Infab is pleased to introduce our new Smart Armor HC 35™ line of products, the only radiation protection aprons tested by an independent Health Physics lab and certified to meet or exceed .50mm lead equivalency at 150kVp!!!

Infab Corporation is pleased to announce that Melissa Javaherian has joined the Sales & Marketing team. Melissa will support and develop the global marketing strategy for Infab, overseeing the U.S. and International markets. 

Melissa has had several years of success in marketing, including most recently working with the World Poker Tour. She has demonstrated experience in developing and executing marketing and sales strategies, and building strong relationships with customers. 

Melissa holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University California Santa Barbara and a Master of Arts from the Antioch University, Santa Barbara.

"Most of us have a pretty close relationship with our lead apron. We take the time to choose an apron that reflects our style and preferences. The color, function, weight, logo and name, with applicable initials, are all very important decisions that we make during the selection process. Once our choice has been made, we become very territorial about our precious apron. Heaven forbid that a visitor from another facility should prepare to scrub for a case and randomly grab YOUR lead apron from the rack. Horrors! Some of us will go as far as to gently (or otherwise) pull it off of the uninformed person. After all, it is our suit of armour, our buddy, it’s full of OUR sweat, iodine and heaven knows what else we’ve baptized it with.

Understandably, it was difficult for me to retire my lead apron and replace it with another. I contacted Infab, a local, friendly lead apron supplier here on the West coast. (No, I don’t work for them.) After careful consideration of the various options, I made my decision. I did choose to keep the same pattern, partly out of respect for the old apron and partly due to my complete lack of imagination. Two weeks later, my new, brightly colored, lightweight, lead apron arrived. Oh, the new smell of it! I preferred to avoid contemplating the toxicity levels, but it was time to start with the new.

I wondered how to resign the old apron gracefully. Infab supplied me with a return label and box to send it back to them for disposal. I carefully wrapped my old friend up, gently laid it in the box and enclosed a note. Since I’m such a sentimental fool, I wrote the following, Please take good care of this old lead apron, as it has served its owner well over the years. Kindly dispose of it carefully and give it a final blessing as you do so. I figured that was the end of it. I said goodbye and quickly became friends with my new apron.

Three weeks later, I received a box from the company. In the box was a velvet-lined, heart-shaped box. I opened the lid and found a small brass urn with a label on it. It read, R.I.P. Lead Apron. How I laughed! There’s actually something inside the brass urn. What exactly, I don’t know perhaps the actual remains of the lead? What a terrific sense of humor the Infab representative showed. I continue to enjoy the velvet box sitting on my desk.

Although I don’t think that the Infab company does this on a regular basis, you’ve got to admit that they went the extra mile for my dear old apron. I hope you enjoyed this story. The levity is good for us tired, old, crusty CCL personnel!"

Link to the article: http://www.cathlabdigest.com/articles/Cath-Laughs-Laying-My-Apron-Rest

Sincerely,
Don Cusick, CEO

View the Standards Document Online

Scatter Radiation Effects:

• Interventional Radiologists are exposed to radiation that will produce substantial side effects such as cataracts and dermatitis.
• The stochastic effects of radiation, which include carcinogenesis and genetic mutations, occur at all doses.
• Abdominal angiography may result in greater doses to the hand, nearly 10 times as great as for cerebral angiography.
• The hand dose during cardiac catheterization may be as much as 20-50 times the doses in cerebral procedures.

Radiation Reduction with Protective Surgical Drape:

• According to the study, a single IR who had exceptionally high readings was given the opportunity to routinely use radiation protection drapes. This individual's dosimeter readings decreased 4-fold from the previous two months.
• When the studies were performed using a radiation protection drape, scatter radiation (as measured by using thermoluminescent dosimeters on the thyroid, each eye and, wrist) was reduced by a factor of 12 for the eyes, 26 for the thyroid, and 30 for the hands.

Cost & Material Benefits:

• The cost of the radiation protection drape adds relatively little to the cost of the procedure.
• Because it is lead free, the device does not raise additional environmental concerns and can be disposed of the same way as any surgical drape.

Find Radiation Protection Drapes & Shields here.

View the Study (pdf)

Sacramento – Today, the Assembly Business and Professions Committee approved Senate Bill 1237 authored by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima). 

SB 1237 would establish protocols and safeguards to protect patients from being exposed to excess radiation during computed tomography (CT) scans by requiring:

- Radiation dosage levels be recorded on the scanned image and in a patient’s health records

- Radiation overdoses be reported to patients, their treating physicians and the Department of Public Health

The bill also requires the same kind of monitoring and reporting on therapeutic x-rays (radiation that is used to treat cancer).

The guideline features a few key learnings:

• New data from exposed human populations suggest that cataracts occur at doses far lower that previously believed.

• The ICRP (International Commission on Radiological Protection) recommends that IR departments develop a policy that staff wear 2 dosimeters, one under the apron and one above the apron.

