A treatment couch and method of manufacture thereof

Abstract

This application discloses a treatment bed and its manufacturing method. The treatment bed includes a bed board and a support structure disposed inside the bed board. The bed board includes a first surface and a second surface arranged opposite to each other. The support structure includes a transition unit and a plurality of arrayed grid units. The grid units extend from the first surface to the second surface of the bed board, and adjacent grid units are connected by the transition unit. The grid units of this application extend along the longitudinal support direction of the bed board. While sacrificing the lateral moment of inertia of the support structure, it increases the longitudinal moment of inertia of the support structure, thereby increasing the longitudinal stiffness of the bed board and its bending stiffness under vertical loads. Therefore, the treatment bed of this application can reduce deformation caused by the patient's weight, ensure that the actual position of the tumor area is consistent with the center position of the medical linear accelerator, improve the positioning accuracy of the treatment bed, and meet the requirements of precise radiotherapy.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of medical device technology, and in particular to a treatment bed and its manufacturing method. Background Technology

[0002] Precision radiotherapy is a key method in cancer treatment, and its effectiveness depends on the precise positioning of the patient. Only by ensuring sufficient positioning accuracy can the therapeutic effect of radiotherapy be guaranteed. In actual treatment, it is necessary to move the treatment bed to the center position of the tumor area, as determined by medical imaging such as CT scans, using a medical linear accelerator. Therefore, the positioning accuracy of the treatment bed is one of the factors affecting the accuracy of radiotherapy.

[0003] Factors affecting the positioning accuracy of a treatment bed mainly include two aspects: the positioning accuracy of the motion control system and the structural deformation of the treatment bed itself under load. Specifically, the deformation of the bed board under the patient's weight can significantly deviate from the preset center position, thus reducing positioning accuracy. To reduce deformation, existing technologies mainly adopt two solutions: increasing the thickness of the bed board and adding complex support structures. While increasing the bed board thickness can improve rigidity, it also increases the absorption of radiation dose, leading to a reduction in radiation utilization. Adding complex support structures to transfer the load to the bed frame results in a complex bed board structure, leading to high manufacturing costs and greater control difficulties. Furthermore, the increased motion mechanism may cause safety issues such as collisions due to asynchronous multi-axis movements.

[0004] Currently, most treatment beds use a honeycomb core structure, which exhibits isotropic mechanical properties, meaning its stiffness is essentially uniform in all directions. However, during radiotherapy, the bed primarily bears concentrated loads in the vertical direction, requiring higher bending stiffness in this direction. Current honeycomb structures, lacking directional reinforcement capabilities, struggle to specifically enhance longitudinal stiffness, thus failing to meet the demands of high-precision positioning. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application aims to at least solve one of the aforementioned technical problems existing in the prior art. Therefore, the purpose of this application is to provide a treatment bed and its manufacturing method, which can solve the problem that the treatment bed structure in the prior art cannot specifically improve longitudinal stiffness, resulting in low positioning accuracy.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution adopted in this application is as follows: A treatment bed, including a bed board, The bed board includes a first surface and a second surface; wherein the first surface and the second surface are disposed opposite to each other; A support structure is disposed inside the bed board to support the bed board; wherein the support structure includes a transition unit and a plurality of arrayed grid units, the grid units extending along the first surface of the bed board to the second surface, and adjacent grid units are connected by the transition unit.

[0007] According to some embodiments of this application, the cross-sectional shape of the grid unit is at least one of a rectangular grid, a rhombus grid, a hexagonal grid, and a fractal grid.

[0008] According to some embodiments of this application, the cross-sectional shape of the transition unit is at least one of arc and ellipse.

[0009] A method for manufacturing a treatment bed according to any one of the claims, comprising: Based on the actual working conditions, select the shape and structural parameters of the grid unit and the transition unit; Based on the shape and structural parameters, design and manufacture a mold for integrally molding the grid unit and the transition unit; Based on the mold, using the selected manufacturing process, an integrated support structure composed of the grid unit and the transition unit is prepared; The support structure is connected to the bed board to prepare a treatment bed.

