Empowering Safer Pediatric Imaging Through Collaboration: The Image Gently® Family-Friendly Campaign

Donald P. Frush, MD, FACR, Chair of the Image Gently Alliance and Professor of Radiology at Duke University Medical Center, contributed this piece.

Ensuring safe and effective pediatric imaging requires a collaborative, team-based approach. As medical imaging exams that depend on radiation, such as CT, are widely used, discussions about the benefits of these scans can be accompanied by questions, even concern, about potential risk from the radiation exposure. A resource that provides an evidence-based and team-centered approach to such communication can help result in better patient care, comfort and satisfaction.

That is why I am excited about the new Image Gently® Family-Friendly Campaign – which offers a free, interactive online module designed to educate medical students and early-career providers about informed, team-based radiation safety and dose optimization strategies to help ensure appropriate, optimally-performed pediatric imaging.

Developed by a team of family medicine and pediatric radiology physicians, radiologic technologists, medical physicists and educators, the Family-Friendly Campaign promotes continuous learning and collaboration. The module underscores the importance of interdisciplinary teamwork in pediatric imaging and encourages providers to adopt best practices in pediatric imaging, enhancing both clinical competence and patient trust.

By the end of the module, which simulates imaging decisions for a common pediatric case of acute abdominal pain, learners should be able to accurately:

• Explain radiation, radiation risks and risk mitigation strategies using layperson terminology.
• Use clinical decision support, or critically appraise available literature, to guide medical recommendations.
• Describe how to engage with healthcare teammates to utilize available evidence-based recommendations.
• Demonstrate shared decision-making with patients and their families.

A medical student recently shared an experience from interactive engagement on rounds based on the approach and content reflected in the module during a radiology rotation in her clinical year.

She was very happy that she was able to provide reassurance to the family whose child received a CT through a comfortable answering of questions and to bolster the healthcare team’s confidence in providing the examination.

The Image Gently Family-Friendly Campaign represents a significant step toward safer, patient-centered pediatric imaging. By equipping healthcare providers with essential skills in radiation safety, dose optimization and shared decision-making, the campaign helps ensure that pediatric patients receive the highest quality care with minimized risk.