Siemens Healthcare has a history of reducing radiation dose in diagnostic and interventional radiology through its technical innovations. Now, Siemens is the first manufacturer to issue a “Guide to Low Dose.
” Created for physicians and medical technical staff, this guide describes the basics of radiation used for medical purposes, presenting a detailed explanation of dose reduction innovations on Siemens medical imaging equipment. Users can learn how these features can help provide better care to patients and assist clinical staff by minimizing the dose during examinations.
Siemens is also increasing its communication activities around the low dose issues by offering numerous new seminars, training courses and presentations over the next two years. Siemens will also continue its dedication to support clinical staff and management in implementing dose monitoring and reduction measures.
Siemens will demonstrate its innovations in Low Dose technology at the 96th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), from November 28 to December 2.
In all relevant imaging procedures, such as computed tomography, angiography and molecular imaging, Siemens has pioneered the development of dose reduction technologies for many years,” said Dr. Bernd Montag, CEO, Imaging & Therapy Systems Division, Siemens Healthcare.
“Now, we’re planning to launch a comprehensive education program which will support clinical staff in protecting themselves and patients better against avoidable radiation exposure. In this context, we’ll be offering new training seminars, and we will provide a Guide to Low Dose, among other initiatives.”
For radiological and nuclear medicine examinations that involve the use of ionizing radiation with X-ray fluoroscopy or radiodiagnostics, the medical profession generally applies the ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) principle – aimed to strike an ideal balance between the required image quality and the radiation dose.
Generally, medical imaging scans require an increased dose of radiation to enhance the image quality. For its radiological devices that work with X-rays or radioactive tracers, Siemens has developed an entire range of technologies – Combined Applications to Reduce Exposure (CARE) – that enable the dose to be reduced significantly, without compromising the image quality.
These technologies include, for example, IRIS (Iterative Reconstruction in Image Space), a new method for the reconstruction of CT images, High Definition PET (HD-PET), a high-resolution Positron Emission Tomography technology for molecular imaging, and a comprehensive package of dose-reduction features for interventional imaging, which are now available free of charge for our customers.
Alongside dose reduction, dose control is an important measure for avoiding unnecessary radiation. In the future, radiological devices from Siemens will issue a warning message to the user if a certain dose threshold is exceeded in critical applications.
Reports are generated for examinations; these contain the patient data, the relevant protocol and the dose values. Clinics can then analyze this information, according to specific criteria, such as the dose administered, and optimize their protocols and processes accordingly.
Source : Siemens Healthcare