Energy consumption of cardiology intervention units: a comparative study of operational modes and procedure types

BACKGROUND: The healthcare sector is a major contributor to climate change, mainly due to greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation. Radiology imaging devices account for considerable energy consumption, but there is limited knowledge of the energy consumption of cardiac catheterisation units and of specific cardiac interventions. OBJECTIVES: To quantify energy consumption in kilowatt-hours (kWh) during diagnostic and therapeutic cardiac procedures and to identify potential areas for saving energy. METHODS: Current transformers measured true power in three cardiac catheterisation units in May and June 2024. The data were matched to system operational modes ‘off’, ‘idle’ and ‘intervention’. Clinical software provided information about the intervention type, operators and dose-area product. RESULTS: The total energy consumption was 6647.62 kWh, 76.5% of which was used for non-productive modes (62.8% ‘idle’ and 13.7% ‘off’). Interventions accounted for 23.5% of energy consumption and 9.1% of total time. The median (IQR) energy consumption of 564 performed interventions was 2.20 (2.02) kWh. Coronary interventions with ≥4 stents (4.86 [1.48] kWh) and mitral valve edge-to-edge repair (4.37 [2.59] kWh) used the most, while diagnostic coronary angiograms (0.91 [0.74] kWh) used the least energy from first to last scanning action. Energy consumption correlated significantly with intervention time (r = 0.98, p <0.001) and dose-area product (r = 0.62, p <0.001). CONCLUSION: Non-productive operational modes accounted for more than ¾ of overall energy consumption. Reducing ‘idle’ energy consumption appears to have the largest energy-saving potential.