The nonmammography patient exposure graphs on the Radiation Safety Section website have been updated to include data from 2001 through 2005, and the mammography dose graph has been updated to data from 2005. Nonmammography inspection frequency is about every 5 years, and mammography facilities are inspected annually.

For the first time, we have separated digital systems from screen film systems on the mammography mean glandular dose graph. The graph shows distributions of mean glandular dose from digital systems and screen film systems on the same graph. The nonmammography patient exposure graphs were separated into digital and screen film last year.

We are seeing an increase in the number of digital systems over last year’s data. The mean exposure for digital is slightly higher than screen film for most projections.