Device to improve personnel shielding effectiveness in the special procedures room

This paper reports that during angiography, a lead apron leaves the head and neck vulnerable to radiation exposure. Shields worn on the head are uncomfortable or offer limited protection. A transparent shield mounted on an adjustable overhead arm places the shield closer to the source of radiation. This maximizes the size of the protected area behind the shield, but the shield can interfere with the operator's access to the patient. A pediatric catheterization laboratory utilizing a biplane C-arm posed a special challenge to the provision of additional personnel shielding because of the complicated motion of the two arms and the limited patient access space available. A new transparent shield was developed that attaches to the overhead image intensifier body.This shield's position can be manipulated to change the tradeoff between shielding effectiveness and patient access during a procedure