Action 12 - Engage with other stakeholders and collaboration with related initiatives and regulatory authorities in Europe and beyond to contribute to a global safety culture in medical imaging
Several key developments took place beyond Europe,
as the ESR and EuroSafe Imaging were proud to support the launch of AFROSAFE,
an African radiation protection initiative,
at the PACORI congress in Nairobi,
Kenya in February 2015.
Other campaigns inspired by EuroSafe Imaging launched in 2015 include CanadaSafe Imaging,
Japan Safe Imaging and Latin America Safe.
Together with the ESR’s close dialogue with the US campaigns Image Wisely and Image Gently,
the radiology community is working to improve awareness of the importance of radiation protection on a global scale.
This is why the ESR has proposed that the International Society of Radiology (ISR) should act as an umbrella organisation for the various continental and national campaigns,
facilitating communication between these initiatives,
enabling all organisations to learn from each other and benefit from synergies.
Action 10 - Improve communication with health professionals through EuroSafe Imaging Steering Committee,
website,
newsletters,
conferences,
training material and social media
With the launch of Ask EuroSafe Imaging as a new feature on the EuroSafe Imaging website,
the ESR is giving patients,
carers and members of the public the opportunity to submit questions to radiation protection experts.
Three working groups,
each composed of one expert in radiology,
medical physics and radiography,
began developing new content for the EuroSafe Imaging website in July 2015.
The experts are divided into sub-groups focusing on CT,
paediatric imaging and interventional radiology.
Using enquiries submitted through the website,
the group will develop frequently asked questions (FAQs) or Tips and Tricks aimed at providing professionals,
patients and carers with concise monthly articles on a specific issue in each area.
Action 8 - Develop data collection project “Is your imaging EuroSafe?”
The Is Your Imaging EuroSafe? surveys continued with two new topics in 2015,
as well as the publication of preliminary results for the topics acute stroke and pulmonary embolus.
In part because the collection of sufficient data for benchmarking has not proceeded as swiftly as hoped,
the ESR developed the concept of EuroSafe Imaging Stars to attract imaging departments across Europe to the EuroSafe Imaging campaign,
get them to participate in data collection efforts to facilitate benchmarking through the surveys,
and serve as model institutions promoting best practice in radiation protection.
Institutions that wish to become EuroSafe Imaging Stars will participate in a biannual self-evaluation based on a set of criteria developed by EuroSafe Imaging and the ESR Radiation Protection Subcommittee.
The EuroSafe Imaging Stars initiative will be launched in early 2016.
Action 7 - Collaborate with research platforms and other medical professions to develop a strategic research agenda for medical radiation protection
The activities regarding radiation protection research also reached a major milestone this year,
as a group of five medical associations composed of the ESR,
the European Federation of Radiographer Societies (EFRS),
the European Federation of Organisations in Medical Physics (EFOMP),
the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM),
and the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) developed a joint strategic research agenda (SRA) for medical radiation protection,
in cooperation with the research platform MELODI (Multidisciplinary European Low-Dose Initiative).
In addition to giving greater visibility to medical radiation protection research,
a field previously underrepresented and fragmented,
the aim of this group is to also influence the EU research programme Horizon 2020 by proposing research priorities within its area of expertise.
Furthermore,
in November 2015 the ESR became a full member of MELODI and Prof.
Guy Frija,
member of the ESR Radiation Protection Subcommittee and chair of the EuroSafe Imaging Steering Committee,
was elected to represent the medical community in the MELODI board.
Action 3 - Implement measures to maintain radiation doses within diagnostic reference levels (DRLs)
The European Commission-funded project European Diagnostic Reference Levels for Paediatric Imaging (PiDRL) aims to provide European DRLs for paediatric examinations and to promote their use so as to advance the optimisation of radiation protection of paediatric patients,
with a focus on CT,
interventional procedures using fluoroscopy and digital radiographic imaging.
This 27-month tender project started in December 2013 and ends in January 2016.
In 2015,
the PiDRL consortium focused on the finalisation of the European Guidelines on DRLs for Paediatric Imaging.
The draft document was presented to a large audience at the PiDRL Workshop held at the European School of Health Technology (ESTeSL) in Lisbon,
Portugal,
in October 2015.
The PiDRL project consortium encouraged wide attendance in order to ensure a good basis of discussion of the draft PiDRL guidelines and to identify the need for further action regarding DRLs and optimisation of radiation protection of paediatric patients.
The workshop brought together around 160 radiologists,
radiographers,
medical physicists and other professionals from more than 30 countries.
The final draft of the ‘European Guidelines on DRLs for Paediatric Imaging’ was submitted to the European Commission in December and will be published as an official EC publication in 2016.