Imaging Technologies Innovations Lead to Radiation Dose Decreases

Manufacturers of medical imaging technology have introduced new product and system advances during the past 20 years that have reduced the radiation dose for many imaging procedures by 20-75% while preserving the ability of imaging technologies to help physicians in diagnosis and treatment, according to a recently released report.

These dose reductions have been achieved through innovations in product operation and design, software applications, operating practices, and procedure algorithms, according to the Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA; Arlington, VA, USA), which has recently released the report, entitled "How Innovations in Medical Imaging Have Reduced Radiation Dosage.” MITA is a leading association of medical imaging and radiation therapy systems manufacturers and is a division of the U.S. National Electrical Manufacturers Association.

According to the report, medical imaging continues to empower clinicians and medical professionals to be better able to see inside the human body with ever increasing clarity and accuracy. This enables better diagnoses and better medical care for patients. The ability of medical imaging to provide physicians with this new information and new vision inside the human body has created dramatic improvements in the quality and length of lives. For example, computed tomography (CT) has nearly eliminated the practice of exploratory surgery with its associated invasive risks and long recovery periods.

Based upon an evaluation of the peer-reviewed literature that describes the imaging improvements brought about by such technologies in these and other areas, it is logical to conclude that millions of lives have been saved and millions more dramatically improved as a result of these imaging technologies.

At the same time, this savings in lives and improvement in health outcomes occur--in the case of CT, x-ray, and nuclear medicine technology--as a result of the use of radiation. None of the health improvements that come from these technologies would be possible without radiation. The radiation exposure from such technologies for individual patients is in the low-range.

It is a generally accepted assumption that one has a 25% chance of getting cancer over an individual's lifetime. Using the FDA-published risk factors, a CT cardiac stress/rest perfusion study, for example, increases the risk of cancer by 0.05%, bringing the total risk to less than 25.05%.

This MITA report examines the issue of radiation dosage and addresses the publicly raised concerns about it. It also documents the innovations made by the medical imaging industry to reduce radiation levels and illustrates the health and patient productivity benefits of imaging. A full copy of the report is available the MITA website.


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Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance