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Our very own blog contributor, Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman, has been featured in the latest installment of AuntMinnie’s "Leaders in Imaging" series!

Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of discussion in the news media about thyroid cancer and increased radiation risks to women – specifically about how the use of thyroid shields during mammograms may or may not be useful in protecting against excess radiation exposure.

A study published in the April 2011 issue of Radiology found that by increasing the experience requirement for readers of mammograms in the U.S., the number of false-positives would decrease, along with the amount of money spent on mammography each year.

The Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) – a multi-site collaborative effort launched in 2003 by the NIH, the FDA, private pharmaceutical companies and non-profit organizations – is the largest trial to date for evaluating the potential role of MRI in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

I came across this article and thought it would make a good basis for a blog post about what to ask your doctor if you are experiencing intermittent chest pain. Some questions that came to mind include, “When should I worry about chest pain?” and “How can my doctor use medical tests to come to a final answer about my actual condition?”

A study I recently co-authored on backscatter x-ray scanners – the radiation-emitting scanners being used in airports across the country – found that the machines pose an extremely low risk for travelers.

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