Congress:
EuroSafe Imaging 2020
Keywords:
Action 9 - Facilitation of research in advanced topics of radiation protection, Radiation Protection, Action 13 - Stakeholder engagement and collaboration, Radioprotection / Radiation dose
Authors:
E. Cardis, G. Frija, European Institute for Biomedical Imaging Research (EIBIR)
DOI:
10.26044/esi2020/ESI-00429
Conclusion and recommendations
Medical radiation is an essential tool both in diagnosis and treatment in medicine. The use of ionising radiation in medicine has been steadily increasing, and this trend is set to continue, with obvious health benefits for the population thanks to improved diagnostic and therapy technologies. However, the increasing use of new modalities both for diagnosis and treatment also raises a number of issues in radiological protection of patients and medical workers, as the population’s average medical exposure levels are continually rising.
For the first time, the EURATOM call NFRP-9 has offered an explicit opportunity for medical and nuclear research teams to work together on RP oriented objectives. It is expected that MEDIRAD will enhance our understanding and estimation of the health effects of low dose ionising radiation exposure from diagnostic and therapeutic imaging and from off-target effects in radiotherapy, thus reinforcing the scientific bases and clinical practice of radiation protection in the medical field.
MEDIRAD currently comprises 34 partner organisations, spanning 14 European countries, as main participants in the €10 million project. The European Commission recently agreed to a cost-neutral 9-month extension of the project which will now conclude in February 2022.