Analyzing results from an in vivo evaluation, researchers determined that ControlRad reduced radiation exposure to medical staff and patients undergoing fluoroscopically guided interventional procedures by approximately 75 percent without interfering with the performance of the procedure.

Percutaneous coronary interventions, non-surgical procedures that open up blood vessels in the heart, were performed on swine using a mobile C-arm with the ControlRad technology. The team, led by Dr. Stephen Balter, Departments of Radiology and Medicine, Columbia University, and lead author of the study, measured radiation using multiple devices, including Kerma Area Product (KAP). KAP is average air kerma, which estimates the skin dose in interventional radiology, multiplied by the corresponding X-ray beam cross-sectional area.

“ControlRad uses eye-tracking technology, or a tablet, to move a filter in real time to optimize the X-ray beam to the clinically relevant region of image,” Guillaume Bailliard, president and CEO of ControlRad, told HCB News.
The technology also features a collimator that directs the beam to the area the doctors are interested in, and the resulting image is enhanced using image processing techniques that deliver high-resolution images to the doctors when needed.

The amount of radiation delivered to the subject and the operators during the study were taken with and without the ControlRad technology. “These results demonstrate a novel approach to dramatically reducing the radiation exposure by allowing the operator to optimize the X-ray beam using eye-tracking, without compromising either image quality or workflow,” Balter said in a statement.

In the U.S., there are approximately 7,000 fixed C-arms in use by cardiologists, radiologists and vascular surgeons. Despite precautions taken, physicians are still exposed to levels of radiation that are tremendously higher than any other health care professional. Such exposure can lead to increased incidents of cataracts, stroke and possibly cancer.

“This is a way to help reduce a massive issue, not only to patients but to the entire medical staff,” added Bailliard. “The problem with existing technology is its impact on imaging quality and the radiation exposure it generates. Now we have technology that does not impact work flow or quality of health.”

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