In the interventional operating room, the weight of the tungsten-containing rubber protective apron is 30% lighter than that of the traditional lead products, but it provides the same protective effect; the tungsten alloy mobile shielding wall next to the nuclear magnetic resonance equipment can achieve 360° no-dead-angle protection, and the composite plate reinforced with nano-tungsten powder reduces the radiation leakage of diagnostic equipment to less than 1/10 of the international standard. These innovative applications indicate that my country's tungsten alloy medical protection technology has ranked among the world's top.
The "gradient tungsten-polyethylene" composite material newly developed by the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has achieved a 99% X-ray shielding rate within a thickness of 2mm through a bionic laminated design. At the same time, it has flexible and cuttable characteristics and has been successfully applied to customized protective clothing for children's radiology. At the same time, the tungsten-rhenium alloy collimator system developed by Western Superconducting Company has improved the positioning accuracy of tumor radiotherapy to the submillimeter level, helping to upgrade precision medicine.
"Compared with traditional lead materials, tungsten alloy is non-toxic, corrosion-resistant, and recyclable, and is the first choice for green medicine." The chairman of the Radiation Protection Branch of the Chinese Medical Association pointed out. With the revision of the "Industry Standard for Medical Radiation Protection Materials", my country has established a complete industrial chain from tungsten ore purification, powder metallurgy, to precision processing. The annual production capacity of industrial clusters in Shandong, Jiangxi, and other places has exceeded 10,000 tons, and products are exported to more than 20 countries in Europe and the United States.
Faced with the global demand for more than 100,000 new radiological diagnostic and treatment equipment each year, domestic companies are accelerating their layout. The medical protection material industrial park invested in by Xiamen Tungsten Industry, with an investment of USD500 million, will be put into production in 2024. After reaching full production, it can meet 30% of the global demand for CT equipment shielding components. Industry analysts pointed out that, under the demand for high-frequency medical imaging examinations driven by aging, tungsten alloy solutions with both lightweight and high protection performance will become the next outbreak point in the medical radiation protection market.
