Authors: Andra Morrison, Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) Artificial intelligence (AI) can help us in our everyday lives – from improving our email communications, to searching the web, even recommending products or music we might enjoy. In health care, AI is improving the way we detect illnesses or certain health conditions. But what about the use of AI in medical imaging? CADTH’s Health Technology Update newsletter highlights new and emerging health technologies. In Issue 22 [...]

Morgan is a radiological technologist working in an interventional radiology department. The attending radiologist gives an order for the administration of heparin, an anticoagulant. Is this activity within Morgan’s scope of practice? The ACMDTT has approval for members to perform some/all of the restricted activities, as identified in the Medical Diagnostic and Therapeutic Technologists Profession Regulation (the Regulation). Currently, only radiological technologists who hold a current and valid medication administration enhanced practice authorization on their practice permit may prepare and/or administer [...]

The Radiation Therapy Department at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre (TBCC), under the directorship of an experienced radiation oncologist/world-class breast researcher and his fourth-year resident, put forth to the Health Research Ethics Board Alberta-Cancer Care (HREBA-CC) Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation Using Five Daily Fractions: A Single Arm, Phase II, Prospective Cohort Study to Examine Cosmetic Outcomes and Toxicity (the ACCEL Trial) for review and approval. Prior to the submission of the protocol, an experienced clinical research radiation therapist, who [...]

We recently interviewed Wendy Read, who retired from practicing radiation therapy this year and served as our Council president from 2013-2015. Watch a short video on her thoughts on current trends in medical radiation technology on YouTube.

Authors: Carlos Barrios, MSc, HBSc, RDCS,CRCS, DMS, and Michael Giuffre,BSc, MD Coarctation of the aorta accounts for 5–7% of all the cases of congenital heart disease, with an estimated incidence of approximately 3 cases per 10,000 births. Coarctation of the aorta typically presents in the neonatal or early childhood period. The less severe coarctation patients may have subtle clinical findings such as elevated upper limb blood pressure, diminished femoral pulses, and a systolic ejection murmur that often transmits to [...]

The protection of the public is of paramount importance to the College. The College emphasizes that the vast majority of its members treat their patients with respect and professionalism; however, the College will work with the public to recognize and address concerns around the power imbalance between health professionals and patients. The College has created a learning module to address these concerns, accessible to all members through the My CCP portal and to everyone on the College website. This learning module assists [...]

Tom, an MR technologist, has been asked by his employer to protocol exams for the MRI department. Is this activity within Tom’s scope of practice? According to Alberta legislation, the activity of protocoling MR exams does not require authorization from the College and this activity may be considered appropriate to the technologist’s area of practice. What training does Tom have to do in order to perform this activity? A College-approved program is not required as no authorization is needed; [...]

Authors: Sidsel Pedersen, BRadiog, MRT (R), and Virginia Sanders, MSc, RTR The gender landscape is changing. For professionals in health care, particularly diagnostic imaging (DI), we need better communication tools to obtain personal information from this gender diverse community. We need more specific information from patients because we are performing examinations in which radiation is involved. It is our professional duty to protect a patient’s reproductive organs whenever possible, but we must know where those organs are located. Read [...]

Author: Brenda Robinson The old days of “nose to the grindstone — shoulder to the wheel” are gone. People go to work today with a changed expectation and a changed perception. All of the research says we are working harder and we will work longer than the previous two generations — the 25-year job ending with retirement and a gold watch is a thing of the past. Given the changing situation, people are looking for work to provide more job satisfaction, enjoyment, interaction, [...]

Every so often a new therapy shifts the landscape of current practice. It’s a game changer – a disruptive technology. For the past two decades the use of image-guided radiotherapy, using computed tomography (CT), changed the way radiation therapy was delivered to patients with cancer. However, a new technology – magnetic resonance imaging-guided radiotherapy (MRgRT) – is emerging in Canadian practice. Will MRgRT be the game changer CT was? Radiation therapy is a common treatment for cancer and can [...]