CX News is one of the leading medical journals in Poland. Issue 76 contains an article about MAVIG’s new Victoria collection. Below we present the full text of the article “The Future of X-ray Protection. Victoria Collection Developed By Women For Women”, translated unchanged from Polish into English. The magazine can be downloaded here. The text of the article can be found on page 27.

Almost 30% of employees in interventional radiology in North America are women. This number is slowly but steadily increasing worldwide. For this reason, the universal protection solutions offered to date had to be revised. Experts have developed X-ray protection that is specifically tailored to the female anatomy. The aim was to provide comprehensive protection for the sensitive breast tissue without restricting freedom of movement. We asked Anna-Luisa Uhlitz, Head of Product and Project Management at MAVIG, why the Victoria collection is so special and how it came about.

Tadeusz Popiela: MAVIG has been working successfully in the field of radiation protection for more than a century. How did it come about that clothing was developed specifically for women?

Anna-Luisa Uhlitz: We follow the needs of our customers very closely. For some time now, we have been thinking about how we can improve our customers’ protection even further. The idea for the aprons came – among other things – from conversations with those affected themselves, women in interventional radiology. Listening enabled us to find out what is important to them.

TP: What did you focus on?

ALU: For women, effective protection of the material itself is of course important on the one hand, but the clothing also needs to fit perfectly. That’s why we used princess seams in the front as well as an elastic insert in the back to ensure an ideal fit of the Victoria models to the female silhouette.

TP: What are the first impressions of the women who have already tested the new aprons?

ALU: Our testers were very satisfied. The new collection has also been well received at international trade fairs and congresses: MEDICA 2023, Arab Health 2024 and ECR 2024.

TP: What problems are there for women when using “normal” aprons?

ALU: For some, the armholes on unisex models are simply too large. This leads to increased exposure of the sensitive breast tissue.

TP: How does the Victoria collection differ from normal aprons?

ALU: The Victoria aprons have smaller armholes, princess seams in the front and an elastic insert in the back. These changes allow the apron to adapt perfectly to the female anatomy. In addition, the front panels do not have to overlap completely as with our standard models, as both panels already offer the full lead equivalent. This means that you are fully protected as soon as the vest/coat is closed [regardless of the width of the overlap].

TP: Do the Victoria aprons have the same variety as the unisex models?

ALU: Yes, the Victoria models have the same range of variants. The only difference is that sleeves cannot be attached to the clothing due to the adapted armholes – they would restrict freedom of movement. However, the Victoria models can be combined with the RA637 bolero to protect the shoulder joint. The ordering process for the Victoria models is the same as before – no additional measurements need to be made.