Work Packages

The MEDIRAD Project consists of six interdependent work packages, each of which contains tasks and deliverables vital to the project's success.

Project management and dissemination

Work package 1

Work package 1 will take care of the general project management and administration of the MEDIRAD Project. It will liaise with the European Commission (EC), facilitate effective information exchange within the consortium, address contractual and reporting requirements, and coordinate the project governance.

The work package is led by EIBIR.

Dose evaluation and optimisation in medical imaging

Work package 2

Work package 2 will develop novel methodologies to reduce patient and staff radiation dose and potential radiation-related risks of cancer and non-cancer outcomes from chest imaging while maintaining or improving diagnostic information from existing and emerging techniques. Work will focus on state-of-the-art CT, fluoroscopically-guided interventional procedures and hybrid systems. Detailed dosimetric data will be produced, which will be valuable for optimising RP of patients from high-dose diagnostic and interventional procedures, as well as for input to epidemiological radiation protection research studies and development of models of radiation-induced risk. An integrated imaging and dose biobank will be developed to address research needs.

The work package is led by the University of Crete.

Impact of low dose radiation exposure from I-131 radioiodine (NaI) ablation of thyroid cancer

Work package 3

Work package 3 will develop and implement the tools necessary to establish, for the first time in a multicentre setting, the range of absorbed doses delivered to healthy organs undergoing thyroid ablation and the threshold absorbed dose required for a successful thyroid ablation. This will enable patient specific treatment planning that will minimise risk to the patient while ensuring a successful outcome and will facilitate development of a large scale epidemiological study of the effect of low absorbed doses from irradiation of normal organs with internal sources of radionuclides.

The work package is led by the Royal Marsden National Health Service Trust.

Breast radiotherapy and secondary cardiovascular risks: establishing risk models for clinical support

Work package 4

Work package 4 will integrate clinical epidemiology, radiobiology, and modelling approaches to gain more insight into the mechanisms leading to radiation-induced cardiotoxicity in breast cancer patients and to develop and validate classical Normal Tissue Complication Probability and mechanistic models to relate low to moderate doses to the heart to a variety of biological, subclinical and clinical endpoints. WP4 aims to contribute to more accurate risk estimations for early and late radiation-induced cardiovascular biological and clinical events and thus provide potential targets for primary and secondary prevention.

The work package is led by the University Medical Center Groningen.

Possible health impact of paediatric scanning – a molecular epidemiology study

Work package 5

Work package 5 will improve the direct estimation of cancer risk following low doses of ionising radiation from CT scanning in childhood and adolescence and to study the role of factors - including age and genetic and epigenetic variants which may modify this risk.

The work package is led by ISGlobal.

Bringing together medical and nuclear scientific communities to improve patient and worker radiological protection across Europe

Work package 6

Work package 6 will formulate to decision-makers and practitioners science-based policy recommendations for the effective protection of patients, medical workers and the general public. WP6 will organise a web-based consultation of a wide range of stakeholders and disseminate the MEDIRAD results to broader communities interested in radiation protection.

The work package is led by the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN).

WP6 has set up a Stakeholder Board, which coordinates the stakeholder related activities of the MEDIRAD project. In particular, the Stakeholder Board contributes to the formation of a wider Stakeholder Forum and to the development of a web-based consultation on the recommendations developed under WP6. The Stakeholder Board is chaired by Dr. Jacques Repussard. The following organisations are represented on the Stakeholder Board:

• EANM (European Association of Nuclear Medicine)
• EFOMP (European Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics)
• EFRS (European Federation of Radiographer Societies)
• EPF (European Patients Forum)
• ESR (European Society of Radiology)
• ESTRO (European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology)
• EURADOS (European Radiation Dosimetry Group)
• EURAMED (European Alliance for Medical Radiation Protection Research)
• MELODI (Multidisciplinary European Low Dose Initiative)
• WHO (World Health Organization) - special adviser