Dr. Luis Martí Bonmatí, the head of Área Clínica de Imagen Médica, at the Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe, in Valencia, confirms that the increase of ionising radiation is the consequence of radiographic trials aimed at diagnosing disease and inspecting the severity of damage, as well as evaluating the effectiveness of treatments. The doses of radiation that patients are exposed to is regulated in such ways that radiologists can employ the techniques that are “the most safe, have the least undesirable effects on patients, and that provide the most suitable information”, he added.

The European Commission has proposed a new guideline, that within the next four years, hopes to enforce all member states within the European Union to control and document all doses of radiation used on patients whom are subjected to studies involving ionising radiation.

The aims, clarified by Alfonso Martínez, of GE healthcare, and director of Dosis España y Portugal, are to improve the quality of the processes and procedures in hospital environments, protect patients so that they receive the lowest doses possible without compromising information used to make decisions, and also to help protect health professionals.

The biggest problem with this type of radiation is that excess doses can´t be monitored directly after treatment, and only become apparent weeks later. “The higher the dose, the more time it takes for the damage to become apparent”, added Martínez.

According to Dr. Luis Martí Bonmatí, there needs to be significant implications from the administration so that nothing technological is overlooked.