[0010] According to some embodiments of this application, the grid unit and the transition unit are made of fiber-reinforced resin-based composite material; wherein the fiber extends from the first surface of the bed board to the second surface; the fiber is at least one of carbon fiber, glass fiber, aramid fiber, and basalt fiber.

[0011] According to some embodiments of this application, the resin is epoxy resin, and the fiber is carbon fiber and glass fiber.

[0012] According to some embodiments of this application, the shape and structural parameters of the selected grid unit and transition unit are as follows: the wall thickness of the grid unit is in the range of 3mm to 5mm, and the distance between two adjacent grid units is 20 to 30mm.

[0013] According to some embodiments of this application, the shape and structural parameters of the selected grid unit and transition unit, wherein when the cross-sectional shape of the transition unit is circular, the radius of the circle ranges from 0.2 mm to 3 mm.

[0014] According to some embodiments of this application, the selected manufacturing process is any one of secondary foaming molding, 3D printing, precision injection molding, thermoforming, RTM process, and vacuum-assisted molding.

[0015] According to some embodiments of this application, the manufacturing process further includes quality inspection, which includes at least one of geometric accuracy inspection, stress distribution inspection, rigidity testing, and image quality testing.

[0016] According to some embodiments of this application, the method for manufacturing the treatment bed further includes quality inspection, which includes at least one of geometric accuracy inspection, stress distribution inspection, rigidity testing, and image quality testing.

[0017] The beneficial effects of this application are: The treatment bed of this application incorporates a support structure within the bed board. This support structure includes transition units and several arrayed grid units, with the grid units extending along the longitudinal support direction of the bed board. While sacrificing the lateral moment of inertia of the support structure, it increases the longitudinal moment of inertia, thereby enhancing the longitudinal stiffness of the bed board and increasing its bending stiffness under vertical loads. Therefore, the treatment bed of this application can reduce deformation caused by the patient's weight, ensuring that the actual position of the tumor area is consistent with the center position of the medical linear accelerator, improving the positioning accuracy of the treatment bed and meeting the requirements of precision radiotherapy.

[0018] In addition, the improvement of the treatment bed manufacturing method of this application compared with the prior art lies in the use of fiber-reinforced resin matrix composite material to prepare grid units and transition units, wherein the fibers extend along the longitudinal support direction of the bed board, which can improve the mechanical strength and stability of the longitudinal equation of the treatment bed and further enhance the bending strength of the bed board under vertical load.

[0019] Additional aspects and advantages of this application will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of this application. Attached Figure Description

[0020] The above and / or additional aspects and advantages of this application will become apparent and readily understood from the description of the embodiments taken in conjunction with the following drawings, in which: Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the supporting structure of this application. Figure 1 .

[0021] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the supporting structure of this application. Figure 2 .

[0022] Figure 3 yes Figure 2 Enlarged view of point A in the middle.

[0023] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating the manufacturing method of the treatment bed board used in this application.

[0024] Figure 5This is a flowchart illustrating the production process using the secondary foaming technique employed in this application.

[0025] Figure label: 100, Support structure; 110, Grid unit; 120, Transition unit. Detailed Implementation

[0026] The embodiments of this application are described in detail below. Examples of these embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain this application, and should not be construed as limiting this application.

[0027] In the description of this application, it should be understood that if directional descriptions are involved, such as up, down, front, back, left, right, etc., indicating the directional or positional relationship based on the directional or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, it is only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this application.

[0028] In the description of this application, if words such as several, greater than, less than, exceeding, above, below, or within appear, "several" means one or more, "more than" means two or more, "greater than," "less than," "exceeding," etc. are understood to exclude the number itself, and "above," "below," "within," etc. are understood to include the number itself.

