Congress:
EuroSafe Imaging 2019
Keywords:
Action 2 - Clinical diagnostic reference levels (DRLs), Action 6 - Clinical audit tool for imaging, Action 13 - Stakeholder engagement and collaboration, Radioprotection / Radiation dose, CT, Radiation safety, Education and training, Quality assurance
Authors:
P. Rogalla, T. D. Do, H. U. Kauczor, C. Farrell, C. Burton, W. Stiller
DOI:
10.26044/esi2019/ESI-0064
Background/introduction
Radiation dose protection has become an essential pillar in Medical Imaging worldwide [1-3].
With CT being a significant contributor to radiation dose in patients,
the Joint Department of Medical Imaging in Toronto (JDMI),
Canada,
has taken a comprehensive approach as the first Medical Imaging Department in Canada,
in order to harmonize CT imaging protocols,
track radiation doses and most importantly,
develop a feedback tool for radiologist on image quality and related radiation dose concerns.
In today’s Canadian healthcare landscape,
there are no formal guidelines for computed tomography (CT) dose levels to help hospitals administer effective and safe levels of CT dose to patients [4-5].
Most scanners at JDMI hold a large number of “physicianized” imaging protocols that were initially developed for a specific clinical purpose but have evolved over time with no centralized maintenance or overview.
Legacy protocols are carried over from previous software versions and even reloaded on newly purchased CT scanners.
To make the challenge worse,
the terminology of similar protocols was highly heterogeneous with different protocol names linking to very similar protocols on the same CT unit.
To address all those as mentioned above,
a CT dose committee was inaugurated.
Radiation protection was prioritized in the Department as one of the main strategic goals.