National Software Supported Quality Assurance Program in Digital Mammography: Experiences and Challenges

Quality assurance in digital mammography, especially in screening environments, needs a lot thoughtfulness. As the images are digital, it provides the possibility of the use of computer assisted tests. This requires adequate computer readable phantoms and powerful software tools, which should support the medical technical assistant (MTA) in carrying out the required constancy tests. An added value of software assisted quality assurance is the ability to generate reports and statistical evaluations of the collected results. The national mammography screening program in Luxembourg has established a sophisticated quality assurance program including automatic reading, ready to use reporting and tailored formation at a national scope during the last years. This paper reports our experiences during the implementation of this common national wide quality control system and discuss the challenges involved.