Radiation Safety in Diagnostic Radiological Imaging: What Should We Know? A Radiologist’s Perspective

There has been rapid growth in medical uses of radiation in the past decade. Medical uses represent the largest source of exposure to the population. Most physicians have difficulty assessing the extent of potential risk. Increasing use of imaging modalities using ionizing radiation are known to result in an increased incidence of cancer in the exposed population. Preventing the inappropriate use of such imaging and by optimizing studies that are performed to obtain the best image quality with the lowest radiation dose can be used to minimize the radiation effects. Special efforts have been employed to decrease the radiation doses in pregnant patients and children who are at more risk to the harmful effects of radiation. Guidelines by various societies are very helpful in guiding the physicians in better patient care with reduced patient radiation doses.