PORTABLE SPECTROMETER FOR MAMMOGRAPHY SYSTEM CALIBRATION

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"Although the Mammography Quality Standards Act of 1992 requires all mammography centers to undergo a yearly routine physics survey, there are not enough qualified medical physicists to cary out the 12 tests devised by the American College of Radiology to assure that the highest quality images are produced with the lowest possible patient doses primarily due to the time required to perform and document these tests. Lacking direct assess to x-ray beam quality, time consuming, indirect measurements such as half-value layer are employed which do not provide the information which is really desired." "We therefore propose to develop a portable x-ray spectrometer integrated with a computer running an integrated software suite for data acquisition, analysis and report generation and capable of directly performing all tests related to evaluating beam quality and estimating doses. We thereby expect to at least halve survey test times, thereby effectively doubling the number of qualified physicists available to perform them." "In Phase I, we showed the approach's feasibility by demonstrating solutions to its major physics problems. In Phase I we will refine our approach and construct a prototype spectrometer, which could also be used to calibrate other medical imaging machines, such as radiographic and fluoroscopic imaging systems and computed topography scanners."