The ‘European Diagnostic Reference Levels For Paediatric Imaging’ Project

Abstract

s / Physica Medica 30 (2014) e1ee15 e12 THE ‘EUROPEAN DIAGNOSTIC REFERENCE LEVELS FOR PAEDIATRIC IMAGING’ PROJECT John Damilakis. Professor of Medical Physics, University of Crete, Greece Despite a large number of studies available from European countries, the DRLs for paediatric patients are only available for some common radiological examinations. There is a need to consolidate what is available and to provide guidance on what actions are needed in using Diagnostic Reference Levels (DRLs) to further enhance radiation protection of children. The ‘European DRLs for Paediatric Imaging’ project is aimed to attend to this situation. The professional organisations involved include ESR as coordinator as well as EFOMP, EFRS, and ESPR, covering the key European stakeholders and professional groups with relevance to radiation protection of paediatric patients. The project is divided into 4 Work Packages (WPs); each work package covers specific tasks contributing to the common objective of enhancement of radiation protection of paediatric patients through the concept of DRLs. WP0, chaired by the coordinator of the project, is responsible for the management and general coordination of the project. WP1 is responsible for assessing and agreeing on a methodology for establishing and using DRLs for paediatric imaging, and for producing European guidelines including data provided by WP 2. WP2 is responsible for updating and extending the existing European DRLs to cover more procedures and a wider patient age/weight range. WP 3 chaired by the scientific coordinator will organize the European workshop in Lisbon, Portugal from October 15th to October 17th 2015 to discuss the findings of the studies conducted under the project and to subject the draft European Guidelines to critical review and discussion. SYNERGY BETWEEN NUCLEAR RESEARCH, INNOVATION AND EDUCATION IN EURATOM PROGRAMMES, WITH EMPHASIS ON SAFETY CULTURE Georges Van Goethem. European Commission, DG Research and Innovation, Dir Energy G.4 / Fission Energy, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium In a rapidly changing multicultural world full of political and economic uncertainties, research, innovation and education (RIE), in particular, in nuclear fission and radiation protection are faced with a number of scientific-technological and socio-political challenges. In the European Union (EU), these challenges are, for example, breakthrough technological developments of interdisciplinary type and enhanced public engagement in nuclear matters. The aim is to continuously improve applications of nuclear fission energy and ionising radiation in the medical and industrial fields for the benefit of all people. In the EU, the recent “Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation” has a new Chapter IV “Requirements for Radiation Protection Education, Training and Information” requiring Member States to have systems in place for the education, training and recognition of specific experts (in particular, “Medical physics experts” Article 83). For power generation or for medical applications, experts with highly qualified nuclear and radiation safety culture competences will be needed over a long time period, in particular, to deal with radiation protection issues in modern diagnosis and treatment. Safety culture is usually defined as “an organisation’s values and behaviours modelled by its leaders and internalised by its members that serve to make nuclear safety the overriding priority.” In this context, the main stakeholders of Euratom RIE programmes have developed a common approach regarding needs, vision and implementation instruments. Focussing on knowledge creation and competence building, their common approach can be summarized as follows: 1e Analysis of needs: e.g. what kind of knowledge, skills and competences (KSC) should be taught in order to continuously improve technical, human and organisational aspects ? 2 e Convergence towards a common vision: e.g. towards a new type of governance for RIE in the EU, integrating expert, policy and public knowledge to support decision making processes 3 e Development of instruments: e.g. synergy of national and Euratom RIE programmes aiming at preparing a new generation of experts in a global economy (EU and beyond). Making lifelong learning and cross-border mobility a reality is an important objective of the Education, Youth and Culture policy of the EU (e.g. “European Credit system for Vocational Education and Training” /ECVET/). Lessons will be drawn from the preliminary application of ECVET tools and methodology, such as the description of qualifications in terms of “units of learning outcomes” related to KSC, in Euratom projects. INVOLVEMENT OF AAPM IN EUROPE Gene Lief. White Plains Hospital, Radiation/Oncology Department, New York,