((Titel)) Optimizing Radiation Doses ((Lead)) Medical physicists carry a significant responsibility for their patients. Facilitating and establishing a safety culture in a medical environment is therefore one of their main priorities. The Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Dordrecht, The Netherlands, uses Siemens CARE Analytics software on a daily basis to keep an eye on safety and radiation doses for the equipment of the radiology and cardiology department. ((ByLine)) By Erika Claessens ((Copy)) When refining innovative ionizing radiation tools, achieving the highest technical performance is critical to meet the needs of the patient and the medical staff. In addition most European countries, influenced by the European Commissions’ research on the subject, have started to regulate the dissemination of good ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) practices within the medical sector. So Siemens scored a bull’s eye when bringing out its free CARE Analytics software for the CT market. “I am indeed entirely responsible for radiation hygiene in the Albert Schweitzer Ziekenhuis,” Jeroen Bosman, 43, Medical Physicist at the Radiology Department, states firmly. “The specific technical regulations brought out by our government cover the safe use of ionizing radiation in all hospitals. They are part of a larger family of nuclear laws surrounding the use, control, and disposal of radioactive materials, and thus most of our scanners and technical equipment is involved. Our hospital must follow these regulations, to optimize radiation doses, meaning lowering the dose as much as possible, and also to perform quality control on patient doses.” ((Subheading)) Simple and Efficient ((Copy)) The measurement and calculation of radiation dose is important for efficient dose management, not only in CT but also for all areas where X-ray exposure is utilized. “Thanks to the free CARE (Combined Applications to Reduce Exposure) Analytics tool provided by
Siemens, my staff and I are now able to simplify the rather complex handling of data measurement and analysis,” says Bosman. Our hospital handles approximately twenty thousand CT scans a year. Before 2012, we had to derive the exact information from a massive database by asking our staff to manually fill in huge amounts of numbers on paper questionnaires. “Those days are over,” Bosman points out, smiling. “Work is now simplified to a huge extent. Moreover, the information is optimized, filtered by individually chosen parameters and all the numbers are brought together in simplified colored graphics. Lowering a dose or adjusting a scan protocol doesn’t take a long time anymore.” ((Subheading)) Increased Transparency ((Copy)) “The CARE Analytics software tool was dead easy to install on our computers. Our hospital scanning equipment contains comprehensive data for each irradiation event, the accumulated dose in CT, and information about the context of the exposure. Until now this data was only archived in dose structured reports and not processed any further. The data is now sent to the software tool on our desktop, where it is stored and processed. With CARE Analytics we can evaluate and analyze the information in a standard file format, such as Microsoft Excel for example. This helps us when it comes to optimizing scan protocols and working to reduce dosages. I can also easily provide data information on received patient doses for different systems over a series of examinations to the government inspection officer or other third parties. In the future dose reporting between multiple hospitals could also be possible. The increased transparency lets us improve our working practices and be more sparing with the doses given than in the past.” ((Subheading)) Exploring Trends
((Copy)) “In terms of gaining time, installing CARE Analytics was an eye-opener. But my interest is more in using the gathered data to detect unusual situations and trends. Before, it was impossible to clearly disentangle such deviant information. With this software tool I can zoom
in and have a closer look at the information. I can explore it widely and do significant research to work out what exactly happened. This can lead to a protocol adaptation or a new way of working with the CT equipment. Or it could reveal a technical problem we were formerly not aware of. I can adjust scan protocols, choosing from about ten different parameters for scan protocols, with a primary goal of lowering the dose without compromising image quality. This would never have been possible before when processing the data and adjusting the scanning protocols by hand,” he says. “My work has become more interesting now, as the software tool offers so many possibilities and opportunities for analyzing the numbers.” Protecting patients and medical staff from unnecessary radiation is a major concern. Today, thanks to advanced technologies and applications, outcomes for diagnosis and intervention can be optimized at the same time as reducing radiation.
((Author’s Bio)) Erika Claessens has contributed as a journalist and editor to numerous print and online publications in both Belgium and the Netherlands. Her principal topics are entrepreneurial innovation and technology. She works from Antwerp, Belgium.