Abstract
BackgroundTo manage and analyse dosimetric data provided by computed tomography (CT) scanners from four Italian hospitals.MethodsA radiation dose index monitoring (RDIM) software was used to collect anonymised exams stored in a cloud server. Since hospitals use different names for the same procedure, digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) tags more appropriate to describe exams were selected and associated to study common names (SCNs) from a radiology playbook according to scan region and use of contrast media. Retrospective analysis was carried out to describe population and to evaluate dosimetric indexes and inaccuracies associated with SCNs.ResultsMore than 400 procedures were clustered into 95 SCNs, but 78% of exams on adults were described with only 10 SCNs. Median values of dose-length product (DLP) and volumetric CT dose index (CTDIvol) for three analysed SCNs were in agreement with those previously published. The percentage of inaccuracies does not heavily affect the dosimetric analysis on the whole cloud, since variations in median values reached at most 8%.ConclusionsImplementation of a cloud-based RDIM software and related issues were described, showing the strength of the chosen playbook-based clustering and its usefulness for homogeneous data analysis. This approach may allow for optimisation actions, accurate assessment of the risk associated with radiation exposure, comparison of different facilities, and, last but not least, collection of information for the implementation of the 2013/59 Euratom Directive.
Highlights
To manage and analyse dosimetric data provided by computed tomography (CT) scanners from four Italian hospitals
The International Commission on radiological protection (ICRP) stated that a further optimisation can be obtained through collection of data from radiation dose structured reports in a digital format and through electronic data transfer from hospital and Calderoni et al European Radiology Experimental
These software packages allow to verify the compliance with the diagnostic reference levels (DRLs), facilitating surveys and improving the statistical strength of the analysis [3,4,5], optimise the exposures and compare different protocols or scanners
Summary
To manage and analyse dosimetric data provided by computed tomography (CT) scanners from four Italian hospitals. The extensive use of computed tomography (CT) examinations in radiological diagnostics [1] caused an increasing attention to patient exposure and to the potential risk of carcinogenesis associated with relatively high radiation doses. A useful way to monitor ionising radiation exposure caused by radiologic examinations is the adoption of a radiation dose index monitoring (RDIM) software. These software packages allow to verify the compliance with the diagnostic reference levels (DRLs), facilitating surveys and improving the statistical strength of the analysis [3,4,5], optimise the exposures and compare different protocols or scanners. In order to analyse the exams performed with different CT scanners and in different hospitals in a consistent way, it is necessary to cluster such large amount of data
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