Sustainability Publications Digest: The environmental impact of energy consumption and carbon emissions in radiology departments: a systematic review

MTRC shares the most relevant and impactful publications in the field of sustainability for medical technologies in Europe through its Sustainability Publications Digest. 

In the recent publication, “The environmental impact of energy consumption and carbon emissions in radiology departments: a systematic review,” Roletto et al. presented a systematic review to identify all strategies to reduce energy use and carbon emissions in radiology. In total, 16 articles were included.

Among them, main topics were energy consumption (10/16, 62.5%), life-cycle assessment (4/16, 25.0%), and carbon footprint (2/16, 12.5%). Eleven studies reported that 40-91% of the energy consumed by radiological devices can be defined as "nonproductive" (devices "on" but not working). Turning-off devices during idle periods 9/16 (56.2%) and implementing workflow informatic tools (2/16, 12.5%) were the sustainable actions identified. Energy-saving strategies were reported in 8/16 articles (50%), estimating annual savings of thousand kilowatt-hours (14,180-171,000 kWh). Cost-savings were identified in 7/16 (43.7%) articles, ranging from US $9,225 to 14,328 per device. Study quality was over or equal the 80% of high-quality level in 14/16 (87.5%) articles.

Read the full article here.