On the Assembly Line: Neuroimaging Production in Clinical Practice

Kelly Joyce

doi:10.1108/S1057-6290(2011)0000013008

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Advances in Medical Sociology

ISSN: 1057-6290
Series editor(s): Professor Barbara Katz Rothman

Subject Area: Sociology and Public Policy

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On the Assembly Line: Neuroimaging Production in Clinical Practice

Document Information:
Title:	On the Assembly Line: Neuroimaging Production in Clinical Practice
Author(s):	Kelly Joyce
Volume:	13 Editor(s): Martyn Pickersgill, Ira Van Keulen ISBN: 978-1-84855-880-9 eISBN: 978-1-84855-881-6
Citation:	Kelly Joyce (2011), On the Assembly Line: Neuroimaging Production in Clinical Practice, in Martyn Pickersgill, Ira Van Keulen (ed.) Sociological Reflections on the Neurosciences (Advances in Medical Sociology, Volume 13), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.75-98
DOI:	10.1108/S1057-6290(2011)0000013008 (Permanent URL)
Publisher:	Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Article type:	Chapter Item
Abstract:	This chapter presents a sociological analysis of the work involved in producing neuroimaging scans used in clinical practice. Drawing on fieldwork in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) units in hospitals and free-standing imaging centers; in-depth interviews with technologists, radiologists, and neurologists; and reviews of relevant medical literatures, this analysis demonstrates how assembly line techniques structure neuroimaging work. Neuroimages (after being ordered by the referring clinician) are created in an image production line where scans of brains, breasts, livers, and other body parts are all produced: although some facilities may focus on one area of the body, most create an array of scans. Following MRI scans as they are produced demonstrates how medical work emphasizes repetition, specialization, and efficiency – key features of mass production. On the medical assembly line, the organization of work aims to transform patients into objects – ones that multiply as scans are created and circulated. Neurologists, radiologists, and technologists are positioned as skilled workers who manage the flow of bodies and the production of knowledge with the aim of producing health or, at the very least, knowledge of illness. Patients are also actors who actively impact the imaging production process. Previous scholarship has shown that diagnostic work involves a distributed form of expertise; one that involves patients, other medical professionals, machines, and neurologists. This chapter demonstrates that the deployment and synchronization of this expertise is a form of labor, involving distinct professions, professional hierarchies, and reimbursement systems. Working conditions are central to the production of MRI scans as knowledge and contribute to the social shaping of neuroimaging techniques.