Entrance surface air kerma in X-ray systems for paediatric interventional cardiology: A national survey

The aims of this work were to report the results of a national survey on entrance surface air kerma (ESAK) values for different phantom thicknesses and operation modes in paediatric interventional cardiology (IC) systems and to compare them with previous values. The national survey also offers suggested investigation levels (ILs) for ESAK in paediatric cardiac procedures. ESAK was measured on phantoms of 4-16 cm thickness of polymethyl methacrylate slabs. For low fluoroscopy mode (FM), ESAK rates ranged from 0.11 to 33.1 mGy min^-1 and for high FM from 0.34 to 61.0 mGy min^-1. For cine mode, values of ESAK per frame were from 1.9 to 78.2 μGy fr^-1. The ILs were suggested as the third quartile of the values measured. This research showed lower ESAK values than in previous research, particularly for ESAK values in cine modes. This work represents a first step towards launching a national programme in paediatric dosimetry for IC procedures.