Expert panel on monitoring radiation doses from recurrent medical diagnostic procedures: Sixth Gilbert W. Beebe Webinar.

Recurrent imaging is an essential tool for patient care but with an attendant dose from radiation exposure. Recurrent imaging has been the subject of increasing scrutiny and debate based largely on the risk from increasing cumulative doses. However, the accountability for and actions with recurrent imaging as a special component in the general construct of radiation protection in medicine is unclear.

Ranking the Relative Importance of Image Quality Features in CT by Consensus Survey.

Objective: This study sought to determine consensus opinions from subspecialty radiologists and imaging physicists on the relative importance of image quality features in CT.

Methods: A prospective survey of subspecialty radiologists and medical physicists was conducted to collect consensus opinions on the relative importance of 10 image quality features: axial sharpness, blooming, contrast, longitudinal sharpness, low-contrast axial sharpness, metal artifact, motion, noise magnitude, noise texture, and streaking. The survey was first sent to subspecialty radiologists in volunteer leadership roles in the ACR and RSNA, thereafter relying on snowball sampling.

Recurrent medical imaging exposures for the care of patients: one way forward.

Medical imaging is both valuable and essential in the care of patients. Much of this imaging depends on ionizing radiation with attendant responsibilities for judicious use when performing an examination. This responsibility applies in settings of both individual as well as multiple (recurrent) imaging with associated repeated radiation exposures.

Low Dose Radiation and Solid Tumors Mortality Risk.

Background: US nuclear capable shipyard workers have increased potential for occupational radiation exposure.

Objective: The aim of the study is to examine solid tumor mortality risks at low doses.

Method: 437,937 workers working from 1957 to 2004 at eight US shipyards were studied.

Proposed Priorities for Low-Dose Radiation Research and Their Relevance to the Practice of Radiology.

Because ionizing radiation is widely used in medical imaging and in military, industry, and commercial applications, programmatic management and advancement in knowledge is needed, especially related to the health effects of low-dose radiation. The U.S.

FLASH Effects Induced by Orthovoltage X-Rays.

Purpose: This work describes the first implementation and in vivo study of ultrahigh-dose-rate radiation (>37 Gy/s; FLASH) effects induced by kilovoltage (kV) x-ray from a rotating-anode x-ray source.

Methods And Materials: A high-capacity rotating-anode x-ray tube with an 80-kW generator was implemented for preclinical FLASH radiation research. A custom 3-dimensionally printed immobilization and positioning tool was developed for reproducible irradiation of a mouse hind limb.

Quality management, quality assurance, and quality control in medical physics.

The historic and ongoing evolution of the practice, technology, terminology, and implementation of programs related to quality in the medical radiological professions has given rise to the interchangeable use of the terms Quality Management (QM), Quality Assurance (QA), and Quality Control (QC) in the vernacular. This White Paper aims to provide clarification of QM, QA, and QC in medical physics context and guidance on how to use these terms appropriately in American College of Radiology (ACR) Practice Parameters and Technical Standards, generalizable to other guidance initiatives. The clarification of these nuanced terms in the radiology, radiation oncology, and nuclear medicine environments will not only boost the comprehensibility and usability of the Medical Physics Technical Standards and Practice Parameters, but also provide clarity and a foundation for ACR's clinical, physician-led Practice Parameters, which also use these important terms for monitoring equipment performance for safety and quality.

Low-Dose Radiation Risks of Lymphohematopoietic Cancer Mortality in U.S. Shipyard Workers.

The linear, non-threshold (LNT) hypothesis of cancer induction derived from studies of populations exposed to moderate-to-high acute radiation doses may not be indicative of cancer risks associated with lifetime radiation exposures less than 100 mSv. The objective of this study was to examine risks and dose-response patterns of lymphohematopoietic cancer (LHC) and its types associated with low radiation exposure while adjusting for possible confounding factors. A retrospective cohort of 437,937 U.

Patient Exposure from Radiologic and Nuclear Medicine Procedures in the United States and Worldwide: 2009-2018.

The U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) conducted a retrospective assessment of the U.

Updated Standardized Mortality Ratio Evaluation of Disease Risks of Shipyard Workers Exposed to Low Dose Ionizing Radiation.

Objective: To examine the risk of diseases among industrial workers with low and fractionated radiation exposures.

Method: The 372,047 US male shipyard radiation and non-radiation workers were followed for 54 years and compared with US men using standardized mortality ratio (SMR) method.

Results: SMRs for both radiation and non-radiation workers had lower risks of death from all causes (0.

Ultra-High-Resolution Coronary CT Angiography for Assessment of Patients with Severe Coronary Artery Calcification: Initial Experience.

Purpose: Conventional CT technology yields only modest accuracy of coronary artery stenosis assessment in severely calcified lesions. Reported herein are this study's initial observations on the potential of ultra-high-resolution CT (UHR-CT) for evaluating severely calcified coronary arterial lesions.

Materials And Methods: Fifteen patients 45 years of age or older, with history of coronary artery disease, referred for invasive coronary angiography, were prospectively enrolled.

An Analysis of Computed Tomography-Related Radiation Exposure in Pediatric Trauma Patients.

Objective: To compare radiation doses used for pediatric computed tomography (CT) scans at community-based referring facilities (RF) to those at a designated pediatric trauma center (PTC) to assess the consistency of radiation exposure.

Methods: In this retrospective study, patients 0 to 18 years of age with CT imaging performed either at a RF or at a PTC from January 1, 2015, to January 5, 2016, were identified. Data about patients, CT radiation dose, and characteristics of the RFs were compared.

Temporal Trends and Interest in Coronary Artery Calcium Scoring Over Time: An Infodemiology Study.

Objective: To evaluate interest in coronary artery calcium (CAC) among the general public during the past 17 years and to compare trends with real-world data on number of CAC procedures performed.

Methods: We used Google Trends, a publicly available database, to access search query data in a systematic and quantitative fashion to search for CAC-related key terms. Search terms included , , , , and .

Theory, method, and test tools for determination of 3D MTF characteristics in cone-beam CT.

Purpose: The modulation transfer function (MTF) is widely used as an objective metric of spatial resolution of medical imaging systems. Despite advances in capability for three-dimensional (3D) isotropic spatial resolution in computed tomography (CT) and cone-beam CT (CBCT), MTF evaluation for such systems is typically reported only in the axial plane, and practical methodology for assessment of fully 3D spatial resolution characteristics is lacking. This work reviews fundamental theoretical relationships of two-dimensional (2D) and 3D spread functions and reports practical methods and test tools for analysis of 3D MTF in CBCT.