Lead X-Ray Markers
As a student, I was required to purchase two sets of the markers you see above. We were required to buy two rights and two lefts so we would have extras in case we lost one. As I progressed in my program, I ordered two more sets. I wanted a pair of the markers with the copper backing, but I couldn't find them as an individual pair and had to purchase another set of 4 markers to get them, so I ended up with a total of four pairs of markers. These are the only markers I have used so far, but as you can see, I haven't lost one yet... These markers cost approximately $13 per pair or $25 for the double pair with the copper backed pair included. If you are a student and getting ready to purchase your first set of markers, I would recommend getting the double pair with one set including the copper backing unless your instructor requires something different. The copper backing helps keep the markers visible on some exams where they like to get burned out due to a high kVp or high MAS technique. Exams like chest and shoulder x-rays and some others like cross-table images in a barium enema series tend to burn out a marker rather quickly.
These markers are rather basic, but they work as well as any for the most part. I'm thinking about experimenting with some different types of markers in the near future...
These markers are just like my existing sets except they have an aluminum backing rather than the white 'carbonite' backing. I don't know the details on 'carbonite' but I'm just assuming that it's a light weight material that is radiolucent in nature. The aluminum backing on these markers might provide some additional help when trying to avoid a marker burnout. This set of four is about the same price as the original set of four mentioned earlier.
This set has the positioner beads to show which direction is up/down in the x-ray. The lead beads fall to the bottom of the circle to give a visual reference as to which way is up/down in the image regardless of how the marker is placed. I haven't found this set with the option of a copper backing, but this pair costs about $23, so they are a bit more expensive than the others. I'm not sure if I will try these or not because I developed a habit of orienting my markers so that the letters are in the correct orientation to describe up and down in the image when a patient was in an erect or a decub position. I know that habit won't translate through to a radiologist who might be reading the images, but I know for my own purposes. I usually annotate the image with an arrow and associated text to indicate anything that might not be obvious.
I don't know where the best place to buy markers might be. I have been buying mine from ThomasCorp but there might be other places that are good also. If you know of a great place to buy markers, please let me know!
