Abstract
On Feb. 4, 2010, the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Radiology held a Pediatric Digital Radiography Summit. The goal was for radiologists, radiologic technologists, medical physicists, and vendor representatives, including engineers, medical physicists and education specialists, to discuss the challenges to achieving the ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) principle in pediatric digital radiography and to lay the groundwork for overcoming these obstacles. This article focuses on the state of confusion that exists for radiologists and radiologic technologists who use digital radiography equipment. Radiologists might have a difficult time accepting lower dose (noisy images), and radiologic technologists might respond by increasing patient exposures, which results in excessive patient doses. For reporting exposures, vendors have a history of using proprietary terms that confuse users. In addition, technical parameters cannot be easily exported for quality assurance, and there is no national standard for digital radiography. Presentations in this minisymposium focus on suggestions for the cooperative development of new technical standards, education and training to improve the quality of digital radiography in pediatric patients and promote radiation protection for children.
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Acknowledgements
On behalf of the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Radiology, I would like to thank R. Gilbert Jost, MD, the Elizabeth Mallinckrodt professor of radiology and director, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, for hosting and supporting the DR summit. Additional support was appreciated from the American Society of Radiologic Technologists and American College of Radiology. Special thanks to Karen Schmitt, SPR, for the summit arrangements; Jennifer Boylan, SPR executive director, Janine Wuebbles and Coreen Bell for assisting at the summit; and Glenn Minano at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center for video conversion.
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Appendix
The Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Radiology Digital Radiography Committee (2009)
Penny Butler, MS | Susan John, MD |
Senior Director | Chair, Diagnostic & Interventional Radiology |
Breast Imaging-Accreditation Programs | Professor of Diagnostic Imaging & Pediatrics |
American College of Radiology | University of Texas Houston Medical School |
Reston, VA, USA | Houston, TX, USA |
Laura P. Coombs, PhD | Greg Morrison, MA, RT (R) CNMT, CAE |
Director of Data Registries | Chief Operating Officer |
American College of Radiology | American Society of Radiologic Technologists |
Reston, VA, USA | Albuquerque, NM, USA |
Steven Don, MD (chair) | Stephen Vastagh |
Associate Professor of Radiology | Secretary, MITA CR-DR Group |
Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology | Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) |
Washington University School of Medicine | Arlington, VA, USA |
St. Louis, MO, USA | |
Marilyn Goske, MD | Bruce Whiting, PhD |
Silverman Chair for Radiology Education | Research Assistant Professor of Radiology |
Professor of Radiology | Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology |
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center | Washington University School of Medicine |
Cincinnati, OH, USA | St. Louis, MO, USA |
Tracy Herrmann, MEd, RT (R) | Charles Willis, PhD |
Univ. of Cincinnati—Raymond Walters College | Department of Imaging Physics |
Blue Ash, OH, USA | The University of Texas |
M. D. Anderson Cancer Center | |
Houston, TX, USA |
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Don, S. Pediatric digital radiography summit overview: state of confusion. Pediatr Radiol 41, 567–572 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-010-1905-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-010-1905-2