During the last decades there has been an important increase in the use of cardiac catheterization procedures for diagnosis and treatment of several cardiovascular disorders [1,2]. For the latter procedures, extensive use of X-rays is indispensable. In 2012, the heart centre of the university hospital in Ghent installed, as one of the first, a novel X-ray modality equipped with new and advanced image processing algorithms and an acquisition chain optimized specifically for cardiac catheterization applications (ClarityIQ, Philips Healthcare, The Netherlands). In a previous study we...

Imaging Modalities Patient and operator radiation exposure were measured on a reference X-ray modality (room A: Allura Xper FD10, Philips Healthcare, The Netherlands) and on a state-of-the-art modality (room B: Allura Clarity FD20/10, Philips Healthcare, The Netherlands) equipped with ClarityIQ technology (ClarityIQ, Philips Healthcare, The Netherlands). Room A is a monoplane modality, while room B has a biplane configuration. Study Design In total 112 adult patients were randomly assigned to one of two cath labs, either the reference X-ray modality or the new X-ray system....

With the novel equipment, DAP values decreased from 54 Gycm² to 20.4 Gycm², which is a 62% reduction compared to the reference room (p<0.001). The C-arm and leg dosemeter readings were reduced with 61% (p<0.001) and 57% (p<0.001) respectively, while chest and collar dosemeter readings increased by 2% and decreased by 6% respectively. The difference between chest and collar dosemeter readings in both rooms were not statistically significant. The occupational dose of the technologists showed no statistically significant differences. Phantom measurements were performed to define...

The introduction of a novel x-ray and image processing technology, significantly reduces patient dose in coronary angiographies and PCIs with 62%. Applying supplemental DICOM SR capabilities for occupational dose, additional to the use of DICOM SR for reporting patient exposure and geometry settings, makes it easy to directly analyze both patient and operator exposure in more detail. Staff dose was significantly reduced by 63% below table, in the cath lab with novel technology compared to the reference lab. Yet, above table lesser occupational dose reductions...

Abbott JD. Controlling radiation exposure in interventional cardiology.Circ Cardiovasc Interv. 2014;7(4):425-8. Chen J, Einstein AJ, Fazel R, Krumholz HM, Wang Y, Ross JS, et al. Cumulative exposure to ionizing radiation from diagnostic and therapeutic cardiac imaging procedures: a population-based analysis. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010;56(9):702-11. Eloot L, Thierens H, Taeymans Y, Drieghe B, De Pooter J, Van Peteghem S, et al. Novel X-ray imaging technology enables significant patient dose reduction in interventional cardiology while maintaining diagnostic image quality. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv. 2015;86(5):E205-12 Sandblom V, Mai...