Statement of the Italian Association of Medical Physics (AIFM) task group on radiation dose monitoring systems

• Published in: Insights into imaging Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 23
• Main Authors: Ria, Francesco, D’Ercole, Loredana, Origgi, Daniela, Paruccini, Nicoletta, Pierotti, Luisa, Rampado, Osvaldo, Rossetti, Veronica, Strocchi, Sabina, Torresin, Alberto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 05-02-2022; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Acceptance tests; Critical point; Data management; Diagnostic Radiology; Dose monitoring system; Health physics; Imaging; In vivo methods and tests; Internal Medicine; Interventional Radiology; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Monitoring; Monitoring systems; Neuroradiology; Optimization; Quality assurance; Quality control; Radiation; Radiation dosage; Radiation dose; Radiation measurement; Radiology; Standardization; Statement; Systems analysis; Ultrasound; Quality assurance; Radiation dose; Statement; Dose monitoring system
• ISSN: 1869-4101; 1869-4101
• DOI: 10.1186/s13244-022-01155-1

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.