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Audit of Data from Examination Image Headers collected for Quality Assurance in the ECOG-ACRIN EA1151 Tomosynthesis Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (TMIST)

Aili K. Maki, G. Mawdsley, J. Mainprize, Etta D. Pisano, S. Shen, Olivier Alonzo-Proulx, M. J. Yaffe

Medical Physics (Lancaster), 2023

1 citation

Abstract

Purpose∷ A comprehensive, centrally-monitored physics quality control program was developed for the Tomosynthesis Imaging Screening Trial (TMIST), a randomized controlled trial of digital breast tomosynthesis (TM) versus digital mammography (DM) for cancer screening. As part of the program, in addition to a set of phantom-based tests, de-identified data on image acquisition and processing parameters were captured from the DICOM headers of all individual patient images in the trial. These data were analyzed to assess the potential usefulness of header data from digital mammograms and tomosynthesis images of patients for quality assurance in breast imaging. Methods: Data were automatically extracted from the headers of all de-identified patient mammograms and tomosynthesis images in the TMIST study. Image acquisition parameters and estimated radiation doses were tracked for individual sites, systems and across system types. These parameters included (among others) kV, target/filter use, number of acquired views per examination, AEC mode, compression thickness and force and detector temperature. Consistency of manually entered study data parameters (subject ID, screening time-point) from TMIST was evaluated. Preliminary observations from the program are presented. Results: We report on data from 812,651 images from 135,525 examinations acquired between October, 2017 and December, 2022. Data came from 6 system models from 3 manufacturers. There was greater variability both in…

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