Preface
This website summarises the research on radiation protection in the medical applications of radiation supported by the European Commission under the 4th and 5th Framework Programmes. The website concentrates on current research but places this also in the context of earlier research and general developments in medical applications of radiation. This wider perspective should enable the reader to appreciate the origins of, and need for, research in this area, and to put the results into context.
The website is divided into two parts. The first provides a background to the uses of radiation in medicine, especially the changes over the last ten to twenty years and those envisaged for the future. Against this background the reasons for the direction of the Commission supported research over the past decade are clarified and the research carried out is summarised. In broad terms much of the research is concerned with underpinning the development and implementation of the Council’s Directive on Medical Exposures (97/43/EURATOM) issued in 1997. This Directive repeals and replaces the earlier Directive (84/466/EURATOM). Some ideas for changes in direction and emphasis for future research are given linked to the changes in application foreseen. The second part contains short summaries of each of the supported projects of the 4th and 5th Framework programmes.
The participation of many of Europe’s main medical research organisations has been instrumental in the success of this research programme. Significant cost savings have been achieved through the sharing of understanding and the spreading of measurements throughout representative facilities in many countries. Participation has served to consolidate and improve the focus of national research programmes and the multinational interactions have contributed to the widespread adoption of results and recommendations reflecting best practice in a European context.
The main problem faced in the correct application of radiation protection principles to radiology is to balance the need for diagnostically useful images against the need to keep radiation exposures as low as reasonably achievable (the ALARA principle). It is towards the solution of this basic problem that most of the research described in this website has been targeted.
Commission supported research has led to major advances covering both aspects of the basic problem in diagnostic radiology referred to above. Years of direct clinical experience enable practitioners to distinguish good images from those less useful and to decide when an image is good enough for the purpose. It has been necessary to distil the results of this clinical knowledge so that measurable and reliable indicators can be developed for research and practical application. At the same time efforts have been needed to decide what measures of the radiation exposure are the best determinants, especially for paediatric radiology, and to decide on appropriate values that can be regarded as optimised for specific examination types. A very important and clinically useful initial outcome from the earlier work was the set of four European Guidelines on Quality Criteria and Dosimetry published from 1996 to 1999.
Much has been achieved to promote the maximum benefit to patients from medical applications of radiation, especially in diagnostic radiology. More research is needed to keep up to date with rapidly evolving new diagnostic techniques and applications. Most of the research carried out to date has concentrated on diagnostic uses of radiation rather than therapeutic. In future there may be merit in broadening the research scope to include radiation protection in therapy, especially accident prevention.
Preface