James A. Brink, MD E. Stephen Amis, Jr, MD
While the benefits of medical im¬aging are well known, increas-ing concerns about the radiation dose associated with computed tomogra-phy (CT), nuclear medicine procedures, fluoroscopy, and radiography have cap¬tured the attention of imaging profession¬als, referring practitioners, patients, the public, and the news media. Radiologists, who during the past century, have con-sidered themselves the champions of the safe and effective use of radiation in med-ical imaging, have responded by recogniz¬ing the need for a broader dissemination of these concepts to both the profession and the public and for the incorporation of dose optimization into all imaging prac-tices. In June 2009, the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) es¬tablished the Joint Task Force on Adult Radiation Protection to address how this could best be accomplished.