[Quality assurance in cytology by continuous registration of stage movement during microscopy work]

The discussion concerning the maximum workload of microscopical slides to be screened by doctors or cytotechnologists per unit of time has been activated in Germany by a "Guideline of the German Medical Association concerning quality assurance of cervical cytology". In this guideline the maximum workload is 8-10 cases per hour. To control the adherence to these guidelines we have monitored the screening process by using Axio-HOME-Microscopes to register the microscope stage coordinates every twenty milliseconds. In a series of 8653 slides screened by 5 cytotechnologists the average screening time was 3 1/2 minutes followed by an average intercase interval of 2 minutes. The distribution of the screening work over the day was presented in form of daily working profiles, allowing a control of workload limits. The results did not indicate, that the screening time per case vary with the time of the day and the day of the week. Since this approach to quality assurance seemed practical also for routine cytology, all working places of the cytotechnologists at the Cytological Institute of the Bavarian Cancer Society have been equipped with this set up for quality assurance.