Towards a Greener Radiology: A Comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment Framework for Diagnostic Imaging
The increasing focus on environmental sustainability is becoming essential in the radiology sector, which is accredited for about 10 % of the healthcare industry’s carbon footprint. A multitude of research initiatives investigated the environmental impacts of diagnostic imaging. Life Cycle Assessmen...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental and Climate Technologies |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/rtuect-2024-0024 |
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| author | Roletto Andrea Savio Anna Marchi Beatrice Zanoni Simone |
| author_facet | Roletto Andrea Savio Anna Marchi Beatrice Zanoni Simone |
| author_sort | Roletto Andrea |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The increasing focus on environmental sustainability is becoming essential in the radiology sector, which is accredited for about 10 % of the healthcare industry’s carbon footprint. A multitude of research initiatives investigated the environmental impacts of diagnostic imaging. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) stands as a prominent method for structural assessment of environmental impacts, offering a tool for examining the environmental consequences of specific processes. The aim of this study includes analysing existing LCA approaches in the literature to identify their limitations and to suggest a comprehensive LCA framework for diagnostic imaging. Of the original articles on environmental sustainability in radiology published since 2014, five have described an LCA approach. About the boundaries of their systems, all studies considered the electricity consumption of imaging equipment. Usage of consumables was included in 80 % (4/5) of the studies, as well as energy consumption of auxiliary equipment and Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems. Only 40 % (2/5) of articles considered waste generation, cleaning and disposal of products used during imaging activities. The articles also varied in their LCA approach, with different life cycle assessment methods. Insights from this analysis led to the identification of differences in LCA methodological approaches in imaging found in the literature. In addition, a new LCA framework designed to overcome the limitations observed in existing research was proposed, offering a more comprehensive analysis. The objective may be the development of more targeted strategies to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions associated with diagnostic procedures. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c09b4c143ab14e4b8eb2ff6d47709345 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2255-8837 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental and Climate Technologies |
| spelling | doaj-art-c09b4c143ab14e4b8eb2ff6d477093452024-11-20T15:36:32ZengSciendoEnvironmental and Climate Technologies2255-88372024-01-0128130331110.2478/rtuect-2024-0024Towards a Greener Radiology: A Comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment Framework for Diagnostic ImagingRoletto Andrea0Savio Anna1Marchi Beatrice2Zanoni Simone3Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Università degli Studi di Brescia, Via Branze 38, 25123Brescia, ItalyDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Università degli Studi di Brescia, Via Branze 38, 25123Brescia, ItalyDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Università degli Studi di Brescia, Via Branze 38, 25123Brescia, Italy4Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering and Mathematics, Università degli Studi di Brescia, Via Branze 43, 25123Brescia, ItalyThe increasing focus on environmental sustainability is becoming essential in the radiology sector, which is accredited for about 10 % of the healthcare industry’s carbon footprint. A multitude of research initiatives investigated the environmental impacts of diagnostic imaging. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) stands as a prominent method for structural assessment of environmental impacts, offering a tool for examining the environmental consequences of specific processes. The aim of this study includes analysing existing LCA approaches in the literature to identify their limitations and to suggest a comprehensive LCA framework for diagnostic imaging. Of the original articles on environmental sustainability in radiology published since 2014, five have described an LCA approach. About the boundaries of their systems, all studies considered the electricity consumption of imaging equipment. Usage of consumables was included in 80 % (4/5) of the studies, as well as energy consumption of auxiliary equipment and Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems. Only 40 % (2/5) of articles considered waste generation, cleaning and disposal of products used during imaging activities. The articles also varied in their LCA approach, with different life cycle assessment methods. Insights from this analysis led to the identification of differences in LCA methodological approaches in imaging found in the literature. In addition, a new LCA framework designed to overcome the limitations observed in existing research was proposed, offering a more comprehensive analysis. The objective may be the development of more targeted strategies to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions associated with diagnostic procedures.https://doi.org/10.2478/rtuect-2024-0024electricity consumptionenvironmental sustainabilitygreenhouse gas (ghg) emissionshealthcare sectorradiologyresearch methodology |
| spellingShingle | Roletto Andrea Savio Anna Marchi Beatrice Zanoni Simone Towards a Greener Radiology: A Comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment Framework for Diagnostic Imaging Environmental and Climate Technologies electricity consumption environmental sustainability greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions healthcare sector radiology research methodology |
| title | Towards a Greener Radiology: A Comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment Framework for Diagnostic Imaging |
| title_full | Towards a Greener Radiology: A Comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment Framework for Diagnostic Imaging |
| title_fullStr | Towards a Greener Radiology: A Comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment Framework for Diagnostic Imaging |
| title_full_unstemmed | Towards a Greener Radiology: A Comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment Framework for Diagnostic Imaging |
| title_short | Towards a Greener Radiology: A Comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment Framework for Diagnostic Imaging |
| title_sort | towards a greener radiology a comprehensive life cycle assessment framework for diagnostic imaging |
| topic | electricity consumption environmental sustainability greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions healthcare sector radiology research methodology |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/rtuect-2024-0024 |
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