News

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.

Opening Meeting of the IAEA TC Project POL9028 “Preventing Tissue Reactions in Interventional Procedures” took place on March 26- 27, 2024, in hybrid format: in Łódź as well as online, on a dedicated web platform. Additionally, online participants could follow live streaming, choosing the simultaneous interpretation channel (English or Polish).

The meeting to officially launch the POL9028 project, implemented under the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Technical Cooperation program for 2024-2025, was opened by Dariusz Kluszczyński, Director of the National Centre for Radiation Protection in Health Care (KCORwOZ), who welcomed the invited guests: Andrzej Głowacki, President of the National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA); Jerzy Walecki, National Consultant in the field of radiology and imaging diagnostics; representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (Meng Li, Programme Management Officer, Division for Europe, Department of Technical Cooperation; Olivera Ciraj-Bjelac, Project Technical Officer, Dosimetry and Medical Radiation Physics Section, Division of Human Health, Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications; Jenia Vassileva, IAEA expert); Dorota Wróblewska, Deputy Director of NCRPHC (KCORwOZ); representatives of the Ministry of Health; representatives of the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS); as well as speakers and a large group of meeting participants.

Introductory words were delivered by: Andrzej Głowacki, President of PAA, Jerzy Walecki, National Consultant in the field of radiology and imaging diagnostics, and Meng Li and Olivera Ciraj-Bjelac from the IAEA. Then, Dariusz Kluszczyński discussed the assumptions of the POL9028 Project, as well as the activities that will be implemented in 2024-2025.

During the two days of the symposium, lectures were delivered by experts present on site in Łódź: prof. Jerzy Walecki and prof. Jenia Vassileva, as well as those participating online: prof. Tadeusz Popiela, prof. Tomasz Moszura, Michał Zawadzki, MD, PhD and Joanna Kidoń- Szołtysek, PhD.

Lectures on issues in the field of interventional radiology covered the following topics: interventional procedures in health care, interventional radiology in neurology, interventional radiology in pediatric cardiology, doses for patients and radiation effects related to the performance of interventional radiology procedures, doses in interventional radiology – a case study, practical approaches to dose management for the patient and staff, as well as interventional radiology from the perspective of a medical physicist and radiation protection officer.

The program also included time for discussion, thanks to which the meeting became a platform for exchanging experiences, views, and conclusions between participants. The symposium was addressed to all specialists interested in improving radiation protection of patients and staff by promoting good medical practices and improving of interventional radiological procedures. Nearly 160 people took part in the event, which was free and open to the public. These included: representatives of the Ministry of Health, the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS), employees of the Provincial Sanitary and Epidemiological Stations (WSSE), the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IMP), and, above all, doctors, electroradiologists, medical physicists, radiation protection inspectors from hospitals and other health care units in Poland.

We would like to thank all participants for such a large attendance and invite you to follow the information about further activities undertaken as part of the POL9028 Project aimed at raising the awareness of personnel dealing with interventional radiology by promoting procedures in which the radiation protection of the patient is part of good medical practice.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to strengthen the nuclear regulatory infrastructure of the Agency’s member states, uses a mechanism called the Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS), which includes a comparison of the legal, technical, and political solutions used in individual countries with the IAEA standards and good practices.

The IRRS review report published by the IAEA is the result of a two-week mission carried out on September 4-15, 2023, at the invitation of the Polish government. The IRRS mission team, consisting of fifteen experts from fourteen countries, four staff from the IAEA and an observer from the European Commission, reviewed regulatory oversight of existing nuclear facilities, ionising radiation activities in terms of IAEA safety standards, and preparations for oversight of the construction and operation of nuclear power plants in Poland. International experts of the IRRS mission recognized that the National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA) is a competent regulatory body, and the team of the PAA’s employees is committed to the effective implementation of nuclear regulatory tasks, including preparation for supervision and control over the safe implementation of nuclear energy in Poland.

The mission involved institutions that are part of the nuclear safety and radiological protection system in Poland: the National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA), acting as the host of the mission, the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS) and the Provincial Sanitary and Epidemiological Station (WSSE) in Warsaw, the National Centre for Radiation Protection in Health Care (KCORwOZ). Additionally, representatives of the Ministry of Climate and Environment, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Interior and Administration and the Office of Technical Inspection participated in the mission. Members of the IRRS mission also accompanied PAA inspectors during regulatory inspections carried out at the MARIA nuclear research reactor, the Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility, a medical facility, and an industrial facility using ionising radiation.

The complete IRRS mission report (in English) is available on the IAEA’s website (here) and on the PAA’s website (here).