title: Quality assurance by continuous recording of the microscope status.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess continuous recording of the microscope status for quality assurance.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a special microscope with coordinate registration and objective decoding, 8,653 cervical smears were read by five experienced cytotechnologists. Cytotechnologists could check their screening pattern on a TV monitor. Stage position and magnification were registered every 20 msec.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average screening time per case was 3.5 minutes followed by an approximately two-minute intercase interval. Daily workload profiles were generated to check compliance with workload regulations. Average screening time over a day and over a week was rather constant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our experience demonstrates that continuous coordinate registration can be easily implemented as a method of quality assurance in routine cytology.
authors.affiliation: Cytological Institute of the Bavarian Cancer Society, Germany.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schenck
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Planding
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008853:Microscopy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015588:Observer Variation; D011786:Quality Control; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards