Technical Reports

Background
Mammographic equipment approved for use in the NHS Breast Screening Programme (“NHSBSP”) is subject to evaluation commissioned by NHS England and carried out by a number of breast screening services in England who undertake the practical evaluation of equipment using protocols provided by the NHSBSP.  These evaluations comprise a staged process as follows:
  1. A technical evaluation by the National Coordinating Centre for the Physics of Mammography (“NCCPM”) (the “Technical Evaluation”). 
  2. If the Technical Evaluation meets requirements, a subsequent practical evaluation is conducted by one of the breast screening services involved in the NHSBSP (the “Practical Evaluation”).
Technical and Practical Evaluations are undertaken to assess the use of equipment in a practical, clinical setting and are not intended to be clinical trials. Further information about the limitations of the Technical Evaluation and Practical Evaluations are set out below.
The purpose of the Technical and Practical Evaluations together are intended to:
  1. determine the suitability of the equipment for use within the NHSBSP;
  2. assist potential purchasers in making their choice of equipment;
  3. provide potential users with performance data about equipment;
  4. provide potential users with a record of the practical experience of using the equipment in the NHSBSP; and
  5. enable comparisons to be made with other pieces of tested equipment
Disclaimer
Whilst NHSE commissions testing for the purposes outlined above, in order to provide further information and support to providers of screening services within the NHSBSP, it is for informational purposes only and such testing is subject to the limitations described below. No representation is made by NHSE in relation to the reports generated from the Technical Evaluation or the Practical Evaluation and, insofar as the law allows, NHSE accepts no liability arising from purchase or use of equipment by providers of screening services within the NHSBSP subjected to them.
Providers of screening services within the NHSBSP must ensure that all equipment purchased and used within the NHSBSP complies with all relevant requirements of the NHSBSP, the terms of their contracts in respect of the NHSBSP, and all other relevant obligations including but not limited to ensuring that such equipment:
  • complies with national equipment standards;
  • has been approved for use in the programme and is tested by appropriately trained staff and medical physics services, in accordance with NHSBSP guidelines;
  • is accredited for use within the NHSBSP and that image quality and radiation dose meet acceptable standards; and
  • is suitable for the usage intended in the breast screening unit.
Providers are reminded that they should carry out their own due diligence in respect of the above.

Technical evaluation
Testing undertaken during the Technical Evaluation is a balance between time, evaluation costs and depth. There are therefore limitations to the scope of the Evaluations undertaken on the behalf of the NHSBSP.
The Technical Evaluation is undertaken over a short time and so will not assess if image quality may change over time. The equipment tested is generally selected by the equipment supplier and has been set up by them. It should be noted that individual centres may be set up differently for example to meet the requirements of the screening service.
The technical image quality as measured on this system must be acceptable. The image quality of the final displayed image will be affected by the image processing and display and this is separately evaluated qualitatively in the Practical Evaluation.
This evaluation report does not absolve the provider of their responsibility during the procurement process to ensure the equipment is suitable for the usage intended by the provider. 


A list of all recent (not just NCCPM) equipment reports can be found at the website https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/breast-screening-professional-guidance

Manufacturer Report Title  
GE Technical Evaluation of GE Healthcare Senographe Pristina update Enhanced Automatic Optimisation of Parameters (AOP) NCCPM Technical Report 2412_no.3 December 2024
Siemens Technical Evaluation of Siemens MAMMOMAT B.brilliant digital mammography system in tomosynthesis mode NCCPM Technical Report 2412_no.2 December 2024
Siemens Technical Evaluation of Siemens MAMMOMAT B.brilliant digital mammography system in 2D mode NCCPM Technical Report 2412_no.1 December 2024
Siemens Technical evaluation of TiCEM contrast enhanced mammography on the Siemens Revelation system NCCPM Technical Report 2201, October 2022
GE Healthcare Senographe Pristina - contrast enhanced mammography functions NCCPM Technical Report 2004, December 2020
Hologic I-View software - contrast enhanced mammography functions NCCPM Technical Report 2003, November 2020
  Use of emergency exit as a routine exit on mammography vans NCCPM Technical note, August 2020
  Care of mammography systems out of use over a prolonged period NCCPM Technical Report 2002, May 2020
GE Healthcare Essential system - contrast enhanced mammography functions NCCPM Technical Report 2001, January 2020
GE Healthcare Senographe Pristina digital mammography system in 2D mode NHSBSP Equipment Report, December 2019
IMS Giotto Class digital mammography system in 2D mode NHSBSP Equipment Report, July 2019
Hologic 3Dimensions digital mammography system in 2D mode NHSBSP Equipment Report, December 2019
Hologic Affirm prone biopsy system NHSBSP Equipment Report, March 2019
Hologic 3Dimensions digital breast tomosynthesis system NHSBSP Equipment Report, March 2019
Siemens Revelation digital mammography system in 2D mode NHSBSP Equipment Report, March 2019
Siemens Revelation digital breast tomosynthesis evaluation NHSBSP Equipment Report, March 2019
GE Healthcare Senographe Pristina digital breast tomosynthesis system evaluation NHSBSP Equipment Report, January 2019
Siemens Mammomat Inspiration VB60 NHSBSP Equipment Report, December 2018
IMS Giotto Class digital breast tomosynthesis system NHSBSP Equipment Report, November 2018
Fujifilm AMULET Innovality digital breast tomosynthesis system NHSBSP Equipment Report, March 2018
EIZO RadiForce RX850 8MP monitor NCCPM Technical Report 1801, June 2018
Fujifilm AMULET Innovality digital mammography system NHSBSP Equipment Report 1601, February 2017
Siemens Inspiration PRIME with VB30L software mammography system NHSBSP Equipment Report 1503, March 2016
GE Healthcare SenoClaire digital breast tomosynthesis system NHSBSP Equipment Report 1404, January 2016
Hologic Selenia Dimensions digital breast tomosynthesis system NHSBSP Equipment Report 1307, August 2014
Siemens Mammomat Inspiration digital breast tomosynthesis system NHSBSP Equipment Report 1306, January 2015
Philips Philips Microdose SI digital mammography system NHSBSP Equipment Report 1310, February 2016
Fujifilm Amulet f/s NHSBSP Equipment Report 1304, May 2013
IMS Giotto 3DL NHSBSP Equipment Report 1301, March 2013
Hologic Selenia Dimensions 2-D with software version 1.4.2. NHSBSP Equipment Report 1201, July 2012
Hologic Selenia Dimensions 2-D NHSBSP Equipment Report 1101, February 2011
Siemens Mammomat Inspiration Full Field Digital Mammography System NHSBSP Equipment Report 0909, December 2009
Fujifilm Amulet NHSBSP Equipment Report 0907, November 2009
GE Profile automatic exposure control software on GE Essential FFDM system NHSBSP Equipment Report 0903, May 2009