Medical imaging modalities: Prevention of unnecessary orders and non-optimized radiation exposure

Authors

  • Ayoob Rostamzadeh Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran
  • Hossein Masoumi Department of Medical Physics, Faculty of Paramedicine, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran
  • Masoud Amiri Social Health Determinants Research Center, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran.
  • Mohammad Gharib Salehi Department of Radiology, Imam Reza Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
Abstract:

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses a constant magnetic field and radio waves, a non-invasive method for examining tissues, organs and the skeletal system. Advantages and disadvantages of MRI are not fully understood; however, it has been commonly used in the diagnosis of skeleton and bone diseases (such as disk and spinal disorders, joint disorders (arthritis), bone tumours and tissues), cardiovascular diseases (e.g., heart wall thickness and motion, inflammation and blockage in the blood vessels, injuries occurred due to heart attack and heart disease) as well as tumours of the uterus, ovary, prostate, spleen and so on. In the computerized tumour (CT) scan, as an invasive method, the x-rays of the body are used for tomography; different  x-ray attenuation coefficient in tissues as well as reconstruction of images could have an effect on the scanning of the patient and the received amount of radiation by the patient. CT imaging is capable of identifying vascular problems/diseases, gastrointestinal, infectious diseases, trauma and musculoskeletal problems. In addition, it is the preferred tool in detection of most cancers, such as lung, liver, and pancreatic cancer. In fact, it allows physicians for better diagnosing of the tumour size, accurate positioning and development of tumours compared to adjacent tissue diagnosis. Therefore, CT scan is a very important tool to examine, diagnose and treat spinal injuries changed to damages to the hands, feet and skeletal structure. CT imaging can also measure the bone mineral density and osteoporosis. Furthermore, in the case of bruising, CT scan could recognize the potential damages to the liver, spleen, kidney, or any other organ very fast. However, compared to the other  radio graphical diagnostic methods, CT scan could lead to the exposure of the patients to substantial radiation dosage; this may have several radiobiological effects such as delayed effects of radiation which could result in variety of cancers, chromosomal failures and potential genetic abnormalities in the future generations. According to the international commission of radiation protection (ICRP) recommendations with regard to the principles of: as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) as well as the maximum permissible dose (MPD) (maximum dose of the population), the unnecessary imaging should be avoided, in order to reduce the acquired radiation dose by the public community. Moreover, according to the recent reports on the effects of the three waves of MRI machines and CT scan imaging dose’s effects as well as huge number of imaging tests around the world (20 million a year, over 50 thousand tests daily MRI),1 and also unnecessary increase in the requests of MRI for patients,2 it is recommended that these tests should be prescribed for patients with greater accuracy and caution; with application of magnetic dosimeter for monitoring exposure of people who work with MRI (as its application for X-ray and CT scan).3   

Upgrade to premium to download articles

Sign up to access the full text

Already have an account?login

similar resources

medical imaging modalities: prevention of unnecessary orders and non-optimized radiation exposure

magnetic resonance imaging (mri) uses a constant magnetic field and radio waves, a non-invasive method for examining tissues, organs and the skeletal system. the advantages and disadvantages of mri is not fully understood. in the computerized tumor (ct) scan, as an invasive method, the x-rays of the body is used for tomography; which different x-ray attenuation coefficient in tissues as well as...

full text

Exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation from medical imaging procedures.

BACKGROUND The growing use of imaging procedures in the United States has raised concerns about exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation in the general population. METHODS We identified 952,420 nonelderly adults (between 18 and 64 years of age) in five health care markets across the United States between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2007. Utilization data were used to estimate cumulative ...

full text

Radiation exposure from medical imaging: time to regulate?

THE AVERAGE RADIATION DOSE TO WHICH PERSONS IN the United States are exposed has doubled over the past 30 years. Although the average dose from natural background sources has not changed, the average radiation dose from medical imaging has increased more than 6-fold. Medical imaging now contributes about 50% of the overall radiation dose to the US population, compared with about 15% in 1980. Th...

full text

Radiation exposure from medical imaging: a silent harm?

considerable impact on medical practice over the past few decades. Regrettably, many such procedures expose patients to ionizing radiation, which may result in injury. Survey data show that physicians generally underestimate the magnitude of radiation doses and their associated effects, and thus underestimate the risk to patients undergoing medical imaging procedures. This view may be due to bo...

full text

Medical Students’ Knowledge of Indications for Imaging Modalities and Cost Analysis of Incorrect Requests, Shiraz, Iran 2011-2012

Medical imaging has a remarkable role in the practice of clinical medicine. This study intends to evaluate the knowledge of indications of five common medical imaging modalities and estimation of the imposed cost of their non-indicated requests among medical students who attend Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. We conducted across-sectional survey using a self-administered qu...

full text

Microwave Imaging: Research in Alternative Medical Imaging Modalities

Microwave imaging is an alternate breast cancer detection technique that uses microwaves to generate images based on di erences in permittivity and conductivity. The large di erences in permittivity and conductivity between normal and malignant breast tissue should allow for more reliable detection of breast cancer as opposed to conventional X-ray techniques. This project aims to develop a 3-D ...

full text

My Resources

Save resource for easier access later

Save to my library Already added to my library

{@ msg_add @}


Journal title

volume 2  issue 4

pages  162- 163

publication date 2015-11-01

By following a journal you will be notified via email when a new issue of this journal is published.

Hosted on Doprax cloud platform doprax.com

copyright © 2015-2023