Radiation Risk From Medical Imaging

Risk of low-level ionizing radiation from medical imaging procedures.

Medical imaging procedures with x-ray, computed tomography (CT) and nuclear isotopes use ionizing radiation.1–4 On the other hand, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) do not. When biological tissues are exposed to radiation, the effects are related to the type of radiation and the amount absorbed. Units of absorbed dose are grays (Gy) (joules/kilogram). One rad (radiation absorbed d...

Medical imaging: the challenges of radiation risk assessment.

Radiation Protection in Medical Imaging

The radiation spectrum includes forms of radiation that carry various energy levels. Radiation forms, such as x-radiation, which carry sufficient energy to overcome binding energies of electrons and to eject them from their atomic orbits, can cause the formation of ions in the matter through which they travel, and are termed ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation may also dissociate molecular b...

Ionizing radiation for medical imaging

Estimated radiation risk of cancer from medical imaging in haemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND In recent years the widespread use of medical procedures increased the cumulative effective doses of ionizing radiation. Although many haemodialysis patients undergo multiple examinations with high radiation exposure, no data are available characterizing their attendant potential risks of cancer. METHODS The radiation exposures were obtained from a retrospective study of 159 consec...