In a study sponsored by the North Texas Veterans Healthcare System, researchers found that medical workers significantly reduced their radiation exposure while administering cardiac catheterizations, a type of procedure that often involves X-rays or fluoroscopy, when a real-time radiation monitoring device with auditory feedback was used. Of the 505 patients
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Ensuring the Safety and Accuracy of Radiation Medicine
In its December bulletin focused on radiation medicine and technology, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) emphasized the importance of medical physicists in modern medicine. As radiation is sometimes necessary in order to perform a diagnosis or treatment for such ailments as cancer and heart disease, experts in applying physics
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The Systemic Problem of Overimaging
In a national survey published in Academic Emergency Medicine, 97% of the 435 emergency physicians (EPs) that responded acknowledged sometimes ordering advanced diagnostic imaging procedures, i.e. computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), they considered superfluous. The authors of the study state that overimaging “may be a systemic problem, as many
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Electronic vs. Passive Dosimetry
Health physicist Neill Stanford of Stanford Dosimetry released a presentation examining the differences between electronic and passive dosimetry. Passive dosimeters such as film badge dosimeters and thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) are typically used as the primary dosimeter to record the dose of legal record. With no immediate readouts or alarms, passive dosimeters
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Combined PET-MR: A Technology Becomes Mature
Researchers examine the use of combined PET/MR in their study published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine run by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI). With breakthroughs in finding new detectors to replace photomultiplier tubes (PMT) in traditional PET, such as avalanche photodiodes (APD), Geiger-mode APDs (AKA
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Genetic Loci Influence Cancer Risk from Low-Dose Radiation
Scientific Reports published a new study from researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) examining the risk of mammary cancer in mice from low-dose radiation, which the researchers defined as 100 millisieverts (mSv). For most mice, low-dose radiation had no effect on their risk of cancer. Some even
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The Lasting Effects of Radiation
It is interesting: without radiation, there would not be life on earth. With too much, like water or salt, the balance of life and death is precariously close. Four years after Fukushima1 was hit with a huge earthquake and resulting tsunami that caused a nuclear meltdown at the local power plant, the public
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PET-MR More Effectively Diagnoses Cause of Foot Pain than PET-CT
A new study shows that imaging with PET/MR provides better diagnostic information than with PET/CT, reports EurekAlert!, the science news service run by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Published in the March issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine from the Society of Nuclear Medicine and
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Seven Trends in Medical Radiation Detection
Market research company NanoMarkets identified seven emerging trends in medical radiation detection. According to NanoMarkets, two-thirds of the market for radiation detection equipment is comprised of the medical and healthcare sector. Although this sector has a lower growth rate than others in the market, its sheer size makes it the
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Comparison of Radiation Detectors
This chart offers a quick look at the differences in features of radiation detectors currently available. X-Z LAB uses YSO and SiPM in our products because of the clear advantages they carry over other detectors. Detector High Sensitivity High Energy Response Small Size Low Power Consumption Stable Performance Ionization Chamber
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