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Decrease in Patient Radiation Exposure by a Tantalum Filter during Electrophysiological Procedures
Author(s) -
ROSSI PIER LUCA,
MARISELLI MATTEO,
CORAZZA IVAN,
BIANCHINI DAVID,
BIFFI MAURO,
MARTIGNANI CRISTIAN,
ZANNOLI ROMANO,
BORIANI GIUSEPPE
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
pacing and clinical electrophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.686
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1540-8159
pISSN - 0147-8389
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-8159.2008.02264.x
Subject(s) - medicine , imaging phantom , image quality , filter (signal processing) , nuclear medicine , radiation dose , fluoroscopy , filtration (mathematics) , biomedical engineering , radiology , image (mathematics) , artificial intelligence , computer science , computer vision , statistics , mathematics
Aim: Minimization of X‐ray exposure remains a primary issue in cardiac electrophysiology. The effectiveness of X‐ray beam filtration during cardiac electrophysiological procedures was therefore studied, using a 0.05‐mm‐thick tantalum (Ta) foil, as a filter on the primary X‐ray beam, to reduce the patient dose without degradation of image quality.Method: Preliminary tests were made on a phantom developed with polymethylmethacrylate, catheters, and guide wires. The filter was then used in patients during cardiac procedures. Identical patient images were obtained with and without the Ta filter insertion and the ratio between image quality and patient dose was evaluated. Changes in patient dose and signal‐to‐noise ratio, as image quality index were measured on the phantom and in patients.Results and Conclusions: When the Ta filter was used, the mean effective individual patient dose decreased by 3 to 40% (mean reduction = 27%), with no perceivable difference in image quality estimated by electrophysiologists. This Ta filter may be useful to limit the radiation exposure of patients and operators during cardiac procedures.