Summary

At present, mammography is the only proven technique suitable for breast cancer screening. Film-screen mammography is the modality of choice.

In 1989 there were at least 267 mammography units in Australia. Data are not available on the proportion of these which would be available for use in screening.

Specifications for screening (and assessment) mammography units are given in Table 1 of this report. They should be taken as guidelines only and not mandatory requirements.

The Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine (ACPSEM) has prepared guidelines for quality control of equipment performance in mammography screening, entitled 'A quality assurance programme for mass screening in mammography'. A summary is given in Tables 4 and 5 of this report.

The Working Party recommends that:

  • the specifications for screening mammography units given in this report should be used as guidelines in the selection of units for screening programs in Australia;
  • these specifications should be kept under review;
  • subject to the formal approval of the Royal Australasian College of Radiologists, the ACPSEM document 'A quality assurance programme for mass screening in mammography' should be adopted as the official guidelines for quality control of equipment performance in screening mammography programs in Australia.