Since the early 1900s, radiation therapy has been a useful tool to treat cancer. Early in the 20^th century, radiologists discovered that while radiation was effective in curing cancer, it could also cause cancer and other potentially life-threatening diseases by harming the cells surrounding the cancerous tissue.

Although modern medicine has fine-tuned this treatment to target a cancerous tumor more precisely to reduce radiation exposure,¹ both patients and healthcare personnel are still exposed to scatter radiation which can be harmful.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, patients who have received chest radiotherapy are at a 23 percent increased risk for cardiac morbidity after 20 years.² A study conducted on 960 breast cancer patients in the 70’s found that those who received the highest doses and volumes of radiation therapy in the cardiac region had three times the risk of cardiac death.² Moreover, another study conducted on 635 patients under the age of 21 who underwent Hodgkin lymphoma radiation treatment found that group to have a relative risk of fatal myocardial infarction of 41.5 percent compared to the general population of that age, sex and race group.²

Patients who need radiation therapy and the healthcare providers performing the procedure will always be at some level of risk at harmful radiation exposure. However, there are devices on the market today to help significantly reduce the detrimental health side affects that come from scatter radiation exposure.

The RADPAD® is the only clinically-proven, non-lead and non-vinyl, lightweight and disposable shield that can guarantee a 95% reduction in x-ray scatter radiation. RADPAD® shields are available in many sizes to protect both patients and physicians during procedures in interventional radiology, electrophysiology, vascular surgery and cath lab.

The RADPAD® shield works by creating a “shade zone” on the patient where radiation is absorbed into the shield. This allows the clinician to move freely within this zone with significantly reduced scatter radiation, all while protecting the patient.

To learn more about the RADPAD®, please call us at 888-891-1200 or email us.

MED Alliance Group is a medical device distributor with more than 350 years of combined medical device sales and distribution experience. Dedicated to meeting the needs of its clinical customers and manufacturing partners, MED Alliance offers cost-effective, customized sales, logistics, and distribution solutions for products found in anesthesia/respiratory, blood/transfusion therapy, EMS/emergency room, interventional radiology/cath lab, iv/vascular and NICU/PICU.

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References

1 https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-basics/history-of-cancer/cancer-treatment-radiation.html

2 https://consultqd.clevelandclinic.org/radiation-induced-heart-disease-toward-better-and-earlier-detection