Radiology trade group members back dosage safeguards

The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance, a trade and lobby group representing radiology equipment manufacturers, said its membership has adopted an industrywide commitment to add new radiation-dose safeguards to CT machinery.

The initiative calls for manufacturers to install a dose-check feature onto CT machines, which will alert operators when a screening or diagnostic procedure would exceed the established reference-dose level. Individual hospitals and imaging centers would set the level at which the warning would appear for specific procedures. Imaging manufacturers will work with professional groups, regulatory bodies and clinicians to develop the new safeguard and establish reference-dose levels, MITA officials said in a news release.

MITA also said its manufacturers have committed to developing an additional safeguard feature that allows hospitals and imaging centers to set maximum dose levels that prevent CT machines from delivering dangerously high levels of radiation.

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