Patient and Staff Doses from Digital Bi-plane Coronary Angiography

INTRODUCTION Coronary Angiography is the standard technique for imaging the left ventricle and coronary arteries. Within the spectrum of diagnostic imaging coronary Angiography is a high dose procedure. The number of examination has significantly increased in recent years, partly due to the introduction of diagnostic X-ray equipment with improved imaging capabilities. This has resulted not only in an improvement in patient care but also in an increase in radiation dose to the staff and patients. In cardiac catheterization procedures C-arm equipment is often used with minimal local shields. The cardiologist and other staff members are usually working close to the area under examination and receive the dose primarily from scattered radiation from the patient (Fig. 1).