- An auto parts manufacturer has developed a shield that dramatically reduces doctors’ exposure to radiation during cardiac catheterization surgeries.
- This is MS Group Co. in Kiyosu, Aichi Prefecture, produces weather stripping for automobile door windows.
- The new shield, which measures approximately 180 centimeters high and 90 centimeters wide, reduces doctors’ radiation exposure to a tenth of the current level.
A auto parts manufacturer has developed a shield that dramatically reduces doctors’ exposure to radiation during cardiac catheterization surgeries, using its molding technology.
MS Group Co.. in Kiyosu, Aichi Prefecture, produces car door window weather stripping and edge seals.
The president of the company who also works as a cardiologist
But Kunihiro Sakoda, 43, the president of the company who also works as a cardiologisthas been investigating how to contribute to healthcare with his company’s manufacturing technology.
MS started a joint development project with doctors who asked Sakoda in late 2020 about how to protect pregnant physicians from radiation exposure during cardiac catheterization surgeries. Many doctors specializing in echocardiography are women.
During cardiac catheterization, widely practiced for the treatment of heart vascular disease in recent years, a thin tube is inserted into an artery, often near the groin, and directed to the heart. The burden on the patient is greatly reduced since the surgery does not involve opening the chest.
However, the patient must be irradiated during surgery to accurately measure the position of the inserted instrument. Protection of involved physicians, such as anesthesiologists and echocardiographers, from radiation exposure has been inadequate to date.
In many cases, conventional protective suits are avoided in operating rooms because they are bulky and difficult to wear.
“I feel unprotected. I don’t want to be exposed to radiation, although I can’t say that openly while I’m trying to get pregnant,” said an echocardiographer in her 30s.
The new protection
The new protection that measures approximately 180 centimeters high and 90 cm wide, reduces doctors’ exposure to radiation to a tenth of the current level, while maintaining work efficiency, according to MS.
Shielded from radiation by the lead used in the plate, doctors can easily extend their hands through the openings to perform surgery with minimal radiation exposure. The height of the openings is adjustable to the dimensions of the doctor’s body.
“The top of the table also uses lead, but there is no obstruction to the view during surgeries as the plate is transparent. The guard is the result of Sakoda’s sincere desire to “protect doctors,” he said.
MS plans to release the guard in August, but has yet to decide on the price. The company has already received inquiries from hospitals in Tokyo, Mie, Osaka, Kochi and Fukuoka prefectures and even abroad.
A survey conducted two years ago by Akihisa Kataoka, a 45-year-old doctor at Teikyo University who helped develop the protection, found that 20 of Japan’s 58 medical institutionswhich primarily perform cardiac catheterization surgeries for people with heart valve problems, had female echocardiographers as their main operators.
The proportion of young female echocardiography physicians continues to rise each year, Kataoka said.
Working in a hospital in Kunisaki, Oita prefectures, two days a week, Sakoda had been exposed to radiation through cardiac catheterization surgery in the treatment of heart attacks, among other diseases, in the past.
“We could make use of our cultivated knowledge as a manufacturer” to produce the protection, he said.
“Improving the work environment has been an urgent issue for the formulation of women’s careers. A longstanding desire on the medical front has finally taken shape,” Kataoka said.
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