{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T09:16:40Z","timestamp":1788254200686,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"IOP Publishing","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788220800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/publishingsupport.iopscience.iop.org\/iop-standard\/v1"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788220800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/info\/page\/text-and-data-mining"}],"funder":[{"name":"Ministry of Sciences and ICT","award":["50572-2026"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["50572-2026"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100008783","name":"National Research Council of Science & Technology","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["CAP22042-300"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CAP22042-300"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100008783","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) of the Republic of Korea","award":["RS-2022-KN071220"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2022-KN071220"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["iopscience.iop.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Radiol. Prot."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Owing to the high radiation exposure associated with computed tomography (CT) examinations and the image quality degradation caused by conventional radiation shielding materials, this study evaluated the dose reduction performance and image quality maintenance potential of a newly developed lead-free composite shielding material. This material was composed of bismuth, tungsten, tungsten carbide, aluminium, and polyurethane. Phantom-based dose measurements demonstrated that the shielding material achieved dose reduction rates ranging from 17.6% to 37.6%, depending on tube voltage. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and changes in tube current-time product (mAs) under a scout-based automatic exposure control (AEC) protocol were analysed according to the presence or absence of the shielding material across regions. For the clinical evaluation, CT scans were performed on four patients. Furthermore, the images were reviewed to evaluate whether this material affected image quality. The shielding material exhibited radiation reduction levels comparable to those reported in previous studies. SNR and CNR analyses showed minor statistical variations in certain regions; however, most differences were not statistically significant, and even significant differences remained within a range that did not compromise diagnostic image quality. Under the scout-based AEC protocol, the use of the shielding material resulted in less than 1% variation in mAs values. No visually perceptible artefacts or clinically significant image quality degradation were observed. The proposed composite shielding material demonstrated the potential to mitigate some limitations of conventional shielding materials and showed preliminary clinical feasibility as an adjunctive strategy for radiation dose reduction in CT examinations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1088\/1361-6498\/ae8f51","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,23]],"date-time":"2026-07-23T22:48:15Z","timestamp":1784846895000},"page":"031529","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1088\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Shielding performance and clinical applicability of lead-free materials in computed tomography"],"prefix":"10.1088","volume":"46","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-9866-7850","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jung Ju","family":"Jo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Science and Technology"},{"name":"Radiation Therapy Technology and Standards, Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9672-2424","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Kum Bae","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Science and Technology"},{"name":"Radiation Therapy Technology and Standards, Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-8874-7525","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vannyat","family":"Ath","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Science and Technology"},{"name":"Radiation Therapy Technology and Standards, Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5279-3087","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Won Il","family":"Jang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6175-0038","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Young Jin","family":"Won","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Uijeongbu Eulji Medical Center, Eulji University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7763-9844","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sang Hyoun","family":"Choi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Science and Technology"},{"name":"Radiation Therapy Technology and Standards, Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"266","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"jrpae8f51bib1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"780","DOI":"10.1097\/RLI.0000000000000897","type":"journal-article","article-title":"Ultra-high-resolution coronary CT angiography with photon-counting detector CT: feasibility and image characterization","volume":"57","author":"Mergen","year":"2022","journal-title":"Investig. 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All rights, including for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies, are reserved.","name":"copyright_information","label":"Copyright Information"},{"value":"2026-03-16","name":"date_received","label":"Date Received","group":{"name":"publication_dates","label":"Publication dates"}},{"value":"2026-07-23","name":"date_accepted","label":"Date Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_dates","label":"Publication dates"}},{"value":"2026-09-01","name":"date_epub","label":"Online publication date","group":{"name":"publication_dates","label":"Publication dates"}}]}}