Dose Optimisation
Media reports, the public and governmental authorities have placed ionizing radiation exposure and dose reduction measures in medical imaging high on the public health agenda. This increases the awareness among the various stakeholders, such as clinical professionals, equipment manufacturers, regulators, hospital managers, patients, etc.
New requirements and the implementation of future workflow concepts on dose management and dose reporting are currently being considered around the world. As the developers of sophisticated scanners, CT manufacturers acknowledge their unique role in the process to help optimize patient CT dose in the health care setting.
COCIR PARTNERSHIP WITH HERCA
Since February 2010, regular discussions are taking place between COCIR and the Heads of European Radiation Competent Authorities (HERCA) requesting our industry to commit in reducing radiation dose for CT equipment. A dedicated COCIR Task Force was created to respond to HERCA’s request and a COCIR CT manufacturers’ voluntary commitment was released in May 2011.
The aim of this commitment is to further the initiatives of improving dose reporting, promoting transparency in dose efficacy, continuing reduction of medical exposures, and provision of specific training curricula. The manufacturers agree to complete the voluntary commitments outlined within and provide yearly updates on:
- Characterization of CT Systems Standardized Benchmarking
- Implementation of dose reduction measures in CT
- Dose management and reporting
- Provision of specific training curricula
As technology progresses, COCIR CT manufacturers are able to provide clinical image quality at lower dose. Generally advanced features are initially introduced on newly designed, technologically advanced CT systems and are made available on a wider range of CT systems over time.
COCIR PARTNERSHIP WITH ESR - EUROSAFE
COCIR welcomes the European Society of Radiology’s EuroSafe Imaging campaign to promote awareness and build collaboration around the optimised use of radiological imaging, as industry and healthcare professionals share a long history of pioneering technologies to reduce and optimise exposure to radiation.
The COCIR posters providing industry contribution to radiation protection and supporting the EuroSafe Imaging Campaign are available here:
- Poster 2014 - COCIR supports the EuroSafe Imaging campaign: working together for patient safety
- Poster 2015 - Time is running out for Europe´s scanners
- Poster 2017 - Dose Optimisation in Breast Imaging: an Industry Continuous Commitment
- Poster 2018 - HERCA: effective collaboration between authorities and CT Manufacturers on CT dose optimisation
- Poster 2019 - Industry Contribution to radiation safety - Taking a step further with Dose management Systems
EUTEMPE-RX COURSE PROGRAMME
The EUTEMPE-RX course programme is designed to improve the level of medical physics expertise both in hospitals as well as in industry and to make sure both of these worlds start to cooperate in research and Quality Assurance. EUTEMPE-RX has compiled 12 stand-alone course modules on different topics related to medical physics in diagnostic and interventional radiology. The first run of the programme is being accomplished but the modules will restart in 2017. Please visit the website www.eutempe-rx.eu for more information.