Air Kerma and AEC Reproducibility Annual Quality Control Test

 

Citation:

900.12(e)(5)(v): Breast entrance air kerma and AEC reproducibility. The coefficient of variation for both air kerma and mAs shall not exceed 0.05.

 

Discussion

Question 1: Must medical physicists test all AEC detectors for AEC reproducibility in mammography units with multiple AEC detectors in a single cassette holder (bucky)?

Question 2: Must medical physicists test AEC reproducibility in all clinically used AEC modes?

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Question 1: Must medical physicists test all AEC detectors for AEC reproducibility in mammography units with multiple AEC detectors in a single cassette holder (bucky)?

No. Because the AEC detectors are also being evaluated as part of the AEC performance test, only a single detector per bucky needs to be tested by the medical physicist. Units that have different AEC detectors in different buckys (e.g., different AEC detectors for the different size cassette holders) will need to have one detector in each bucky tested for reproducibility.

Question 2: Must medical physicists test AEC reproducibility in all clinically used AEC modes?

No. The medical physicist can limit AEC reproducibility testing to the AEC mode used most commonly for the standard breast.

 

Key Words:

Screen-Film System

Annual Tests

Air Kerma

AEC Reproducibility

AEC

 

Related Topics:

Annual Equipment Quality Control Tests

Automatic Exposure Control (AEC)

Automatic Exposure Control (AEC) Annual Quality Control Test