Development of X-ray protective clothes for medical treatments

As various medical treatments using X-ray irradiation are getting more important in modern medicine, effective, excellent X-ray protective clothes have been required. Elastomeric or PVC sheets containing powdery lead are usually employed as conventional X-ray protective clothes. In this case, enhancement of X-ray shielding efficiency increases the weight because the efficiency depends on the amount of lead incorporated. Such heavy clothes give significant fatigue and inconvenience during long term use. Consequently, lightweight and comfortable X-ray protective clothes have been eagerly desired in the medical field. The authors have improved these defects in the conventional clothes by means of elastomeric blending technologies and successfully developed new, lightweight and comfortable X-ray shielding clothes. The new clothes consist of lead-containing rubber sheet in which lead is homogeneously incorporated and lightweight PVC laminated with fabrics. They achieved favorable sense of touch, comfortable wearing and long-term durability. Furthermore, the clothes satisfy all requirements including X-ray shielding efficiency defined in JIS specifications. This article introduces the development of the new clothes and their properties in detail. (author)