Abstract
During the last decade, technological innovations have been introduced into medical practice to support new diagnostic and treatment modalities that involve the use of radiation. These innovations frequently depend on advanced, high-speed computer systems that operate with digitally processed information right up to the analogue display presented to the decision maker. The safety and effectiveness of the diagnosis and treatment provided to patients demand multidisciplinary teams of health care professionals to develop and monitor the equipment and confirm the integrity of its output. Quality control (QC) of individual components is used to ensure these new devices are functioning properly at each step in the chain. Nevertheless, a comprehensive quality assurance (QA) system is required to guarantee to patients that these medical procedures will yield valuable information or provide needed treatment that can be implemented properly and used to achieve a positive impact on their health. This conference focused on the QC tests and QA systems used in radiation medicine, particularly for new and emerging technologies. The conference provided a unique opportunity to deal with QA within several disciplines: In radiation oncology, a systematic approach is being developed to examine the impact of introducing new technologies in terms of treatment outcomes.
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Citation Formats
None.
International conference on quality assurance and new techniques in radiation medicine. Book of extended synopses.
IAEA: N. p.,
2006.
Web.
None.
International conference on quality assurance and new techniques in radiation medicine. Book of extended synopses.
IAEA.
None.
2006.
"International conference on quality assurance and new techniques in radiation medicine. Book of extended synopses."
IAEA.
@misc{etde_20827046,
title = {International conference on quality assurance and new techniques in radiation medicine. Book of extended synopses}
author = {None}
abstractNote = {During the last decade, technological innovations have been introduced into medical practice to support new diagnostic and treatment modalities that involve the use of radiation. These innovations frequently depend on advanced, high-speed computer systems that operate with digitally processed information right up to the analogue display presented to the decision maker. The safety and effectiveness of the diagnosis and treatment provided to patients demand multidisciplinary teams of health care professionals to develop and monitor the equipment and confirm the integrity of its output. Quality control (QC) of individual components is used to ensure these new devices are functioning properly at each step in the chain. Nevertheless, a comprehensive quality assurance (QA) system is required to guarantee to patients that these medical procedures will yield valuable information or provide needed treatment that can be implemented properly and used to achieve a positive impact on their health. This conference focused on the QC tests and QA systems used in radiation medicine, particularly for new and emerging technologies. The conference provided a unique opportunity to deal with QA within several disciplines: In radiation oncology, a systematic approach is being developed to examine the impact of introducing new technologies in terms of treatment outcomes. The evidence will be based on assessing improved quality of life due to fewer complications and increased longevity due to better local control of disease. In nuclear medicine, QA objectives are the improvement of the quality and reproducibility of diagnostic imaging and therapeutic treatments, which should bring the necessary information and therapeutic results with the smallest amount of administered activity. Overall, the system implemented should be customer (patient) oriented in order to guarantee a service that meets the highest achievable professional standards. Departmental organization should include QC programmes that ensure the most effective use of available equipment and human resources. In diagnostic radiology, QA systems are being implemented to improve the determination of risk by calculating doses to organs of individual patients based on their specific anatomy and the details of the procedure that was performed. In medical radiation physics, recent developments in specific areas of QA of the physical and technical aspects in diagnostic and therapeutic applications and their links to comprehensive quality systems are of interest. In this context, contributions are expected on QA programmes and QC protocols in diagnostic radiology (e.g., mammography, CT, interventional, digital imaging, etc.), in nuclear medicine (e.g., dose assessment, radiopharmacy, PET/CT image fusion), and in radiation therapy (e.g., treatment planning and delivery, conformal therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, etc.). Cross-cutting issues will be explored that have broad impact on quality such as, education, training and accreditation; telemedicine; data management and storage; etc. In addition, interdependent, cross-discipline issues are important. For example, special attention will be paid to the fidelity of tumour localization as delivered by diagnostic equipment since this is key input to the cancer treatment planning process and ongoing monitoring of treatment effects. In public