Research news

Research News

Special Issue of Radiogrphy                                                                                                    
From June 2013 to August 2014 we have been working with a number of  academic staff and students throughout
Europe and beyond in association with a 3 week residential summer school (Optimax) which focused on dose and image quality optimisation. An outcome of this summer school was 11 articles, 10 of which are now in press in Radiography. These articles will form a core component of the November special issue. An important point to note about these articles is that they were driven by a large group of student radiographers. Though not perfect articles, they do give us some insight into what can be learnt and achieved in multi professional and multicultural teams.
Alongside these papers there should be three others. Dr Louise Rainford (Dublin) and co-workers have provided two, and Dr Mark McEntee (Sydney, colleague of Professor Patrick Brennan) will provide one. Professor David Manning will be Guest Editor.

Nuffield grants awarded

New graduate, Hafsa Momoniat, has won a Nuffield Grant, and she has moved into the imaging lab to do some experiments over the summer before starting in her new post as a clinical radiographer at the Bolton. Hafsa said, “I graduated from the University of Salford with BSc (Hons) Diagnostic Radiography in July 2014. During August 2013 I participated in a summer school about dose and image quality optimisation and that sparked an interest in research. In the summer school I worked within an international group to validate a psychometric scale and this was published into Radiography (Mraity et al., 2014). An opportunity arose to apply for a grant to enable me to conduct research for six weeks prior to me commencing a job as a radiographer in Bolton NHS Foundation Trust.

My application to the Society and College of Radiographers (CoRIPS Grant) to conduct some research at the University of Salford was successful. This allowed me to work with Dr Andrew England and Prof. Peter Hogg. The research aims to investigate the accuracy of conventional orbital X-ray images in detecting intra-ocular ferromagnetic foreign bodies (IOFB) prior to MRI scanning. There have been several case reports of patients who have suffered detrimental consequences as a result of undergoing MRI examinations while harbouring ferromagnetic FBs. With regards to ferromagnetic IOFBs, an MRI examination can lead to blindness, loss of visual acuity and progression of cataract. Although most Trusts use clinical screening questionnaires to assess the possibility of contraindications to MRI, a positive answer which would indicate a possible ferromagnetic IOFB would lead to the radiographer referring the patient for an orbit X-ray. However, the accuracy of conventional X-rays has not recently been investigated and most literature is from the era when film was used. I hope to submit the work to the European Congress of Radiology, with a view to presenting it in Vienna, 2015.”

Mahi Siddika, an A Level student at The Blue Coat school, has won a Nuffield Grant to conduct research with us for six weeks during the summer. She will be attending the summer school in Lisbon, OPTIMAX. Mahi said, “I study Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Maths. As a person I consider myself to be lively, confident and inspired by literature and science as they make me aware and motivate me to explore the beauty of the simplest of things, which are taken for granted today. I take great interest in the subjects of science and maths as well as a keen hobby of reading literature and fiction and I am a keen sports person. I hope to fulfil my ambition of being a physicist, and to travel the world; I hope this will allow me the chance to discover the weird and wonderful aspects of life as well as satisfying my curiosity. Within school, maths and physics have helped me further my curiosity and analytical skills -maths has helped me to work logically and physics allows me a valuable insight into the ever-changing world in which we live. This persuaded me to apply for the Nuffield Research Placement and I am happy to say that I successfully gained a place and I look forward to working with Prof Peter Hogg in the summer. I also look forward to meeting new people as well as working on an actual project to which I will personally contribute!”