“Always try to minimize radiation dose while preserving diagnostic needs”. This is the guideline of Radiologists who considers the dual need to generate images of sufficient quality to diagnose suppository, exposing the patient to the minimum possible amount of radiation.
All radiologists should follow this basic rule respecting the needs of the patient. All the staff of the hospital’s Radiology Humanitas, as explained by Dr. Luca Balzarini, Director of the Department of diagnostic imaging has particular importance to this directive: “it is right that the patient by one party is aware of the risks of the dose, but at the same time being aware of efforts and attention devoted to monitoring the functionality of the equipment, the appropriateness of the indications and protocols of each single radiological examination.”
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The Humanitas hospital reduced the radiation dose delivered by up to 30%
This attention mentioned by Dr. Balzarini led to decreases in the amount of rays provided in some tests up to 30%; this result was achieved thanks to a software that Humanitas has for a year. It’s called Dose Watch, and is being developed by General Electric Healthcare, and is designed to allow you to have a direct and constant control of the delivered dose of all the connected devices in real time, to confront internal protocols with other similar reference centers protocols in other cities and countries by handling so at best the dose provided by the X-Ray equipment.” This software does not act by itself on the issue of the rays but allows you to constantly monitor the disbursement by comparing the activities of the various centers.”
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“There is already a very extensive legislation regulating the medical use of radiation but from the European law that is soon to be implemented in Italy, according to which whenever a patient will perform a radiological examination the delivered dose will be on the radiation images. This software allows us today to be in line with the legislation that will soon enter into effect,” added the specialist.
The fear of radiation persists in the patient?
Patients rightly are increasingly aware of the risks: everyone knows that the rays don’t do well but the message that needs to be acknowledged is that radiological examinations are always justified by the need to arrive at a diagnosis and vice versa, are never to be performed in the absence of proper medical indication.
The radiologist also knows full well that before carrying out any examination, they must assess the opportunity to resort to alternative methods where possible (ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging) that do not require the use of radiation, but they also knows that if they have to use them, that they can and must do it calmly but by respecting the rules.”
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The radiologist – concludes Dr. Balzarini – is faced with a challenge: to get high-quality images with a low dosage, which are not only formally beautiful but rather useful for diagnosis, with the utmost respect for the patient’s health.”
