The following standards are established in accordance with sections 402(f)(1)(D) and 413(b) of the Act. They were developed in consultation with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Department of Health and Human Services. These standards are promulgated for the guidance of physicians and medical technicians to ensure that uniform procedures are used in administering and interpreting X-rays and that the best available medical evidence will be submitted in connection with a claim for black lung benefits. If it is established that one or more standards have not been met, the claims adjudicator may consider such fact in determining the evidentiary weight to be assigned to the physician's report of an X-ray.

(a) Definitions. (1) Digital radiography systems, as used in this context, include both digital radiography (DR) and computed radiography (CR). Digital radiography is the term used for digital X-ray image acquisition systems in which the X-ray signals received by the image detector are converted nearly instantaneously to electronic signals without moveable cassettes. Computed radiography is the term for digital X-ray image acquisition systems that detect X-ray signals using a cassette-based photostimulable storage phosphor. Subsequently, the cassette is processed using a stimulating laser beam to convert the latent radiographic image to electronic signals which are then processed and stored so they can be displayed.

(2) Qualified medical physicist means an individual who is trained in evaluating the performance of radiographic equipment including radiation controls and facility quality assurance programs, and has the relevant current certification by a competent U.S. national board, or unrestricted license or approval from a U.S. State or Territory.

(3) Radiographic technique chart means a table that specifies the types of cassette, intensifying screen, film or digital detector, grid, filter, and lists X-ray machine settings (timing, kVp, mA) that enables the radiographer to select the correct settings based on the body habitus or the thickness of the chest tissue.

(4) Radiologic technologist means an individual who has met the requirements for privileges to perform general radiographic procedures and for competence in using the equipment and software employed by the examining facility to obtain chest images as specified by the State or Territory and examining facility in which such services are provided. Optimally, such an individual will have completed a formal training program in radiography leading to a certificate, an associate's degree, or a bachelor's degree and participated in the voluntary initial certification and annual renewal of registration for radiologic technologists offered by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists.

(5) Soft copy means the image of a coal miner's chest radiograph acquired using a digital radiography system, viewed at the full resolution of the image acquisition system using an electronic medical image display device.

(b) General provisions. (1) Facilities must maintain ongoing licensure and certification under relevant local, State, and Federal laws and regulations for all digital equipment and related processes covered by this Appendix. Radiographic equipment, its use and the facilities (including mobile facilities) in which such equipment is used must conform to applicable State or Territorial and Federal regulations. Where no applicable regulations exist regarding reducing the risk from ionizing radiation exposure in the clinical setting, radiographic equipment, its use and the facilities (including mobile facilities) in which such equipment is used should conform to the recommendations in NCRP Report No. 102, NCRP Report No. 105, and NCRP Report No. 147 (incorporated by reference, see § 718.5).

(2) Chest radiographs of miners must be performed:

(i) By or under the supervision of a physician who makes chest radiographs in the normal course of practice and who has demonstrated ability to make chest radiographs of a quality to best ascertain the presence of pneumoconiosis; or

(ii) By a radiologic technologist.

(3) Miners must be disrobed from the waist up at the time the radiograph is given. The facility must provide a dressing area and for those miners who wish to use one, the facility will provide a clean gown. Facilities must be heated to a comfortable temperature.

(4) Before the miner is advised that the examination is concluded, the radiograph must be processed and inspected and accepted for quality standards by the physician, or if the physician is not available, acceptance may be made by the radiologic technologist. In a case of a substandard radiograph, another must be made immediately.

(c) Chest radiograph specifications—film. (1) Every chest radiograph must be a single posteroanterior projection at full inspiration on a film being no less than 14 by 17 inch film. Additional chest films or views must be obtained if they are necessary for clarification and classification. The film and cassette must be capable of being positioned both vertically and horizontally so that the chest radiograph will include both apices and costophrenic angles. If a miner is too large to permit the above requirements, then a projection with minimum loss of costophrenic angle must be made.

(2) Radiographs must be made with a diagnostic X-ray machine having a rotating anode tube with a maximum of a 2 mm source (focal spot).

(3) Except as provided in paragraph (c)(4) of this appendix, radiographs must be made with units having generators that comply with the following:

(i) Generators of existing radiographic units acquired by the examining facility prior to July 27, 1973, must have a minimum rating of 200 mA at 100 kVp;

(ii) Generators of units acquired subsequent to that date must have a minimum rating of 300 mA at 125 kVp. A generator with a rating of 150 kVp is recommended.

(4) Radiographs made with battery-powered mobile or portable equipment must be made with units having a minimum rating of 100 mA at 110 kVp at 500 Hz, or 200 mA at 110 kVp at 60 Hz.

(5) Capacitor discharge and field emission units may be used.

(6) Radiographs must be given only with equipment having a beam-limiting device that does not cause large unexposed boundaries. The use of such a device must be discernible from an examination of the radiograph.

