Does CT scan have radiation?

CT is a common method of disease examination in our lives, but the price of this examination method is very expensive. It can examine various parts of our body, but it is not suitable for some people to do CT examination because the radiation of CT examination is very strong. If a pregnant woman does a CT scan during pregnancy, it is likely to cause fetal malformation. So, does CT have radiation?

Of course, CT scans involve radiation, namely X-ray radiation (ionizing radiation), and the radiation intensity is very high! With the development of X-ray and CT scanning technology, X-ray and CT examinations have become a common means of medical examination, but while being widely used, they have also increased the harm of ionizing radiation (radiation sources) to the human body. In order to protect personal safety, radiation protection management and supervision must be strengthened in the medical field. The hazards of X-rays and X-ray protection in X-ray and CT examinations are summarized as follows:

1 Biological effects of ionizing radiation

1.1 Basic concepts of biological effects of ionizing radiation: Ionizing radiation produces various types of biological effects, such as radiation carcinogenic reactions, radiation genetic effects, tissue reactions, non-cancerous diseases, and effects of prenatal irradiation.

Tissue responses, which used to be called non-stochastic effects and deterministic effects, are caused by large doses of irradiation and for which there are threshold amounts. Stochastic effects include cancer and genetic disorders that have no threshold dose and whose incidence is proportional to the dose. All tissue reactions are somatic effects (effects occurring in the exposed individual). The random effect can

It can be somatic effects (cancer induced by radiation in the body of the exposed person) or genetic effects that occur in the offspring of the exposed person.

1.2 Stochastic effects - carcinogenic effects: Stochastic effects refer to cancer and genetic effects. The deposition of ionizing radiation energy is a stochastic process, and even very small doses can deposit sufficient energy within critical volumes within cells to cause cellular changes or cell death. The killing of one or a few cells generally has no consequences for the tissue. However, changes in individual cells, such as genetic changes, or changes that ultimately lead to malignant tumors, can have serious consequences. These effects caused by changes in one cell are stochastic effects. Carcinogenic effect is a random effect, its incidence increases with increasing dose, and there is no dose threshold.

1.3 Random effects - genetic effects: Radiation genetic effects are genetic abnormalities in the victim's offspring caused by damage to the genetic material of germ cells. It is a random effect that manifests itself in the victim's offspring. Traditionally, genetic diseases are divided into three categories: single gene genetic diseases, chromosomal aberration diseases and multifactorial diseases.

1.4 Deterministic effects: When a large dose is irradiated to the entire tissue, a large number of cells are killed, and these cells cannot be compensated by the proliferation of living cells. The resulting cell loss can produce clinically detectable serious functional damage in tissues or organs. The severity of the observed effect is related to the dose, and therefore there is a dose threshold. The effects caused by this exposure are called deterministic effects.

In summary: X-ray examinations in daily medicine are risky to health. One X-ray may cause cancer. Therefore, it is recommended not to do X-ray examinations casually, especially CT, because the dose and radiation intensity of CT are quite large! The chance of long-term cancer and genetic effects is also greatly increased! Be careful!