Radiation Safety Simulation Software (RadSafe VR)
RadSafe VR allows healthcare professionals and students to explore radiation scatter, occupational dose, positioning, and shielding within realistic interventional environments.
See Radiation Behaviour, Not Just the Rules
See how scattered radiation changes around the patient and X-ray system as the procedure changes.
Explore how distance and position relative to the patient and X-ray tube affect occupational exposure.
Reposition protective shielding and observe how placement changes the radiation environment.
Adjust equipment geometry, exposure settings and patient characteristics to compare different radiation conditions.
How RadSafe VR Models Equipment and Radiation Behaviour
RadSafe VR is modelled on the Siemens Healthineers ARTIS icono interventional imaging system and reproduces much of the movement, positioning, and geometry of the physical equipment.
Learners can change C-arm angulation, tube position, exposure settings, patient characteristics, staff position and shielding, then observe how those changes affect the simulated radiation environment.
This allows users to explore the relationship between equipment geometry, scatter radiation and occupational dose within a realistic interventional setting.
-1.jpg "RadSafe VR interventional radiology simulation showing C-arm equipment and radiation safety training environment")
The radiation output used within RadSafe VR was calibrated in New Zealand with the involvement of medical physicists.
This provides the physical basis for how the simulation responds when users change equipment geometry, exposure settings, patient characteristics, staff position, and shielding.
RadSafe VR has been independently benchmarked by external medical physicists, who compared its simulated scatter distributions and occupational dose estimates with physical measurements under defined interventional radiology conditions.
• Compare simulated and measured scatter distributions
• Assess occupational dose at defined locations
• Test representative C-arm, shielding and positioning configurations
Radiation Safety Training for the Whole Clinical Team
Radiographers and medical imaging technologists can practise positioning, equipment setup and radiation protection decisions within realistic interventional environments.
Interventional radiologists, cardiologists, and other fluoroscopy users can explore how equipment geometry, positioning, and procedural choices influence occupational exposure.
Scrub nurses, circulating nurses, anaesthetic staff and theatre teams can practise shielding, positioning and radiation safety decisions from the roles they perform during procedures.
Students can develop practical radiation protection skills before entering clinical environments and repeat scenarios without exposing patients, staff or themselves to ionising radiation.
From Radiation Protection Principles to Practical Decisions
Apply optimisation principles within changing clinical scenarios and observe how decisions affect occupational exposure.
Explore where to stand and how changes in distance, staff position and equipment geometry influence exposure.
Compare shielding positions and configurations to understand how placement changes the radiation environment.
See the consequences of radiation protection decisions as they are made, then adjust the scenario and try again.
Radiation Safety Workshop
The Radiation Safety Workshop is a self-paced self-assessment of eight short lessons. Learners can complete it in as little as 20 minutes, on desktop or in VR, using a standalone or PC-tethered headset.
- Lead shielding
- Protective eyewear
- Tube position: left lateral
- Tube position: right lateral
- Source-to-image distance (SID)
- Patient size
- Dose rate
- Collimation
Best practice compared with common practice
Each lesson compares two set-ups. Scenario A shows best practice. Scenario B shows a common poor practice. Learners see the images and the dose levels for both, so the difference each decision makes is clear and measurable.
Results saved to each learner's portfolio
Learners get their results as soon as they finish, and every result is saved to their own portfolio. The radiation safety officer (RSO) or educator can view each learner's portfolio, including the images and dose levels from scenarios A and B.
Institutions provide the workshop to their staff and students, who complete it on their own, in their own time.
Radiation Safety Simulation FAQs
What is radiation safety training?
Radiation safety training teaches healthcare professionals and students how to protect patients, staff and themselves from unnecessary ionising radiation exposure. It covers exposure optimisation, equipment setup, positioning, distance, shielding and safe working practices during medical imaging and image-guided procedures.
What is radiation safety in healthcare?
Radiation safety in healthcare involves managing and minimising radiation exposure to patients and staff through safe positioning, appropriate use of shielding, optimisation of exposure parameters, and an understanding of how radiation behaves in clinical environments. It includes the ALARA principle (As Low As Reasonably Achievable), but extends beyond it to encompass practical decision-making, workflow, and real-time awareness of radiation exposure during procedures.
Who uses radiation safety simulation software?
Radiation safety simulation software can be used by radiographers, medical imaging technologists, interventional radiologists, cardiologists, surgeons, nurses, anaesthetic staff, medical physicists, educators and students. It allows individuals and multidisciplinary teams to practise radiation protection decisions without exposing patients, colleagues or learners to ionising radiation.
How does radiation safety simulation improve training?
Radiation safety simulation allows users to visualise radiation exposure, practise shielding, and understand how positioning and technique affect dose in a safe, controlled environment. The platform provides live dose feedback as variables change, including frame rate, dose level, tube position, patient body mass, and shielding placement, helping users understand the real-time impact of their decisions on radiation exposure.
What is the RadSafe VR Radiation Safety Workshop?
The Radiation Safety Workshop is a self-paced self-assessment of eight short lessons covering lead shielding, protective eyewear, tube position for left and right laterals, source-to-image distance, patient size, dose rate and collimation. It can be completed in as little as 20 minutes, on desktop or in VR, standalone or PC-tethered. Each lesson compares best practice with a common poor practice, showing the images and dose levels for both. Results are saved to the learner's portfolio, which the radiation safety officer or educator can also view.
Evidence Supporting Radiation Safety Simulation
RadSafe VR has been evaluated in peer-reviewed studies measuring real occupational radiation dose. In randomised crossover trials, staff in cardiac catheterisation labs and orthopaedic theatres (Mwangi & Tanaka, 2025) and 100 scrub nurses (Romanenko et al., 2026) received significantly less radiation after RadSafe VR training than after traditional training. A multicentre study across eight hospitals found consistent dose reductions among interventional radiology nurses (Khamis et al., 2025).
In continuing education, RadSafe VR improved knowledge retention by 30% at three months and reduced eye dose by 25% compared with lecture-based training (Takahashi et al., 2025). At University College Dublin, radiography and medical students reported that it improved their knowledge, understanding and clinical readiness in radiation protection (Rainford et al., 2023).
Explore the research behind our radiation safety simulation
An Estimated 3.6 Billion Diagnostic Medical Examinations Are Performed Every Year
Worldwide, an estimated 3.6 billion diagnostic medical examinations, such as X-rays, are performed every year. This number continues to grow as more people access medical care. About 350 million of these examinations are performed on children under 15 years of age.
Healthcare professionals working around fluoroscopically guided procedures may receive occupational exposure to ionising radiation. Effective training helps clinical teams understand how equipment geometry, exposure settings, distance, positioning, and shielding influence that exposure.
RadSafe VR allows learners to explore these factors safely in realistic interventional environments. They can change the procedure, reposition staff and shielding, and immediately observe how their decisions affect scatter and occupational dose.
Source: World Health Organization, “Improving radiation safety”.