iQ-DOSE
Around 50% of the human radiation exposure comes from medical imaging studies. As a consequence, many countries have established regulations and guidelines in order to limit and lower the average radiation doses to patients.
Overview
Around 50% of the human radiation exposure comes from medical imaging studies. As a consequence, many countries have established regulations and guidelines in order to limit and lower the average radiation doses to patients.
iQ-DOSE allows to automatically monitor and document the radiation dose applied during imaging procedures and creates automatic overdose notifications to enable medical institutions to immediately take needed measures and to meet legal requirements.
Automatic monitoring
iQ-DOSE can be connected to any PACS and RIS and checks incoming DICOM data for radiation dose structured reports (RDSR). It then compares the reported dose values with predefined limits.
Email notification
In case an overdose is detected, iQ-DOSE will immediately inform the user (e.g. radiation protection supervisor) by email. Besides these notifications, also status reports are sent periodically to keep track of overdose events.
Legal compliance
Any intended or unintended overdose can be easily documented for legal and quality assurance reasons. If too many overdose events occur, the radiation protection supervisor might be required to inform local authorities.
Screenshots
iQ-DOSE Monitor
iQ-DOSE compares the parameters of the received Radiation Dose Structured Reports with the preset dose limits. The dose monitor then lists the evaluation results of all performed studies indicating the different overdose levels in a color-coded way.
Overdose justification
When an overdose event occurs, it is helpful to document the reasons that led to the overdose. iQ-DOSE allows you to provide a justification by using free text or selecting created text macros.
Periodic status reports
Automatic dose status reports help you to keep track of any overdose events. You decide if you want to receive them daily, weekly or once a month and who will get these e-mails.
Statistical analysis
The iQ-DOSE Monitor’s Statistics tab provides dose analysis, including overdose rates, limit and average values, and outliers. Threshold exceedances are clearly highlighted.
Graphical Representation of Dose Data
iQ-DOSE can display dose data graphically which helps identify exceeded dose
values immediately. There are three visualization options available.
Option 1
Box plot for dose distribution highlighting medians, quartiles
and outliers
With a glance at this box plot, the physicist can easily understand
the current dose/overdose situation and quickly evaluate
outliers by device and procedure.
Option 2
Box plot showing the ratio of dose value to DRL (diagnostic reference level) in %
This graphical representation gives an overview of which average dose values match, exceed or fall below the diagnostic reference level (DRL).
Option 3
Scatter plot showing dose trends in relation to study dates
The scatter plot displays dose values in relation to the study date to see whether there are acquisition protocols that suddenly produce a higher radiation exposure after a certain period of time.
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