Patient dose management solution directly integrated in the RIS: "Gray Detector" software.

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Radiology Informatics

Background:

• Patient radiation dose information from X-ray imaging is often fragmented across image headers, PACS, and Modality Performed Procedure Step messages.
• Linking this dosimetric data to patient records within the Radiological Information System (RIS) is crucial for accurate analysis and clinical decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement a software solution for effectively extracting and integrating patient radiation dose information into the RIS.
• To enable vendor-neutral integration of dosimetric data from various X-ray modalities.
• To facilitate accurate association of dose information with specific patient exams, especially in complex cases like multi-segment CT scans.

Main Methods:

• Development of the "Gray Detector" software utilizing complementary extraction methods.
• Querying image headers and analyzing Modality Performed Procedure Step messages, individually or in combination.
• Linking extracted dosimetric information to patient records and unique report codes within the RIS to manage multiple protocols and ensure accurate association.

Main Results:

• The
• Gray Detector
• software successfully integrates dosimetric information from diverse X-ray modalities in a vendor-neutral manner.
• Linking dose data to RIS records and report codes resolved issues with associating dose values in multi-segment exams.
• Analyses revealed dependencies of dosimetric indexes on modality type, patient age, and healthcare professionals involved.

Conclusions:

• Integrating patient radiation dose data into the RIS provides essential context for analysis.
• This approach optimizes the image quality-to-dose ratio, enabling more informed, patient-centered clinical decisions.
• The developed software facilitates accurate and comprehensive radiation dose management in diagnostic imaging.