Two long-time leaders in radiology are encouraging the imaging community to adopt a “bedside to biosphere” approach to advance sustainability research, saying an effective framework already exists.
In an interview with AuntMinnieEurope.comDr. Reed Omary of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, explained the concept, pointing out that radiology could advance sustainability research in the same way that it has contributed to the digital transformation of medicine.
Omary and his colleague Dr. Thomas Grist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, recently wrote an article in which they explored the concept in American Journal of Radiologyentitled “Translational Medicine of 2030: From the Sickbed to the Biosphere.”
The two noted that collaboration with industry partners is one way, but that later in the pipeline entirely new low-carbon imaging techniques could be developed, with validation studies measuring not only patient outcomes but also impact on the planet.
Grist explained that these new efforts could apply the Fryback and Thornbury hierarchical model, which was published in 1991 and has since become the global standard for evaluating new medical technologies.
Why is 2030 the target year to implement the concept? Omary pointed out that this is the date set in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement to limit global warming, and that aligning the Bedside to Biosphere concept with such initiatives will allow radiology researchers to measure their progress.
Omary, who also blogs about healthcare sustainability, was chair of radiology at Vanderbilt from 2012 to 2023; Grist was chair of radiology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health from 2005 to 2023.
