Fluoroless catheter ablation, a technique used to treat arrhythmias that greatly reduces exposure to radiation, should be more widely used in the field of cardiology, according to some experts.

“The amount of fluoroscopy received by a patient during a routine [atrial fibrillation] ablation procedure is estimated to be the equivalent of the dose of radiation a patient would receive with 830 X-rays,” Bruce B. Lerman, MD, FHRS, H. Altschul master professor of medicine, chief of the division of cardiology and director of cardiac electrophysiology at Weill Cornell Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, said in a press release. “In our hands, the vast majority of AF patients do not require fluoroscopy, resulting in no radiation exposure to the patient or the electrophysiologist performing the procedure.”