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The XVIII Congress of the Polish Society of Nuclear Medicine “Nuclear medicine – clinical impact” was held in Poznań on June 6-8, 2024. The event was attended by 342 participants. The program of the congress included 28 scientific sessions, among them the session on the POL9027 project under the auspices of the IAEA, on June 6. The session was moderated by Dariusz Kluszczyński, DSc, Eng, Director of the National Centre for Radiation Protection in Health Care, together with Agata Pietrzak, MD, from the Greater Poland Cancer Centre. During this session, participants had the opportunity to listen to lectures by experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency: “Enhancing Quantitative Accuracy in PET/CT Imaging” by prof. John Dickson (Institute of Nuclear Medicine University College London Hospital, United Kingdom); “Ethics for radiation protection” by Steve Ebdon-Jackson (Consulting Physicist, United Kingdom); “The future direction of women in nuclear medicine and nuclear medicine in women’s health” by prof. Laura Evangelista (Humanitas University, Milan, Italy).

IAEA experts also gave lectures in other sessions during the congress: “PSMA PET/CT in the light of recent research” – Laura Evangelista (June 7, session Oncology); “Unintended and unexpected exposures in nuclear medicine” – Steve Ebdon-Jackson (June 7, session Technology and radiation protection); “Optimisation and quantification of brain imaging” – John Dickson (June 7, session Meet the Expert); “Emerging Trends in Nuclear Medicine and Medical Physics” – John Dickson (June 8, closing session of the congress).

Project IAEA TC POL9027 “Enhancing the Capabilities of Positron Emission Tomography Departments to Provide High Quality Imaging and Therapies to Promote Safety Culture” is implemented by the National Centre for Radiation Protection in Health Care as part of the International Atomic Energy Agency Technical Cooperation Program for 2022-2024, and aims to provide nuclear medicine departments using PET merit support in the field of quality assurance / control (QA / QC), providing specialized measuring equipment to those departments, assuring an appropriate practical training and promoting good practice in the field of patient and staff safety. A symposium summarizing the project will be held in 2024. We invite you to follow Project IAEA TC POL9027 tab on our website!

The 15th National Conference “Ionising Radiation in Medicine” PJOMED 2024 was held on June 3-4, 2024 in hybrid format: at the Didactic and Conference Centre of the European Institute in Łódź and online – on a dedicated web platform. All lectures were translated simultaneously, and Conference guests – both those present on-site and those participating remotely – were able to choose the appropriate interpretation channel (English or Polish) and actively participate in discussions and the exchange of experiences and views on the topics discussed.

Dariusz Kluszczyński, Director of the National Centre for Radiation Protection in Health Care gave the opening speech. Then Joanna Kujawa, Head of the Department of Environmental Health at the Department of Public Health read the letter addressed to the participants of the Conference by the Minister of Health. The introductory speeches were also given by Andrzej Głowacki, President of the National Atomic Energy Agency and Col. Tadeusz Nierebiński, the General Sanitary Inspector of the Polish Armed Forces.

The PJOMED conference is a cyclical event organised by the National Centre for Radiation Protection in Health Care and aims to raise awareness of the use of ionising radiation in medicine. This year’s edition of the PJOMED 2024 Conference covered issues related to radiological procedures, particularly important for radiation protection of patient, especially in radiotherapy and interventional radiology.

The first day of the Conference began with an inaugural lecture on actions taken by the President of the National Atomic Energy Agency to strengthen radiation protection in medical applications of ionising radiation. A speech providing an introduction to issues in the field of radiotherapy was given by Krzysztof Składowski, National Consultant for radiation oncology. During the two days of the conference, the following issues were discussed: “Interventional radiology in medical practice” (Jerzy Walecki), “Justification of CT examinations”  (Steve Ebdon-Jackson), “MediTrainVR – VR application for medical radiation protection training” (Silas Fuchs), “Assessment of ionising radiation doses in healthy organs located outside the primary field during radiotherapy” (Marta Kruszyna-Mochalska), “Radiotherapy for pregnant women” (Agnieszka Walewska), “Radiation induced secondary malignancies after radiotherapy” (Paweł Kukołowicz), “Study of mixed radiation fields around a linear medical accelerator during the implementation of radiotherapy treatment plans” (Piotr Tulik), “Radiotherapy for pregnant women – practice” (Agnieszka Kuchcińska), “Actions of Ukrainian state service units in emergency situations of war” (Nazar Shtangret), “Projekt IAEA TC POL9028 Preventing Tissue Reactions in Interventional Procedures” (Dariusz Kluszczyński), “Recommendations of the AISN PTK working group, the PTK Echocardiography Association and the Polish Society of Medical Physics in the field of radiation protection in interventional cardiology” (Joanna Kidoń-Szołtysek), “Dose constraints in interventional cardiology”  (Joanna Domienik-Andrzejewska), “Occupational exposure in interventional radiology and radiotherapy departments” (Anna Bubak), “Imaging examinations for children – how to communicate risks? WHO guide” (Marcin Drabek), “Simulation-based education in the context of radiological protection” (Małgorzata Laskowska), “Real-time control of occupational exposure of medical staff” (Jacek Dobrowiecki). During this year’s Conference, most of the Polish and foreign speakers were present on site in Łódź. The event was personally attended by invited foreign guests, including: Vesna Gershan, Radiation Protection Specialist of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Honorary Patrons of the event were: the Minister of Health, the President of the National Atomic Energy Agency, the President of the Polish Society of Nuclear Medicine, the President of the Polish Medical Society of Radiology, National Consultant for radiology and diagnostic imaging, National Consultant for radiation oncology and National Consultant for nuclear medicine.

PJOMED 2024 conference was attended by more than 190 participants. Among them were doctors, physicists, representatives of the State Sanitary Inspectorate and health care units from all over the country, representatives of academic units from Lodz, radiation protection inspectors, employees of accredited laboratories, producers and distributors of medical devices.

The Organising Committee of the 15th National Conference “Ionising Radiation in Medicine” PJOMED 2024 expresses its gratitude to all Conference participants. We are grateful for your interest and positive reception of the event and we invite you to the next edition of the PJOMED Conference in 2025!

A detailed conference programme is available here.