Recommendations on Standards for the Design of Medical Diagnostic Equipment for Adults with Disabilities, Advisory Committee Final Report

4.4.2 Mammography Equipment and Scooters

The Committee considered the interaction of women who use scooters with mammography equipment. As noted above, to obtain acceptable images, a woman’s chest wall must be flush with the breast platform. However, the steering column and other front components of many scooters prevent this necessary proximity without the woman swiveling their seat to a side position. Once the scooter user swivels to the side, she may be able to be positioned on the equipment without any interference between her scooter and the equipment.^EE The Committee’s mammography accessibility recommendations focus on interactions with wheelchair users. Mammography equipment recommendations also apply to use of a mammography chair for women who need to sit for the procedure but do not use a wheelchair and to women of short stature.

Notes

^EE The ability of a scooter user to remain seated in her swiveled scooter seat and receive a successful mammogram image depends on multiple factors, including the size of her scooter, the ability to raise and lower the scooter seat, whether there is sufficient room to maneuver the scooter, her physical abilities (e.g., to rotate her torso), and the skill of the technologist.