An X-ray room must keep radiation inside, protecting staff, patients and anyone in the spaces nearby. Protection is not an add-on: it is a property of the walls, doors, windows and sometimes slabs, which must be calculated, built without gaps and checked once the works are complete.
Which hospital rooms need shielding?
X-ray shielding is generally needed in rooms where radiological equipment is used routinely:
- conventional radiology rooms;
- CT scanner rooms;
- angiography and cardiac catheterisation rooms;
- hybrid operating theatres and theatres where mobile radiological equipment is used regularly during surgery.
In every case, whether and how much to shield is decided by the radiation protection expert, room by room.
Who decides how thick the protection must be?
Protection is calculated by the radiation protection expert appointed by the healthcare facility. The calculation considers four main elements:
- the equipment: type of examination, radiation energy, position in the room and beam direction, which distinguishes walls hit directly by the beam from those exposed only to scattered radiation;
- the workload: how many examinations are performed and at what intensity;
- the adjoining spaces: who occupies them and for how long;
- the distances between the source and the walls.
The result is expressed in millimetres of lead equivalent for each wall, door and window. There is no thickness that suits every room.
Which materials are used to shield a room?
| Element | Typical solution | Point to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Walls | Lead sheets integrated into panels; in conventional construction also barium plaster or concrete | Continuity from one panel to the next |
| Doors | Leaf with an internal lead sheet, shielded frame | Weight of the leaf and continuity of shielding along the frame and under the leaf |
| Observation windows | Transparent X-ray protective glass | Frame shielded to the same level as the wall |
| Slabs and floors | Additional protection where required | Occupied spaces on adjacent floors |
| Service penetrations | Local shielding behind sockets, ducts and boxes | Every opening is a potential gap |
Why is continuity of shielding decisive?
Shielding is only as good as its weakest point. A gap between two panels, an unshielded frame, a recessed electrical box without protection or an open service penetration are all breaks through which radiation can escape.
Continuity of shielding is designed before construction: overlaps between elements, shielded frames, protection behind sockets and penetrations. The same rule applies to doors: a door must provide the same level of protection as the wall it is set in, as explained in the guide to hermetic and lead-lined hospital doors.
How is the protection checked once the works are complete?
When the works are complete, the radiation protection expert carries out the checks required before the room is put into use, with measurements that confirm the protection matches the calculation. Signage for controlled areas and, where required, warning lights showing when the equipment is in use are completed at the same time.
Correcting a shielding defect after construction is expensive, because it means reopening finished walls. This is one of the reasons it pays to have shielded walls, doors and windows from the same system, designed together.
Why choose a shielded modular system?
A modular system integrates shielding into components manufactured at the plant. There are three main advantages.
- Designed continuity: joints, frames and penetrations are resolved in the design of the system.
- Dry assembly: no barium plaster to apply and leave to dry on site.
- Coordination: shielded walls, doors and windows are part of the same supply.
What does ADAM offer for X-ray rooms?
ADAM S.r.l. offers X-ray shielding for walls, doors and windows, and its healthcare range includes medical doors for X-ray rooms. The SALUS system, developed since 2006, covers operating theatres, intensive care units, wards, corridors and X-ray rooms.
SALUS walls are designed and manufactured at the plant in Bernate Ticino, near Milan. The healthcare solutions are described on the ADAM Health page. For an X-ray room or hybrid operating theatre project, contact the ADAM team.