In my work as a radiographer digitalization has an huge impact to our work. X-rays was found in 1895. The X-ray images was taken with high level of radiation to films that were developed as an real image with our own hands. During times there became machines that develop the image for you and now days the images are taken to digital detector which send the image data wireless to the computer. Due the digitalization the amount of needed radiation has been decreased a lot. When X-rays was taken on films, too much or less radiation ruins the image. Now days digital meters tell how much radiation is needed to have an good image. Images can also been modified after so need of retake the image is so much lower now days. And that is only an small example in a view of X-ray imaging. The impact is even bigger with ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging and radiotherapy.
Digitalization helps with other work also. It means that now days we are ”paper free”. Referrals from doctors and statement from radiology are seen in digital systems, so the images can be taken in every X-ray unit in our company. Images are also in digital form, so we can ask images from HUS etc. All instructions are in intranet and you can ask some collegual advice via Microsoft teams. All this information moving digitally needs investement to cyber security.
I’ll see that the digitalization plays a really big part in health care imaging. There is already AI technology used in ”reading images” and I think that it is coming even bigger thing next ten years in Finland because of lack of radiologist. Good patient service and talent of taking good X-rays and images hasn’t changed and I think that is the base of our work.
Open digital society and GDPR
In my opinion open digital society is a good thing that brings also not so good things in our life. Today it is so easy to find infomation and take care of our things digitally. But I recognize from myself that I’m searching information over 10 times a day from google. Some times I have to say to my self ”Stop it, you don’t need to know this right now.” Our brains hunger for information and you’ll get it everywhere, you want it or not. Social media plays a big part of people’s lives (especially younger ones). If individual decides not to use social media, it often leads to the feeling of being outsider. I’m really interested to see some study results in ten years ime: What is the impact of overload of information to us and our brain, and is people’s brain changing due that?
EU’s general data protection regulation has been a good edict. It’s good to know that our data is not used without our approval and that we can affect what data is used and also change it if it’s wrong. But in real life my experience is that following who is using your data and how, is quite impossible and takes time. Every site, application and service are collecting data and privacy statements are long and hard to read. Very often you have to accept that all of your data is used or you can’t use the service. For a long time I tried to avoid giving my data or information but it’s quite impossible. And it is a bit sad.
Self- evaluation
It was really good to think about my work as a radiographer right now and how it really has changed due digitalization. Can’t wait to see what future brings to my job and how digitalized my work could be. It was also interesting to read other students text and learn some new about other expertise and digitalization there.
All the videos that I saw were really intresting and I learned a lot new thing. For example Marco Annunziata’s speach about Industrial internet was new thing for me. It is always a good idea for having some cyber security part in digitalization course. Cyber security is so important but easily forgotten in every day life.
This is my first time to use WordPress and to do my own blog. At first I thought using WordPress was really difficult but after using it for few hours it’s actually not so hard to use. Maybe I’ll use WordPress in some other courses too as an learning technic.
I left comments to these to articles:
Tari Niemelä. https://blogi.savonia.fi/melearning/digi-society/
Esko Tähkänen. https://blogi.savonia.fi/eskotahkanen/digi-society/
Hello from a radiographer to another.
Interesting comments of the digitalization in our field of work. I do have to agree that digitalization have made some tasks in our department much easier. As you mentioned referrals, example with computed tomography (CT), on which the radiologist gives intsructions. Intructions on what part of the patient is to be X-rayed/filmed and X-ray filming protocols. When i first started as an radiographer al the instruction were given to a printed referral. So every day we printed next days patient referral lists and gave them to a radiologist who the writed by hand on to those paper referrals. Next morning the referrals were back at the CT station and we knew what to X-ray from those particular patients. Comapared to today, where the CT filming instructions are added to the referrals in RADU. More than easier compared to earlier practise.
I do too agree that in 10 years our profession is going to make a big leap. In which way, we’ll see.
Hi,
It was nice to hear how digilisation has effect to you work. In Healthcare sectors technology is used more and more as a part of work. We must be afare of all the possibilities and risk that it offers to us. I started to wonder, how will work in the X-ray department look like in 20 years?
Hi,
It as interesting to read how radiology has developed over the years. I also work in the healthcare sector, and I have noticed how technology has taken a bigger part year by year. Technology has made work easier and information is quicker than before available. I started to wonder how working in X-ray will look like twenty years from now….
Hi Anni!
It was interesting to read about the development of digitalization and its effects on your work as an X-ray nurse. The development of digitization has certainly played a huge role in your work, and I also believe that it will continue to develop in the future.
It is true that today personal data is collected in many places, and it is impossible to avoid sharing personal data. Sometimes I wonder if collecting some of my personal data was necessary for the service in question. Data protection practices also demand criticality from us as customers.