Abstract
Radiological technicians play an important role in operating the stereotactic vacuum―assisted Mammotome（STMMT）for detection of calcified breast lesions. At our institution, radiological technicians have been required to write technical reports to share information about the process and the results of clinical examination. Five clinicians explain the necessity of STMMT to the patients, and two other clinicians actually operate the STMMT with the assistance of the technicians. The technicians’ reports include details of how the biopsy had been carried out and whether calcification was adequately detected. A total of４７９patients underwent STMMT between February ２００９ and September ２０１３, and the reports were reviewed and evaluated for their usefulness.
All ７ clinicians recognized the usefulness of these reports for gaining information about the correspondence between radiological findings and pathological reports, and for management of patient unease and dissatisfaction with regard to STMMT. The technicians’ reports were also useful for determining the size of the specimen to be surgically excised. In this way, the technical reports were proved to be useful for clinical diagnosis and surgical treatment. As radiological technicians are responsible for operating the STMMT, their technical reports are helpful for confirming the reliability of the procedure and for promoting the quality of medical care.
