Radiation exposure explained on new site
What if you had been ill and your doctor ordered a scan. Then a year later, you received another type of scan.
Still, over a lifetime, you may receive any number of procedures that involve radiation. And while technology has improved over the years, your exposure to radiation could become cumulative.
Some medical groups recently wrote about concerns over radiation exposure, including the National Council of Radiation Protection and Measurements, American College of Radiology and the New England Journal of Medicine
These types of reports led American Imaging Management, a subsidiary of WellPoint Inc., last week to launch a Web site (www.americanimaging.net/safety).
The site helps calculate radiation exposure and explains results. It can be used by both patients and medical professionals.
"It's more about education than anything else," said American Imaging Management spokesman Paul Danao. The firm is based in Chicago with operations in Deerfield.
When you go to the site, the Ask Aimee feature shows a human body and the different types of areas that could be scanned. It has drop-down menus on computerized tomography (CT) scans and positron emission tomography (PET) scans. When you select a type of scan, it then tells you the MSV, or millisivert measurement of radiation dosage. Then it's compared to any number of x-rays and also sun exposure in the environment.
AIM will also be introducing an educational campaign with physicians to raise awareness of radiation issues related to imaging in order to promote more informed decision making between physicians and their patients across the country.
"The Web site is designed to give people and providers a better understanding of commonly ordered procedures," Danao said.
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