Region of interest (ROI) technology is proven to substantially reduce radiation exposure during interventional procedures. Over 25 years ago, Stephen Rudin, Ph.D. et al., wrote an article in RSNA Imaging & Therapeutic Technology that touted the benefits of ROI technology. Dr. Rudin recognized then that using ROI technology dramatically reduced patient dose outside of the ROI while maintaining – or improving – the image quality within that ROI.

Even so, interventional cases are often done using a full field of view (FOV) instead of the physician’s actual ROI. This exposes the patient to unnecessary radiation and the physician and staff to additional scatter radiation.

When ROI technology is used, it is often done using a manual system. What does that mean, a manual system? Manual means exactly what you think – the ROI is defined and maintained by an individual, often the interventionalist themselves. This is yet another distraction, another process, that frustrates the doctor’s true focus – their patient and the procedure.

A system that uses an automatic ROI is just that – automatic. AI-enabled technology immediately and automatically detects the ROI of an interventionalist. The system follows the movement of devices such as guidewires and catheters to maintain and adjust the ROI during a procedure. The process is completely automatic and hands-free. This eliminates the manual input requirements and distractions inherent in manual ROI systems.

AI image-guided ROI systems are proven to be safer than non-AI systems. AI provides an automatic, hands-free solution to radiation risk – delivering the benefit of consistent and repeatable radiation reduction beyond what conventional, non-AI systems can provide while providing superior image quality with no change in existing workflow.

AI can establish the ROI and optimize secondary collimation faster and more effectively than can human operators. ROI systems from Omega use AI image-guided technology that automatically defines, tracks, and collimates to the region of interest.

Omega’s interventional systems integrate an ultra-fast automatic secondary collimator that is driven by artificial intelligence and the most advanced image processing available. Unlike secondary filtration, collimation physically blocks the beam (the radiation) to peripheral anatomy that is outside the ROI.

With Omega systems, peripheral anatomy is only exposed to radiation as needed for reference of the full field of view (FOV). Only the anatomy within the ROI, where image quality is critical, is exposed to typical X-ray pulses. This all happens seamlessly when the interventionalist steps on fluoro or cine. There is no change to established workflow.

Not only does this dramatically reduce the radiation exposure to the patient, it also reduces the scatter radiation to the physician and staff – all while delivering the image quality demanded for optimum procedure success.

Omega’s AI image-guided interventional systems are proven to reduce radiation exposure by up to 84%. This reduction is in addition to any current ALARA best practices for radiation safety and far better than any conventional non-AI system. Omega’s AI-enabled systems go beyond merely managing radiation to provide an actual reduction in dose. The result is a groundbreaking solution that provides safer healthcare for both patients and staff. Omega allows physicians and hospitals to provide the best care and the best radiation reduction and safety to their staff and patients.