1974 Volume 29 Issue 6 Pages 476-481
1. Improvement in safety, fixation, and efficiency was obtained by the use of Magic Band, and guards attached on each side of the floating table to prevent babies from falling down, and attaching a protective shield for an assistant at an end of the table on taking X-ray films. On upright position, babies less than two years old are suspended in harnesses, while small children over 2 years old are made to straddle over a saddle ; an assistant is to handle them from behind the shield. Thus easy and perfect harnessing of head, trunk, and hip, as well as instant releasing of them are made possible. 2. We also contrived a new respiratory-phase-controlled release mechanism, consisting of a detector unit (a shatter coupled to a diaphragm and a photo-coupler), and a control unit capable of differentiating pulse width. This is not only free of mis-triggering due to temperature differentials, body movements, rapid and/or shallow respiration etc., but also even with such a shallow respiration as 10 ml exact synchronization is achieved. 3. We have made a new device to protect gonads of male and female babies at the time of femoral joint radiography. This consists of two parts, e.g. a fixed plate for protection of testicles and abdomen, and variable-width plates for that of the lesser pelvic cavity. The latter can be easily and automatically set by grasping pubic bones with knowbs protruding on the lower side of the plates and adjusting guages to inguinal lines of both sides. With this device exposures were reduced, measured with Mix-D Phantom, BeO, to 1/ 10-1/22 at ovaries and to 1/15 at testicles in anatomically normal location. This device is not only very practical, but also its reliability of protective effects on gonads in anatomically normal location were found to be 90%.