Image Gently™ Campaign Gains International Momentum

The Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging, founded 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), launched the Image Gently™ campaign in January 2008 to reduce radiation dose used in pediatric computed tomography (CT) exams.

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.

As such, the Alliance urges providers who perform imaging exams on children 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


The campaign has had a significant impact on medical practice and is growing exponentially as it attracts national and international attention and participation. The Alliance has:

• Grown to 29 organizations
•  Become “international” with the addition of the Canadian Association of Radiologists, the Sociedad Latino Americana de Radiologia Pediatrica and the Asian-Oceanic Society for Paediatric Radiology
  
• Been nominated for a National Quality Forum award
  
  
• Been honored by a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives
  
  
• Facilitated a recent CT vendor summit in Cincinnati
  
  
• Received funding for a parent information brochure