A shield described as flat or shaped and placed on the patient is known as:

• A. Contact shield
• B. Shadow shield
• C. Ceiling shield
• D. Wall shield

Answer: (A)

Placing a shield directly on the skin to cover a specific region is called a contact shield. The shield is flat or molded to fit the body’s surface so it conforms to anatomy and sits right on the patient to absorb part of the X-ray photons before they reach the tissues beneath. This arrangement reduces the dose to radiosensitive organs like the gonads or breasts without obscuring the area being imaged, since it stays in contact with the skin and can be positioned precisely after collimation.

This differs from a shield mounted away from the patient that creates a protective shadow on the image (a shadow shield), and from shield barriers that are fixed to the room (ceiling or wall shields) used to protect personnel rather than shield the patient directly.