One thing that has increased in healthcare is image-diagnostic examinations where X-rays are used during surgical procedures. For the patient (and for society) it has obvious advantages, but for the staff in the operating theatre it means that they get exposed to an increased amount of radiation at work. Many studies have shown that this isn’t risk-free – but among other things, it brings an increased risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Of course, radiation protections are being used, but progress in this area has so far been very slow.

The Gothenburg-based medtech company Texray are developing an innovative textile material that not only provides increased radiation protection compared to competitors, but it is also the first in the world to enable functional design of radiation-protective workwear through improved ergonomics. For example, their textile materials weigh much less than the traditional clothing – an important aspect due to the staff spending longer and longer hours in surgeries- and it is bendable. Texray is one of the companies that was previously granted funding in our call for competence reinforcement in small businesses. We talked to Petra Apell, CEO and together with Fredrik Gellerstedt one of the founders of Texray, and asked about the grant.

Hi Petra! A while ago, you and your colleagues received funding from our call Competence Reinforcement in Small Businesses. What did you use the funding for?

-We are very happy for the funding from Medtech4Health as it enabled us to conduct clinical evaluations on one of our products, MindPeace. The work was done in collaboration with specialist doctors around Germany who evaluated the product from both a radiation protection perspective as well as from an ergonomics perspective. MindPeace protects the staff’s thyroid gland from radiation, and in this evaluation we were able to show that Mindpeace also reduces radiation to the wearer´s head by an additional 97%. A less pleasant finding was that the upper limit for radiation is exceeded for certain procedures – something that specialist doctors found both surprising and very alarming.

She continues:

-In order to optimize user-friendliness and functionality, an evaluation of the textile and of the product design was also carried out and it showed a very high customer satisfaction – something that is extremely important for a product that competes in a large established market.

What was the outcome from the funding?

– In addition to our own team gaining a broader knowledge, it also led to deepened collaborations with several strategically important partners. Last fall, we were invited to one of the largest scientific congresses in intervention radiology (CIRSE) with participants from all over the world. During the meeting, our products received a lot of attention and they were highlighted by prominent doctors. I also want to mention that the results of a clinical study related to our products were recently published in European Journal of Radiology.

We often refer to patients when we talk about users, but in this case the products are made for protecting healthcare professionals from being harmed by their work. In addition to them not having to carry around the heavy, bulky and warm equipment during long surgical procedures, Texray has succeeded in both raising the level of protection and in protecting body parts which were previously not protected at all. For example, the thyroid gland and the head. Texray is already well on its way to entering the world’s operating theatres and we look forward to following their continued work. Good luck, Petra and the rest of the Texray team!

Read more about the Texray innovation

Read more about our Call for Competence Reinforcement in small businesses

Link to the scientific article “Clinical evaluation of a novel head protection system for interventional radiologists” European Journal of Radiology (Febr, 2022)