The American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) Foundation and Toshiba America Medical Systems have announced winners of the inaugural Safety First grant program.
The winners are Memorial Hospital of Converse County in Douglas, WY, and Cook County North Shore Hospital and Care Center in Grand Marais, MN. The program awards two ASRT members up to $7,000 each for the implementation of a radiologic technology safety program or development of an idea that creates a safer work environment, ASRT said.
Memorial Hospital will use grant funds to purchase a RaySafe i2 system to provide real-time monitoring of ionized radiation and to measure exposure levels of radiation for staff members in the operating room. Cook County North Shore Hospital will use the award to help purchase an EZ Matt (EZ Way) and an x-ray imaging chair, which will help technologists reduce the amount of time needed to move and position patients.
![Images show the pectoralis muscles of a healthy male individual who never smoked (age, 66 years; height, 178 cm; body mass index [BMI, calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared], 28.4; number of cigarette pack-years, 0; forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1], 97.6% predicted; FEV1: forced vital capacity [FVC] ratio, 0.71; pectoralis muscle area [PMA], 59.4 cm2; pectoralis muscle volume [PMV], 764 cm3) and a male individual with a smoking history and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) (age, 66 years; height, 178 cm; BMI, 27.5; number of cigarette pack-years, 43.2, FEV1, 48% predicted; FEV1:FVC, 0.56; PMA, 35 cm2; PMV, 480.8 cm3) from the Canadian Cohort Obstructive Lung Disease (i.e., CanCOLD) study. The CT image is shown in the axial plane. The PMV is automatically extracted using the developed deep learning model and overlayed onto the lungs for visual clarity.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/03/genkin.25LqljVF0y.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&crop=focalpoint&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
