1

Cited by 40 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Mammography is one of imaging modalities that can be used to assess certain types of prosthesis (saline, silicone) and under certain circumstances (women over 40s as initial examination or search for extra capsular rupture) [3]. However, available guidelines and studies [4][5][6][7][8] do not present detailed guidance about breast implants (BI) mammography technique and/or image quality (IQ) criteria regarding the assessment of breast positioning, contrast, artefacts, noise levels, and sharpness as is provided for routine mammography examinations. This lack of guidance impacts on radiographers' practice as they evaluate the image quality, even with the obvious anatomical changes during the regular BI mammography examinations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of breast implants mammography examinations for identification of suitable image quality criteria

2020

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Purpose: To characterise the mammography technique used in breast cancer screening programmes for breast implants (BI) and to identify if the image quality (IQ) criteria available in literature are applicable to BI imaging. Methods: The study was conducted in two phases: literature review to find IQ criteria used in mammography combining keywords in several sources; and assessment of 1207 BI mammograms using the criteria that was identified previously to see if they were achieved or not. An observation grid was used to collect information about positioning, beam energy, compression force, and exposure mode. Descriptive statistics and Student's t test and χ 2 test were performed according to the nature of the variables. Results: Forty-seven out of 2188 documents were included in the analysis, with 13 items identified to assess the quality of positioning, 4 for sharpness, 3 for artefacts, and 2 for exposure parameters. After applying the criteria to BI mammograms, retroglandular fat was not included in 37.3% of the images. The "Pectoral-Nipple-Line" criterion was achieved in 35% of MLO/ML images. The placement of the implant (subpectoral/subglandular) or performing the Eklund had significant influence on the visible anatomy (p = < 0.005), alongside whether the breast was aligned to the detector's centre. Conclusions: Some of the criteria used to assess standard mammograms were not applicable to BI due to implant overlap. The alignment of the image with the detector's centre seems to have an impact on the amount of visible tissue. Further studies are necessary to define the appropriate protocol, technique, and suitable quality criteria to assess BI mammograms.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of breast implants mammography examinations for identification of suitable image quality criteria

2020

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“…The first round response rate was 100% (n = 10) and for the second round was 90% (n = 9). The number of criteria ranked during the first round were in total 25, distributed between positioning, parameters, sharpness/ Breast centrally placed [13,[43][44][45] Positioning (13) Presence of pectoral muscle (PM) [11,13,45] Pectoral muscle visualised down to the level of PNL [11,13,45,46] Visualisation of retroglandular adipose tissue [11,13,45] Medial border of the breast included on the image [11,13,45,46] Axillary tail demonstrated [11,13,45,46] Superior breast edge included [13] Inferior breast edge included [45] Full visualisation of inferior breast tissue [45] Inframammary angle clearly demonstrated [11,13,45,46] Nipple in profile or transected by skin [11,13,45,46] Nipple in the midline (+/− 10°) [11,45] Symmetrical mirror images R/L images [11,13,45,46] No skin folds [13,45,46] Artefacts (3) No artefacts [45,…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sharpness of glandular tissue [13,45,46] Sharpness of vascular structures [13,44] Visually sharp reproduction of skin structure (rosettes from pores) [13] Good penetration of thicker areas without over penetration of thin areas [45,46] Parameters (2) Appropriate contrast [44][45][46] 1, need to have; 2, nice to have; 3, not pertinent/appropriate; 4, I do not know compression and artefacts, and were adapted to each projection. Additionally, 4 criteria to assess the implant itself in a mammographic examination were considered ( Table 2).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consensus about image quality assessment criteria of breast implants mammography using Delphi method with radiographers and radiologists

