World Radiography Day – 8th November

8^th November has been chosen as World Radiography Day¹, the date when Wilhelm Roentgen discovered X-rays in 1895. The celebration is to recognise and pay tribute to the great work of radiographers around the world.

The theme for this year World Radiography Day is Cardiac Imaging, to highlight the important role of medical imaging professionals such as radiographers in the management of heart-related diseases including detecting, diagnosing, monitoring and treatment of the disease.

Cardiac Imaging focuses on the heart and upper part of the  stomach². The heart is one of the most important parts of the body: it is vital to have a healthy heart to support our life. When considering the best treatment for people suffering from heart disease, it is essential to find out what exactly is going wrong inside this part of the body.

Radiographers are part of the healthcare team who have significant responsibility in carrying out the scanning process using the right modalities⁴ to produce medical images which will be interpreted and used for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. They make a careful decision on what type of imaging modalities to use (CT, MRI, Ultrasound, X-Rays or a combination of these), what contrast media to apply etc. and all of these actions sometimes have to be carried out under time pressure.

                                                  

                               X-Rays scanning                   MRI scanning

Patients can often be scared seeing scanning equipment that they may not have seen before, and can be anxious about what news they are going to receive. Radiographers also have responsibilities to take care of patients as well as to ensure that the process is properly done and present correct images.

Their involvement can result in a very positive impact on the better management of heart diseases. Let’s thank all radiographers! for their part in helping us to attain better and healthier hearts.

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1. Society of Radiographers, 2018, https://www.sor.org/about-radiography/world-radiography-day (Accessed: 6 November 2018)
2. Oxford University Press, 2018, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/cardiac (Accessed: 6 November 2018)
3. Anatomy TV, 2018, https://www.city.ac.uk/library  (Accesses: 6 November 2018)
4. World Health Organization, 2018, http://www.who.int/diagnostic_imaging/imaging_modalities/en/  (Accessed: 6 November 2018)