Disclosure: (J.B.F. has research equipment supplied by GE and Toshiba.)

Learning Objectives: This presentation covers procedures and equipment for clinical ultrasound QA. It also includes considerations for acceptance testing and ongoing monitoring of recording devices. Properties of tissue phantoms will be reviewed, followed by a discussion of the most relevant issues involving QA for modern ultrasound equipment. An example of a QA program following guidelines of the ACR will be given. The complementary roles of sonographers, equipment service engineers, and medical physicists in maintaining a QA program will be discussed.

Learning Objectives: Considerations on evaluating and selecting US equipment, from the perspectives of both the physicist and clinician will be presented. Performance comparisons between "high-end" and lower priced systems will be highlighted, and important features and operating modes of modern US equipment will be described along with their clinical importance and their relevance. The role of advanced features, such as codes and chirps, new image formats, and new techniques for focusing US beams will also be outlined. Means of comparing similar features among various