(7) To ensure high quality chest radiographs:

(i) The maximum exposure time must not exceed 50 milliseconds except that with single phase units with a rating less than 300 mA at 125 kVp and subjects with chests over 28 cm postero-anterior, the exposure may be increased to not more than 100 milliseconds;

(ii) The source or focal spot to film distance must be at least 6 feet.

(iii) Medium-speed film and medium-speed intensifying screens are recommended. However, any film-screen combination, the rated “speed” of which is at least 100 and does not exceed 300, which produces radiographs with spatial resolution, contrast, latitude and quantum mottle similar to those of systems designated as “medium speed” may be employed;

(iv) Film-screen contact must be maintained and verified at 6-month or shorter intervals.

(v) Intensifying screens must be inspected at least once a month and cleaned when necessary by the method recommended by the manufacturer;

(vi) All intensifying screens in a cassette must be of the same type and made by the same manufacturer;

(vii) When using over 90 kV, a suitable grid or other means of reducing scattered radiation must be used;

(viii) The geometry of the radiographic system must ensure that the central axis (ray) of the primary beam is perpendicular to the plane of the film surface and impinges on the center of the film.

(8) Radiographic processing:

(i) Either automatic or manual film processing is acceptable. A constant time-temperature technique must be meticulously employed for manual processing.

(ii) If mineral or other impurities in the processing water introduce difficulty in obtaining a high-quality radiograph, a suitable filter or purification system must be used.

(9) An electric power supply must be used that complies with the voltage, current, and regulation specified by the manufacturer of the machine.

(10) A test object may be required on each radiograph for an objective evaluation of film quality at the discretion of the Department of Labor.

(11) Each radiograph made under this Appendix must be permanently and legibly marked with the name and address of the facility at which it is made, the miner's DOL claim number, the date of the radiograph, and left and right side of the film. No other identifying markings may be recorded on the radiograph.

(d) Chest radiograph specifications—digital radiography systems. (1) Every digital chest radiograph must be a single posteroanterior projection at full inspiration on a digital detector with sensor area being no less than 1505 square centimeters with a minimum width of 35 cm. The imaging plate must have a maximum pixel pitch of 200 µm, with a minimum bit depth of 10. Spatial resolution must be at least 2.5 line pairs per millimeter. The storage phosphor cassette or digital image detector must be positioned either vertically or horizontally so that the image includes the apices and costophrenic angles of both right and left lungs. If the detector cannot include the apices and costophrenic angles of both lungs as described, then the two side-by-side images can be obtained that together include the apices and costophrenic angles of both right and left lungs.

(2) Radiographs must be made with a diagnostic X-ray machine with a maximum actual (not nominal) source (focal spot) of 2 mm, as measured in two orthogonal directions.

(3) Radiographs must be made with units having generators which have a minimum rating of 300 mA at 125 kVp. Exposure kilovoltage must be at least the minimum as recommended by the manufacturer for chest radiography.

(4) An electric power supply must be used that complies with the voltage, current, and regulation specified by the manufacturer of the machine. If the manufacturer or installer of the radiographic equipment recommends equipment for control of electrical power fluctuations, such equipment must be used as recommended.

(5) Radiographs must be obtained only with equipment having a beam-limiting device that does not cause large unexposed boundaries. The beam limiting device must provide rectangular collimation. Electronic post-image acquisition “shutters” available on some CR or DR systems that limit the size of the final image and that simulate collimator limits must not be used. The use and effect of the beam limiting device must be discernible on the resulting image.

(6) Radiographic technique charts must be used that are developed specifically for the X-ray system and detector combinations used, indicating exposure parameters by anatomic measurements.

(7) To ensure high quality chest radiographs:

(i) The maximum exposure time must not exceed 50 milliseconds except for subjects with chests over 28 cm posteroanterior, for whom the exposure time must not exceed 100 milliseconds.

(ii) The distance from source or focal spot to detector must be at least 70 inches (or 180 centimeters if measured in centimeters).

(iii) The exposure setting for chest images must be within the range of 100-300 equivalent exposure speeds and must comply with ACR Practice Guidelines for Diagnostic Reference Levels in Medical X-ray Imaging, Section V—Diagnostic Reference Levels for Imaging with Ionizing Radiation and Section VII-Radiation Safety in Imaging (incorporated by reference, see § 718.5). Radiation exposures should be periodically measured and patient radiation doses estimated by the medical physicist to assure doses are as low as reasonably achievable.

(iv) Digital radiography system performance, including resolution, modulation transfer function (MTF), image signal-to-noise and detective quantum efficiency must be evaluated and judged acceptable by a qualified medical physicist using the specifications in AAPM Report No. 93, pages 1-68 (incorporated by reference, see § 718.5). Image management software and settings for routine chest imaging must be used, including routine amplification of digital detector signal as well as standard image post-processing functions. Image or edge enhancement software functions must not be employed unless they are integral to the digital radiography system (not elective); in such cases, only the minimum image enhancement permitted by the system may be employed.

