SONORA
Towards safe, optimized and personalized radiology and radiotherapy procedures for pregnant patients
Project news
Sonora project Surveys

31.1.2025
Sonora project invites you to participate in their surveys focused on clinical practices for pregnant patients.
Sonora project presentation

31.1.2025
Sonora project presented their activities to the scientific community at the 16th International Workshop on Ionizing Radiation.
Sonora project publications

31.1.2025
Research team of Sonora project published their results.
SONORA project at the ERPW 2024 conference

4.12.2024
Overview of the Sonora project was presented by Francesca De Monte on Wednesday 13 November 2024 during ERPW 2024.
SONORA at the 5th Symposium of Medical Physics

4.12.2024
Overview of the Sonora project was presented by Željka Knežević from Ruđer Bošković Institute at the 5th Symposium of Medical Physics in Croatia.
SONORA project at 48th ERRS meeting

2.10.2024
First results of SONORA project were presented by Ana Cravo Sá as oral presentation during the 48th European Radiation Research Society meeting.
Project objectives and goals
A number of pregnant patients are undergoing diagnostic and therapeutic radiological procedures placing the unborn child at an increased risk due to the use of ionising radiation. The lacking knowledge and patients' anxiety can lead to unnecessary termination of pregnancy. EU BSS requires that when the pregnant patient undergoes medical exposure, special attention should be given to the justification and optimization of the procedure, considering both, the expectant individual and the unborn child.
The project research focuses on improving the accuracy of fetal doses estimation in diagnostic and interventional radiology (DIR) and radiotherapy (RT) to optimize process and improve benefit/risk communication with the patient.
This aims of the project are:
- developing physical phantoms of different pregnancy stages
- developing a library of personalized computational phantoms using available CT or MR images of pregnant patients and a method to select appropriate phantom using clinical parameters
- investigating fetal doses and dosimetry methods for different DIR procedures, RT techniques and patient anatomies using the physical and personalized computational phantoms developed in the project. The investigation includes the doses from imaging in RT process
- identifying the factors that affect the fetal dose estimations by methods used in clinical practice in DIR and give further guidance on the limitations of each method to decrease variability of dose estimation and enable further personalization and optimisation of the procedure considering fetal dose
- developing and testing a clinical tool for estimating the fetal doses in proton RT according to the individual pregnant patient’s anatomy and clinical plan parameters
The project will result in a good practice guide to perform fetal dose estimation in pregnant or potentially pregnant patients undergoing radiology or radiotherapy procedures. Fetal dose and associated risk data will be considered and debated for their ethical aspects to increase the quality of risk-benefit communication with the patient.
WP0 - PROJECT MANAGEMENT (WP leader – FDMZ) WP 1 - STATE OF THE ART: PRACTICES, METHODS AND TOOLS (WP leader – ASNR)Participants:
Task 1.1: review of the available tools and methods used or recommended for fetal dose assessment in DIR (VIO, ASNR, MEFOS, FDMZ, DUH)
Task 1.2: survey of routine clinical practices for pregnant patient in DIR (VIO, ASNR, STUK, MEFOS, FDMZ, DUH)
Task 1.3: review of the methods used or recommended for fetal dose assessment in RT (ASNR, SCK-CEN, SKANDION,FDMZ)
Task 1.4: survey of routine clinical practices for pregnant patients in RT (IST-ULisboa, STUK, ASNR, SKANDION)
WP 2 - PERSONALIZED PREGNANT PATIENTS (WP leader – MEFOS)Task 2.1. Library of computational phantoms of pregnant patient (MEFOS, FDMZ, UKG, IST, ASNR)
Task 2.2. Develop physical phantoms in each trimester (MEFOS, FDMZ, SCK-CEN, UKG, DUH)
WP3 - DIAGNOSTIC AND INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY PROCEDURES DURING PREGNANCY (WP leader -EEAE)Task 3.1. Determining the fetal dose range in the most frequent DIR procedures using measurements on physical phantoms and MC simulations on computational phantoms (MEFOS, DUH, FDMZ, IST, ASNR, RBI, EEAE, VIO)
Task 3.2. Determining uncertainties and limitations of available methods and software for fetal dose assessment used in clinical practice (EEAE, DUH, MEFOS, FDMZ, IST, ASNR, VIO)
Task 3.3. DIR procedures’ optimization in terms of fetal dose (EEAE, DUH, MEFOS, FDMZ, VIO)
WP4 - RADIOTHERAPY DURING PREGNANCY (WP leader - SCK CEN)Task 4.1. Fetal dose measurements during pregnancy breast radiotherapy (SCK CEN, NPI, MEFOS, IST, SURO, EEAE, RBI, SKANDION, IFJ, DCPT)
Task 4.2. Development of a personalized dosimetry tool for pregnancy proton therapy (DCPT, SKANDION)
Task 4.3. Imaging doses to fetus in breast radiotherapy (IST, STUK, ASNR)
WP5 - SOCIAL OUTREACH (WP leader – RBI).Task 5.1: Project communication and dissemination (RBI, all partners)
Task 5.2: Ethics workshops (SCK CEN, IPL)
Task 5.3: Developing empirically grounded patient communication: (MEFOS, SCK CEN, IPL, FDMZ, VIO, ASNR)

Project coordinator
Hrvoje Brkić, J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek and Faculty of Dental Medicine and Health, Croatia