Occupational radiation dose during the trans-catheter aortic valve replacement procedure
Date
2015
Authors
Shatila, Omar Hani, author
Johnson, Thomas, advisor
Brandl, Alexander, committee member
Miller, Charles, committee member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
Fluoroscopy is an x-ray-imaging technique used during medical procedures such as trans-catheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). The use of fluoroscopy exposes medical personnel to x-rays scattered from the patient. In this study, radiation dose to personnel at University of Colorado Hospital was measured using Phillips DoseAware dosimeters. The primary physician (0.106 mSv), secondary physician (0.035 mSv), perfusionist (0.027 mSv) received highest median doses of the operating room (OR) personnel. The physicians’ relatively higher doses were expected because of their proximity to the isocenter of the x-ray beam. The perfusionist’s position in the OR, however, is significantly further away from the isocenter than the physicians’ position, suggesting the x-rays scatter unevenly and further away from the isocenter than previously expected. A linear relationship between fluoroscopic output and beam time was not found, however only 21 data points were collected. Factors other than fluoroscopy output can influence dose such as medical personnel movement, beam direction and scatter distribution. A dose map could relate dose to fluoroscopy output without the variability caused by these factors and be a better predictor of medical personnel doses. The dosimeters in this study were susceptible to radio-frequency interference (RF): future studies should consider dosimeters immune to RF.