Image display and visualization in digital mammography

Image display and visualization is the final but a critical step in the entire process of digital mammography. Using picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) workstations, radiologists can review digital mammographic images on computer monitors instead of on film to make their diagnoses. The computer monitors that are used for display and visualization of digital mammographic images are extremely important parts of digital mammography systems. Since the quality and characteristics of the monitors will directly affect the image quality and thus the radiologist’s diagnostic accuracy and efficiency, these monitors need to be optimized and checked for quality on a regular basis. In traditional film-screen mammography, mammographic images are captured directly on film and the films are displayed and viewed on light boxes for interpretation. The film’s inherent characteristics directly determine the final quality of the mammographic images. One of the major changes brought about by digital mammography and the implementation of PACS/electronic medical record (EMR) systems is the separation of image acquisition and image display, enabling simultaneous access to the same images at multiple locations. This arrangement has overcome some of the inefficiencies in the workflow for traditional film-based mammography operation and introduced some challenges in quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) in digital mammography in order to ensure consistent and optimal image quality.