CT Radiation Dose Report Released by AAPM

College Park, MD (January 27, 2008) -- Aiming to promote the best medical imaging practices nationwide and help ensure the health and safety of the millions of people who undergo computed tomography (CT) scans each year in the United States, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) has issued a CT radiation dose management report this month recommending standardized ways of reporting doses and educating users on the latest dose reduction technology.

AAPM is the premiere professional association of medical physicists and includes both scientists and board-certified health professionals who care for patients.

Targeted at radiologists, medical physicists, and other medical professionals, the report outlines the best ways to measure, manage, and prescribe radiation dosages. It also gives an overview of ways that doctors can optimize modern CT scanners to get the most bang for the buck -- reducing to a bare minimum the amount of radiation to which patients are exposed while still allowing them to benefit from the technique's life-saving ability to image inside the human body.

AAPM