CFI Medical has announced that its Zero-Gravity Suspended Radiation Protection System Floor Unit received the CE Mark and will be made available in the EU and other countries that subscribe to the marking. The system resides on the floor where it is locked down during operation and a swing arm holds the suit up via a cable. The user wears a special belt that has a magnet on the front. The magnet on the belt snaps onto a corresponding magnet on the suit so that when the physician moves, the suit follows right along. The Zero-Gravity provide considerably more protection than traditional ones thanks to a 1mm lead equivalence in the main part and 0.5 mm Pb equivalence within the glass face shield that stops much of the scattered radiation reaching the head.
We first saw the Zero-Gravity in use on our trip to Mt. Sinai’s cath lab. The physicians that work there, who no longer have to wear heavy lead-lined suits for hours at a time, had only praise for the Zero-Gravity. They still use hanging leaded glass protectors for assistants standing just off to the side of the fluoroscope, but the primary physician with hands under the radiation source uses the Zero-Gravity device. Certainly not wearing extra ten to twenty pounds all day long helps prevent fatigue and keeps docs from tiring out after multiple procedures.
Product page: Zero-Gravity…
Press release: CFI Medical and BIOTRONIK Announce CE Mark for Zero-Gravity™ Suspended Radiation Protection System…