Table 2.
MQSA inspection results for selected technical parameters: January to September 2006
| Unless otherwise indicated, tabulated values are:N/Mean/ SD | Hospitals | Private Practice | Breast Clinics | Other facilities | ALL | Digital unitsa | Screen-FilmUnits |
| Mean Glandular Doseb (mGy) | 4776/1.78/0.33 | 3681/1.79/0.35 | 806/1.81/0.33 | 359/1.82/0.31 | 9776/1.78/0.34 | 890/1.63/0.39 | 8542/1.80/0.33 |
| kVp | 4271/25.5/0.7 | 3328/25.5/0.7 | 653/25.5/0.7 | 334/25.5/0.7 | 8586/25.5/0.7 | N/A | 8586/25.5/0.7 |
| HVL (mm Al)c | 2227/0.33/0.02 | 1814/0.33/0.02 | 418/0.32/0.02 | 150/0.33/0.02 | 4609/0.33/0.02 | N/A | 4609/0.33/0.02 |
| Phantom Image Background OD | 4276/1.85/0.22 | 3328/1.85/1.20 | 653/1.89/0.20 | 334/1.85/0.22 | 8591/1.85/0.21 | N/A | 8591/1.85/0.21 |
| Fibersd | 4614/5.1/0.6 | 3573/5.0/0.6 | 771/5.1/0.6 | 351/5.0/0.6 | 9135/5.1/0.6 | 892/5.3/0.6 | 8568/5.0/0.6 |
| Specksd | 4614/3.9/0.3 | 3573/3.9/0.4 | 771/3.9/0.3 | 351/3.9/0.4 | 9135/3.9/0.3 | 892/4.0/0.3 | 8568/3.9/0.3 |
| Massesd | 4614/3.9/0.5 | 3573/3.9/0.5 | 771/4.0/0.4 | 351/3.9/0.4 | 9135/3.9/0.4 | 892/4.3/0.4 | 8568/3.9/0.4 |
| Total Net Scoree | 4614/12.4/1.1 | 3725/12.4/1.1 | 770/12.6/1.1 | 351/12.3/1.1 | 9309/12.4/1.1 | 891/13.5/0.9 | 8567/12.3/1.1 |
| Film Processing: % < 80f | 0.1 (2/2852) | 0.0 (0/2389) | 0.0 (0/358) | 0.0 (0/262) | 0.0 (2/5861) | 0.0 (0/166)h | 0.0 (2/5761) |
| Darkroom Fog: % > 0.05 ODg | 4.7 (127/2725) | 4.0 (92/2325) | 1.3 (4/304) | 4.3 (10/233) | 4.2 (233/5587) | 3.2 (7/220)h | 4.2 (235/5565) |
| % Phantom Images with artifacts | 69.9 (3226/4614) | 69.9 (2498/3573) | 69.1 (533/771) | 69.8 (245/351) | 69.9 (6502/9307) | 29.9 (267/892) | 73.2 (6270/8568) |
18 facilities that were inspected between August (during which MQSA inspections of digital equipment began) and December 2005 were also included in the population of digital sites.
Dose is that reported by the Medical Physicist.
In mid-2006 FDA ceased equipment radiation measurements for HVL, hence the sample size is smaller than those for the remaining tabulated parameters.
Object score is reported without artifact subtraction.
Score includes artifact subtraction.
Percentage of standard-cycle film processors with a speed less than 80, as determined by the STEP method.
Percentage of facilities found to have darkroom fog greater than 0.05 net optical density.
If the facility also operated at least one screen-film mammography unit then the film processing quality and darkroom fog were evaluated.