THE EFFICACY OF RADPAD AS A RADIATION PROTECTION TOOL IN CT FLUOROSCOPY GUIDED LUNG BIOPSIES

2020 ◽  
Vol 191 (3) ◽  
pp. 328-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Lawson ◽  
Ahilan Kuganesan ◽  
Georgia Parry ◽  
Mohamed Khaldoun Badawy

Abstract Computed tomography fluoroscopy is now the preferred technique for percutaneous lung biopsies. However, concern regarding operator and patient radiation dose remains, which warrants further exploration into dose optimisation tools. This phantom-study aims to assess the dose reduction capabilities of RADPAD, a single-use patient drape designed to decrease staff exposure to scattered radiation. Dosemeters at the waist and eye levels were used to determine the whole-body and lens exposure during simulated lung biopsy procedures while using RADPAD and other combinations of personal protective equipment. RADPAD resulted in a 36% and 38% dose reduction for whole-body and eye exposure, respectively. However, when used in combination with radioprotective eyewear and aprons, RADPAD did not reduce the radiation dose further. Consequently, the use of standard personal protective equipment is a more cost-effective option for staff dose reduction. RADPAD is useful in the reduction of radiation dose to unprotected regions.

2020 ◽  
Vol 134 (8) ◽  
pp. 732-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
B Patel ◽  
J C Hardman ◽  
W Yang ◽  
A Robson ◽  
G Putnam ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundRobust personal protective equipment is essential in preventing the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 to head and neck surgeons who are routinely involved in aerosol generating procedures.ObjectiveThis paper describes the collective experience, across 3 institutes, of using a reusable half-face respirator in 72 head and neck surgery cases.MethodCost analysis was performed to demonstrate the financial implications of using a reusable respirator compared to single-use filtering facepiece code 3 masks.ConclusionThe reusable respirator is a cost-effective alternative to disposable filtering facepiece code 3 respirators. Supplying reusable respirators to individual staff members may increase the likelihood of them having appropriate personal protective equipment during their clinical duties.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 801
Author(s):  
Talita Nicolau ◽  
Núbio Gomes Filho ◽  
Andrea Zille

In normal conditions, discarding single-use personal protective equipment after use is the rule for its users due to the possibility of being infected, particularly for masks and filtering facepiece respirators. When the demand for these protective tools is not satisfied by the companies supplying them, a scenario of shortages occurs, and new strategies must arise. One possible approach regards the disinfection of these pieces of equipment, but there are multiple methods. Analyzing these methods, Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) becomes an exciting option, given its germicidal capability. This paper aims to describe the state-of-the-art for UV-C sterilization in masks and filtering facepiece respirators. To achieve this goal, we adopted a systematic literature review in multiple databases added to a snowball method to make our sample as robust as possible and encompass a more significant number of studies. We found that UV-C’s germicidal capability is just as good as other sterilization methods. Combining this characteristic with other advantages makes UV-C sterilization desirable compared to other methods, despite its possible disadvantages.


Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 118
Author(s):  
Andreas S. Brendlin ◽  
Moritz T. Winkelmann ◽  
Phuong Linh Do ◽  
Vincent Schwarze ◽  
Felix Peisen ◽  
...  

To evaluate the effect of radiation dose reduction on image quality and diagnostic confidence in contrast-enhanced whole-body computed tomography (WBCT) staging. We randomly selected March 2016 for retrospective inclusion of 18 consecutive patients (14 female, 60 ± 15 years) with clinically indicated WBCT staging on the same 3rd generation dual-source CT. Using low-dose simulations, we created data sets with 100, 80, 60, 40, and 20% of the original radiation dose. Each set was reconstructed using filtered back projection (FBP) and Advanced Modeled Iterative Reconstruction (ADMIRE®, Siemens Healthineers, Forchheim, Germany) strength 1–5, resulting in 540 datasets total. ADMIRE 2 was the reference standard for intraindividual comparison. The effective radiation dose was calculated using commercially available software. For comparison of objective image quality, noise assessments of subcutaneous adipose tissue regions were performed automatically using the software. Three radiologists blinded to the study evaluated image quality and diagnostic confidence independently on an equidistant 5-point Likert scale (1 = poor to 5 = excellent). At 100%, the effective radiation dose in our population was 13.3 ± 9.1 mSv. At 20% radiation dose, it was possible to obtain comparably low noise levels when using ADMIRE 5 (p = 1.000, r = 0.29). We identified ADMIRE 3 at 40% radiation dose (5.3 ± 3.6 mSv) as the lowest achievable radiation dose with image quality and diagnostic confidence equal to our reference standard (p = 1.000, r > 0.4). The inter-rater agreement for this result was almost perfect (ICC ≥ 0.958, 95% CI 0.909–0.983). On a 3rd generation scanner, it is feasible to maintain good subjective image quality, diagnostic confidence, and image noise in single-energy WBCT staging at dose levels as low as 40% of the original dose (5.3 ± 3.6 mSv), when using ADMIRE 3.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. e000653
Author(s):  
James Nilson ◽  
Nikolay Bugaev ◽  
Pavan Sekhar ◽  
Haracio Hojman ◽  
Luis Gonzalez-Ciccarelli ◽  
...  

