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Literature Review.
One of the basic tenets of medical imaging has always been to provide for the protection of the patient and staff from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation. Indeed, methods to protect researchers in early radiology were developed almost concurrently with the imaging devices themselves. In modern practice, according to the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) Code of Ethics, practitioners have an obligation to "minimize radiation exposure to the patient, to themselves, and to other members of the healthcare team." (Code of Ethics) That obligation, in conjunction with full knowledge that, "there is no clinical evidence as to the minimal dose required to enact some cellular change," brought about the advent of the As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) protocol and, more recently, the Imaging Gently campaign. (Harris, 2000) These concepts fully embrace the knowledge that ionizing radiation, while useful and beneficial when used properly, has the potential to be extremely harmful when treated without due caution. .
The ALARA protocol stands as an ethical obligation to practitioners to observe due diligence across all medical imaging domains. The Imaging Gently campaign specifically addresses the use of safe medical imaging in pediatrics. "Children are particularly susceptible to certain forms of radiation induced cancer, particularly leukemia." (Lowe et al, 1999) Children, and especially infants, have the highest risk of developing radiation induced malignancy due to the rapid reproduction of cells relative to their longer life expectancy. Indeed, "children are roughly an order of magnitude more sensitive to radiation than middle-aged adults." (Willis and Slovis, 2005) In 2008, with these thoughts in mind, the Society of Pediatric Radiology (SPR), the American College of Radiology (ACR), and the ASRT cooperatively created the Imaging Gently campaign to introduce practitioners to methods and ideas revolving around reducing dose to the youngest and most at-risk patients.
