Comfort Characteristics of Selected Textile Fabrics Proposed for Use as X-Ray Protective Apron Casing

Lead aprons are typical protective clothing to protect radiographers from harm of radiation. As such, a good radiation shield must have a high Lead Equivalence to minimize the radiation dose of exposure. While most radiation shields in the market fulfil this requirement by using matrices of lead and other substances, most of them do not necessarily emphasize on the comfort properties. In the same context, the time of the examination takes longer than expected, which causes some discomfort to the person who wears this type of clothing. The discomfort can be caused by the heavy weight of these aprons or the smooth surface of the coated casing material. The poor fit and design of these aprons due to the stiffener of the fabric used is another issue that makes the final product uncomfortable to wear. In general, the apparent comfort characteristics of any textile fabric material are moisture management, weave structure, yarn types, fabric thickness and weight. The objective of this study is to use standard testing methods to characterize selected fabrics in terms of their X-ray shielding ability, physical, mechanical, and morphologic properties.