As medical imaging exams have replaced more invasive procedures, benefiting patients and revolutionizing medicine, Americans' exposure to medical radiation has increased, raising concerns among imaging providers. Particularly, children are more sensitive to radiation received from imaging scans than adults, and cumulative radiation exposure to their smaller, developing bodies could, over time, have adverse effects.

Therefore, providers who perform imaging exams on children are urged to:

* Significantly reduce, or "child-size," the amount of radiation used

* Not over-scan:
- Scan only when necessary
- Scan only the indicated region
- Scan once; multi phase scanning (pre-and post contrast, delayed exams) is rarely helpful
* Be a team player:

- Involve medical physicists to monitor pediatric CT techniques
- Involve technologists to optimize scanning

These are the central messages of the "Image Gently™" campaign (www.imagegently.org) launched today by the Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR), the American College of Radiology (ACR), the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT), and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), founding members of the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging.

"Children are not just 'smaller adults.' Their bodies are different and require a different approach to imaging," said Marilyn Goske, M.D., chair of the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging, board chair of the SPR, and Silverman Chair for Radiology Education, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. "Ultimately, we hope to change the way all children are imaged in the United States, using kid-size, not adult-sized radiation doses. It's an ambitious goal, but one that we feel must be achieved."

The Image Gently campaign will initially focus on computed tomography (CT) scans. There were approximately 4 million pediatric CT scans performed in 2006. In fact, the number of pediatric CT scans performed in the United States has tripled in the last five years as rapidly evolving CT technology replaces more invasive and often more costly techniques. The Image Gently campaign is an effort to help ensure that medical protocols for the imaging of children keep pace with advancing technology.

"As the stewards of nearly 100 years of radiology safety knowledge, radiologists are committed to ensuring that patients receive safe, necessary imaging care," said Arl Van Moore Jr., M.D., FACR, chair of the ACR Board of Chancellors. "The Image Gently campaign is an important opportunity for radiologists to help referring physicians and medical imaging professionals understand which exams may be most appropriate for children and how these exams may be carried out in a safe, effective manner."

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