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| | You will probably want to read the [[Help:Contents|help pages]]. | | You will probably want to read the [[Help:Contents|help pages]]. |
| | Again, welcome and have fun! [[User:Ndgoldstein|Ndgoldstein]] ([[User talk:Ndgoldstein|talk]]) 07:02, 15 May 2014 (PDT) | | Again, welcome and have fun! [[User:Ndgoldstein|Ndgoldstein]] ([[User talk:Ndgoldstein|talk]]) 07:02, 15 May 2014 (PDT) |
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| − | == Informatics Tools for Radiation Dose Estimation ==
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| − | ==INTRODUCTION==
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| − | The proliferation of medial imaging over the past several decades has sparked increased interest from health care providers and the general public regarding patient radiation exposure and the associated long term radiation-related health risks. The most feared long-term complication of medial radiation exposure is the development of radiation-induced cancer. Ionizing radiation can damage DNA or produce free radicals that result in DNA injury. Cancer can result when injury to the genome is not adequately repaired by the bodies natural DNA repair mechanisms. The development of cancer related to radiation typically occurs one-two decades following exposure. The main culprits in medical imaging resulting in the greatest amount of patient radiation exposure include computed tomography (CT) scans and examinations utilizing radioactive isotopes (nuclear medicine).
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| − | ==Radiation Dose==
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| − | Radiation dose can be expressed using numerous metrics. In medical imaging, doses are most commonly expressed in millisieverts (mSv). This unit of measurement takes into account not only the amount of radiation delivered but the relative biological effect of the subtype of radiation. Available population data regarding radiation exposure and the associated risk of developing cancer demonstrates a clear causative relationship at exposure levels above 100 mSv. More specifically, the literature has shown about 5% excess risk of death from cancer with a dose of 1000 mSv. The risk of radiation-induced cancer is controversial at levels between 10 mSv and 100 mSv and even more questionable at exposure levels below 10 mSv. Regardless, experts believe that the risk of radiation-induced cancer follows a stochastic model, meaning that it can occur at any level and increases in likelihood with increasing dose. As mentioned above, CT examinations (exposure ranging from 2.0 to 10.0 mSv) and nuclear medicine studies (exposure ranging from 2.0 to 12 mSv) currently contribute the most to patient radiation exposure. As a reference, a single chest radiograph (x-ray) has a radiation dose of 0.1 mSv and the yearly background radiation dose an individual receieves from the environment is approximately 3 mSv.
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| − | ==Informatics Tools==
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| − | ==Recommendations==
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| − | In general, the benefit of performing a radiological examination with ionizing radiation outweighs the associated risks. This principle has recently been questioned in the light of potential overuse of medial imaging in patient care. Informatics tools can aid the clinician in making wise imaging choices that maximize the available information which minimizing the radiation dose received by the patient.
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| − | ==References==
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Latest revision as of 12:30, 9 June 2014
Welcome to Clinfowiki!
We hope you will contribute much and well.
You will probably want to read the help pages.
Again, welcome and have fun! Ndgoldstein (talk) 07:02, 15 May 2014 (PDT)
