From the ideas of nuclear and particle physics of the last century with the modern knowledge of how radiation affects human tissue, the RayShield Series ® was developed on a solid theoretical background.
We performed experimental tests at Lunds University’s fraction in Malmö, Sweden, to approve and validate our theoretical calculations. The results presented are from our preliminary experimental tests, which are then compared to the theoretical predictions of the current results. We aim to research radiation protection deeper and thus further strengthen our results in the following months.
Protective Ability
The RayShield vest’s protective ability was explored by exposing it to radioactive isotopes of various energies. The attenuation and penetration were measured, calculated, and then compared to results from exposing a phantom without protection and another phantom with a protective standard lead apron (currently used in Healthcare).
Due to the composition of customized alloys and specialized materials, the RayShield vest penetrated significantly less than a standard lead apron.
The figure below shows how the protection with the RayShield vest is significantly higher than the standard lead apron. It is also noticed that even with the highest energies of gamma radiation, the protection is still above 10%, which is not seen in any other radiation protection today.
Risk of Lethal Effects
The deadly effects of radiation are calculated by comparing the dose-associated damage to specific vital organs in the body to known morbid and lethal values of absorbed doses. Based on our preliminary experimental results, we find that if we compare the dose of gamma radiation needed to cause lethal effects, the deadly dose is more than three times as high when wearing the RayShield vest. The figure shows the calculated probability of fatal effects as a function of the delivered dose (in Gray [Gy]). It is noticed that the dose needed before the blue curve (wearing the RayShield vest) rises is much larger than the other two.
Risk of Lethal Effects (Without Bone Marrow and Ovaries)
This RayShield vest protects all vital organs, which is not the case for other protection types of equipment available at present, which, for instance, protects only the bone marrow focused in the hip region. Therefore, we can compare the effects of the damage on organs without the bone marrow, and we also find that the RayShield vest protects significantly more. In the figure, we see the probability of lethal effects to all other organs than the bone marrow (and ovaries) as a function of the time one stays in a radioactive environment with activity 0.6 Gy/h. The blue curve shows the RayShield vest and is almost not rising, whereas the red curve, which represents available belt protection, starts to increase after some hours.
It should be noted that these results are based on only gamma radiation. However, since beta radiation can, to some extent, penetrate the skin, the results would be even more severe for the unprotected body if beta and neutron radiation were also considered.