Principles of Radiation Safety in Interventional Radiology

In a fluoroscopy system, typically a C-arm in interventional radiology, X-ray photons emitted by the X-ray tube pass through the table and the patient’s body and are then received by the flat panel detector. One of the key aims of radiologists, technologists, physicists, engineers, and regulators is to keep radiation exposure or dose to all personnel and patients ‘‘As Low As Reasonably Achievable’’—referred to as the ALARA principle. All modern X-ray equipment has the ability to produce detailed dose reports in milligrays (mGy) that in turn become a permanent part of the patient’s record. Reducing radiation dose to patients will result in a proportional decrease in the scatter dose received by the staff in radiology. Minimizing patient and occupational dose involves three cardinal variables: time, distance, and shielding. Dosimeters are required to be worn by all radiation personnel.