(v)(A) The image object, transmission and associated data storage, film format, and transmissions of associated information must conform to the following components of the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard (incorporated by reference, see § 718.5):

(1) DICOM Standard PS 3.3-2011, Annex A—Composite Information Object Definitions, sections: Computed Radiographic Image Information Object Definition; Digital X-Ray Image Information Object Definition; X-Ray Radiation Dose SR Information Object Definition; and Grayscale Softcopy Presentation State Information Object Definition.

(2) DICOM Standard PS 3.4-2011: Annex B—Storage Service Class; Annex N—Softcopy Presentation State Storage SOP Classes; Annex O—Structured Reporting Storage SOP Classes.

(3) DICOM Standard PS 3.10-2011.

(4) DICOM Standard PS 3.11-2011.

(5) DICOM Standard PS 3.12-2011.

(6) DICOM Standard PS 13.14-2011.

(7) DICOM Standard PS 3.16-2011.

(B) Identification of each miner, chest image, facility, date and time of the examination must be encoded within the image information object, according to DICOM Standard PS 3.3-2011, Information Object Definitions, for the DICOM “DX” object. If data compression is performed, it must be lossless. Exposure parameters (kVp, mA, time, beam filtration, scatter reduction, radiation exposure) must be stored in the DX information object.

(C) Exposure parameters as defined in the DICOM Standard PS 3.16-2011 must additionally be provided when such parameters are available from the facility digital image acquisition system or recorded in a written report or electronic file and transmitted to OWCP.

(8) A specific test object may be required on each radiograph for an objective evaluation of image quality at the Department of Labor's discretion.

(9) CR imaging plates must be inspected at least once a month and cleaned when necessary by the method recommended by the manufacturer.

(10) A grid or air gap for reducing scattered radiation must be used; grids must not be used that cause Moiré interference patterns in either horizontal or vertical images.

(11) The geometry of the radiographic system must ensure that the central axis (ray) of the primary beam is perpendicular to the plane of the CR imaging plate or DR detector and is correctly aligned to the grid.

(12) Radiographs must not be made when the environmental temperatures and humidity in the facility are outside the manufacturer's recommended range of the CR and DR equipment to be used.

(13) All interpreters, whenever classifying digitally acquired chest radiographs, must have immediately available for reference a complete set of ILO standard digital chest radiographic images provided for use with the Guidelines for the Use of the ILO International Classification of Radiographs of Pneumoconioses (2011 Revision) (incorporated by reference, see § 718.5). Modification of the appearance of the standard images using software tools is not permitted.

(14) Viewing systems should enable readers to display the coal miner's chest image at the full resolution of the image acquisition system, side-by-side with the selected ILO standard images for comparison.

(i)(A) Image display devices must be flat panel monitors displaying at least 3 MP at 10 bit depth. Image displays and associated graphics cards must meet the calibration and other specifications of the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard PS 3.14-2011 (incorporated by reference, see § 718.5).

(B) Image displays and associated graphics cards must not deviate by more than 10 percent from the grayscale standard display function (GSDF) when assessed according to the AAPM On-Line Report No. 03, pages 1-146 (incorporated by reference, see § 718.5).

(ii) Display system luminance (maximum and ratio), relative noise, linearity, modulation transfer function (MTF), frequency, and glare should meet or exceed recommendations listed in AAPM On-Line Report No. 03, pages 1-146 (incorporated by reference, see § 718.5). Viewing displays must have a maximum luminance of at least 171 cd/m 2, a ratio of maximum luminance to minimum luminance of at least 250, and a glare ratio greater than 400. The contribution of ambient light reflected from the display surface, after light sources have been minimized, must be included in luminance measurements.

(iii) Displays must be situated so as to minimize front surface glare. Readers must minimize reflected light from ambient sources during the performance of classifications.

(iv) Measurements of the width and length of pleural shadows and the diameter of opacities must be taken using calibrated software measuring tools. If permitted by the viewing software, a record must be made of the presentation state(s), including any noise reduction and edge enhancement or restoration functions that were used in performing the classification, including any annotations and measurements.

(15) Quality control procedures for devices used to display chest images for classification must comply with the recommendations of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine AAPM On-Line Report No. 03, pages 1-146 (incorporated by reference, see § 718.5). If automatic quality assurance systems are used, visual inspection must be performed using one or more test patterns recommended by the medical physicist every 6 months, or more frequently, to check for defects that automatic systems may not detect.

(16) Classification of CR and DR digitally-acquired chest radiographs under this Part must be performed based on the viewing images displayed as soft copies using the viewing workstations specified in this section. Classification of radiographs must not be based on the viewing of hard copy printed transparencies of images that were digitally-acquired.

(17) The classification of chest radiographs based on digitized copies of chest radiographs that were originally acquired using film-screen techniques is not permissible.