Natural radiation and artificial sources of radiation from medical applications are the main sources of radiation exposure for the world's population.The exponential increase in patient exposure in the last decade has made it essential to keep under control the dosimetric exposure of the various modalities (computed tomography, conventional radiology, intervention, etc.) in the institutions. The balance between image quality and radiation dose must always take in consideration the ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) principle in radiation exposure.With the transposition of European Directive 2013/59/Euratom, it...

This work is based on a literature review, in which international and national guidelines, as well as reference articles, were consulted for radiation dose management system installation, and on data collected from our DMS.The system allows us to manage individual patient dose data and groups of procedures with the same clinical indications and compare them with diagnostic reference levels (DRLs).DMS are used to automatically monitor all radiation exposure exams, storing and stratifying all parameters related to patient's dose (demographic data, weight, height, Kv, mAs, etc.)....

When implementing DMS, one of the first and main challenges was the availability of the ULSS information systems team to implement Dosewatch and coordinate the configuration with the various brands. Currently, the information systems of public health institutions have a large workload and a large demand to respond to numerous projects.Besides the coordination of the various teams and brands, other challenge was encountered in the nomenclature standardization of the different procedures and protocols, which at an institutional level had great variability depending on the type/brand...

In our experience, Dosewatch is a practical and valuable tool for evaluating and managing patient dose indicators, excellent for applying the basic principles of radiological protection - justification and optimization. However, an interested multidisciplinary team with time available is necessary to successfully implement the software, audit the practices of the various modalities and implement optimization actions. The use of this software developed a greater critical sense and a greater sensitivity for the optimization of the department's professionals.

- Brambilla M., Vassileva J., Kuchcinska A., Rehani M., Multinational data on cumulative radiation exposure of patients from recurrent radiological procedures: call for action, Eur Radiol, 30 (2019);- Guberina N., Forsting M., Suntharalingam S., Nassenstein K., Theysohn J., Ringelstein A., Wetter A., Radiation Dose Monitoring in the Clinical Routine, Rofo, 189(4):356-360 (2017);- Jasieniak J., KuchciÅ„ska A., Podgórska J., Cieszanowski A., Summary of radiation dose management and optimization: comparison of radiation protection measures between Poland and other countries, Pol J Radiol, 88:e12-e21 (2023);- Loose R.W., Vano...

C. Machado: Nothing to disclose R. M. O. Pinto: Nothing to disclose I. A. d. S. V. Pinto: Nothing to disclose A. J. F. Rodrigues: Nothing to disclose F. M. S. M. Oliveira: Nothing to disclose