Radiation Dose Management — Patient Safety in Imaging

What Is Radiation Dose Management?

Radiation Dose Management encompasses the systems and protocols for monitoring, tracking, and optimizing radiation exposure from medical imaging studies such as computed tomography (CT), fluoroscopy, and mammography. It is a fundamental pillar of patient safety in imaging departments.

DICOM Radiation Structured Reports automatically capture dose data from imaging modalities. These data include metrics such as CTDIvol (CT Dose Index), DLP (Dose-Length Product), and estimated effective dose. Systematic collection of this information enables trend identification, comparison against reference values, and protocol optimization.

The guiding principle is ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable): obtaining the necessary diagnostic image quality with the lowest possible dose. Regulatory requirements are increasing worldwide, with several countries mandating the recording and tracking of cumulative patient dose. Vendors like GE and Philips offer dedicated dose management platforms.

Why It Matters in Healthcare

• Patient safety: cumulative ionizing radiation increases the risk of adverse effects; monitoring dose is essential for patient protection.
• ALARA principle: dose management systems enable implementation and verification of the minimum necessary dose principle.
• Regulatory compliance: national and international regulations increasingly require recording and tracking radiation exposure.
• Protocol optimization: dose data analysis identifies protocols that exceed reference levels and enables their optimization.
• Vulnerable populations: dose tracking is critical for pediatric patients and patients with frequent or chronic imaging studies.
• Hospital accreditation: quality and accreditation programs include radiation dose management indicators.

How Davix Relates to Radiation Dose Management

• The Davix PACS/RIS captures and records dose information from DICOM-compliant modalities, enabling facility-wide dose monitoring.
• Storage of DICOM Radiation Structured Reports enables longitudinal dose tracking per patient.
• Support for cumulative dose lookup, allowing radiologists and technologists to make informed decisions before performing new studies.
• Integration with the Davix HIS to link dose data with the patient's complete clinical record.
• Multi-site architecture enables centralized dose monitoring across health networks with multiple imaging centers.

Protect your patients with effective radiation dose management. Explore Davix PACS/RIS and its dose monitoring capabilities.