While physician groups no longer recommend that patients wear lead aprons during X-rays, they still suggest that medical providers should wear protective shielding made of lead or exit the room to reduce exposure..
While physician groups no longer recommend that patients wear lead aprons during X-rays, they still suggest that medical providers should wear protective shielding made of lead or exit the room to reduce exposure..
So, why does lead block radiation? Lead blocks radiation due to the density of its atoms and high attenuation.
But while lead is an excellent material for radiation protection garments, it isn't the only solution available..
Lead barriers are excellent for imaging procedures using ionizing radiation such as fluoroscopy, x-ray, mammography and CT.
The use of shielding provides a barrier between you and the source of the radiation.
Some examples of shielding are lead aprons, lead glasses, thyroid shields and portable or mobile lead shields..
What does lead-lining do? There must be lead between the walls (interior and exterior) and other rooms of an x-ray room as lead-lining protects patients from radiation exposure by shielding the patient from both x-rays and gamma rays..
Lead aprons
Lead can effectively attenuate certain kind of radiations because of its high density and high atomic number (82); principally, it is effective at stopping gamma rays and X-rays..
Lead shielding refers to the use of lead as a form of radiation protection to shield people or objects from radiation so as to reduce the effective dose..
More than 50 years of research has shown that levels of radiation used in modern X-ray machines are so low that the risk of harm is very small or even zero.
That's why we are no longer using shields, sometimes called lead aprons, during X-ray exams..
If lead shielding is present in the x-ray field of view, then it will automatically increase the AEC exposure factors (kVp, mA and time) which may lead to unnecessary increase of radiation dose to patients
Lead shielding is also unable to stop internal scatter within the patient, which is one of the major contributory factors for patient dose
In 2013, the ATA published a policy statement on thyroid shielding during diagnostic imaging
“With regards to dental x-rays, the ATA recommends the reduction of thyroidal radiation exposure as much as possible without compromising the clinical goals of dental examinations
”Shields can also cause automatic exposure controls on an X-ray machine to increase radiation to all parts of the body being examined in an effort to “see through” the lead
