The purpose of this study was to document the precision with which measurements can be made on a normal subject as a "biologic control" when comparisons are made both on an intralaboratory and interlaboratory basis. One individual had a total of about 300 routine pulmonary function measurements in 22 laboratories during a 13-year period. In this study, significant variation was found in interla...

Background Diagnostic reproducibility and accuracy in cytology and histology are major issues in Oncologic Screenings of cervix, breast and colorectal cancer : it can be achieved by procedures and programs for quality assurance (QA). The slides set standard represents the most used method to compare diagnostic proficiency, the chance of interpreting microscopic digital photographs provided an i...

The standardization and quantitation of immunofluorescence with a Farrand microphotometer in the rabies fluorescent-antibody technique were determined. The system is useful in maintaining the quality of examinations for rabies in a public health laboratory since quantitation of reagent, equipment performance, and specificity of reaction can be evaluated. An analysis of the results demonstrates ...

Laboratories and laboratory networks are a fundamental component of tuberculosis (TB) control, providing testing for diagnosis, surveillance and treatment monitoring at every level of the health-care system. New initiatives and resources to strengthen laboratory capacity and implement rapid and new diagnostic tests for TB will require recognition that laboratories are systems that require quali...

An estimated two thirds of the world's population is currently without access to diagnostic radiology services, and most of them live in resource-limited tropical regions with harsh environments. Most patients are diagnosed and treated in poorly equipped government-funded hospitals and clinics that have insufficiently trained staff and are barely operational. Any available imaging equipment is ...

A commercially prepared, dried colorimetric microdilution panel (Sensititre YeastOne Trek Diagnostic Systems, Cleveland, OH) was compared in three different laboratories with the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) reference microdilution method by testing 2 quality control strains, 25 reproducibility strains, and 404 isolates of Candida spp. against anidulafungin, caspofungin, a...

The quality assurance (QA) of radiographic images based on the operating conditions of X-ray equipment is essential for good image quality, accurate medical diagnostics and for the prevention of health professionals and patients to unnecessary doses of ionizing radiation. This paper presents a historical analysis of 1,635 Quality Assurance Technical Reports of Health Institutions in the state o...

Improvement of ultrasound images should be guided by their diagnostic value. Evaluation of clinical image quality is generally performed subjectively, because objective criteria have not yet been fully developed and accepted for the evaluation of clinical image quality. Based on recommendation 500 from the International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication (ITU-R) for such subjective qual...

Obesity is a growing problem in the United States, and it affects the health care system in a big way. Modern imaging equipment has designated weight limits established in order to ensure patient safety while avoiding damage to the equipment itself, and at most hospitals, there is a lack of equipment that can accommodate the size of obese patients. Obesity is also detrimental to image quality. ...

Improvements in the equipment for the automated fluorescent treponemal antibody (AFTA) test for syphilis prompted this comparative study of the AFTA and its manual counterpart, the fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorption (FTA-ABS) test. The AFTA equipment operated satisfactorily, required only minimal monitoring, and afforded a three-to fourfold increase over the number of sera that could be...