Radiography has grown from the conventional generation of X-rays or imaging and application of radioactive elements in the treatment of malignant diseases to promote life and improve comfort of the living.
The Chairman, Lagos branch, Association of Radiographers of Nigeria (ARN), Opeoluwa Oduwole, made the assertion on Sunday at a programme marking the 2020 World Radiography Day in Lagos.
Theme of the celebration is: “Elevating Patient Care with Artificial Intelligence”.
According to Oduwole, radiography is a seemingly silent profession based on use of different types of radiant energies (Hidden RAYS) in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases to promote life and improve comfort of the living.
“X-Ray is, therefore, the mother of all radiant energies currently applied in radiography practice.
“Radiography has grown from the conventional generation of X-rays or imaging and application of radioactive elements in the treatment of malignant diseases.
“It has grown to the evolution of different specialties of medical imaging and radiation treatment such as computed Tomography, magnetic Resonance Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, Ultrasonography, Radio-nuclide imaging and Mammography, among other specialties,” she said.
Oduwole said that the 2020 Day was a celebration of “hopeful survival of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, which is still ravaging the whole world”.
She described radiographers as “compassionate professionals who work with precision and empathy”, adding that this was made possible by the application of artificial intelligence.
Also, Dr Livonia Abonyi, a Lecturer in the Department of Radiography, Faculty of Clinical Services, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, said that diagnosis was the core objectives of radiographers.
Abonyi, who spoke on “Radiography Practice and Artificial Intelligence: What You Need to Know”, said that treatment of some other types of diseases uses radiant energy.
He said that these energies were moving at a fast speed to detect the internal organs of a patient in order to alleviate their suffering through prompt diagnosis.
“This is to find out what the patient is suffering from and determine the nature of treatment he or she needs,” Abonyi said.
He said that radiography was technology-based and changes by the day in capacity and capabilities of equipment to carry out these functions.
Abonyi said that the role of Artificial Intelligence was to help in diagnosing diseases.
He said that patients died when experts could not find out the immediate cause of their diseases or detected it when it was too late.
The expert said that Artificial Intelligence was an aspect of Computer Science that specialised in mimicking human intelligence.
According to him, it is called neural energy and helps to acquire as much information as possible from the internal body house of the patients.
He enjoined radiographers to embrace the new innovation. (NAN)
