The main aim of MEDIRAD, Implications of Medical Low Dose Radiation Exposure, is to increase knowledge of the effects of the use of radiation in the healthcare environment. The project should enable significant advances in knowledge of risks derived from radiation and establish the scientific bases for the development of rules and recommendations for radiological protection in medicine.
Specifically, the CREB UPC team is participating in developing an application for determining in real time the distribution of the dose in patients who undergo radiological processes or interventional cardiology. Interventional procedures are minimally invasive procedures in which radiological images are used as guidance. They are of great interest to diagnose other diseases and as an alternative to surgical treatment in cardiovascular, urological and neurological diseases and biopsies, etc. However, in some cases they can lead to long irradiation times and the patient can develop a skin disorder that requires treatment.
The results presented by the UPC team validate the calculation software, by comparing thermoluminescence dosimeter measures and the first calculations for estimating the dose in an interventional procedure of 2 hours and 40 projections with a calculation time of around 7 minutes.
The new computer tool will enable the identification of patients at risk of developing a skin disorder due to the radiological procedure. It will also provide new data on the dose of patients in organs of interest such as the heart or brain, to improve medical practices and ensure more effective protection of patients.
The project is funded by the Programme H2020, with a budget of 10 million euros. Thirty-three entities are participating, and the length of the project is 48 months (2017- 2021).