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The “Medical Radiation Exposure of Patients in the United States” report also revealed that CT scan dose—which made up 63% of total dose exposure in 2016, compared to 50% in 2006—remained largely stable on a per-person basis. This was despite a 20% increase in CT utilization over the 10-year study period.

Most other modalities showed a drop in effective dose, including nuclear medicine, which saw the largest drop from 25% in 2006 down to 15% in 2016. Radiography and fluoroscopy, cardiac interventional fluoroscopy and noncardiac interventional fluoroscopy all showed reduced per-patient dose numbers, the report authors found.

In addition to ACR campaigns, the investigators cited technological advances in hardware and protocol improvements as key contributors to ending the six-fold increase in radiation dose experienced between 1980 and 2006.

“Changes in technology as well as campaigns to increase dose awareness and reduce dose among the medical community and the public seem to be having the desired effect,” Mahadevappa Mahesh, PhD, co-chair of the report and professor of radiology and radiological science at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in a statement. “These data show the medical community can continue to leverage the benefits of radiological procedures for patients while reducing dose.”