In late March, in partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Massachusetts General Hospital hosted a Regional Workshop on Patient Radiation Protection in Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology.
The workshop addressed radiation protection with a host of imaging technologies.
“It is commonly believed that newer imaging technologies and techniques are safer for patients, and they result in less radiation doses for patients without compromising image quality,” said Madan Rehani, PhD, director of Global Outreach for Radiation Protection Program and chair of the Radiation Safety Committee, at Mass General, and organizer of the regional workshop. “Several studies we conducted at the Massachusetts General Hospital have shown that this may not always be so, as we have detected and published many situations of high radiation doses in computed tomography (CT), hybrid imaging and fluoroscopic-guided procedures.”
Acknowledging the leading work done at MGH in the area of patient radiation safety, the IAEA decided to support a training event at Mass General. The IAEA serves to promote the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies, including X-ray and other radiation-based medical imaging technologies.
Twenty participants from 17 countries attended the five-day workshop, with 30 presentations given by 23 experts in the field. Examples of the topics covered include “Challenges in medical radiation protection,” “Safety in therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals” and “How to reduce radiation exposure using AI tools.”
The training program was well received. The participants overwhelmingly said they were “highly satisfied” with the workshop (19 of 20 attendees; the other attendee gave it a 4 on a scale of 1 to 5), described the overall program as “very interesting, effective and interactive” and “more than I had expected,” and pointed to the “high-quality lecturers with excellent lectures.”
Dr. Rehani hopes to offer the workshop again in 2025 and 2026. Stay tuned for updates.