Radiation Safety Protocols for Fluoroscopy: Patient Radiation Dose Management (AVIR CE)

X-rays have revolutionized medicine and enabled us to diagnose and help patients that would not have been possible without them. X-rays can cause acute harm, cancer and birth defects if not administered correctly and that is why practitioners must understand and manage patient dose and scattered radiation to insure overall safety. In this seventh episode of the 8-episode series Radiation Safety Protocols for Fluoroscopy we will talk about patient dose management and how to customize the dose based patient size and length of procedure.

• How to describe image quality quantitively
• Factors that affect radiation dose
• How to tailor radiation dose for individual patients?
• Best practices to optimize patient radiation dose

• Understand how patient size affects radiation dose
• Define SNR
• Explain the effect of SSD and SID on patient skin dose
• Define the effect of Pulse rate on patient dose and image quality
• Understand the relevance of dose metrics

This course is designed for physicians and healthcare professionals performing fluoroscopically guided procedures in the cardiac and interventional suite. It is designed to enhance understanding of radiation as a tool that must be managed to protect staff and patients in the use of fluoroscopic equipment. You will learn the biological effects of x-ray radiation and principles of radiation protection. You will improve your understanding of operation and principles of fluoroscopic equipment including exposure (air kerma) outputs, high level control options, dose reduction techniques and procedures for recording data.

Additionally, this program is designed as part of an 8-episode series to bring healthcare professionals who use radiology in healthcare practice up to date with the latest standards of care, including Texas Administrative Code §289.227.