QA for fMRI, Part 1: An outline of the goals

For such a short abbreviation QA sure is a huge, lumbering beast of a topic. Even the definition is complicated! It turns out that many people, myself included, invoke one term when they may mean another. Specifically, quality assurance (QA) is different from quality control (QC). This website has a side-by-side comparison if you want to try to understand the distinction. I read the definitions and I'm still lost. Anyway, I think it means that you, as an fMRIer, are primarily interested in QA whereas I, as a facility manager, am primarily interested in QC. Whatever. Let's just lump it all into the "QA" bucket and get down to practical matters. And as a practical matter you want to know that all is well when you scan, whereas I want to know what is breaking/broken and then I can get it fixed before your next scan.


The disparate aims of QA procedures

The first critical step is to know what you're doing and why you're doing it. This implies being aware of what you don't want to do. QA is always a compromise. You simply cannot measure everything at every point during the day, every day. Your bespoke solution(s) will depend on such issues as: the types of studies being conducted on your scanner, the sophistication of your scanner operators, how long your scanner has been installed, and your scanner's maintenance history. If you think of your scanner like a car then you can make some simple analogies. Aggressive or cautious drivers? Long or short journeys? Fast or slow traffic? Good or bad roads? New car with routine preventative maintenance by the vendor or used car taken to a mechanic only when it starts smoking or making a new noise?