Abstract
The evaluation of radiation burden in vivo is crucial in modern radiology as stated also in the European Directive 2013/59/Euratom—Basic Safety Standard. Although radiation dose monitoring can impact the justification and optimization of radiological procedure, as well as effective patient communication, standardization of radiation monitoring software is far to be achieved. Toward this goal, the Italian Association of Medical Physics (AIFM) published a report describing the state of the art and standard guidelines in radiation dose monitoring system quality assurance. This article reports the AIFM statement about radiation dose monitoring systems (RDMSs) summarizing the different critical points of the systems related to Medical Physicist Expert (MPE) activities before, during, and after their clinical implementation. In particular, the article describes the general aspects of radiation dose data management, radiation dose monitoring systems, data integrity, and data responsibilities. Furthermore, the acceptance tests that need to be implemented and the most relevant dosimetric data for each radiological modalities are reported under the MPE responsibility.
Highlights
Optimization and justification of radiological procedures can be effectively achieved only if quantitative information is collected and analyzed in a robust and consistent fashion [1]
The implementation of several tools has been proposed over decades by different regulatory and scientific institutions: the International Commission of Radiological Protection published a specific document concerning diagnostic reference levels in radiology as a tool to aid optimization of protection in the medical exposure of patients [2]; the American College of Radiology implemented the Dose Index Registry establishing national benchmarks for Computed tomography (CT) radiation dose values [3]; and the European Union with the Directive 2013/59/Euratom highlighted the importance of recording, archiving, and communicating dosimetric data [4, 5]
Because national and local regulations can require that such systems are medical devices, the need exists to univocally characterize effective quality assurance programs that can guide the Medical Physicist Expert (MPE) and the other radiology professionals to perform acceptance and periodic tests as well as to define the roles and responsibilities of the healthcare professional involved in radiation dose monitoring system (RDMS) management
Summary
Quantitative radiation dose information is essential for justification and optimization in medical imaging. Guidelines to assure radiation dose monitoring systems quality and acceptance test. Verifying dose data management is crucial before dose monitoring systems clinical implementation. MPE is the professional who has important responsibilities for the proper management of dose monitoring
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