An Interactive RADIANCE Toolkit for Customizable CT Dose Monitoring and Reporting

The need for tools to monitor imaging-related radiation has grown dramatically in recent years. RADIANCE, a freely available open-source dose-monitoring tool, was developed in response to the need for an informatics solution in this realm. A number of open-source as well as commercial solutions have since been developed to enable radiology practices to monitor radiation dose parameters for modalities ranging from computed tomography to radiography to fluoroscopy. However, it is not sufficient to simply collect this data; it is equally important to be able to review it in the appropriate context. Most of the currently available dose-monitoring solutions have some type of reporting capability, such as a real-time dashboard or a static report. Previous versions of RADIANCE have included a real-time dashboard with pre-set screens that plot effective dose estimates according to different criteria, as well as monthly scorecards to summarize dose estimates for individuals within a radiology practice. In this work, we present the RADIANCE toolkit, a customizable reporting solution that allows users to generate reports of interest to them, summarizing a variety of metrics that can be grouped according to useful parameters. The output of the toolkit can be used for real-time dose monitoring or scheduled reporting, such as to a quality assurance committee. Making dose parameter data more accessible and more meaningful to the user promotes dose reduction efforts such as regular protocol review and optimization, and ultimately improves patient care by decreasing unnecessary radiation exposure.     

Gossypiboma mimicking posterior urethral stricture

INTRODUCTIONForeign bodies in the urogenital tract are not uncommon. Hairpins, glass rods, umbilical tapes, ball point pen are described in lower urogenital tract. Retained gauze piece (gossypiboma) in posterior urethra may cause diagnostic dilemma. Symptoms and investigations may mimic stricture of posterior urethra.PRESENTATION OF CASETwo cases of retained gauze pieces in the urethra are described here. The micturating cystourethrogram was suggestive of posterior urethral stricture.DISCUSSIONTwo cases described here had retained gauze piece as a cause of filling defect and abnormal appearance in the micturating cystourethrogram. Gossypiboma may be a possibility where posterior urethral stricture are seen after previous surgery in paediatric age group.CONCLUSIONIn the setting of previous urogenital surgery gossypiboma should be kept in the differential diagnosis where posterior urethral stricture are seen in the paediatric age group.