Rampart has announced the launch of Rampart Vanguard—a new radiation protection solution that has been purpose-built for interventional imagers working at the head of the table.
Vanguard will debut at Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2026 (31 October–3 November, San Diego, USA), where Rampart is also set to share early data from real-world Vanguard cases demonstrating the system’s potential to significantly reduce occupational radiation exposure without compromising patient access or procedural workflow.
A press release from the company notes that interventional imagers play a critical role in complex structural heart procedures, yet their radiation protection needs have historically been overlooked; studies show they can receive up to five times the radiation dose of interventional cardiologists during certain procedures, and their proximity to the patient and need for continuous probe manipulation make it difficult to avoid scatter radiation or achieve adequate protection with conventional shielding.
“Rampart was founded on the belief that clinicians should not have to sacrifice their own health to care for patients,” said Bob Foster, the company’s founder and chief medical officer. “Vanguard brings that mission to a group of clinicians who have been underserved by traditional radiation protection. It represents an important step toward providing total-body, lead-free protection to everyone in the interventional lab, and moving the industry closer to a future where every member of the team can safely ‘Shed the Lead’.”
Vanguard provides radiation dose reduction greater than 99% across the head, eyes, axilla, chest, hips, and knees, while preserving the direct patient and probe access required during image-guided procedures, Rampart claims.
Key features of the system include total-body protection, Gateway Access—a protected, adjustable opening that allows direct probe manipulation and patient access while the imager remains behind the Vanguard—flexible positioning, biplane compatibility, and a compact design.
“I’ve experienced firsthand the physical toll of wearing lead and the difference it makes when you no longer have to,” commented Ali J Ebrahimi (University of Alabama Birmingham [UAB], Birmingham, USA), an interventional cardiologist and clinical design collaborator for Vanguard. “As physicians, our ability to perform at the highest level is critical, because patients’ lives and outcomes depend on it. Vanguard represents an opportunity to protect ourselves, extend our careers and continue delivering the best possible care to our patients.”
This launch, Rampart states, comes at a pivotal time for occupational radiation safety. A new multi-society expert consensus statement endorsed by six leading cardiovascular and interventional medical societies has called for the immediate adoption of enhanced radiation protection devices in fluoroscopy laboratories, emphasising the need to reduce radiation exposure and the orthopaedic burden of heavy lead apparel while extending total-body protection to the entire procedural team.
Vanguard helps to translate that guidance into action with purpose-built protection at the head of the table, Rampart continues. As part of the company’s broader portfolio of lead-free enhanced radiation protection solutions, Vanguard works alongside Guardian and Bunker to extend >99% total-body attenuation across the procedural environment, helping protect physicians, imagers, nurses, technologists and other members of the care team without adding unnecessary weight to clinicians or the patient table.
At TCT 2026, Rampart plans to share new clinical findings demonstrating Vanguard’s performance during real-world structural heart procedures at UAB. Initial case data showed >99% total-body dose reduction at the head of the table, with additional findings from 15 procedures demonstrating >98% reduced eye-level radiation exposure with Vanguard. Ebrahimi will present these eye-level findings at TCT on 1 November.
“These early findings show what’s possible when radiation protection is designed around the clinician and the procedure,” Foster concluded. “We shouldn’t have to accept radiation exposure, heavy lead apparel or workflow disruption as part of the job. We can expect better.”
