(NAPSA)—There’s good newsfor parents—the latest medical imaging technology helps keep children safer by reducingtheirrisk of excessive radiation exposure during important diagnostic tests. Advances in medical imaging technology, such as computed tomography (CT), have dramatically improved doctors’ ability to diagnose manylife-threatening diseases—such as cancer, heart disease and abnormalities. The potentially life-saving advantages, however, have to be weighed against the knownrisks of radiation exposure during diagnostic imagingtests. The medical community and patients have expressed a concern about this risk—especially to children—and medical imaging vendors such as Toshiba America Medical Systems are always actively seeking ways to reduce this risk. Traditional X-ray can use auto- matic exposure controls to ensure patients receive only the appropriate dose required to obtain the image. However, it is still possible for children to receive more radiation than necessary, because protocols, or imaging techniques that are based on a patient’s size, are not adjusted to change techniquesettings for pediatric patients. This meanschildren, given their smaller body size and structure, can get more radiation than needed to obtain a quality image for physician reading and diagnosis. Because these issues are so critical to patient care in terms of New technology reducesthe risk of overexposure to radiation dur- ing CT exams. safety and diagnostic accuracy, new technology has been developed to ensure the appropriate radiation dose is used during CT examinations. With efficient technology and a design that facilitates the control of radiation exposure, Toshiba’s Aquilion 16 CT scanners offer patients state-of-the-art technology while ensuringsafety. The Aquilion 16 features an efficient X-ray absorbing material and automatically selects protocols based on a patient’s age. This enables operators to minimize radiation exposure according to patients’ date-of-birth. In addi- tion, the Aquilion 16 utilizes realtime exposure control to automati- cally select the optimum dose for each patient. For more information, visit www.medical.toshiba.com.
