Mammography Service — Level 2: Fault-Finding

Compression, tube and generator, detector, AEC, tomosynthesis and image quality

Part of the program: Mammography Service Engineer — program (8 h) →

Level 1 taught you to keep a mammography unit safe, compressed correctly, calibrated and inside its QC programme. Level 2 starts when it fails anyway. This course teaches the engineer to read the error log together with the QC history, place the fault in the exposure sequence, and follow it through compression, the tube and generator, target and filter, the AEC, the detector, the C-arm, biopsy and tomosynthesis hardware and the workstations to the part that has actually failed - and then hand the unit back with the tests, physicist involvement and records a screening tool needs.

Not started

The filament board was replaced. The voltage stabiliser was clicking all along.

Boards are replaced because they raised the error, while the real cause - a sagging phase, a clicking stabiliser, a loose connector, a shorted brake driver - sits one step away and kills the new part too.
Image complaints are 'fixed' with a recalibration that hides a dying detector, a sticking grid or a wrong filter, and the QC trend that showed the problem for weeks is never read.
After a tube, detector or compression job the unit goes back to screening without the dose, AEC and image-quality checks and without telling the physicist, and nobody can prove later that the women examined that month were imaged correctly.

After the course you can

01Use the error log, exposure records and QC history together to place a mammography fault in the sequence power-up, motion, compression, preparation, exposure, readout, processing and transfer.

02Diagnose compression faults - motor, brake, belt, force and thickness sensing, paddle recognition and release - and verify force and thickness indication against a reference.

03Tell a failing tube from a failing generator, filament or rotor circuit, target/filter mechanism or mains supply, using conditions, history and the cheapest separating test.

04Explain how digital AEC chooses kV, target, filter and mAs, read dose indicators, and find AEC faults that come from thickness, paddle, detector or settings rather than from the AEC itself.

05Fault-find a-Se and CsI detectors at Level 2: temperature, ghosting, calibration, defects and warm-up, and know when the evidence says the panel must go back to the manufacturer.

06Diagnose C-arm, column, biopsy and tomosynthesis motion faults, read artefacts to the subsystem that makes them, and return a unit to screening with the right tests, physicist involvement and records.

Curriculum

01The Level 2 method for mammography: logs, QC history, the subsystem map and phantoms
Combine the error log, exposure records and QC history to place a mammography fault in the exposure sequence, choose a phantom test or swap that separates two suspects, and know what you are and are not allowed to change.free
22 min 02Compression systems: drive, brake, force and thickness sensing, paddles and release
Diagnose a compression fault to the motor, brake, transmission, force or thickness sensing, paddle recognition or release path, and verify force and thickness indication against a reference after the repair.22 min 03Tube, generator and target/filter: error groups, filament and rotor faults, arcing, heat and the filter mechanism
Sort a tube or generator error into its group, separate a failing tube from a failing filament, rotor, inverter or HV circuit, the filter mechanism or the mains supply with the cheapest test, and plan the calibrations that must follow.24 min 04AEC and dose: how digital AEC decides, what dose indicators mean, and where AEC faults really come from
Trace an AEC complaint through its inputs - thickness, paddle, mode, detector signal, tube output, supply - to the real cause, read the system's dose indicators critically, and know which AEC and dose changes need the physicist.22 min 05Detectors at Level 2: a-Se and CsI, temperature, warm-up, ghosting, calibration and defects
Diagnose a mammography detector complaint to environment, warm-up, calibration, link, ghosting or a true panel defect, collect the evidence the manufacturer needs, and know when calibration fixes a problem and when it only hides one.24 min 06Gantry, C-arm, biopsy and tomosynthesis: drives, encoders, collisions and accessory recognition
Diagnose column, C-arm, biopsy and tomosynthesis motion faults to the drive, clutch, encoder, collision or accessory-recognition circuit, and know which geometry and accuracy checks must follow mechanical work.23 min 07Image quality and artefacts: phantom tests, an artefact atlas and the subsystem behind each defect
Read a phantom failure or an artefact to the subsystem that makes it, confirm it with a separating test, and decide with the department and physicist whether the unit can stay in clinical use.24 min 08Software, workstations and complex cases; return to service after major repair, physicist involvement and records
Fault-find the acquisition workstation, its database and its DICOM integration, work through multi-cause and intermittent faults, and return a mammography unit to screening after a major repair with the right tests, physicist involvement and a complete record.25 min —Exam
25 · 40 min · 75 %

The certificate

Pass the exam and get a certificate of course completion with your name, hours and score. Every certificate has a unique number and a public verification page, so an employer or a customer can check it in one click. It confirms completion of the course; it is not an educational document (diploma) and not a manufacturer authorisation.

Certificate of course completion

Alex Example

has completed the course

Mammography Service — Level 2: Fault-Finding: Compression, tube and generator, detector, AEC, tomosynthesis and image quality

5 hours · score 86 %No. SEA-US1-000000-K7QF3M · verify at /verify/

The 5 training hours may be self-reported as continuing education (Category IV) toward renewal of AAMI CBET/CRES/CLES certification.

Who it is for

Engineers who have completed Mammography Service — Level 1 or have equivalent experience
Field engineers in independent service companies
Hospital biomedical / clinical engineering teams that diagnose and repair mammography units in-house

Who teaches

Written by a service engineer working with medical equipment since 2014, including 6.5 years at GE Healthcare and service supervision at Mindray, together with the engineers of Service Engineer.

FAQ

Is this manufacturer training?

No. It is independent, vendor-neutral training. It does not replace the manufacturer's service procedures, does not grant authorisation or access to service software, passwords or licences, and every repair must still be followed by the calibrations and checks the manufacturer and your national rules require.

Do I need Level 1 first?

Mammography Service — Level 1 is the prerequisite, together with the basics of X-ray Service — Level 1 and the Digital X-ray Detectors course. Radiation safety, the QC programme, roles in QC, compression safety and the exposure chain of permissions are assumed here and not repeated.

Does it teach board-level repair?

It teaches fault-finding to the subsystem and the replaceable module. Component-level repair of boards and power supplies is covered in the Repair Fundamentals course on electronics.

Will I make exposures and adjust dose?

The course explains which exposure tests and calibrations exist and why they belong to trained, authorised personnel following the manufacturer's documentation and local radiation rules, with the medical physicist involved where dose or image quality can change. It never asks you to bypass interlocks, licences or safety measures.

What does the certificate say?

Your name, the course, the hours, the date and your exam score, with a unique number and a public verification page.

Can my company buy seats for a team?

Yes: five seats and a progress overview for the manager.

Languages?

English and Russian.