Since 1987, the American College of Radiology (ACR) has accredited upwards of 39,000 facilities across 10 distinct imaging modalities. Over nearly four decades, the organization has established itself as the gold standard for medical imaging. Accreditation immediately signals to patients that a facility meets all equipment, personnel, and quality assurance requirements. ACR accreditation programs include mammography, ultrasound, breast ultrasound, and stereotactic breast biopsy, among others.
The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering describes mammography as a style of X-ray imaging used to make early breast cancer diagnoses. Mammography scans can also alert doctors to other diseases of the breast. Mammography procedures are a standard tool for both screening and diagnostic purposes. Digital mammography procedures provide several advantages over traditional approaches, such as the ability to refine digital image quality and opportunities to integrate computer-aided detection tools, in addition to minimized exposure to X-rays.
Digital breast tomosynthesis, or 3D mammography, is another breast cancer screening strategy that uses X-rays to examine breast tissue. 3D mammography procedures are comparable to computed tomography (CT) scans but with a reduced need for X-ray beams. Mammography procedures present some risks, from an inability to recognize certain cancers to exposure to ionized radiation, albeit in small amounts.
Ultrasound is another common type of imaging test. In 2023, a National Institutes of Health study estimated that there were roughly 190,000 ultrasound machines throughout America. Ultrasounds are often associated with natal medicine, allowing doctors to assess the growth and development of fetuses in the womb. That said, ultrasounds provide images of several important parts of the body, including internal organs, blood vessels, and soft tissues.
Fetal ultrasound is an important and exciting diagnostic modality that serves expecting families. Women often receive their first prenatal ultrasound between six and eight weeks of pregnancy. The primary purpose of this initial scan is to gauge the due date. Unless doctors want to monitor a specific concern, mothers often receive a second ultrasound between 18 and 22 weeks, at which point physicians examine the fetus's anatomy and, if desired, inform families of the sex.
Medical professionals are trained to perform fetal ultrasounds using a special instrument called a transducer. Physicians move this instrument over a pregnant patient's abdomen, though in some cases the device is inserted into the vagina. During standard pregnancies, fetal ultrasound diagnostic procedures pose very little risk to the mother or child.
A breast ultrasound is a specific ultrasound procedure that involves the use of sound waves to examine the interior of the breasts. Images of the inside of a person's breasts can alert physicians to health conditions impacting the lymph nodes, muscles, lobules, ducts, and more. Breast ultrasounds may be used to follow up on results generated from a mammogram.
Finally, stereotactic breast biopsy is comparable to both breast ultrasounds and mammogram procedures. During a stereotactic breast biopsy, doctors use X-rays to create multiple stereotactic images of the same location within a patient's breast. By examining multiple angles of a tumor or growth, medical teams can make more accurate plans for biopsies, which are performed via a small needle.
Additional imaging modality programs offered by the ACR include CT, MRI, including breast MRI, as well as positron emission tomography. More information about accreditation can be found at ACR.org.
