Abstract
To ascertain the current status of soft―copy mammography and its interpretation, a questionnaire was sent to 415 institutions in the Kyushu bloc, of which 275 institutions（66％）returned the questionnaire. The proportion of institutions that had fully or partially installed the equipment, or which planned to do so, was 51％. The proportion exceeded 60％ if institutions that planned to install the equipment in the near future were included. We investigated 144 sets of digital mammography equipment at 120 institutions, among which CR（computed radiography）and DR（digital radiography; flat panel detector system） accounted for 61％ and 37％, respectively. The percentage use of 5M pixel liquid crystal displays when radiological technologists were checking patients’ precise positioning and for performing additional spot compressionwas only 42％ and 46％, respectively. On the other hand, the rate was 81％ for interpretation by the doctor. The rate of periodic quality control（QC）of the display and statistical management of diagnostic reports was low. It was suggested that evaluation of image quality, the interpretation environment, and the contents of inspection were insufficient. Although the training course in digital mammography QC and certification and license in soft ―copy mammography stipulated by the Japan Central Institution on Quality Assurance of Breast Cancer Screening should serve as an aid to information acquisition, it appears to be insufficiently functional. Therefore, information about accuracy control needs to be shared in the Kyushu bloc.
