Infrared imaging better at touch at detecting defects in protective lead aprons

'Infrared (IR) thermal imaging is a much better detective, with 50 percent of study participants picking out all holes intentionally drilled into a test apron compared with just 6 percent of participants who detected the same defects using the tactile method, according to research published online Nov. 8, 2017,  in the Journal of the American College of Radiology. In addition to being a more accurate way to detect subtle defects, the IR imaging technology also reduces ionizing radiation exposure for inspectors checking the protective power of lead aprons.

“When I researched how lead aprons are inspected, I learned that a combination of tactile and visual inspection is considered the gold standard. But many of the smallest holes can be missed this way,” says Stanley Thomas Fricke, Nucl. Eng., Ph.D., radiation safety officer at Children’s National Hospital and study senior author. “Unlike the fingertips, infrared light can penetrate the lead apron’s protective outer fabric and illuminate defects that are smaller than the defect size now used to reject a protective apron. This work challenges conventional wisdom and offers an inexpensive, readily available alternative.” '

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