Angiography and C-arm Service — Level 1

Mobile C-arms and fixed angiography: safety, imaging chain and PM

Part of the program: Angiography and C-arm Service Engineer — program (8 h) →

Mobile C-arms wear out from transport and handling long before their tube does, and fixed angiography rooms stop on a potentiometer, a brake or a lost connection far more often than on a failed generator. This course teaches the engineer who maintains C-arms and angiography systems to keep them safe for staff and patients, to understand the imaging chain well enough to tell a fault from a setting, and to run a planned maintenance that finds wear before the surgeon does.

Not started

A C-arm lives in the operating theatre. It gets pushed, bumped, splashed and unplugged every day.

A C-arm that fails during surgery stops an operation, not just a queue: the team is scrubbed, the patient is open and the engineer is called with no time to think.
Interventional staff stand next to the patient during fluoroscopy every day; worn aprons, a dead dose display or a collision sensor nobody tested turn into dose and injuries that nobody sees coming.
Manufacturer training for angiography is expensive and model-specific, and the common basics shared by every C-arm and angiography system are rarely taught on their own.

After the course you can

01Name the main assemblies of a mobile C-arm and a fixed single-plane or biplane angiography system, and say what each one does and how it typically fails.

02Work safely around fluoroscopy, motorised motion and stored energy: staff dose basics, collision protection, emergency stops, brakes, cables and the rules of the sterile field.

03Follow the fluoroscopy imaging chain from the generator to the monitor, including pulsed fluoroscopy, automatic dose rate control, image intensifier versus flat detector, DSA and road-mapping at principle level.

04Understand C-arm and gantry motion, brakes, motors, encoders and potentiometers, collision sensors and cable chains, and why mobile C-arms wear.

05Plan and record a preventive maintenance with image quality and dose checks at principle level, tube heat and cooling, batteries on mobile units and the national rules of Kazakhstan and Russia.

06Fault-find the common complaints - no fluoroscopy, boot errors, lost communication, collimator and motion errors, artefacts - and run the tests needed before returning the system to clinical use.

Curriculum

01The systems: mobile C-arms and fixed angiography
Recognise the type of C-arm or angiography system in front of you, name its main assemblies and say what each one does and how it usually fails, before you open a single cover.free
20 min 02Radiation and mechanical safety
Work on C-arms and angiography systems without exposing yourself or others unnecessarily, check the protective functions that keep staff and patients safe, and behave correctly in an operating theatre and around a sterile field.22 min 03The imaging chain: from fluoroscopy to DSA
Follow the fluoroscopy image from the generator to the monitor, explain what pulsed fluoroscopy and automatic dose rate control do, and tell an image problem caused by settings or the patient from one caused by a fault.22 min 04Mechanics and motion
Explain how C-arms, gantries and tables move and stop, read the signs of brake, drive, sensor and cable wear, and know why mobile C-arms wear out from handling long before their electronics fail.22 min 05Quality control and planned maintenance
Plan and carry out a planned maintenance on a C-arm or angiography system, including image quality and dose checks at principle level, tube heat and cooling, batteries on mobile units and a record that will stand up to an inspection.24 min 06Fault-finding and return to service
Fault-find the common C-arm and angiography complaints in a logical order - no fluoroscopy, boot errors, lost communication, collimator and motion errors, image artefacts - and run the tests needed before the system goes back to clinical use.24 min —Exam
25 · 40 min · 75 %

The certificate

Pass the exam and get a certificate of course completion with your name, hours and score. Every certificate has a unique number and a public verification page, so an employer or a customer can check it in one click. It confirms completion of the course; it is not an educational document (diploma) and not a manufacturer authorisation.

Certificate of course completion

Alex Example

has completed the course

Angiography and C-arm Service — Level 1: Mobile C-arms and fixed angiography: safety, imaging chain and PM

3 hours · score 86 %No. SEA-US1-000000-K7QF3M · verify at /verify/

The 3 training hours may be self-reported as continuing education (Category IV) toward renewal of AAMI CBET/CRES/CLES certification.

Who it is for

Hospital biomedical / clinical engineering teams
Field engineers in independent service companies

Who teaches

Written by a service engineer working with medical equipment since 2014, including 6.5 years at GE Healthcare and service supervision at Mindray, together with the engineers of Service Engineer.

FAQ

Is this manufacturer training?

No. It is independent, vendor-neutral training. It does not replace the manufacturer's procedures or grant authorisation or access to service software.

Do I need the X-ray course first?

It helps. This course builds on X-ray Service - Level 1 for generators, tubes and radiation safety, and on the electrical safety course for leakage and earth testing, and refers to them instead of repeating them.

What does the certificate say?

Your name, the course, the hours, the date and your exam score, with a unique number and a public verification page.

Can my company buy seats for a team?

Yes: five seats and a progress overview for the manager.

Languages?

English and Russian.