Introduction by Croakey: From teaching doctors in the Antarctic and astronauts how to do medical imaging to new milestones in breast cancer screening, a recent conference in Adelaide showcased powerful and interesting work in many areas of the medical radiation sciences.
This post features video interviews from the conference by Marie McInerney for the Croakey Conference News Service, and links to related articles.
You can access the full playlist of interviews here.
Marie McInerney writes:
“Out of this world.”
That was the irresistible verdict from Perth ultrasound expert and educator Marilyn Zelesco about her involvement in developing ultrasound protocols for use on the International Space Station (ISS) and other space craft.
Around 20 years ago Zelesco and Royal Perth Hospital colleague Dr Rob Hart worked with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to develop instructions so that astronauts, who are at risk of large blunt force injury and other injuries and illnesses when in space, could conduct ultrasound scans of each other and beam them back to Earth for analysis.
Their work, which involved flying off the coast of Western Australia with a tennis ball to prove they had achieved microgravity, allowed astronauts to diagnose nine medical conditions identified by NASA as high risk, high impact and high likelihood.
Zelesco said the only form of medical imaging on board the ISS at the time was an ultrasound, “used to gain research information about how the body is functioning in space: what the heart does, how other organs respond”. However, it is regarded as “highly operator dependent”.
“So they thought ‘could there be a way of utilising that equipment to help in an emergency?’,” she told Croakey at the recent conference hosted in Adelaide by the Australian Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (ASMIRT) and the New Zealand Institute of Medical Radiation Technology (NZIMRT).
Zelesco was speaking after being given ASMIRT’s annual Board Award for her work and contribution to the organisation over many years.
Her work with NASA has meant an ongoing interest in space flights and remote imaging.
Like many others around the world, she was fascinated and worried about the health implications for two US astronauts who had stranded in low earth orbit onboard the International Space Station for nine months until their rescue in March, after originally planning to be in orbit for a week.
As soon as she heard about their dilemma, she imagined “all the physiological implications” of such a long time in the low-gravity environment of space, including the risk of kidney stones and deep vein thrombosis.
“Space flight is just an incredible impost on the human body,” she said.
That NASA work also led to other remote applications of the protocols closer to home for Zelesco, not least for the Australian Antarctic Division’s Polar Medicine Unit, which provides comprehensive medical, surgical and dental support to crews working on the Antarctic Program.
As NBC reported at the time, Australia’s Antarctic Division operates some of the world’s most remote outposts and “assignments on the icy, blizzard-prone continent have been likened to working on a space mission”.
To boost medical care, particularly in the long winter months when evacuation is impossible, Zelesco and others at the Royal Perth Hospital developed guidelines that would allow staff at Australia’s Casey, Davis and Mawson stations and sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island to use then newly developed 3-D diagnostic ultrasound.
Watch this video interview with Marilyn Zelesco at #ASMIRTNZIMRT2025 where she also talks about her volunteer work with Radiology Across Borders, a global charity founded in Australia that teaches key clinical skills to radiologists, doctors and medical imaging staff around the world.
New milestone in breast screening
The arrival of cone beam breast computed tomography (CBBCT) in Australia represents an “unparalleled advance” in breast imaging technology, for both providers and patients, according to breast imaging expert Associate Professor Kelly Spuur.
Spuur told Croakey the “amazing” technology represents a new breast imaging milestone, offering better diagnostic precision, particularly for women with dense breast tissue and for those with implants, but also more broadly.
A diagnostic radiographer who is the Associate Head of School for Medical Radiation Science and Pharmacy at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, Spuur said women with implants require more extensive breast imaging than women without — typically eight images instead of four.
Some of the drawbacks of that for them can be:
- a lot of manipulation by the radiographer to get the breast into the correct position and the implant out of the way of the compression
- an increase in radiation dose compared to women without implants and risk of implant rupture (although rare)
- uncomfortable compression
- not all breast tissue can be imaged
- additional imaging may be required if the radiologist detects any issue; this means more dose.
Spuur said the new technology uses no compression and requires no breast manipulation. Only two images are taken.
