Champions to the cause

Dr. Marilyn Goske, Silverman Chair for Radiology Education at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and Chair of the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging is one physician who has been instrumental in the Image Gently Campaign. "The message of the Image Gently campaign is simple - Reduce or "child size" the amount of radiation used when obtaining a CT scan in children," says Dr. Goske. "CT scans represent amazing technology - a lifesaving modality for children and adults." The campaign is targeted to radiologists who perform relatively few CT examinations of pediatrics patients in their hospital or outpatient practice but who, in aggregate, perform many pediatric CT examinations throughout the United States. Dr. Goske says, "We know radiologists and radiology technologists want to do the best for their pediatric patients but may be hampered by a lack of familiarity with pediatric protocols." "The Image Gently campaign provides those radiologists and technologists who work in predominantly "adult" hospital settings with the practical tools to decrease radiation on one web site (imagegently.org)."


The Image Gently campaign is born from the efforts of the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging, a 33-member organization consisting of leading medical societies, agencies and regulatory groups that have joined forces to impact patient care and change practice through an educational awareness campaign. It was launched 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.

The campaign represents over 400,000 health care professionals promoting appropriate and high-quality CT scans for children. Since its launch in January the web site has had over 68,000 visits and thousands have downloaded the protocols available to aid physicians and facilities helping them to adjust their techniques to "image gently." "We know that healthcare providers want to do the right thing," says Goske. "Some, however, primarily offer imaging for adults. We hope to give them straightforward information and resources so they know what they need to do to take care of children in the best way possible."

Dr. Donald P. Frush, Chief of Pediatric Radiology at Duke and Chair of the ACR Pediatric Commission and a leader in the Image Gently campaign, emphasizes that the campaign is meant to be a cooperative effort with a positive tone to give people helpful information about how to do things better. The Image Gently campaign will initially focus on CT, but future phases are planned to include other ionizing radiation imaging modalities such as interventional radiology and CR/DR. The long-term goal is to establish kid-size radiation doses as the standard care in the U.S.

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