Comparison of lodox whole body slit beam technology with traditional radiography for evaluation of radioprotective lead aprons

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The Lodox Statscan is a digital low radiation dose X-ray unit. Its ability to also scan a full patient length in a few seconds with equivocal image quality to conventional radiography, has led to its use in multiple trauma units. We intended to extend the application of the Lodox Statscan in the Quality Assurance program of Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH), by utilizing the device to evaluate the integrity of lead aprons. AIM: This study aimed to compare Lodox Statscan with Fluoroscopic evaluation of radioprotective lead aprons with regard to the integrity of the lead shielding. METHOD: 35 lead aprons from the Radiology department at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital were collected and imaged using Fluoroscopy and Lodox Statscan. The digitally recorded images of the lead aprons were assessed to determine the presence, number and size of lead apron fractures. The Lodox Statscan findings and conventional radiography findings, including time taken to assess each apron, were compared.RESULTS: Lodox Statscan, was faster in acquiring images, with an average procedure time of 1.43 minutes, compared to an average time of 5.72 minutes with Fluoroscopy. In terms of identifying fractures, the two methods displayed no statistical difference (pvalue: 0.33). No statistical difference was found in the fractures scores (total number of fractures detected) between the two imaging technologies (p-value: 0.79). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study have shown that compared to the gold standard fluoroscopic examination, Lodox examination of lead aprons is a feasible option in determining the integrity of lead aprons.