• Hand doses may also be monitored using an additional dosimeter.

• It is not possible to accurately estimate an operators hand dose using a body or wrist dosimeter because of the proximity of the hands to the beam.

• Disposable protective drapes have been shown to reduce operator dose substantially, with reported reductions of 12-fold for the eyes, 26-fold for the thyroid, and 29-fold for the hands.

• Although their use adds some cost to the procedure, disposable protective drapes should be considered for complex procedures and procedures in which the operators hands must be near the radiation field (dialysis, biliary, etc)

• Combining various types of shielding results in dramatic dose reductions for the operator.  This should be the norm, rather than the exception.

• Operators and staff who work in the interventional labs should be provided with properly fitted aprons.

According to the CIRSE and SIR, this guideline is intended to offer a basic review of the medical physics relevant to occupational radiation safety and to provide advice and guidance to interventional radiologists who perform procedures with the guidance of ionizing radiation and their staff. In this document, the emphasis is radiation protection during fluoroscopically guided procedures.

The American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) is one of the largest voluntary standards development organizations in the world. Formed over a century ago, standards developed at ASTM are the work of over 30,000 technical experts, users, consumers, government and academia from over 120 countries.

In 2006, The ASTM Committee F23 on Protective Clothing published a new standard for testing radiation protection materials, focused on measuring the attenuation of X-rays and removing Lead Equivalency as part of the standard. They believe "it is not feasible to obtain an adequate standard of lead samples for reporting lead equivalency values."

The F23 standard, titled "Standard Test Method of Determining the Attenuation Properties in a Primary X-ray Beam of Materials Used to Protect Against Radiation Generated During the Use of X-ray Equipment",  specifies that the exposure is directly proportional to the intensity of the X-ray beam. The attenuation of the sample is determined at an X-ray energy in the range produced by an acceleration potential from 60 to 130 kVp. This test accurately measure the percentage of radiation being stopped by the protective device. There is nothing esoteric about this test, it provides the means and the method for accurately determining how much harmful radiation is being stopped by your protective apron or device.

Download the ASTM Report in .PDF Format

Testing Definitions:

• Attenuation:
  The process by which a beam of radiation is reduced in energy when passed through material. The most important and accurate measure of the level of protection an apron provides. Expressed as a percentage. Example: 98.5% attenuation means only 1.5% of the beam is passing through the apron and 98.5% of the beam is being stopped or blocked by the apron.
• Lead Equivalency:
  Antiquated way of expressing the protection level of an apron. Meaningless unless all parameters are known, such as the exact testing method and circumstances. No testing procedure exists to accurately express lead equivalency in products that do not contain lead (see ATTENUATION above) EXAMPLE: Lead free aprons with three layers of protective material that stop 98.14% of the direct beam at 90kVp are rated 0.521mm lead Equivalent. The very same test on the very same apron with 4 layers of protective material were rated at 0.781mm lead equivalent but only stopped 99.25% of the beam, a 1.14% difference

   

  The Original Radiation Protection Standard

  Lead radiation protection materials were originally tested to show the percentage of attenuation and lead equivalency in the direct X-ray beam, for purposes of insuring the end user that they were being adequately protected at all times. . This worked theoretically because both the sample and the standard were of the same material - lead. "Lead equivalency" became the marketing characterization for manufacturers of radiation protection products, however, as detailed above, one can quickly see how misleading lead equivalency reporting is. The new ASTM standard for testing protective aprons states in relevant part "Although lead equivalency has been the standard for reporting protective material capability, the drafters of this test method believe it is not feasible to obtain adequate standard lead samples for reporting lead equivalency values". What this statement says, essentially, is that lead equivalency reporting is at best, not accurate. What is accurate and relevant is the percentage of beam that passes through the protective apron or barrier and this can easily be provided for any apron or any material utilizing the standardized ASTM F 2547-06 test method. Finally there is a way to accurately and fairly test aprons and compare the various brands and manufacturers products.

  Usage of Lead Equivalency for Comparison

  Lead Equivalency means little without knowing the strength of the X-Ray beam used in the testing or the set up and testing procedure themselves. This generally leads to a false sense of security. Lead equivalency, in and of itself, is not a useful thing when stating actual protection from radiation. Again, what we are concerned with is the actual percentage of radiation the apron or barrier stops. This is best expressed as an attenuation percentage as specified in the ASTM standardized testing report. Typically, direct beam testing will range from powers of 60kVp to 120kVp, common industrial output from X-Ray and Imaging products. “0.5 mm lead” or “0.5 mm lead equivalent” are common product descriptions skewed to favor the inadequacies of certain manufacturers products and easily misleading. Finally there is a standardized and internationally recognized testing method that levels the playing field and gives you, the end user, the accurate information and data you need to make an informed decision on protection.

