An imaging report is a written account that accompanies a particular examination. Its meaning depends on precise references: the area examined, the question recorded, the findings described and the conclusion expressed by the reporting professional. Dialektikus UK Ltd provides French–English and English–French translation of radiology reports within its medical translation service. We preserve the distinctions in the supplied text so that an intended reader can compare the translation with the original report and recognise its scope.
The service translates written documentation; it does not interpret scans or provide a second medical opinion. Please identify the intended recipient and whether the assignment concerns one examination or a sequence of reports. Establishing that scope helps put the document in perspective and allows us to distinguish material requiring translation from files supplied only to explain a reference or identify the report’s place in a wider record.
Identify the examination and the report version
The examination date, report date and date of an added note may refer to different events. We retain those distinctions instead of treating the most recent date as though it described the examination itself. A clear copy should include the report header, reference number, complete body and any continuation page. These elements help establish which written account is being translated without relying on the filename alone.
Where a later report or addendum changes earlier wording, please identify both documents and explain which require translation. We preserve their separate status rather than merge the texts into a new clinical account. Keeping the record straight is particularly useful when a reader needs to see what was stated first and what was subsequently clarified. A translator should not decide which medical statement supersedes another without explicit source evidence.
Keep the clinical question separate from the answer
A referral description may contain a clinical question, a reported symptom or a suspected condition. That wording should remain distinguishable from the findings recorded after the examination. We attend to headings and attribution so that a question in the clinical history does not become an established conclusion. If the source layout makes the boundary unclear, a complete original report can help resolve the uncertainty.
The Royal College of Radiologists publishes standards for interpreting and reporting imaging investigations. These concern the professional reporting of examinations, not approval of translations. For our work, the practical distinction is straightforward: the translated document conveys the report provided by its author. It does not create a fresh interpretation of the images or claim that the original examination meets a particular professional standard.
Attend to the wording of findings
Short qualifying expressions can carry much of a report’s meaning. Wording indicating a possibility, an absence or a limit to an observation should not be strengthened or omitted. We preserve the degree of certainty expressed and keep each qualification connected to the relevant statement. A fluent translation must still say what the report says, including where its conclusion is tentative or its wording requires clarification.
An apparent ambiguity should be brought to light through a focused query. We do not replace it with the interpretation that seems most likely on the basis of general medical knowledge. Nor should an unfamiliar abbreviation be expanded merely because a common expansion exists elsewhere. The report’s context and, where necessary, clarification from the issuing professional provide the appropriate basis for resolving uncertain language.
Preserve anatomical references and measurements
A description may locate a finding by side, region and relationship to another structure. Those references should remain connected in the translation. Where a sentence contains several observations, careful phrasing helps the reader identify which location belongs to which statement. We compare repeated anatomical labels across the written report and raise a discrepancy rather than silently choose one of two conflicting references.
Measurements deserve the same exacting attention. Values, units and qualifiers must stay with the finding they describe, including when several dimensions are presented together. We do not recalculate them or infer a missing value from another report. Looking at the sentence and table together helps keep the whole picture in view, while preserving the source author’s distinctions between separate observations and any summary that follows them.
Make comparisons traceable to earlier reports
A comparison may refer to a previous examination by date, type or institutional reference. Please provide the earlier written report if it is needed to understand a reference, marking whether it also requires translation. The current text should retain its stated comparison, including any limitation or qualification. We do not independently compare the images or calculate an interval change that the reporting professional has not described.
A phrase such as a reference to an unchanged finding needs to remain attached to the subject identified by the source. It should not become a general assurance about the entire examination. Reading the surrounding passages helps prevent the translation from losing the thread when the report moves between several observations. If the earlier document is unavailable, that absence does not justify reconstructing its contents from a later summary.
Distinguish recommendations from arrangements
The report may mention a proposed follow-up, a suggested comparison or another next step. The translation should preserve whether the source expresses a recommendation, a possibility or a confirmed arrangement. Those forms of wording are not interchangeable. We do not present a recommendation as a booking, and we do not add advice about whether a proposed examination or treatment should take place.
Any questions about the clinical significance of the report belong with the relevant healthcare professional. Our role is to convey the written account accurately and identify linguistic or legibility issues that affect the translation. Keeping that boundary in view helps avoid reading between the lines for a diagnosis or reassurance that the source does not provide. Precise language supports the reader’s examination of the document without replacing professional judgement.
Prepare a complete, readable source
Please send a legible copy showing all the text, including footnotes, attached conclusions and relevant annotations. If a scan cuts off a line or a photographed page is obscured, obtaining a clearer copy is preferable to filling the gap by guesswork. Identify any recipient-specific presentation or certification requirements in black and white so that these can be assessed against the actual assignment before delivery is agreed.
For a quotation, provide the report, language direction, intended use and required date through our contact page or at london@dialektikus.co.uk. The French and English translation overview describes the wider service. Dialektikus UK Ltd will assess the material and discuss suitable scope and delivery arrangements, preparing a clear translation whose dates, qualifications and references remain traceable to the report supplied.