A nation-wide survey of operator and patient radiation doses in interventional radiology and cardiology and establishment of national reference levels.

Description :

Interventional Radiology and cardiology guarantee high benefits for patients, but are known to be associated with a high level of radiation for both patient and staff. High doses of ionizing radiation can cause tissue damage for patient during such procedures; while, for interventional staffs, high scattered doses to the eyes can lead to cataract formation. However, in recent years, many interventional procedures have become longer, more frequent, and more complex justifying the need to reduce radiation exposure of both patients and staff. In line with the International Atomic Energy Agency's recommendations, adopted by the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission, and to enhance the legal situation in Lebanon, the aim of this project is to set up national reference levels for different interventional radiology and cardiology procedures in Lebanon. Furthermore, it will concentrate on studying patients and workers’ exposure in typical interventional procedures. The work will include on-site measurements of patient skin dose as well as staff whole body, extremities, head and eye lens doses. Finally, it will look for correlations between doses (for both patient and staff) with online dose indicators given by the x-ray equipment to provide the operator with practical and easy to use alert levels.