Environmental Impacts of Abdominal Imaging: A Pilot Investigation
| Autor: | Geoffrey M. Lewis, Gregory A. Keoleian, Marisa F. Martin, Katherine E. Maturen, Ariana Mohnke, N. Reed Dunnick |
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| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
Energy-Generating Resources
medicine.medical_specialty Pollutant emissions Pilot Projects Context (language use) 030204 cardiovascular system & hematology 030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging Imaging modalities Greenhouse Gases 03 medical and health sciences Human health 0302 clinical medicine Abdomen Humans Medicine Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging Medical physics Ultrasonography Patient factors Air Pollutants medicine.diagnostic_test business.industry Ultrasound Magnetic resonance imaging Carbon Dioxide Magnetic Resonance Imaging Patient preference Tomography X-Ray Computed business Software Environmental Monitoring |
| Zdroj: | Journal of the American College of Radiology. 15:1385-1393 |
| ISSN: | 1546-1440 |
| Popis: | Purpose Clinical decision making regarding the use of imaging is appropriately centered on diagnostic efficacy and individual patient factors. However, health policy and imaging guidelines may incorporate other inputs, such as cost-effectiveness and patient preference. In the context of climate change and resource scarcity, the environmental impacts of imaging modalities including ultrasound, CT, and MRI will also become relevant. The purpose of this study was to estimate the environmental impacts of various abdominal imaging examinations. Methods Using commercially available software (SimaPro) and data from user manuals and field experts, a streamlined life cycle assessment was performed to estimate multifactorial environmental impacts of the production and use of ultrasound, CT, and MRI per abdominal imaging examination. Results Ultrasound consumed less energy in both production and use phases (7.8 and 10.3 MJ/examination, respectively) than CT (58.9 and 41.1 MJ/examination) or MRI (93.2 and 216 MJ/examination). Ultrasound emitted fewer CO2 equivalents in production and use phases (0.5 and 0.65 kg/examination) than CT (4.0 and 2.61 kg/examination) or MRI (6.0 and 13.72 kg/examination). Potential human health effects from pollutant emissions were found to be smallest with ultrasound in both production and use phases. Conclusions Among the three imaging modalities, ultrasound was found to have the least environmental impact, by one or more orders of magnitude in various domains. This analysis provides an initial framework for comparing environmental impacts across imaging modalities, which may provide useful inputs for cost-effectiveness analyses and policymaking. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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