Patients with COVID-19 often need therapeutic interventions that are considered high aerosol-generating procedures. These are either being performed by healthcare providers with potentially inadequate personal protective equipment or the procedures are being delayed until patients clear their viral load. Both scenarios are suboptimal. We present a simple, cost-effective method of creating a portable negative pressure environment using equipment that is found in most hospitals to better protect healthcare providers and to facilitate more timely care for patients with COVID-19.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (8) ◽  
pp. 958-958 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Nogee ◽  
Anthony J. Tomassoni

AbstractDue to extreme shortages of personal protective equipment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many healthcare workers will be forced to recycle protective masks intended for disposal after a single use. We propose investigating the use of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation to sterilize masks of SARS-CoV-2 for safer reuse.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 3339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mostapha Tarfaoui ◽  
Mourad Nachtane ◽  
Ibrahim Goda ◽  
Yumna Qureshi ◽  
Hamza Benyahia

Currently, the emergence of a novel human coronavirus disease, named COVID-19, has become a great global public health concern causing severe respiratory tract infections in humans. Yet, there is no specific vaccine or treatment for this COVID-19 where anti-disease measures rely on preventing or slowing the transmission of infection from one person to another. In particularly, there is a growing effort to prevent or reduce transmission to frontline healthcare professionals. However, it is becoming an increasingly international concern respecting the shortage in the supply chain of critical single-use personal protective equipment (PPE). To that scope, we aim in the present work to provide a comprehensive overview of the latest 3D printing efforts against COVID-19, including professional additive manufacturing (AM) providers, makers and designers in the 3D printing community. Through this review paper, the response to several questions and inquiries regarding the following issues are addressed: technical factors connected with AM processes; recommendations for testing and characterizing medical devices that additively manufactured; AM materials that can be used for medical devices; biological concerns of final 3D printed medical parts, comprising biocompatibility, cleaning and sterility; and limitations of AM technology.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Te Faye Yap ◽  
Zhen Liu ◽  
Rachel A. Shveda ◽  
Daniel Preston

The COVID-19 pandemic has stressed healthcare systems and supply lines, forcing medical doctors to risk infection by decontaminating and reusing medical personal protective equipment intended only for a single use. The uncertain future of the pandemic is compounded by limited data on the ability of the responsible virus, SARS-CoV-2, to survive across various climates, preventing epidemiologists from accurately modeling its spread. However, a detailed thermodynamic analysis of experimental data on the inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 and related coronaviruses can enable a fundamental understanding of their thermal degradation that will help mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic and future outbreaks. This paper introduces a thermodynamic model that synthesizes existing data into an analytical framework built on first principles, including the Arrhenius equation and the rate law, to accurately predict the temperature-dependent inactivation of coronaviruses. The model provides much-needed thermal sterilization guidelines for personal protective equipment, including masks, and will also allow epidemiologists to incorporate the lifetime of SARS-CoV-2 as a continuous function of environmental temperature into models forecasting the spread of coronaviruses across different climates and seasons.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Te Faye Yap ◽  
Zhen Liu ◽  
Rachel A. Shveda ◽  
Daniel Preston

The COVID-19 pandemic has stressed healthcare systems and supply lines, forcing medical doctors to risk infection by decontaminating and reusing single-use medical personal protective equipment. The uncertain future of the pandemic is compounded by limited data on the ability of the responsible virus, SARS-CoV-2, to survive across various climates, preventing epidemiologists from accurately modeling its spread. However, a detailed thermodynamic analysis of experimental data on the inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 and related coronaviruses can enable a fundamental understanding of their thermal degradation that will help model the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigate future outbreaks. This paper introduces a thermodynamic model that synthesizes existing data into an analytical framework built on first principles, including the rate law and the Arrhenius equation, to accurately predict the temperature-dependent inactivation of coronaviruses. The model provides much-needed thermal decontamination guidelines for personal protective equipment, including masks. For example, at 70 °C, a 3-log (99.9%) reduction in virus concentration can be achieved in ≈ 3 minutes and can be performed in most home ovens without reducing the efficacy of typical N95 masks. The model will also allow for epidemiologists to incorporate the lifetime of SARS-CoV-2 as a continuous function of environmental temperature into models forecasting the spread of coronaviruses across different climates and seasons.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 113
Author(s):  
SManu Ayyan ◽  
KN. J Prakash Raju ◽  
Naman Jain ◽  
M Vivekanandan

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