MITA receives FDA award for collaborative efforts to mitigate radiation dose in computed tomography imaging equipment

Washington, D.C. – The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) announced today that the Computed Tomography (CT) Nomenclature Working Group, led by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), has received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) Director’s Special Citation Award for developing CT imaging radiation safety instructional materials through a collaboration of end-users, CT manufacturers and the FDA. The award is MITA’s second recognition from the FDA.

“As a long-time partner with AAPM on initiatives to promote the safe and effective use of medical imaging equipment, MITA is honored to receive this prestigious award from the FDA,” said Gail Rodriguez, Executive Director of MITA. “We look forward to ongoing collaboration with AAPM, the FDA and other stakeholders to continue building upon our work to optimize radiation dose within CT technologies.”

Working with AAPM and other industry partners, MITA developed consensus protocols for frequently-performed CT examinations, summarizing the basic requirements of the exam and giving several model-specific examples of scan and reconstruction parameters. This cross-functional group is valued by the CDRH as the go-to resource for stakeholder validation.

A key component of the standardization of CT nomenclature and protocols is MITA’s CT Dose Check initiative, intended to serve as a safety feature on new equipment, for which dose check levels are adjustable by site and provide an alert to CT machine operators when recommended radiation dose levels – as determined by hospitals and imaging centers – will be exceeded. The alert is designed to provide a clear indication to health care providers as to when radiation dose adjustments would result in delivering a dose higher than the facility’s pre-determined dose threshold for routine use.

MITA will be formally recognized for its dedication to excellence in accomplishing the mission of the CDRH at a ceremony on June 10. The CDRH is responsible for protecting and promoting the public health, assuring that patients and providers have timely and continued access to safe, effective and high-quality medical devices and radiation-emitting products. In June 2012, MITA received the FDA’s “Leveraging/Collaboration Award” for developing a collaborative network aimed at reducing unnecessary radiation exposure from imaging exams to pediatric patients.

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The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA), a division of NEMA, is the collective voice of medical imaging equipment, radiation therapy and radiopharmaceutical manufacturers, innovators and product developers. It represents companies whose sales comprise more than 90 percent of the global market for medical imaging technology. For more information, visit www.medicalimaging.org.