Physician, Regulate Yourself

If the tests, such as CT scans and M.R.I.s, do not meet certain “appropriate-use criteria,” Medicare may not reimburse the cost. Intended to reduce unnecessary imaging, the policy may penalize doctors who don’t comply by requiring them to get “prior authorization” before ordering imaging tests in the future — in other words, to follow another regulation.

 We trained an algorithm to detect cancer in just two hours

Doctors across the world are beginning to rely on artificial intelligence algorithms to help accelerate diagnostics and treatment plans, with the goal of making more time to see more patients, with greater precision. We all can understand—at least conceptually—what it takes to be a doctor: years of medical school lectures attended, stacks of textbooks and journals read, countless hours of on-the-job residencies. But the way AI has learned the medical arts is less intuitive.

What Your Doctors Don’t Know Can Hurt You

Is your physician increasing your risk for cancer?

CT Scan May Be Too Good at Finding Lung Problems, Study Finds

Until the introduction of CT angiography in 1998, the primary test for pulmonary embolism was ventilation/perfusion scanning, in which inhaled or injected radioisotopes are used to create an image of air and blood flow in the lungs. The small amount of radiation involved little risk for most people. But when CT angiography was introduced, doctors enthusiastically adopted it. It is now widely used instead of ventilation/perfusion and often employed to find the causes of various other lung disorders.

CT Scans in Children: Benefit and Risks

Are CT scans dangerous? Yes! Should you not allow your child to have a CT scan? No!

Do Not Fear the Radiation In Medical Scans

There are a lot of things to be afraid of in this world. Getting a medical scan to see if you need help is not one of them.

How Much Do CT Scans Increase the Risk of Cancer?

Researchers reevaluate the safety of radiation used in medical imaging.

Imaging Centers: Useful or Harmful?

There needs to be more emphasis on emerging technology that limits radiation hazards, such as some of the newer laser CT techniques, as opposed to placing imaging centers on every corner. It's time for the newer screening techniques to be the norm.

Imaging Studies - Our Children are Glowing

Children have ten times the risk for CT Scan caused cancer compared to adults. Ultrasounds and MRIs, whenever appropriate, should be substituted especially in the younger population.

New Efforts Look to Cut Radiation From CT Scans

The health-care industry is trying to dial back the amount of radiation used for high-quality diagnostic images.

Should you worry about the radiation from CT scans?

Imaging has aided diagnosis and helped many patients avoid exploratory surgery, but it has also spawned concerns about misuse.

The Hidden Dangers of Medical Scans

Exactly how dangerous are all those zaps? In 2009, National Cancer Institute researchers estimated that the 72 million CT scans performed in 2007 could lead to as many as 29,000 future cases of cancer. And a couple of years ago, when the Institute of Medicine looked broadly at the environmental causes of breast cancer, it concluded that one factor that's strongly associated with risk of developing the disease is ionizing radiation.

CT Scans Causing Cancers: Researchers

Because they deliver much higher doses of radiation than traditional x-rays, CT scans are causing cancers that could be killing tens of thousands of people every year, according to researchers.