Recommendations on Standards for the Design of Medical Diagnostic Equipment for Adults with Disabilities, Advisory Committee Final Report

Background: The most frequent type of cancer among women and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths is breast cancer. A recent study published in the Journal of Women's Health, highlighted that women with disabilities may be less likely to receive a mammogram compared to women without a disability. Prevalence of self-reported mammography use is lower for women with disabilities (72.2% for women 40 years of age or older and 78.1% for women 50 to 74 years of age) than women without a disability (77.8% and 82.6%, respectively), refer to http://www.cdc.gov/features/breastcancerdisabilities/index.html.

Healthcare practitioners find breast-imaging challenging when patients must remain seated in mobility devices such as wheelchairs or scooters for the procedure. In order to obtain a quality image with the needed visualization of the breast tissue, a patient’s ability to approach and position next to the machine is vital. The key equipment barriers arise from the inherent conflict between the mobility device design and the mammography equipment design. The mammography device operation seems designed to require the patient has the ability to stand. Therefore, a woman using a wheelchair will experience two main barriers, the first is that her mobility device cannot get close enough to the mammography machine itself, and secondly, even if she does get close enough to the machine, the breast platform height does not lower enough to image a woman’s breasts while in the seated position.

The Mammography Subcommittee members provided varied expertise. Members included representation from disability advocates, healthcare organizations including technologists, industry designers, and engineers. Industry input provided supporting illustrations, which enhanced the discussion.