When medical imaging progresses, so does the medical community’s knowledge about protecting individuals from ionizing radiation. Educating hospital workers on radiation best practices is the first move to optimizing healthy radiation practice. The radiation protection department of each organization is accountable for educating and implementing protective strategies. In multiple specialties, procedure creation and education strategies have been successful. In radiation dose optimization, simple interventions can play a significant role. When followed, rationale, optimization, and adherence to dose limits will substantially reduce exposure. Health care staff should confirm that the benefits of exposure outweigh the risks and, as possible, aim to minimize radiation exposure as far below the dose limits.
In several departments, including radiology, interventional cardiology, and surgery, radiation safety concerns patients, doctors, and employees. For medical professionals, radiation released during fluoroscopic procedures is responsible for the highest dose of radiation. Radiation from diagnostic imaging methods, such as computed tomography, mammography, and nuclear imaging, is a minor contributor to healthcare personnel’s cumulative dose exposure. Any radiation exposure, however, poses a potential danger to both patients and health workers alike.
The purpose of radiation safety or protección radiológica is to decrease excessive radiation exposure to mitigate ionizing radiation’s harmful effects. The immense use of radiation in the medical field has become an inescapable method for diagnosing and treating several medical conditions. As its use has grown, so have the combined doses obtained by both patients and care practitioners of lifetime radiation.
In medical settings, most radiation exposure comes from fluoroscopic imaging, which utilizes x-rays to achieve dynamic and cinematic functional imaging. Formal preparation in radiation safety helps decrease the sensitivity of medical professionals and patients to radiation. However, enforcing radiation safety guidelines can be an arduous task, and many interventionalists do not undergo comprehensive training on radiation dose reduction in either residency or fellowship. Clinicians or medical personnel using fluoroscopic imaging outside dedicated radiology or interventional units, in particular, have no compliance with radiation safety guidelines. Comprehensive knowledge of the risks of radiation exposure and dose control strategies would be of critical importance as radiation exposure becomes more prevalent.
Three fundamental radiation safety concepts exist, such as rationale, optimization, and dose limitation. Justification requires an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of using radiation for therapies or procedures. In informing patients about the possible adverse effects of radiation exposure, doctors, surgeons, and radiology workers play a vital role. The benefits of exposure should be well understood by the medical community and embraced. Procedures that expose patients to comparatively higher doses of radiation are also medically required, such as interventional vascular procedures, because the advantages outweigh the risks.
The main aspects of exposure control are the length of radiation exposure, distance from the radiation source, and physical shielding. In many cases, the exposure time can be reduced. When exposing a patient to radiation, to prevent needless and redundant exposure, the technician or physician should prepare the appropriate images. Magnification dramatically enhances the patient’s exposure; magnification should, therefore, be used judiciously. They make use of pulsed fluoroscopy, which obtains around five images per second without losing image quality, will achieve decreased exposure. Finally, wherever possible, the exposure period should be limited.
