Specialists involved in a new study on the safety of CT scans, otherwise known as "CAT scans," claim children undergo the procedure too often, increasing the risk of unwarranted exposure to radiation. Researchers from the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. studied 1,000 patients who had received a CT scan, determining that physicians found an intercranial injury in less than seven percent of the cases. With every CT scan, the patient's body is exposed to low levels of radiation, which recent studies have suggested may lead to cancer later in a child's life. Because children may need several CT scans during their lifetime, cumulative radiation exposure has become a concern among pediatricians and other health officials.

Doctors involved in the latest study maintain that children should only receive CT scans if they meet the following criteria: they have a skull fracture, a bicycle-related injury, are age 2 or younger, are dizzy or have problems with their vision. According to the study, the scanner should also be adjusted to a child setting, which greatly reduces the amount of radiation emitted.