Bedside X-ray in the ICU: Workflow and Safety

Patients on ventilation, in traction or on ECMO cannot travel to the X-ray room — the room must come to them. Bedside radiography with a portable unit and a wireless detector has become the ICU standard, and its quality depends on workflow more than on hardware.

A clean bedside routine

• •The wireless detector goes into a disposable cover and is positioned under the patient without cables
• •The portable unit is aimed with a collimator light; exposure parameters come from a stored protocol
• •Staff step back to the safety distance; the exposure takes milliseconds
• •The image lands on the workstation in seconds — the intensivist reads it before the machine leaves the bed
• •The detector cover is discarded, surfaces are disinfected — the panel itself never touches the patient

Radiation safety in an open ward

Scattered dose falls with the square of distance: at two meters it is already negligible for staff. Standard practice — a two-meter perimeter during exposure, lead aprons for the positioning assistant, and a personal dosimetry program. Battery-powered units remove cable runs across the ward floor entirely.

Have questions about the equipment?

Our specialists will advise on models, configurations and documentation — free of charge.