Introduction: Medical Physicist, as a professional who works in a hospital environment, is a member of a wide clinical team which is responsible for the correct diagnosis and the therapeutic methods applied using radiation. The role of a Medical Physicist is multifold and consists of the estimation of the dose received by patients and personnel, the quality control of radiological equipment, the studies for shielding requirements and the training of several health professionals (doctors, medical physicists, radiologists, technicians, nurses). All the above are prerequisites in order to receive the professional license to act as Medical Physicist.Aim-Research Inquires: The aim of European Union (EU) via European Federation of Medical Physics (EFOMP) is to apply a common policy among the EU countries in the area of Education and Training in Medical Physics within the context of the current developments in the European Higher Education Area arising from "The Bologna Declaration". A short-term perspective is the free movement of professionals within EU, via the assurance of knowledge and skills uniformity. A necessary preliminary stage is the collection, classification and further process of relevant information at the European level.Methods-Techniques: To achieve the above in an efficient way EFOMP prepared a questionnaire and sent it to the National Organisation for Medical Physics of each country member of EFOMP (NMO). 23 out of 34 country members responded. The main parts (3 in total) of this questionnaire and some typical questions were: Part A: Medical Physics Education• Which degree is required? Is this a university degree? How many years of studies does it represent?• Is there a nationally approved education programme and, if yes, then by whom?• Where do the education and training take place (University, Hospital, or both of them)? Are these centers accredited and who gives the accreditation? Part B: Qualified / Specialist Medical Physicist• Is there a license or diploma required to work as Medical Physicist? Is it officially provided (i.e. government)? Part C: Register of Medical Physicists• Is there a Register of Medical Physicists in the country? If yes, how is someone registered?• Is there a renewal mechanism in the Register? If yes, is it based on a Continuing Professional Development system (CPD)? Results (Summarised):• In all countries that responded in this questionnaire, the basic educational requirement to enter Medical Physics is a university degree (basic titles: BSc 30%, MSc 57%).• There are 3 different approaches concerning post-graduate education and training (university studies only 23%, hospital only 18% and combining university and hospital 59%).• In 61% of all countries it is mandatory to hold a diploma or license to work as a Medical Physicist.• 65% of all countries have an organised Register for Medical Physicists.• A formal CPD programme is in operation in 52% of the countries. Conclusions: The processing of the above results leads the EFOMP to propose some general guidelines. I...

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Aim: Brain perfusion imaging by means of 99m Tc-labeled hexamethyl propylene amine oxime (HMPAO) is a wellestablished Nuclear Medicine diagnostic procedure. The administered dose range recommended by the supplying company and reported in bibliography is rather wide . This fact necessitates further quantitative analysis of the technique, so as to minimise patient absorbed dose without compromising the examination diagnostic value. In this study, a quantitative evaluation of the radiopharmaceutical performance for different values of administered dose (10, 15, 20 mCi) was carried out. Subsequently, a generic image quality index was correlated with the administered dose, to produce an overall performance indicator. Through this cost-to-benefit type analysis, the necessity of administration of higher radioactive dose levels in order to perform the specific diagnostic procedure was examined. Materials & methods: The study was based on a sample of 78 patients (56 administered with 10 mCi, 10 with 15 mCi and 12 with 20 mCi). Some patients were classified as normal, while others presented various forms of pathology. Evaluation of image quality was based on contrast, noise and contrast-to-noise ratio indicators, denoted CI, NI and CNR respectively. Calculation of all indicators was based on wavelet transform. An overall performance indicator (denoted PI), produced by the ratio of CNR by administered dose, was also calculated. Results: Calculation of skewness parameter revealed the normality of CI, NI and non-normality of CNR, PI populations. Application of appropriate statistical tests (analysis of variance for normal and Kruskal-Wallis test for non-normal populations) showed that there is a statistically significant difference in CI (p<0.01), NI (p<0.001) and CNR (p<0.05), but not for PI (p>0.05) values. Application of Tukey test for normal populations CI, NI led to the conclusion that CI(10 mCi) = CI(20 mCi)NI(20 mCi), while NI(15 mCi) can not be characterised. Finally, application of non-parametric multiple comparisons showed that CNR(20 mCi)>CNR(10 mCi), while CNR(15 mCi) can not be characterised. Conclusion: Brain perfusion imaging by means of 99m Tc-HMPAO utilising an administered dose of 20 mCi results in improved image quality, on the basis of the estimated indicators and for the range of radioactive dose levels examined. Additionally, this image quality improvement is sufficient to justify the increased radiation burden for the patient. AbstractAim: Brain perfusion imaging by means of 99m Tc-labeled hexamethyl propylene amine oxime (HMPAO) is a wellestablished Nuclear Medicine diagnostic procedure. The administered dose range recommended by the supplying company and reported in bibliography is rather wide (approximately 9.5-27 mCi). This fact necessitates further quantitative analysis of the technique, so as to minimise patient absorbed dose without compromising the examination diagnostic value. In this study, a quantitative evaluation of the radiopharmaceutical performance for differen...

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