2020

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Aims:To identify image quality criteria that can be applied to assess breast implant (BI) mammograms according to radiologists and radiographers' perspectives and to explore the level of agreement about criteria priority. Methods: A two-round Delphi method using a questionnaire was applied to identify the level of agreement between experts, asking them to rank each image criteria available for mammography according to 4 possible answers (1 = need to have, 2 = nice to have, 3 = not pertinent/appropriate, 4 = do not know). Criteria for craniocaudal (CC), mediolateral-oblique (MLO) and lateral (ML), with and without Eklund manoeuvre, were included. This process was repeated after removing the less relevant criteria. Results: Between first and second rounds, different results were obtained regarding the criteria to assess CC and MLO images. Details for anatomic areas were considered the most relevant by radiographers during the first round, while general criteria were prioritised during the second round. Radiologists focused more on analysis of the spread of the breast tissue, if the breast was aligned with detector's centre and level of contrast. The analysis of implant flow, the BI anterior edge and the maximum retropulsion of BI when Eklund manoeuvre is performed were the specific aspects of BI imaging considered as relevant for assessment. Conclusions: The importance of each criterion used to assess BI mammograms was not the same between radiographers and radiologists, suggesting the two groups of experts are looking for different requirements from the image. Further education and training is necessary to align strategies for assessing BI mammograms, and some criteria need to be adapted to reduce subjectivity.

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“…Here, additional sources of bias, due to manual or automated delineation algorithms for the structures of interest, need to be considered. A more practical and established solution in breast imaging to address issues of performance testing and quality assurance is the use of anthropomorphic breast phantoms as the ground truth …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A more practical and established solution in breast imaging to address issues of performance testing and quality assurance is the use of anthropomorphic breast phantoms as the ground truth. 16,17 The aim of this study was to demonstrate the accuracy of fully automated, volumetric FGT measurements and to investigate the impact of different MRI sequences using anthropomorphic breast phantoms as the ground truth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accuracy of fully automated, quantitative, volumetric measurement of the amount of fibroglandular breast tissue using MRI: correlation with anthropomorphic breast phantoms

et al. 2017

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To demonstrate the accuracy of fully automated, quantitative, volumetric measurement of the amount of fibroglandular breast tissue (FGT), using MRI, and to investigate the impact of different MRI sequences using anthropomorphic breast phantoms as the ground truth. In this study, 10 anthropomorphic breast phantoms that consisted of different known fractions of adipose and protein tissue, which closely resembled normal breast parenchyma, were developed. Anthropomorphic breast phantoms were imaged with a 1.5 T unit (Siemens, Avantofit) using an 18-channel breast coil. The sequence protocol consisted of an isotropic Dixon sequence (Di), an anisotropic Dixon sequence (Da), and T 3D FLASH sequences with and without fat saturation (T1). Fully automated, quantitative, volumetric measurement of FGT for all anthropomorphic phantoms and sequences was performed and correlated with the amounts of fatty and protein components in the phantoms as the ground truth. Fully automated, quantitative, volumetric measurements of FGT with MRI for all sequences ranged from 5.86 to 61.05% (mean 33.36%). The isotropic Dixon sequence yielded the highest accuracy (median 0.51%-0.78%) and precision (median range 0.19%) compared with anisotropic Dixon (median 1.92%-2.09%; median range 0.55%) and T -weighted sequences (median 2.54%-2.46%; median range 0.82%). All sequences yielded good correlation with the FGT content of the anthropomorphic phantoms. The best correlation of FGT measurements was identified for Dixon sequences (Di, R = 0.999; Da, R = 0.998) compared with conventional T -weighted sequences (R = 0.971). MRI yields accurate, fully automated, quantitative, volumetric measurements of FGT, an increasingly important and sensitive imaging biomarker for breast cancer risk. Compared with conventional T sequences, Dixon-type sequences show the highest correlation and reproducibility for automated, quantitative, volumetric FGT measurements using anthropomorphic breast phantoms as the ground truth.

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Quality assurance and quality control in mammography: a review of available guidance worldwide

Cited by 40 publications

References 19 publications

Study of breast implants mammography examinations for identification of suitable image quality criteria

Study of breast implants mammography examinations for identification of suitable image quality criteria

Consensus about image quality assessment criteria of breast implants mammography using Delphi method with radiographers and radiologists

Accuracy of fully automated, quantitative, volumetric measurement of the amount of fibroglandular breast tissue using MRI: correlation with anthropomorphic breast phantoms

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