Pediatric imaging deals with learning and understanding how to deal with children and suggesting the right methods for their imaging processes. One of the most significant challenges faced during the process is minimizing the radiation dosage while maintaining the image quality and the quality of diagnosis. The body type and anatomy of children and infants differ when compared to that of adults. They have many muscle tissues and bones till growing; hence, they are more sensitive to radiation.
Over the last few years, many steps have been undertaken by the government and medical professionals to educate radiologists, radiographers, and physicians on adjusting the amount of radiation during imaging to which the children are exposed. In addition, they have created campaigns to educate them about child-specific imaging related to digital radiography practices.
Challenges faced
Here is a list of the challenges faced during pediatric imaging:
The environment
Acquiring the trust and coordination of a child or an infant is one of the most challenging phases of imaging. In addition, children are irritable and often cry when they are exposed to unfamiliar environments. Therefore, imaging and other units used for children and infants should be kid-friendly, with colorfully painted walls, children’s books, dolls, and others that can distract them and keep them secured to the equipment to prevent this from happening. However, sometimes, sedation becomes necessary for more extended studies like MRI.
Equipment and protocols
There ought to be dedicated equipment for pediatric imaging with different CT technologies that follow greater compliance and protocol, significantly reducing the dosage of anesthesia or the duration of radiation exposure. In addition, different types of equipment need to be installed in the imaging environments which are child friendly for premature infants to adolescents.
The lack of standardized procedures can also potentially threaten a child’s health; hence, various standardized protocols should be implemented and should adhere to general hospital guidelines.
Training
In reality, the percentage of experts in the field of pediatric radiology is low when compared to those in the adult sector. Hence, only trained professionals should be allowed inside the pediatric imaging wards. This also includes hiring only trained professionals with ample experience handling pediatric cases. Furthermore, since the anatomy of adults and children are unique, it must be taken into consideration from the patient’s first visit until their follow-up during recovery.
Radiation protection
Protecting children and infants from radiation is paramount since it induces more significant risks of inducing cancer in infants. Furthermore, since children also have a longer life expectancy, they are greatly affected by even a slight increase in their radiation dosage. Hence, many hospitals prefer the use of MRI tests over CT scans for cross-sectional imaging. In addition to this, imaging and radiography should be performed on infants and adults only if they are truly necessary after ruling out another possible diagnosis. Thanks to Stencilgiant.com for helping us keep this site going