Synonyms: medical imaging center or diagnostic radiology center
What is radiology?
It is the branch of medicine that deals with study and applications of imaging technology to diagnose and treat disease processes. The imaging technologies create images by using X-rays (radiographs, fluoroscopy, DSA, mammography, CT), sound waves (ultrasound), magnetism (MRI) or the radioactive substances (nuclear scan).
What is a radiology clinic?
It is a clinic equipped with machines used for medical imaging. It offers comprehensive diagnostic imaging services needed for patient care.
What are the services provided in a radiology clinic?
- General X-Ray
- Fluoroscopic imaging
- Angiography
- Ultrasound scan
- CT scan
- Bone density scan
- Mammography
- MRI
- Nuclear scans
- Fusion imaging
Who are you likely to meet in a radiology clinic?
- Radiology coordinator
- Radiology nurse
- Radiology technician
- Radiology assistant
- Radiologist
Do you need to book an appointment?
Yes, you should book an appointment to visit a radiology clinic. Taking prior appointment will avoid unnecessary waiting and delay. It will lessen your anxiety out of your illness.
In case you do not have an appointment and your matter is urgent, then ask your doctor to make arrangements to give you priority in the radiology clinic.
What do you need to bring with your appointment?
- Appointment letter or receipt
- Referral form by your doctor
- Any previous scans /reports
- Insurance documents
What precautions will you take while attending a radiology clinic?
Start early to reach at least 10-15 minutes to your appointment. You will get some time to relax, to record your details and verify the documents.
Avoid taking children with you when visiting a radiology clinic.
Inform the radiology staff if you are asthmatic or have a known allergy, diabetic or suffer from renal failure/ cardiac disease or have implants in your body. Women should inform if they are pregnant. It will avoid a test which can be harmful and choose a suitable one for your situation.
Carefully follow the pre-examination instructions provided to you in radiology clinic. Ask if you have any doubts.
What is background radiation?
We are exposed to radiation every day known as “background radiation”. This radiation comes from outer space -cosmic rays, decay of natural elements, and the radon gas that collects in buildings.
The dose of radiation received is expressed in units known as ‘millisievert (mSv). We receive an average radiation of 0.5-3mSv over a year.
What are the sources of radiation in a radiology clinic?
Equipments using x-rays (x-ray, CT scan, angiography etc.) and gamma rays (nuclear scan) are sources of radiation in a radiology clinic. MRI and ultrasound scan do not involve radiation.
How much radiation is received from radiological tests?
You will receive about 0.1mSv of radiation from a chest X-ray, equivalent to around 10 days of background radiation.
The radiation received from a CT of the abdomen is about 10mSv, approximately equivalent to 3 years of background radiation.
Radiation from a radiotherapy dose may exceed 20,000-50,000mSv.
What is the risk of radiation?
The amount of radiation used in routine medical imaging is small. The possible benefits outweigh the risks. Risk associated with radiation exposure is related to type and total number of tests performed over a long period of time.
The chances of dying from cancer due to a single chest X-ray is one in a million. This is negligible when compared to one in a million risk of dying from cancer due to smoking one cigarette or drinking half a bottle of wine.
What are the measures taken for radiation Safety?
The radiology clinic is supposed to ensure routine servicing and safety checks of the radiology equipments at regular intervals. Equipments should be continually reviewed for radiation leaks under Quality Control programs.
Doing tests that uses less or no radiation.
Making use of protective lead shields or lead aprons to cover body parts not included in examination.
Radiation may be harmful to the unborn child. Pregnant women or female patients, who are or possibly pregnant, should always inform their doctor or radiology staff before the examination.
A radiologist justifies radiological procedures involving radiation.
Try to keep records of your radiological tests involving radiation. You have the right to discuss about your concern regarding the radiation, with your doctor, radiology staff or radiologist.