Is the exposure to the cardiologist much higher than to non-interventionalists?
The radiation exposure of the cardiologist is of significance principally for following three reasons: • location – has to work inside and near the X ray tube and cannot be too far away from the patient; • time – the radiation ‘ON’ time in a well utilized catheterization laboratory is typically a few hours per day (say 60-200 minutes) in contrast to a radiography room where it is generally two-four minutes for a workload of 100-200 radiographs per day; and • shielding – attenation by lead apron can be to the order of 90-97% depending upon the lead content of the apron whereas higher attentuation is possible with structural shielding for those who work at the console outside the X ray room. Further factors to consider are: • radiation intensity – in the fluoroscopy mode, intensity is lower by a factor of few tens as compared to the radiography or cine mode; • exposure parameters – typically they are automatically controlled by equipment and are higer for patients with high body mass; •
