Decrease in patient radiation exposure by a tantalum filter during electrophysiological procedures.

Minimization of X-ray exposure remains a primary issue in cardiac electrophysiology. The effectiveness of X-ray beam filtration during cardiac electrophysiological procedures was therefore studied, using a 0.05-mm-thick tantalum (Ta) foil, as a filter on the primary X-ray beam, to reduce the patient dose without degradation of image quality.