Leveraging Effective Dose in Reducing Radiation Exposure: Advancing Cardiac Catheterization Lab Safety Optimization

Abstract

The successful management of radiation safety for a Cardiac Catheterization Lab (CCL) requires strategic monitoring, such that radiation doses are maintained as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA). The need for appropriate regulations is crucial to optimize radiation dose in CCL. Diagnostic reference levels (DRL) are the benchmarks for radiological imaging and interventional procedures. At present, DRLs are not used widely in Saudi Arabia. Thus, National DRLs are needed to assist Saudi Arabia in optimizing patient safety and CCL procedure quality through strategic, evidence-based techniques. This study aims to optimize CCL staff performance and lab practices in Saudi Arabia to maintain radiation doses ALARA. To meet this objective, data will be collected from various hospitals in Saudi Arabia, which includes all the requirements parameters to assess the quality control, estimated staff dose, estimated dose to the patient, and patient parameters. Requests for access to the hospitals’ CCLs in Saudi Arabia will be distributed. To help achieve the research objective, the scope of CCL procedures that are performed in Saudi Arabian hospitals should be established. In this proposal, there is a list of various procedures performed at a typical CCL, and these procedures will be subject to critical observation, data collection, and data analysis. The data collection will focus on quality control, machine parameters, staff dose, patient dose, and patient data. If the data are available electronically, then these data will be extracted from CCL images and reporting systems using a structured query language. These extracted data will then be exported into SPSS software (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY) for statistical analysis. The resulting DLRs for CCLs in Saudi Arabia can substantially reduce radiation dose by fostering ongoing investigation and publication of DRL-related outcomes.