health, DEXA bone densitometry is used widely in the diagnosis of osteoporosis as well as in measurements of body composition in nutrition evaluations. The technique is often used in longitudinal studies (repeated measures), for example to monitor the efficacy of a nutrition intervention. As DEXA is used in the monitoring of changes in body composition and changes in bone density, vulnerable population groups such as children and young adults are involved as well as postmenopausal women. As a result of bringing together experts in QA and health care professionals faced with practical decisions to be taken every day, it is hoped that recommendations and guidance will be created to deal with the rapid develo pments in medical technology and stimulate the creation of a quality culture supported by properly trained professionals. Each extended synopsis has been indexed separately.}
place = {IAEA}
year = {2006}
month = {Jul}
}
title = {International conference on quality assurance and new techniques in radiation medicine. Book of extended synopses}
author = {None}
abstractNote = {During the last decade, technological innovations have been introduced into medical practice to support new diagnostic and treatment modalities that involve the use of radiation. These innovations frequently depend on advanced, high-speed computer systems that operate with digitally processed information right up to the analogue display presented to the decision maker. The safety and effectiveness of the diagnosis and treatment provided to patients demand multidisciplinary teams of health care professionals to develop and monitor the equipment and confirm the integrity of its output. Quality control (QC) of individual components is used to ensure these new devices are functioning properly at each step in the chain. Nevertheless, a comprehensive quality assurance (QA) system is required to guarantee to patients that these medical procedures will yield valuable information or provide needed treatment that can be implemented properly and used to achieve a positive impact on their health. This conference focused on the QC tests and QA systems used in radiation medicine, particularly for new and emerging technologies. The conference provided a unique opportunity to deal with QA within several disciplines: In radiation oncology, a systematic approach is being developed to examine the impact of introducing new technologies in terms of treatment outcomes. The evidence will be based on assessing improved quality of life due to fewer complications and increased longevity due to better local control of disease. In nuclear medicine, QA objectives are the improvement of the quality and reproducibility of diagnostic imaging and therapeutic treatments, which should bring the necessary information and therapeutic results with the smallest amount of administered activity. Overall, the system implemented should be customer (patient) oriented in order to guarantee a service that meets the highest achievable professional standards. Departmental organization should include QC programmes that ensure the most effective use of available equipment and human resources. In diagnostic radiology, QA systems are being implemented to improve the determination of risk by calculating doses to organs of individual patients based on their specific anatomy and the details of the procedure that was performed. In medical radiation physics, recent developments in specific areas of QA of the physical and technical aspects in diagnostic and therapeutic applications and their links to comprehensive quality systems are of interest. In this context, contributions are expected on QA programmes and QC protocols in diagnostic radiology (e.g., mammography, CT, interventional, digital imaging, etc.), in nuclear medicine (e.g., dose assessment, radiopharmacy, PET/CT image fusion), and in radiation therapy (e.g., treatment planning and delivery, conformal therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, etc.). Cross-cutting issues will be explored that have broad impact on quality such as, education, training and accreditation; telemedicine; data management and storage; etc. In addition, interdependent, cross-discipline issues are important. For example, special attention will be paid to the fidelity of tumour localization as delivered by diagnostic equipment since this is key input to the cancer treatment planning process and ongoing monitoring of treatment effects. In public health, DEXA bone densitometry is used widely in the diagnosis of osteoporosis as well as in measurements of body composition in nutrition evaluations. The technique is often used in longitudinal studies (repeated measures), for example to monitor the efficacy of a nutrition intervention. As DEXA is used in the monitoring of changes in body composition and changes in bone density, vulnerable population groups such as children and young adults are involved as well as postmenopausal women. As a result of bringing together experts in QA and health care professionals faced with practical decisions to be taken every day, it is hoped that recommendations and guidance will be created to deal with the rapid develo pments in medical technology and stimulate the creation of a quality culture supported by properly trained professionals. Each extended synopsis has been indexed separately.}
place = {IAEA}
year = {2006}
month = {Jul}
}