Congress:
EuroSafe Imaging 2020
Keywords:
Action 4 - Dose management systems, Radioprotection / Radiation dose, CT, Digital radiography, Computer Applications-General, Dosimetric comparison, Not applicable, Performed at one institution
Authors:
A. Steuwe, O. T. Bethge, J. Boos, J. Böven, J. Morawitz, L. M. Sawicki, G. Antoch, J. Aissa
DOI:
10.26044/esi2020/ESI-09522
Conclusion and recommendations
The customization process of a DMS is tedious, especially in larger radiology centers and takes both the participation of medical physicists, radiologists, technicians and the DMS specialists of the vendor. To facilitate the work of a radiation protection group, customization of the DMS is required, especially by means of the investigation status list (this depends very much on the department specialization). Typical additional reasons for exceeding doses other than already provided were patient arms not being elevated due to lacking mobility (in CT), larger scan coverage of the field-of-view (FOV) than stipulated by the DLRs (e.g. midface or cervical spine examinations), foreign materials in FOV, or visible metal implants. The list of explanations needs to be reviewed constantly to take countermeasures wherever possible, such as reconsidering FOV choice, protocol parameters or upgrading modalities/software. Especially the drop-down menu of investigation statuses might lead to overhasty closure of an investigation. In some cases, there are several reasons why a DRL might not have been reached, whereas in other cases, reasons are not obvious and require deeper investigation. A drop-down menu must not tempt to close an investigation with an incorrect justification.