Professor Adrian Dixon, the recipient of the BIR/Canon Mayneord Award, delivered the keynote eponymous lecture titled “Has imaging become too effective?” in Liverpool, on Tuesday 7 June to a packed audience of radiologists, radiographers and other healthcare professionals.
Professor Dixon is Emeritus Professor of Radiology, University of Cambridge. He has a worldwide reputation as an academic and a radiologist and has published extensively on body and musculoskeletal computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging and was one of the early pioneers of these modalities.
Dr David Wilson, BIR President, introduced Professor Dixon as someone who “has made us think differently about radiology” and who has written so many papers “we don’t count them, we weigh them”.
In his talk, Professor Dixon spoke about the huge milestones achieved during his career but warned that because imaging is now so effective there is a risk of “over-imaging” the patient. Departments are becoming stretched and with increasing workloads there is now a shortage of radiographer and radiology personnel.
He spoke about huge advances in MRI, CT and ultrasound and questioned the viability of some plain radiographs for diagnosis. Touching on the controversial issue of whether screening saves lives he concluded that it’s vital for radiology departments to work as a team to ensure that the right examination is chosen for each patient.
After the lecture, Professor Dixon was presented with a prize and a trophy. He said, “I am honoured to receive this award and it has been a pleasure to reunite with so many ex-colleagues and friends here at UKRC”.
Mark Hitchman, Managing Director of Canon Medical Systems, who presented the award, said, “We are once more honoured to support this renowned eponymous lecture. Professor Dixon inspired us all to think about the big picture and the challenges we face, and furthermore how to face them head-on”.
About the award
The BIR Canon Mayneord Memorial Lecture is an annual award made to an individual or a group of collaborators in recognition of recent or current contributions in the wide and expanding field of radiology. The lecture was founded in 1984 in memory of Professor Val Mayneord CBE FRS, past president of the BIR. The lecture is given at the annual UKRC.
Canon sponsors this BIR award which recognises values, skills and contributions at the forefront of medical imaging, as it is in line with Canon’s commitment to education.
You can view the lecture on the UKRC website here http://www.ukrc.org.uk/presentation-webcasts
Read an interview with Professor Dixon on the BIR blog https://blog.bir.org.uk/2016/04/07/has-imaging-become-too-effective/
Previous recipients include Professor Sir Muir Gray (2015), Professor John Buscombe (2014), Professor Richard Ehman (2012), Professor Sir Mike Richards (2011) and Lord Darzi (2010).