It represents “a fundamental shift in imaging for women” and not just for those with implants, but also for many others who put off having a mammogram because of the discomfort.
Instead of having one breast at a time compressed between the compression paddle and receptor of an X-ray machine, CBBCT allows women to lie on a table and self-position for the imaging, which provides three-dimensional images at a higher resolution than breast MRI, including visualisation of calcifications.
“There’s no touching (by the radiographer or mammography technologist), there’s no compression, requiring just a seven second scan of each breast, so it’s very, very different [from traditional mammography],” she said.
“That’s got huge advantages, both for women and also for our workflow as well,” she said.
Spuur said wider rollout of the technology will depend on the take-up by both government (BreastScreen) and private practice (diagnostic mammography) services, but she expected it to be driven by women demanding change, “to vote with their feet”.
It is, she said, a “really big change, and one that I think is long overdue for women”.
In case you missed these…
Below are a series of other video interviews conducted at the conference and links to articles they have informed.
Dr Anita Mahajan, a radiation oncologist and medical director of the Mayo Clinic’s proton centre in Rochester, Minnesota, talks about the benefits of proton therapy for cancer patients, particularly children and young people, her hope that Australia will soon get its first proton therapy facility, and about emerging implications for health care and health research under the Trump administration.
Ahead of the election, families call for action on life-saving proton therapy facility
Digging deeper on pain
The days of thinking people can’t be experiencing real pain unless there is proof of injury or illness from a CT scan or X-ray must end. That was a key message from two workshop presenters at #ASMIRTMZIMRT2025: sisters Kate Dahlenburg, a diagnostic radiographer working at Logan Hospital in Brisbane, and Sophie Shephard, a pain physiotherapist in Wagga Wagga.
See also Dahlenburg’s election call for a focus on the social determinants.
As vital as doctors and nurses
Carolyn Heyes, outgoing president of the Australian Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapists (ASMIRT), reflects on her time in office and issues calls to action for for the federal election, particularly on placement poverty, advanced practitioner status, wider scope of practice issues and the need for more recognition of medical science practitioners and the allied health workforce.
Get engaged, get involved
Newly elected ASMIRT president Naomi Gibson, a radiographer based in Townsville, Queensland, where she was born and bred, talks about the workforce issues on the agenda (advanced practice, assistant roles), some takeaways from the annual conference, and what she loves most about her work. Filming: Sanele Chadwick/Tautua Media
Placement poverty
Alana Brkic and Ruby Holman discuss the bold and diverse topics raised at the Student Conference at #ASMIRTNZIMRT2025, excitement for the future, and other issues facing students in medical radiation science. That includes the inequity and toll of clinical placements without government support. Filming by Sanele Chadwick, Tautua Media.
Medical radiation professionals highlight ‘placement poverty’ as a key election issue
Update: the Federal Coalition had indicated it would put an end to the Commonwealth Prac Payment for students undertaking mandatory placements if it had won the May 2025 election. The payment has been saved with the re-election of the Albanese Labor Government but is still only available for students doing nursing, midwifery, teachers and social work.
Cultural safety and community strengths
Lisa Te Paiho (Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Maniapoto) is a radiation therapist in Aotearoa New Zealand, the national program manager of BreastScreen Aotearoa, a member of Hei Āhuru Mōwai and the Māori Cancer Leadership Group.
She speaks to Croakey about inequity in cancer care and treatment in Aotearoa/New Zealand, her work to lift access to breast screening for Maori women, and the exciting work of MiRO (Māori in Radiation Oncology), which she co-chairs.
Professor Jacinta Elston, an Aboriginal woman from north Queensland and Deputy Chair, Breast Cancer Network of Australia and Kelly Trudgen, an Aboriginal woman and former Director of Nursing for the Office of First Nations Health with Queensland Health, are both consultants for Cancer Australia. They talk to Croakey about how their own experiences have shaped their work, and how important is cultural safety and reflexive practice in cancer care. Filmed by: Sanele Chadwick, Tautua Media.
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