Posted by : admin in (Radiology)
X-ray Aprons Radiation Protection Apparel
Tagged Under : lead aprons, non lead aprons, radiation aprons, radiation protective apparel, x-ray aprons, xray apron
X-ray aprons are the most important part of protecting yourself from radiation in the medical industry. Many professional are not educated on the dangers of exposing yourself to radiation for long periods of time. There are several solutions to this problem. It is imperative that medical professionals posses the knowledge about the dangers of radiation exposure. They must also be aware of the ways to protect themselves and their patients from x-ray exposure.
X-ray aprons are typically referred to sometimes as lead aprons. This is because traditionally x-ray protection aprons were made of lead because of its density and ability to attenuate radiation. However lead aprons also had some very serious downsides. The first issue is the main protecting agent is lead. Lead is not environmentally friendly, which creates a problem when it comes to disposing of the lead apron after several years of use. The other danger with traditional lead aprons is that they are not ergonomically designed. The lead is often very heavy and when a surgeon is wearing it during long procedures it can be very strenuous on their bodies, especially their backs.
Manufacturers have come a long way now from the old traditional lead aprons, and they have began testing other materials other than lead that can protect against radiation but are lighter in weight. New metal alloys have been developed by companies like Lite-Tech. Their brand of x-ray aprons named Xenolite contains no lead in them. Instead of lead other lighter metals have been used to create an alloy that protects at the same equivalence as lead.
While they are not made of lead they protect equally as well and in the case of Xenolite their non lead aprons protect at a higher level than their ones that do contain lead. You can view the results in the Columbia Report that Columbia University performed. They tested attenuation rates of all the major manufacturer’s of xray aprons in the US and found that the Xenolite non lead aprons had the highest attenuation rating.
When picking out an x-ray apron for radiation protection the two main issues to address is protection equivalence and ergonomic suitability of the apron.