VIENNA (Reuters), Apr 30 - A scheme to track the amount of radiation patients are exposed to from scans is urgently needed to help guard them against the risk of cancer, the United Nations nuclear body said on Wednesday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said that although technical advances in medical scans had improved diagnoses, overuse could expose patients to excessive radiation.
The IAEA is working on a smart card which would record radiation levels in patients in developed countries and which it hopes could be launched in the next three to five years as more medical records are digitized. This would help doctors weigh up whether scanning procedures were medically advisable.
"Some of (the patients) are reaching a level where the effects of radiation are well known from the data which we have from Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors," radiation safety specialist Madan Rehani told journalists, referring to the U.S. nuclear bombing of Japan at the end of World War II.
While individual x-rays, mammograms, and scans present relatively low levels of exposure, if the procedures are repeated many times, the radiation levels become a cause for concern, he said.
"If we do not take action now, we are going to be blamed and asked why we did not. With the very fast pace at which things are increasing and with the doses of the patients getting to a level that is arguably alarming, some action needs to be taken."
Experts have been reviewing the issue at a conference at the Vienna-based IAEA this week. Some 4 billion radiological scans are carried out worldwide every year, representing a 17% rise in the dose given to the population in the past decade. The IAEA said there was concern about computed tomography (CT) scans because they deliver especially high doses of radiation. One CT scan has around the same radiation dose as 500 x-rays.
But such procedures can save lives and the experts said the smart card scheme was not supposed to discourage doctors and patients from using scans if medically justified.
"If the examination is necessary and healthcare demands repeated examinations then there is never too much radiation. Medical imaging was one of the greatest advances in medicine (of) all time," radiation expert Donald Frush said.
He said the radiation tracker would help inform medical decisions, helping to highlight an issue instead of ignoring it.
By Sylvia Westall
Last Updated: 2009-04-29 15:29:14 -0400 (Reuters Health)
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![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnieeurope.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=crop&h=100&q=70&w=100)
![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnieeurope.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
