Deciphering the Radiation Dose Summary Page in Interventional Fluoroscopy

Fluoroscopy is an advanced medical imaging modality that utilizes x-rays to acquire real-time images throughout a medical examination. It is commonly used in various procedures such as in interventional radiology, cardiac catheterization, and gastrointestinal and genitourinary studies. While fluoroscopy is a valuable diagnostic and therapeutic tool, it exposes patients and medical staff to ionizing radiation, which carries health risks. A radiation dose summary page is a report generated by the fluoroscope that displays important information about the procedure. It provides an overview of the radiation doses administered during a fluoroscopic procedure, as well as certain technical parameters used during the irradiation events. The contents of a radiation dose summary page may vary depending on the make and model of the fluoroscope but some common elements include the cumulative reference air kerma, which serves as a surrogate of radiation dose delivered to the patient, and the dose-area product, which takes account of the x-ray beam area and is a measure of the total amount of energy imparted on the patient. Other imaging acquisition parameters may be also included in the dose summary page, including tube voltage, tube current, pulse width, pulse rate, spectral filters, primary and secondary angles, and source-to-image distance. The radiation dose summary page for fluoroscopy is a useful tool for physicians, technologists, and medical physicists, allowing them to comprehend the technical details of a fluoroscopically guided procedure. ^©RSNA, 2024.