Reducing Radiation Exposure in Computed Tomography Angiography Dissertation

Reducing Radiation Exposure in Computed Tomography Angiography - Dissertation Example In the last twenty years, the diagnostic use of computed tomography scans has increased by a thousand percent. These scans do, obviously, make use of ionizing radiation to produce their images, which can be harmful to human health in even small dosages. Protecting the patient from harm is the cornerstone of the profession of radiology, and reducing radiation exposure while maintaining a high level of image quality and therefore diagnostic ability is vital. Key to this goal is understanding the use of computed tomography scans, the risks of their radiological effects, and the methods available to reduce exposure. Reducing exposure to radiation is the only way to make this important technology safer. The use of a computed tomography angiography scan allows the practitioner to view a patient's coronary arteries, their level of function, and even the quality of the arterial lumen. Computed tomography angiography scans are important to study when looking at radiation dosage because the scan area by definition includes such radiosensitive areas as the thyroid, the vascular tissue of the breasts, and of course the coronary arteries. Moving even further into imaging specialization for viewing the heart and related tissues is the technique of retrospective image acquisition, which produces images using 64-multi-row detector computed tomography angiography. This method scans the heart in overlapping slices, which allows it to show cardiac motion as well as all parts of the cardiac cycle.