“The [NIH] Clinical Center's approach is an important first step in making it possible to more easily document and track information about a patient's exposure to radiation,” Dr. John I. Gallin, director of the center, said in a statement.
The risks associated with exposure to low doses of radiation from medical imaging tests are unknown. The ability to track a person's radiation exposure will help researchers evaluate the health risks of these procedures. The center plans to work with its vendors to develop software tools to extract the type of examination, the date, and the radiation dose for uploading to an EHR.