BAPETEN, through the Center for Regulatory Assessment of Radiation Facilities and Radioactive Materials (RFRM), will determine the Indonesian Diagnostic Reference Level (I-DRL) for mammography and dental radiography in 2024. For this determination, a preliminary FGD was held online on February 19, 2024.

I-DRL is one of the efforts to implement and optimize radiation protection and safety for patients in health service facilities. The I-DRL value will later become an indicator for hospitals or clinics to optimally apply radiation dose guidelines in diagnostic radiology, interventional radiology, and diagnostic nuclear medicine patient examinations.

Rusmanto, Health Assessment Coordinator, said, "This activity aims to determine the national TPD (I-DRL) value for radiation dose in patient examinations using mammography and dental radiography modalities." In this Focus Group Discussion activity, the material was presented by Endang Kunarsih, who said, "Efforts are made to ensure that the radiation dose or radionuclide activity given to patients is as minimal as possible but sufficient to produce images with maximum visual quality to see anatomy and signs of disease or to guide interventional procedures." Optimization of medical exposure for patients undergoing diagnostic examinations is implemented by administering radiation doses to patients as needed to produce image quality that is adequate for diagnosing a disease or when used to guide interventional procedures. Such optimization efforts can be guided by indicators for the selection of appropriate optimization actions, called Diagnostic Guidance Levels (TPD) or Diagnostic Reference Levels (DRL).

FGD participants are representatives of stakeholders, namely the Directorate of Health Service Facilities and the Directorate of Health Service Quality - Ministry of Health, PDSRI, PDSRKI, IKARGI, AFISMI, PARI, and BRIN (PRTKMRMN), as well as representatives of educational institutions, the University of Indonesia, Diponegoro University, Poltekkes Semarang, and Poltekkes Jakarta. All representatives of stakeholders who attended this FGD expressed their positive support and readiness to actively participate in this i-DRL determination activity. As a follow-up to this FGD, it is planned to hold a follow-up FGD on March 19th and 28th, and it is hoped that i-DRL for mammography and dental radiography can be determined in April 2024. (BHKK/CD)