Which statement is true about contact shields?

• A. They are placed directly on the patient.
• B. They are suspended over the region of interest.
• C. They are used only in imaging rooms.
• D. They cast a shadow.

Answer: (A)

Contact shielding rests directly on the patient’s skin over the area you want to protect. Placing the shield in intimate contact with the skin ensures the attenuation happens right at the surface and minimizes gaps that could let scatter reach radiosensitive tissues like the gonads. When the shield stays in place on the patient, it’s less likely to shift or misalign during the exposure, so protection is reliable and image quality is less likely to be affected by accidental placement. Shields that hang above the region can move, be misaligned, or obscure anatomy, making them less dependable in practice. Shields aren’t limited to imaging rooms and can be used with portable exams as needed. Any shield in the beam will create a shadow on the image, but the key point for contact shields is that they are applied directly to the patient to maximize protection.