Addressing the Occupational Risk of Radiation Exposure in the Evolving Field of Interventional Echocardiography

Abstract

Interventional echocardiography (IE) is a relatively new subspecialty in the field of cardiology that has rapidly evolved to occupy a critical role in the treatment of structural heart disease. Despite this, clear competency guidelines are only now being issued, and, of pressing importance, the health risks associated with the profession, particularly occupational radiation exposure, still need to be recognized and appropriately addressed for both specialists and trainees in IE as well as for supporting sonographers. This review will briefly discuss the extensive training interventional echocardiographers need in advanced imaging modalities and will then present standard measures as well as possible innovative devices that can be implemented to reduce ionizing radiation exposure for those working in the field of IE.