Support for international standards development in imaging

MEMBER involvement in the work of international standards in the field of imaging is to be funded by IPEM and the British Institute of Radiology.

The areas under consideration at present are International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) standards and involvement with the DICOM WG-28 (the “physics” group). In addition to this, IPEM is separately funding involvement in engineering areas.

IEC standards are the basis for how all imaging equipment is designed and manufactured and the DICOM WG-28 “physics” group has been instrumental in developing patient dose information transfer from imaging equipment to enable separate software analysis of patient dose (both at an individual and collective level). It is important for professional bodies to engage with these processes as the results impact on all aspects of imaging science.

Currently Mark Knight, IPEM’s Vice President Medical Physics, and Andy Rogers from the BIR, are working with a small group to develop an oversight process to enable the money pledged to be spent wisely and to ensure an open and transparent route for members to represent IPEM-BIR on international groups. When the appropriate governance assurance system is established, IPEM and BIR members will be invited to get involved in the genuinely worthwhile and challenging arena of international standards development.