Is the diagnostic radiological image an underutilised resource? Exploring the literature
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Cox, William
Cavenagh, Penelope
Bello, Fernando
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The number of diagnostic imaging examinations being undertaken in the UK is rising. Due to the expensive nature of producing these examinations, and the risks associated with exposing living tissue to the ionising radiation used by many of the imaging techniques, this growth comes with both a financial and a human cost.
In a time of limited resources, it is important that we are able to maximise the benefits which we extract from these resources. Therefore, a broad search of the current literature was undertaken to assess our current understanding of the nature of benefit available from diagnostic radiological images.
Two broad categories of benefit were identified: Primary benefit (n=470) and Secondary benefit (n=49). Primary benefits are those which are related to the justification for undertaking the imaging, e.g., abnormality detection, to assist in diagnosis or staging, or acting as an aid to clinical decision making, or intervention. Secondary benefits are those that are not related to the justification for imaging, e.g. to promote patient engagement and understanding or to facilitate communication.
Existing work considering Primary benefits is comprehensive. Secondary benefit, however is less well recognised and may not be reliably realised. Use of the image to realise these benefits has far reaching potential. Particularly, there may be underexplored benefits which access to the images may provide to patients. This represents a gap in existing research which should be addressed.
In a time of limited resources, it is important that we are able to maximise the benefits which we extract from these resources. Therefore, a broad search of the current literature was undertaken to assess our current understanding of the nature of benefit available from diagnostic radiological images.
Two broad categories of benefit were identified: Primary benefit (n=470) and Secondary benefit (n=49). Primary benefits are those which are related to the justification for undertaking the imaging, e.g., abnormality detection, to assist in diagnosis or staging, or acting as an aid to clinical decision making, or intervention. Secondary benefits are those that are not related to the justification for imaging, e.g. to promote patient engagement and understanding or to facilitate communication.
Existing work considering Primary benefits is comprehensive. Secondary benefit, however is less well recognised and may not be reliably realised. Use of the image to realise these benefits has far reaching potential. Particularly, there may be underexplored benefits which access to the images may provide to patients. This represents a gap in existing research which should be addressed.
Date Issued
2019-02-06
Date Acceptance
2018-10-30
Citation
Insights into Imaging, 2019, 10
ISSN
1869-4101
Publisher
Springer
Journal / Book Title
Insights into Imaging
Volume
10
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (E
Wellcome Trust
St Mary's Coronary Flow Trust
Imperial College Healthcare Charity
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Grant Number
EP/F059221/1
095330/Z/11/Z
CFT/15/4003
161715
RDOTH 79560
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Imaging
Diagnostic
Health benefits
Education
Patient
Communication
Behavior
CLINICAL DECISION-MAKING
DIFFUSION
MRI
CT
EXPERIENCES
ULTRASOUND
EDUCATION
ANATOMY
PICTURE
CANCER
Behavior
Communication
Diagnostic
Education
Health benefits
Imaging
Patient
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 13