Science and perception of radiation risk.

The risks, real and supposed, of the use of radiation in medical practice as perceived by patients, their families, and the general public have a substantial impact on medical practice. Attempts to quantify low-level radiation effects involve much conjecture and supposition. This causes considerable uncertainty in results. Conflicting perceptions follow from this. Radiation exposure limits have been established, and changes in these limits have been made on the basis of the best available judgment at the time. Dose limitations have been lowered over the years. The perceived risk that the public will accept for a given benefit, in part, determines what is permissible. The radiologist must be well informed about radiation effects and must effectively communicate this risk information so that the public will be well informed.

AAPM tutorial. Mammography as a radiographic system.

The author introduces the 15th Annual Symposium on Basic Physics. In the first of this series of tutorials on the physics of mammography, the basic radiologic physics principles applied in radiographic imaging equipment are discussed in terms of a mammographic system. The analysis is intended to assist in the understanding of mammography in particular and radiography in general. Mammographic systems differ from those of general radiography in several important details because of the differing clinical demands.

The effect of ionizing radiation on advanced life support medications.

Advanced life support medications stored in emergency department stretcher areas, diagnostic radiology rooms, and radiotherapy suites are exposed to ionizing radiation. We hypothesized that radiation may decrease the potency and thus the shelf life of medications stored in these areas. Atropine, dopamine, epinephrine, and isoproterenol were exposed to a wide range of ionizing radiation. The potency of the four drugs was unaffected by levels of radiation found in ED stretcher areas and high-volume diagnostic radiograph rooms (eg, chest radiograph, computed tomography, fluoroscopy). The potency of atropine may be reduced by gamma radiation in high-use radiotherapy suites. However, dopamine, epinephrine, and isoproterenol were unaffected by high doses of gamma radiation. Atropine, dopamine, epinephrine, and isoproterenol may be safely kept in ED stretcher areas and diagnostic radiology rooms without loss of potency over the shelf life of the drugs.

Breast radiography: phantom, equipment performance, and radiation dosage comparisons for twenty-eight major mammography centers in the midwest. Work in progress.

This preliminary report discusses mammography tests that were conducted at 28 midwest medical centers. Equipment-parameter measurements were made, and images that were obtained with the Stanton Mark IIR Mammography Phantom were studied to compare image quality. These tests indicate that variations in equipment parameters and techniques can result in differences in the imaging of various sized phantom fibril and speck groups.