UCD Radiography & Diagnostic Imaging joins 20 partners, from 12 EU Member States to launch EU funded RHYTHM Project, to Enhance Radiation Safety and Imaging Quality for Young Patients in Europe
The 4-year RHYTHM project aims to improve the quality and radiation safety of medical imaging for children, adolescents, and young adults, with a particular focus on CT, SPECT/CT, PET/CT, and CT as part of radiotherapy planning. Recognising the sensitivity of this population to ionising radiation and the critical need for optimised imaging practices, RHYTHM targets key challenges in justification, optimisation, availability, and accessibility of imaging services. These challenges include inappropriate imaging practices, disparities in access to dedicated paediatric imaging equipment, and insufficient education and outreach to healthcare professionals and patients.
RHYTHM aims to address these issues through an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach, involving stakeholders from healthcare, industry, regulatory bodies, and patient advocacy groups.
RHYTHM’s objectives will be achieved by:
- Improving justification and optimisation practices, incl. the development of evidence-based recommendations for referral guidelines, clinical guidelines, and clinical decision support systems
- Facilitating accessibility to dedicated imaging equipment and services, incl. the development of optimized imaging protocols tailored to paediatric and young adult needs
- Advancing education and training curricula and materials tailored to multidisciplinary professional groups to enhance capacity building
- Implementing outreach campaigns to raise awareness about imaging safety and the benefits of optimised practices among parents, young adults, and healthcare providers
Additionally, RHYTHM aims to develop a European CT dose and image repository, a novel tool adopting a dual approach to improve paediatric imaging practices. This repository will:
- Establish Diagnostic Reference Levels (DRLs) tailored to diagnostic CT clinical indications.
- Enable direct comparisons of scanner protocols, dose indices, and image quality across institutions using the same CT scanner models.
By enabling hospitals to compare scanner settings, dose levels, and image quality across institutions using similar equipment, the repository will help standardise imaging practices, reduce unnecessary radiation exposure, and improve diagnostic consistency throughout Europe. In parallel, the project will focus on capacity building and sustainability through the development of multidisciplinary training materials, online modules, and CME-accredited webinars. These resources will be made widely accessible to radiologists, medical physicists, radiographers, and other healthcare professionals, ensuring that advances in radiation protection and imaging optimisation continue to benefit patients well beyond the project’s duration.
The UCD team includes Assoc Prof Shane Foley, Edel Thomas, Martina Mullaney and Irene Hernandez Giron who will work across three of the RHYTHM work packages including WP3 (survey of CT equipment base across Europe), WP4 (CT protocol optimisation) and WP6 (education and training).
RHYTHM consortium team members at the kick off meeting in Vienna, including Assoc Prof Shane Foley (School of Medicine) and Asst Prof Irene Hernandez Giron (School of Physics).
RHYTHM is co-funded under the EU4Health Programme 2021–2027 under grant agreement no. 101232948. Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Health and Digital Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
