Dear Pediatric Imaging Insider,
Like many journalists, when I first started reporting about the Image Gently campaign, it took me awhile to realize that CT dose reduction protocols for children differ depending upon the type of CT scanner used, and that this is OK. So it was interesting to learn the results of a survey of pediatric hospitals regarding the dose of various radiopharmaceuticals used in imaging kids.
Dr. Ted Treves, chief of nuclear medicine at Children's Hospital Boston, presented the results of the Society for Pediatric Radiology's (SPR) dose working group at the recent SPR meeting. Click here to read what the survey revealed in this edition's Insider Exclusive from contributing writer Marty Graham.
Several presentations at the SPR meeting also focused on CT dose reduction initiatives, including an address by SPR President Dr. M. Ines Boechat. Find out why and how radiologists should take the lead with their clinical colleagues to reduce CT dose exposure and unnecessary CT exams with children.
Pediatric radiation dose can also be reduced for SPECT renal exams through a relatively new data reconstruction technique called ordered subset expectation maximization with 3D resolution recovery (OSEM-3D). Although this wasn't one of the SPR presentations, if you overlooked staff writer Wayne Forrest's article about this new technique, click here.
Reducing radiation dose is all about keeping children safe. How does a hospital with a good safety record improve even more? With a lot of hard work. If you didn't attend this SPR meeting session, you'll want to learn how Cincinnati Children's Hospital dramatically extended the days between serious safety events from one every 200 days to one every 800+ days, in another article by Marty Graham.
For even more news in your Pediatric Imaging Digital Community, be sure to scroll through the links below.
