Minimizing radiation for patient safety

Discover the importance of minimizing radiation exposure for the safety of patients and healthcare workers

- DR (COL) ML BERA, MD

Imaging tools play a crucial role in diagnosis, establishing treatment efficacy, and follow-ups to monitor the recurrence, in particular when dealing with malignant disease. Various ionizing and non-ionizing imaging tools are used for diagnosing and follow-ups of patients where Mammography, CT scan, PET-CT and fluoroscopy-guided interventional procedures have ionizing effects.

Radiation from diagnostic imaging modalities, such as computed tomography, mammography, and nuclear imaging, are minor contributors to the cumulative dose compared to fluoroscopic-based imaging tools used for interventional procedures. However, any radiation exposure must be avoided because it could be dangerous for patients and medical personnel alike.

Radiation safety is a major concern for patients as well as healthcare workers. Minimizing Radiation is to provide an appropriate level of protection for patients against the harmful effects of radiation without unduly limiting its usefulness. This will prevent the occurrence of harmful deterministic effects (e.g. direct harmful effects) and stochastic effects (e.g. cancer and genetics effects).

Clinical significance

It is essential to have a fundamental knowledge of how radiation can cause harm before developing various approaches to safeguard both patients and medical personnel. The risks of radiation are dose-dependent and cumulative. The most commonly accepted hypothesis is the linear no-threshold model, which assumes that the long-term, biological damage caused by ionizing radiation is directly proportional to the cumulative radiation dose.