Carver, D. E., Pruthi, S., Struk, O., Vigil-Garcia, M., Meijer, C., Gehrels, J., Omary, R. A., Scheel, J. R., & Thiel, C. L. (2025). Measuring the Environmental Impact of MRI and CT: A Life Cycle Assessment. Journal of the American College of Radiology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacr.2025.09.030
Medical imaging, such as MRI and CT scans, has a notable environmental footprint due to energy use, equipment production, and disposable supplies. This study evaluated the environmental impact of MRI and CT services at a large academic medical center in the Southeastern United States over one year using life cycle assessment methods. Researchers collected data from direct observation, records, staff interviews, and energy metering, and assessed impacts with established environmental databases and software.
Results showed that MRI and CT services produced an estimated 221 and 108 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually—comparable to the emissions of 52 and 25 cars driven for a year, respectively. Energy use contributed most to emissions (58% for MRI, 33% for CT), followed by disposable supplies, equipment production, and linens. Switching to solar power could cut MRI emissions by 70% and CT emissions by 40%, though the relative contribution of supplies and equipment would then become more significant.
These findings highlight the importance of energy consumption in imaging services and suggest that renewable energy adoption, efficient scanner use, reusable supplies, and circular business practices—such as extending equipment life—can meaningfully reduce the environmental impact of medical imaging.
Fig. 1 Flow diagram of components included in the study. ∗This study could not account for the production of all additional capital equipment. See e-only supplemental files here and in the previous publication [27] for more information