Abstract
Purpose
Quality assurance (QA) of ultrasound (US) equipment is currently required in only a few countries around the world. In Greece, no national or other norms exist for regulating the use of US equipment. However, to obtain accreditation for the radiology department of a Greek hospital, the establishment and implementation of a quality control (QC) protocol and a QA programme for US equipment was required.
Materials and methods
A literature review regarding US QC/QA procedures was performed. The information collected was used as a guide to create a QC/QA protocol and to obtain an appropriate US QC phantom. Drafting and testing of the initial protocol lasted 6 months. Its final version was implemented for 18 months in two US systems and five US transducers.
Results
The QC tests included in the protocol evaluate mechanical and electrical safety, image display, uniformity, penetration depth, distance accuracy, greyscale display, anechoic object imaging, geometric distortion, and axial/lateral resolution. The only QC test that failed was the test for uniformity since intense non-uniformities were observed that led to the replacement of two linear transducers.
Conclusion
US imaging is considered safe and, where appropriate, is preferred over imaging modalities that use ionizing radiation. However, the lack of QC/QA implies that US image quality is not routinely monitored. Therefore, the possibility of malfunctions that may go undetected and lead to wrong diagnosis cannot be excluded. A QC/QΑ programme can contribute to the elimination of such errors and ensure that performance is maintained over time.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
World Health Organization (2011) Manual of diagnostic ultrasound. Geneva, Switzerland
Bushberg JT, Seibert JA, Leidholdt EM (2012) The essential physics of medical imaging, 3rd edn. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia
Boote EJ (2003) AAPM/RSNA physics tutorial for residents: topics in US, B-mode US: basic concepts and new technology. Radiographics 23:1315–1327
Hangiandreou NJ (2003) AAPM/RSNA physics tutorial for residents: topics in US Doppler US techniques: concepts of blood flow detection and flow dynamics. Radiographics 23:1019–1033
United States Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/radiation-emitting-products/medical-imaging/ultrasound-imaging. Accessed 15 Sept 2020
Kofler JM (2001) Quality assurance of ultrasound imagers: procedures, expectations and philosophies. AAPM, 43rd Annual Meeting
Dudley N, Russell S, Ward B, Hoskins P, BMUS QA working party (2014) The BMUS guidelines for regular quality assurance testing of ultrasound scanners. Ultrasound 22:6–7
Hangiandreou N, Stekel S, Tradup D, Gorny K, King D (2011) Four-year experience with a clinical ultrasound quality control program. Ultrasound Med Biol 37(8):1350–1357
Balbis S, Meloni T, Tofani S, Zenone F, Nucera D, Guiot C (2012) Criteria and scheduling of quality control of B-mode and Doppler ultrasonography equipment. J Clin Ultrasound 40(3):167–173
Goodsitt M, Carson P, Witt S, Hykes D, Kofler J (1998) Real time B-mode ultrasound quality control test procedures. Report of AAPM ultrasound task group No1. Med Phys 25(8):1385–1406
IPEM (2010) Report No102. Quality assurance of ultrasound imaging systems
User’s Guide, 410 HE Series, Multi-Purpose Accreditation Phantom, Gammex Inc, Middleton, USA, 2017
AIUM (2008) American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM), Routine quality assurance for diagnostic ultrasound equipment, Laurel, USA
Dudley N, Russel S, Ward B, Hoskins P, BMUS QA working party (2014) BMUS guidelines for the regular quality assurance testing of ultrasound scanners by sonographers. Ultrasound 22(1):8–14
Kollmann C, deKorte C, Dudley N, Gritzmann N, Martin K, Evans D (2012) Guidelines for technical quality assurance of ultrasound devices (B-mode)—EFSUMB technical quality assurance group, US-TQA/B, Version 1 July 2012. Ultraschall Med 33:544–549
Sipilä O, Mannila V, Vartieinen E (2011) Quality assurance in diagnostic ultrasound. Eur J Radiol 80:519–525
AS Filho (2020) Ultrasound quality control. https://leanpub.com/cqus_guidelines/read#leanpub-auto-image-uniformity. Accessed 15 Sept 2020
Choi JI, Jung SE, Kim PN, Cha SH, Jun JK, Lee HY et al (2014) Quality assurance test of screening ultrasound examination of hepatocellular carcinoma using a standardized phantom and standard images: a 3-year nationwide survey in Korea. J Ultrasound Med 33:985–995
Dudley NJ, Woolley DJ (2016) A simple uniformity test for ultrasound phased arrays. Phys Med 32(9):1162–1166
Funding
The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work. No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tsapaki, V., Tsalafoutas, I.A., Triantopoulou, S.S. et al. Development and implementation of a quality control protocol for B-mode ultrasound equipment. J Ultrasound 25, 155–165 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40477-021-00579-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40477-021-00579-7