Digital Mammography Use Reaches the 50% Milestone

This is an Archived Document - Not for Official Use

While in December 2006, only 15% of accredited mammography units were FFDM units, these units, as of April 1, 2009, make up 50.3% of all accredited units, with 6,577 FFDM units in use in the United States. The number of certified facilities with one or more FFDM unit reached 4,371, which is 49.9% of certified facilities. FDA approved the first FFDM unit for marketing in January 2000, and there are currently ten different FFDM units that have received FDA approval.

Dose measurements performed as part of MQSA requirements show overall lower average glandular doses for FFDM units compared to screen-film units. Additionally, phantom image scores are generally higher for FFDM units.