In this interview with COMPAMED-tradefair.com, Prof. Christoph Hoeschen explains how patients would benefit from a more customized radiation dose, describes what radiation protection in medicine could look like and details how MEDIRAD plans to support this issue.
Prof. Hoeschen, what does radiation protection in medicine entail for patients and physicians?
Prof. Christoph Hoeschen: There are actually three pillars. First, there are the structural protections. For example, radiation therapy requires a therapy room that is shielded with thick concrete walls. Thin protective lead layers that are installed on the walls like wallpaper are sufficient in diagnostic radiology. Second, there is personal protective equipment that is worn on the body such as lead aprons for example.
Having said that, the most effective measure is an optimal parameter setting for the radiation-based diagnostic technology and radiation therapy based on height, weight, age, gender, and pre-existing conditions of patients. Especially in diagnostics, the knowledge of the necessary parameters is still in its infancy, because the new product developments of device manufacturers also always offer new setting options. This also always goes along with weighing the benefits and risks of radiation-based diagnostics to avoid unwarranted examinations.
This is also a focus of the European research project MEDIRAD.
Hoeschen: The 33 partner institutions of MEDIRAD focus – among other things – on the different aspects of CT exams of the lungs and thorax. We want to assess how much the image quality changes if the parameters are modified and subsequently infer early recommendations for optimizing exams.
What patients warrant extra caution when they are exposed to radiation?
Hoeschen: Needless to say, everybody should receive equal protection. However, children and pregnant women require extra caution. You also have to consider whether patients have preexisting medical conditions pertaining to organs you want to examine and illustrate. In these cases, radiation could cause further damages or changes.
Generally speaking, it is difficult to make a statement about the dangers of radiation in medicine due to the data situation. Having said that, today we act on the assumption that damages like tumors may be more likely with higher doses of radiation we are exposed to in addition to our so-called background radiation. In Germany, the average annual dose of radiation we absorb via the air, food, and environment amounts to approximately two millisieverts. By comparison, a CT scan of the chest ranges between one and ten millisieverts. This is why we should keep doses of medical radiation as low as possible. This also applies to interventional radiology, which is studied here in Magdeburg as part of the Research Campus STIMULATE as it pertains to optimization options.