CT protocols and radiation doses for hematuria and urinary stones: Comparing practices in 20 countries.

Purpose: Patients with hematuria and renal colic often undergo CT scanning. The purpose of our study was to assess variations in CT protocols and radiation doses for evaluation of hematuria and urinary stones in 20 countries.

Method: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) surveyed practices in 51 hospitals from 20 countries in the European region according to the IAEA Technical cooperation classification and obtained following information for three CT protocols (urography, urinary stones, and routine abdomen-pelvis CT) for 1276 patients: patient information (weight, clinical indication), scanner information (scan vendor, scanner name, number of detector rows), scan parameters (such as number of phases, scan start and end locations, mA, kV), and radiation dose descriptors (CTDI, DLP).

COMPARISON OF RADIATION DOSE AND IMAGE QUALITY IN CTA OF THE PERIPHERAL ARTERIES.

The aim of this study is to investigate the possibility of replacing the standard CTA protocol for peripheral arteries with a low dose CTA protocol without affecting the diagnostic image quality. Therefore a single centre retrospective study was conducted involving 200 exams of patients undergoing lower limb angiography. All exams were performed on a 64-row detector CT and the vascular density, muscle density, noise and radiation dose of each image were assessed.

Web-based platform for patient dose surveys in diagnostic and interventional radiology in Bulgaria: Functionality testing and optimisation.

In the period 2013-2016 the National Centre of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection (NCRRP) at the Ministry of Health of Bulgaria has developed a web based platform for performing national patient dose surveys and establishing Diagnostic Reference Levels (DRLs). It is accessible via internet browser, allowing the users to submit data remotely. Electronic questionnaires, specific for radiography, fluoroscopy, image guided interventional procedures, mammography and CT, were provided.

Dose tracking and radiology department management.

The purpose of this work was to review the reasonable measures that should be implemented as part of a routine practice in the process of managing CT radiation risks in a typical average radiology department. Based on 6 y of experience in the management of a general radiology department and the newly implemented supportive software for dose tracking, analysing and reporting, the approach towards radiation risk reduction is presented. Thanks to this approach, some problems have been resolved, and reasonable measures have been introduced into daily practice.

Composition, quality control, and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of long-time stored dill (Anethum graveolens L.) seeds from Bulgaria.

The essential oil of long-time stored seeds of dill (Anethum graveolens L.) from Bulgaria was analyzed by physicochemical methods, gas chromatography (GC), GC-mass spectrometry (MS) (achiral and chiral phases), and olfactometry, and its antimicrobial activity was tested by using different strains of microorganisms. More than 40 constituents of the essential dill oil, obtained from seeds stored for more than 35 years, could be identified as essential volatiles, responsible for the pleasant fresh (D-limonene) and spicy (D-carvone) odor of a high quality.