Balancing radiation dose and image quality in diagnostic imaging

The need to keep radiation dose as low as reasonably practical (ALARP), both for patients undergoing procedures and staff occupationally exposed to radiation, remains of paramount importance. A number of technological advances in hardware (e.g. digital radiographic detectors) and software (e.g. iterative reconstruction), added to new information regarding the biological effects of radiation (predominantly doses to the eye) have provided new challenges in working towards this goal. This editorial aims to discuss some of these issues.