  Comparing Apples to Oranges

  When composite and lead-free materials were introduced, the standards kept "Lead Equivalency" in the testing process for many years to give relative assumptions about the effectiveness of X-ray beam protection materials. However, the lead equivalence estimate is based on two separate measurements, lead equivalency and attenuation percentage, which are then compared to give the "best guess" of lead equivalency. Because lead equivalency cannot be accurately determined, especially int he case of lead free products and since lead equivalency is really irrelevant and meaningless when expressed as a number without ALL of the testing parameters included, the very best way to make sure you are getting what you pay for is to know the exact percentage of attenuation your protective aprons and barriers provide. Attenuation is a simple test to perform and is 100% accurate and 100% indicative of the level of protection you are receiving. Too often manufacturers and their Representatives are telling "half truths". Yes, their apron may well be .50mm lead equivalency but at what energy level?? If it is tested at 60 kVp that is one thing, but what about 80, 90, 100 kVp? As has been demonstrated on numerous occasions, higher lead equivalency DOES NOT translate to proportionately higher levels of protection. in very recent testing by an independent Health Physics organization, utilizing the ASTM test method, the following results were documented:  A lead free apron with three layers of protective material attenuated 98.14% of the direct beam at 90kVp and was rated 0.521mm lead equivalent. The very same test on the very same apron with 4 layers of protective material were rated at 0.781mm lead equivalent, a 34% difference in lead equivalency, but only stopped 99.25% of the beam, a 1.14% difference in attenuation. From this example it is clear to see how easy it is to be mislead by the actual protection level of your apron. Again, lead equivalency means nothing other than the literal translation, equivalency to lead. Attenuation means everything, it is the very measure of HOW MUCH RADIATION IS BEING STOPPED BY THE PROTECTIVE DEVICE

  INFAB'S SOLUTION

  Lightweight & Lead-Free Attenuation
  
  Radiologists and X-ray technicians often experience apron discomfort, fatigue and other physical problems due to the weight of lead within their apparel. Infab offers a comfortable, lightweight alternative to lead. The Infab product attenuates the harmful beam at the same or higher levels then all other manufacturers products, whether they are lead, lead composite or lead free. ASTM testing method F 2547-6 has, at last, provided a fair and easy testing method by which to compare and evaluate all manufacturers products and their ability to stop harmful radiation. There is no longer any basis for or reason to "take anybody's word for it". This simple test will once and for all provide concrete information on a  protective devices efficacy.

  Environmentally Friendly Materials

  Given the worldwide concern about health effects arising from lead exposure, Infab's lead-free core material is environmentally friendly and does not require special disposal procedures.  There are outstanding alternatives to toxic lead and PVC in radiation protection and they are available today. The ASTM testing method levels the playing field and gives a concrete method for comparing the effectiveness of any protective apron, lead or otherwise. You no longer have to accept the competitors lies, the proof is in the test results and Infab tests every single batch of protective core material we manufacture with an independent testing lab. (results available on request). Don't just take our word for it, put us to the test, the ASTM Standardized apron test that is.

   

Download the PDF

We're pleased to make available our new catalog for 2010.

You'll find the following updates and more!

- New Standard Colors
- New XXL Sizes
- New Lower Prices for Glasses
- New Radiation Protection Glasses, including the "Flip Top" 

Download here!

As an Infab customer, If you have a favorite charity that you would like to see recognized, please send us an e-mail, in confidence, with the name of the charity and contact information, along with a brief statement about why this charity is near and dear to you. We would be happy to consider it for a future donation on behalf of you and the Infab Corporation

Infab will patch pinholes, cuts, and small tears in your Infab protective aprons core material. Maximum 10 day turnaround (usually less) and guaranteed for two years from date of repair.

CAUTION: Repaired areas may show up as a lighter spot under X-Ray (darker under fluoroscopy) but indicates an area of INCREASED protection

*Applies to Infab brand aprons only

In the month of September we donated $2,000.00 to the Avon Walk Against Breast Cancer, $100.00 to the Humane Society of America and $100.00 to the Arthritis Foundation.
 
Philanthropy is something the team at Infab embraces and supports whole heartedly. We are proud to contribute to causes that increase the well-being of humankind.
 
As an Infab customer, If you have a favorite charity that you would like to see recognized, please send us an e-mail, in confidence, with the name of the charity and contact information, along with a brief statement about why this charity is near and dear to you. We would be happy to consider it for a future donation on behalf of you and the Infab Corporation

GreenLite® is a proprietary blend of lead free metal powder and polymers that form a protective barrier against radiation equal to lead vinyl in the primary beam and SUPERIOR to lead vinyl in protecting against scatter radiation.

GreenLite® is the lightest apron in the world, 41% lighter than any lead vinyl apron. GreenLite® has become the industry’s standard worldwide for lead-free and lightweight protective gear.

We invite you to compare our weight vs. protection against any other manufacturers products! Check out the independent test reports here. 

Contact Us to see how you can take advantage of GreenLite in your next purchase.