What is the purpose of requiring phantom scans as part of the ISCD certification process for Technologists?
Acquiring a phantom scan is necessary to ensure that the DXA machine is operating properly. This task should be done frequently, if not daily. As part of the certification process, ISCD requires that a candidate acquire ten phantoms for several reasons. The first reason is to help the candidate establish a mean or average BMD. The second reason is to test how consistent the candidate is in acquiring scans or repeat measurements. And finally, ISCD requires phantom scans in order to determine the precision of both the machine and technologist; that is, how close are the BMD values to the “average” BMD”? Over a long period of time, the student should continue to examine how closely the BMC, Area, and BMD approximate the baselines for these parameters.
