Background/introduction
Two of the fundamental principles of radiation protection are justification and optimization of exposure in medical radiological practices. These principles have to be applied to all individuals. One important tool for the optimisation is the establishment and regular review of diagnostic reference levels (DRLs). DRLs are defined as “doselevelsin medicalradiodiagnostic or Interventional Radiology (IR) practices, or, in the case of radio-pharmaceuticals, levels of activity, for typical examinations for groups of standard-sized patients or standard phantoms for broadly defined types of equipment” [1,2].
The establishment of...
Description of activity and work performed
Radiation protection is of utmost importance in our hospital, having as consequence our recognition as a Eurosafe 5-star hospital by the European Society of Radiology. For this reason, the Medical Physics department in collaboration with the Radiology Department put a lot of effort in order to continuously improve the staff’s skills and knowledge in terms of radiation protection. Though paediatric patients are not routinely admitted in our hospital, still actions have been undertaken in order to increase the awareness of the healthcare professionals on paediatric...
Conclusion and recommendations
Radiation protection of paediatric patients is an extremely important topic. Well-trained staff and special precautions are needed when children are exposed to radiation. The staff of our hospital tried to increase the skills and knowledge related to this topic. Our relevant actions helped us to understand the issues that need to be considered when exposing children to radiation. Though children are not routinely admitted in our hospital, still the staff has the knowledge to apply the principles of radiation protection in case of a paediatric...
Personal/organisational information
C. Triantopoulou; Radiologist, Konstantopoulio General Hospital, Athens/GR - nothing to disclose
S. Triantopoulou; Medical Physicist, Konstantopoulio General Hospital, Athens/GR - nothing to disclose
P. Angelogiannopoulou; Radiographer, Konstantopoulio General Hospital, Athens/GR - nothing to disclose
S. Theocharis; Medical Physicist, Konstantopoulio General Hospital, Athens/GR - nothing to disclose
V. Tsapaki; Medical Physicist, Konstantopoulio General Hospital, Athens/GR - nothing to disclose
References
[1] European Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom on basic safety stan-
dards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation.
[2] International Commission on Radiologcal Protection. Diagnostic reference levels in medical imaging. ICRP publication 135. Ann. ICRP 46 (2017).
[3] European Commision. Guidance on diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for medical exposures. Radiation Protection 109. Directorate General Environment Nuclear Safety and Civil Protection (1999).
[4] European Commission. European guidelines on diagnostic reference levels for paediatric imaging. Radiation Protection 185. Directorate General Environment Nuclear Safety and...