Final Report: Medical Imaging Issues in a Nutshell

Medical Imaging, like biotechnology in general, has seen dramatic change in the past century. Considering the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging for medical purposes was only adopted 37 years ago, it is astonishing that we can now use this technology to perform complicated procedures like brain surgery in real time. Modern technology has indeed made possible many treatments that were previously in the realm of science fiction. This exponential increase in innovation has increased our life expectancy and allowed us to shift our focus from simply treating symptoms to preventing disease. However these advances do not come without consequences; widespread use of imaging technology has exposed the population to much higher levels of radiation and has drastically increased health care costs. Moving forward, it is important for the medical community to understand these risks as well as the implications of medical imaging on modern health care.

What comes to many people’s minds when they consider any form of medical imaging is radiation. The recent research on heart attack patients even suggests that they receive 725 times more radiation from various chest scans than from a single x-ray. Furthermore, patients could be forced to undergo more than one chest scan. In our post on detecting artery blockage, it was discovered that patients sometimes are given CT angiography scans when they are at no risk of a heart attack. Stories like these make news in the common press and media very frequently, and act to sway public opinion against the use of certain biomedical imaging procedures in certain situations.

As we mentioned earlier in the semester, one must remember that a biomedical scan is a medical procedure; like any other procedure there are benefits and associated risks. We have clearly shown on this blog that there are many benefits to using imaging. It is hard to argue against a medical procedure that reduces detection time for heart attacks and that saves hospitals money, yet for some reason the lay press seems to be obsessed with worrying about radiation levels which have not necessarily been proven particularly harmful. Even when we discover that new CT imaging can reveal a man that was thought to be brain-dead for 23 years, portions of the public and press are still hesitant to give their approval.

When a medical procedure can be used to prevent a heart attack, wake someone from a coma, or reduce medical bills in an ER, we must be rational in our analysis. The rational argument would dictate that while there are health risks associated with radiation, these are vastly outweighed by the potential benefits of diagnostic screens and other medical imaging procedures.

In all, the advancements made in imaging have vastly improved the practice of medicine. Screenings have made diagnoses easier to make as well as more accurate. Lifesaving scans, such as mammograms, have reduced a good portion of the deaths that would have been diagnosed too late without the technology. We can now also determine if a person is in a vegetative state or if there is a life trapped in a paralyzed body. One third of all diagnoses based on screenings have altered the treatments. It allows doctors in the ER to distinguish the chest pain of heartburn from the chest pain of a heart attack. Not only have we improved the health of people now, but medical imaging will potentially improve community health in the future. A brain surgery, for example, is now possible through entirely through technology, eliminating human error from the equation. In the future, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder may be made easily treatable thanks to the ability of new imaging technologies. Medical imaging has brought medicine to a new level, enhancing the lives of many patients and the success rates of doctors.

Although the authors of this blog have come to the conclusion that the net benefits and revolutionary breakthroughs in medicine that are a result of the discovery, development, and use of various types of medical imaging, it is still appropriate to frame these biotechnological advancements in the context of health care policy. One of the key issues currently being grappled with on Capitol Hill, in hospitals and doctors offices, and with American citizens struggling to pay for medical procedures is the increasing costs of health care. It is fair to say that medical imaging has helped propagate this rapid increase in costs, as more and more diagnostic screens are being used. As mentioned in one of our earlier posts, the federal government is strongly considering cutting Medicare payments to physicians who use medical imaging by nearly 40% to control costs. Although this seems like a reasonable attempt to control costs, might it discourage the use of such imaging technologies? How can we be sure if medical imaging is being overused; would we rather have the government eat the costs if we can be more certain that doctors are taking every screen and treatment possibility seriously? As you can see by now, these are not questions with simple or convenient answers.

Throughout the life of this blog, we have made a thorough attempt at taking you through various current issues in this exciting subfield of biotechnology from looking at some of the interesting and beneficial uses of imaging, the controversies surrounding it, and its implications on today’s health care reform debate. We hope you enjoyed reading about biotechnology and medical imaging as much as we enjoyed learning about it throughout our research process!

-Sanjay, Jeremy, Hao, and Emily