Invited Lecture 1.5

Abstract

Ensuring quality and safety in medical imaging, entails support to diagnostic radiology medical physics. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is providing this support by developing guidance on quality assurance (QA), dosimetry, and medical physics education and training, through coordinated research projects (CRP) and by developing relevant training resources. The IAEA methodology for Remote and Automated Quality Control Programme for Radiography and Mammography Equipment is designed to facilitate constancy testing by remote supervision of the collected data. It incorporates a simple and low-cost phantoms and associated analysis tool called Automated Tool for Image Analysis (ATIA) that allows for remote analysis by a medical physicist of the health facility or by a medical physicist  supervising the QA program. The methodology evaluates the ability of the imaging systems to consistently generate high quality images, by determining both acquisition technical parameters and image quality indicators and metrics, e.g. mAs, exposure index, pixel value, uniformity, modulation transfer function (MTF), contrast to noise ratio (CNR), signal difference to noise ratio (SDNR), detectability index (d′) and artefacts.  The IAEA publication HHS No. 39 provides complete information for the implementation of the methodology, including resources and needs, procedures, data transfer and analysis requirements, roles and responsibilities of different professional groups. It includes detailed blueprints for the phantoms, ATIA software and manual, and data collection sheets that are generating long-term performance graphs for each unit. A CRP on Advanced Tools for Quality and Dosimetry of Digital Imaging in Radiology has  primary goal to  investigate whether the IAEA methodology  for Remote and Automated Quality Control Programme for Radiography and Mammography Equipment can be implemented in imaging  centres worldwide, and is expected to provide an efficient tool the medical physicist worldwide, resulting in increased local implementation of QA programs. 

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