Background/introduction
With the current actions in radiation protection the focus is on improving the safety culture with an holistic and interprofessional approach aiming at building trust between patients and all involved healthcare professionals. The Radiation Protection Subcommittee of the European Society of Radiology (ESR) has decided on a workplan for addressing the 10 most relevant activities (numbered in the order of implementation) to provide best image quality and to present radiology as one of the medical disciplines with the highest safety standards. These actions are also...
Description of activity and work performed
Activity 1 – Implementing radiation protection issues in structured referral forms for imaging:
With ESRiGuide (http://www.eurosafeimaging.org/information-for-referring-professionals-2/clinical-decision-support), a tremendous success has been achieved by developing and adopting appropriateness criteria and by implementing them with a computerized decision support tool. The aim of this project is to develop recommendations for optimizing the referral process in a way that all requirements of the BSS Directive (2013/59/Euratom) are fulfilled and that the referral process is more standardized with options for the personalization of the referral (Table 1).
The work...
Conclusion and recommendations
Radiation Protection is stepwise changing its face, originally oriented towards the avoidance of dangers, today towards prevention and in the near future for focussing on the optimization of all aspects of imaging to implement new IT solutions. AI, especially with its potential to improve signal-to-noise ratios and image quality, may be of help to reduce patient dose. In such an new safety culture for imaging with a holistic and interprofessional approach, the opportunities and chances of imaging will outweigh the risks to an even greater...
Personal/organisational information
On behalf of the Radiation Protection Subcommittee of the European Society of Radiology (ESR): Franz Kainberger, Kimberly Applegate, Marco Brambilla, Stefan Delorme, Shane Foley, Werner Jaschke, Emanuele Neri, Katrine Riklund, Andrea Rockall, Raija Seuri, Virginia Tsapaki, Jenia Vassileva, Annalisa Trianni, Guy Frija, Adrian J. Brady
J. Nagl; Vienna/AT - nothing to disclose F. Kainberger; Vienna/AT - nothing to disclose
References
1.European Society of Radiology (ESR). White paperon radiation protection by the European Society of Radiology. InsightsImaging. 2011; 2:357-362
2.European Society of Radiology (ESR). The Current Status of Uptake of European BSS Directive (2013/59/Euratom) Requirements – Results of a Pilot Survey in European Radiology Departments with a Focus on Clinical Audit. Insights Imaging 2019 9; 10: 50
3.Tsapaki V, Fitousi N, Salametis A, Niotis D, Papailiou I. Experience with the use of a dose management system in the everyday routine of a CT department. A touchstone...