Safety & Precaution for Radiography

While you are watching TV, microwaving a burrito, or sitting at your computer surfing the Internet, you are being bombarded by invisible rays of radiation. Relax; the amount of radiation that your body absorbs doing daily activities is very minimal. Radiography is a medical term to describe procedures that use radiation to help doctors diagnose patients. Common radiography techniques are X-rays and CT scans. While the radiation you absorb in these procedures is higher than normal, safety is a priority.

Safety Precautions in X-Rays

• An X-ray is a medical procedure whereby the patient is bombarded with X-rays and afterward a picture of the patient's insides can be examined by a doctor to help him make a diagnosis. The procedure is generally very safe. One way radiography technicians make this procedure safe is by reducing the dosage of radiation. In a year, a person will absorb about 3 millisieverts of radiation. Generally, the amount of radiation absorbed during an X-ray is the amount an average person would receive in 10 days.

  In addition to using a very small amount of radiation, the patient is typically given a lead vest to wear. This vest protects the patient from excess X-rays by, essentially, shielding or blocking the excess radiation waves from penetrating the body. By controlling the level of radiation and making it minimal and by providing the patient with a lead vest, X-ray radiography is a safe medical procedure in general.

CT Safety

• CT safety generally follows the same lines of thought as X-ray safety. In a CT scan, X-rays are combined with computer technology to provide cross-sectional images. These images tend to reveal more information than traditional X-rays. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has set forth a few guidelines for CT safety; the FDA acknowledges that these procedures are not new and many facilities implement them. For instance, the FDA suggests keeping the radiation dosage as low as possible; just as the X-ray technicians do. In addition, the FDA suggests reducing the current in the CT tube; doing so will reduce the radiation further. This procedure should only be used if necessary; that is, while the CT scan can reveal more information than a traditional X-ray, it should not be used if a traditional X-ray is all that is needed.