Novel shielding device gives patients 80% better protection from radiation during mammograms
Researchers have developed a new shielding device they say can reduce radiation exposure during mammograms by nearly 80%.
Current shielding mechanisms include acrylic face guards and lead thyroid collars. Although both are effective, they leave substantial room for improvement in protecting vulnerable areas such as the eyes and thyroid. Such devices also can interfere with patient positioning and obstruct the view of anatomy.
Experts are hopeful their device can address some of the shortcomings of methods currently in use. They detailed the development and testing of their system in a new paper published by the journal Radiation Physics and Chemistry.
“Although mammography delivers relatively low radiation doses, minimizing unnecessary exposure to radiosensitive organs, such as the eye lens and thyroid gland, remains important,” Jin-Hwan Kim, with the Department of Radiology, College of Medicine at Chungnam National University, Republic of Korea, and colleagues noted. “Consequently, effective shielding of these organs has become an essential aspect of radiation protection in mammography.”
The device is comprised of two parts: a 6-mm lead glass face guard and a stainless-steel cover for the compression paddle. It was built with the help of 3D modeling and precision mold fabrication and attaches directly to the paddles, similar to shielding devices currently in use.
To test the system’s effectiveness at reducing exposure to scatter radiation, researchers used an anthropomorphic dosimetry phantom positioned in the standard craniocaudal orientation. Calibrated ionization chambers were placed on the phantom in areas that correlated with those considered most vulnerable to scatter radiation (eye lens, thyroid, axilla) to determine spatial dose measurements. These measurements were taken with and without the use of the shielding device.
Compared to standard methods, the researchers’ system resulted in substantially greater protection. At the eye level, the spatial dose decreased by 74.9%; at the thyroid level, it decreased by 78.5%. Surface dose also saw significant reductions, with exposure to sensitive areas lowered by up to 86.8%.
“These devices can be readily integrated into existing mammography systems, providing a practical solution for protecting radiation-sensitive organs, such as the eyes and thyroid, during mammography,” the group suggested.
Future research should incorporate different patient characteristics and image acquisitions, they added, such as magnification views.
Learn more about the findings here.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.