Researchers at Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic reduced patient radiation exposure by 40 percent over three years through a combination of education, best practices and equipment alterations, according to a study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Interventions.
Here are eight changes the staff at Mayo Clinic made to decrease patients' radiation exposure from imaging tests, according to the report:
Practice changes
1. Making intraprocedure radiation dose announcements.
2. Reporting procedures for which the air-kerma exceeded 6,000 mGy. (Air-kerma is a patient radiation exposure metric reported by modern interventional X-ray systems, according to the report.)
3. Including procedure air-kerma in the clinical report.
4. Establishing compulsory radiation safety training for fellows.
Technical changes
5. Establishing standard X-ray imaging protocols.
6. Increasing use of X-ray beam spectral filters.
7. Reducing the detector target dose for fluoroscopy and acquisition imaging.
8. Reducing the fluoroscopy frame rate to 7.5 s−1.
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Here are eight changes the staff at Mayo Clinic made to decrease patients' radiation exposure from imaging tests, according to the report:
Practice changes
1. Making intraprocedure radiation dose announcements.
2. Reporting procedures for which the air-kerma exceeded 6,000 mGy. (Air-kerma is a patient radiation exposure metric reported by modern interventional X-ray systems, according to the report.)
3. Including procedure air-kerma in the clinical report.
4. Establishing compulsory radiation safety training for fellows.
Technical changes
5. Establishing standard X-ray imaging protocols.
6. Increasing use of X-ray beam spectral filters.
7. Reducing the detector target dose for fluoroscopy and acquisition imaging.
8. Reducing the fluoroscopy frame rate to 7.5 s−1.
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Study: Mayo Clinic Reduced Patient Radiation Exposure by 40%Study: Structured Sign-Out Improves Communication During Neurology Patient Handoffs
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