Evaluation of radiation dose reduction by barium composite shielding in an angiography system

2022

In medical institutions, the high weight of shielding clothing restrains the activities of medical workers. Although lightweight shielding clothing is being manufactured to solve this problem, the weight can only be reduced by 10%–20%. Flexible shielding fibers are mainly used to minimize activity restrictions; however, it is difficult to maintain the reproducibility of shielding performance. When weaving fibers with a yarn that contains a shielding material, the content of the shielding material in the yarn, tensile strength, and problems encountered during weaving should be considered. Therefore, in this study, a high-density shielding fabric weaving process was developed to weave a functional shielding fabric for actively utilizing it for low-dose shielding. The yarn was manufactured using 5 wt% barium sulfate, and the shielding performance was evaluated using the existing plain weave and two fabrics that underwent the newly developed high-density twill weave process. As a result of the experiment, the density of the fabric woven by the twill method increased by 82 g/m³, documenting a difference of 7.46% in the high-energy region and 11.71% in the low-energy region, thus indicating that the Twill method improves the shielding effect. Therefore, it is possible to mass produce lightweight, high-density shielding fabric that can protect against scattered rays that represent the main source of radiation in medical institutions.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving the Density of Functional Fabrics to Protect Radiation Workers in Radiology Departments

Son

2022

“…BaSO 4 is an eco-friendly material that is harmless to the human body. It has a density of 4.49 g/cm 3 [26]. Producing films with a thickness as low as 3 mm causes limitations in the shielding material content injection; thus, a method to increase the density inside the film was considered.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparation and Performance Evaluation of X-ray-Shielding Barium Sulfate Film for Medical Diagnosis Using PET Recycling and Multi-Carrier Principles

2022

The use of disposable containers and packaging materials has increased due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the generation of plastic waste is also increasing, and research on recycling such waste is being actively conducted. In this study, an X-ray-shielding film for medical diagnosis was manufactured by mixing a radiation-shielding material and a plastic waste-based polymer material and its effectiveness was evaluated. The film, which is intended as a fabric for a shielding garment, consists of barium sulfate (BaSO4) shielding nanoparticles embedded in a matrix of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a commonly available waste plastic material. A particle-dispersing technology, which can improve the ratio between the shielding and matrix materials while maintaining the tensile strength of the film, was studied. Therefore, to increase the content of the barium sulfate (BaSO4) nanoparticles used as the shielding material, this multi-carrier method—under which the particles are dispersed in units of time—was developed to improve the shielding performance. Compared with the effectiveness of lead (Pb) shielding film, the 3 mm barium sulfate film developed in this study satisfies the lead equivalent of 0.150 mmPb when stacked in two layers. Therefore, a shielding film was successfully manufactured by using plastic waste as a polymer resin and barium sulfate, an eco-friendly radiation-shielding material, instead of lead.

“…However, tungsten exhibits limited processability as it starts melting at 3400 • C or higher temperatures [12]. When bismuth oxide or barium sulfate is used as a shielding material, the thickness of the shield should be increased significantly to achieve an effective shielding performance; this limits its application [13]. Therefore, a syringe shield made of an eco-friendly material instead of lead can only be commercialized when new shielding materials or mixtures are realized, which requires an improvement in the process technology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance Evaluation According to Polymer Encapsulation Characteristics of Eco-Friendly Plastic Gamma-Ray Shield

2022

To eliminate the exposure of medical staff to radiopharmaceuticals during nuclear medicine tests, a new process technology was proposed for manufacturing gamma-ray shields used in nuclear medicine. In the case of manufacturing the existing gamma-ray shield, a method of increasing the content of the shielding material in the mixed material is used to improve the shielding performance. However, it is impossible to improve the shielding performance by simply increasing the content of the shielding material. Therefore, this study aims to present the optimal conditions for improving the miscibility between composite materials. Following the additional mixing of barium sulfate and bismuth oxide with tungsten, a syringe shield was developed via a plastic injection mold process. When tungsten was solely used or in combination with other shielding materials, polymer encapsulation occurred, and miscibility between composite materials was observed. Based on these results, the optimal conditions in terms of eco-friendly materials, economic feasibility, and improvement in shielding performance were determined. The findings of this study reveal that when tungsten and the polymers are combined, the polymer encapsulation is optimal, the particles are uniformly dispersed, and the shielding performance is significantly improved. With a 99mTc source, a 6.9% improvement in the shielding performance is achieved compared with the use of lead.