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RSNA-2010 , Radiological Society of North America 's 96th annual meeting taking place from November 28 - December 2, 2010 in Chicago, IL.

Clario and Tidal Pool Software announce the successful integration of Tidal Pool’s Radiation Passport into Clario’s zVision unified worklist. The integration provides radiologists and referring physicians with information about radiation exposure and cancer risks for medical imaging as well as cumulative radiation exposure for their patients.

The FDA’s recent initiative to reduce unnecessary radiation exposure in medical imaging has created a need for health IT systems to provide physicians with information about radiation exposure and cancer risks from medical imaging. CT, fluoroscopy, and nuclear medicine procedures pose low but non-insignificant risks due to their use of ionizing radiation, which can cause cancer. The National Council on Radiation Protection (NCRP) reports that patients’ exposure to ionizing radiation is almost double what it was in 1980, and furthermore estimates that this exposure will continue to grow, creating a large-scale public health concern.

The integration of Radiation Passport into zVision makes this information available to the referring physicians and radiologists for their own educational use, and to facilitate discussion with patients regarding personal exposure. Radiation exposure from individual exams and cumulative exposure are tracked for individual patients, and the associated age- and gender-based risks of developing radiation-induced cancer are provided (for individual exams and cumulative exposure). The radiation exposure and associated risk numbers used in Radiation Passport are based on published scientific journal papers, and are only estimates.

“We are pleased to offer Radiation Passport within zVision,” says Chris Wood, CEO of Clario. “The FDA’s national focus on radiation dosage makes it an important and timely addition to the zVision worklist.”

In addition to supporting the goals outlined in the FDA initiative to reduce unnecessary radiation exposure, the integration of Radiation Passport into zVision also supports the Image Gently campaign set forth by the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging promoting informed and cautious use of imaging for children; and the Image Wisely campaign initiated by the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the Radiological Society of North America ( RSNA ), a correlating campaign targeting adult patients.

Radiation Passport was developed by Tidal Pool Software in collaboration with Mark Baerlocher, M.D., a fellow in Vascular and Interventional Radiology at the University of California, San Diego, and previous graduate of the Radiology Residency Training Program at the University of Toronto in Canada. Radiation Passport was initially developed for the iPhone with the intention of educating people about the radiation and cancer risks associated with medical imaging exams and procedures.

Source: RSNA