[0029] In the description of this application, the use of terms such as "first" and "second" is for the purpose of distinguishing technical features only, and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated or the order of the technical features indicated.

[0030] In the description of this application, unless otherwise expressly defined, terms such as "setup," "installation," and "connection" should be interpreted broadly, and those skilled in the art can reasonably determine the specific meaning of the above terms in this application in conjunction with the specific content of the technical solution.

[0031] Reference Figures 1 to 5 The following are specific embodiments of this application.

[0032] Depend on Figure 1 As shown, this application provides a treatment bed, including a bed board (not shown) and a support structure 100.

[0033] The bed board includes a first surface and a second surface arranged opposite to each other. A support structure 100 is disposed inside the bed board for supporting the bed board. The support structure 100 includes a transition unit 120 and a plurality of arrayed grid units 110, the grid units extending from the first surface to the second surface of the bed board, that is, extending along the longitudinal support direction of the bed board. Adjacent grid units 110 are connected by the transition unit 120.

[0034] The grid unit 110 extends along the longitudinal support direction of the bed board. While sacrificing the lateral moment of inertia of the support structure, it increases the longitudinal moment of inertia of the support structure, thereby improving the longitudinal stiffness of the bed board and enhancing its bending stiffness under vertical loads. Therefore, the treatment bed of this application can reduce the deformation caused by the patient's weight, ensuring that the actual position of the tumor area is consistent with the center position of the medical linear accelerator, improving the positioning accuracy of the treatment bed and meeting the requirements of precision radiotherapy.

[0035] In some embodiments, the cross-sectional shape of the grid unit 110 is at least one of a rectangular grid, a rhombus grid, a hexagonal grid, and a fractal grid.

[0036] In some embodiments, the cross-sectional shape of the transition unit 120 is at least one of a straight line, an arc, and an ellipse; Figure 1 The transition unit 120 is shown as a support structure with a straight cross-sectional shape. When the cross-sectional shape is arc-shaped or elliptical, a smooth transition between adjacent grid units 110 can be achieved, so that the stress is evenly distributed in the support structure and the local stress concentration that leads to structural weakening is suppressed.

[0037] Figures 2 to 3 The transition unit 120 has an arc-shaped cross-section. The transition structure consists of four tangent quarter-circle arcs, located at the four interior corners formed by the intersection of grid units. The four arcs together form a circular chamfered area, which can achieve a smooth geometric transition while suppressing the local stress caused by right-angle intersections that weakens the support structure.

[0038] Depend on Figure 4 As shown, this application also provides a method for manufacturing a treatment bed, including: S100. Select the shape and structural parameters of grid unit 110 and transition unit 120 according to the actual working conditions: Select the shape and structure of grid unit 110 and transition unit 120, as well as the corresponding structural parameters, according to the actual working conditions or actual needs.

[0039] S200. Based on the selected shape and structural parameters, design and manufacture a mold for the integrally formed grid unit 110 and transition unit 120.

[0040] S300. Based on the mold, using the selected manufacturing process, an integrated support structure consisting of grid units 110 and transition units 120 is prepared.

[0041] S400. The support structure is connected to the bed board to prepare the treatment bed.

[0042] In some embodiments, the grid unit 110 and the transition unit 120 are made of fiber-reinforced resin-based composite material; wherein the fiber extends from a first surface of the bed board to a second surface; the fiber is at least one of carbon fiber, glass fiber, aramid fiber, and basalt fiber.

[0043] By extending the fibers from the first surface of the bed board to the second surface, that is, along the longitudinal support direction of the bed board, the mechanical strength and stability in the longitudinal direction of the treatment bed can be improved, and the bending stiffness of the bed board under vertical load can be further enhanced.

[0044] In some embodiments, the resin is epoxy resin, and the fibers are carbon fiber and glass fiber. Specifically, epoxy resin is used as the matrix material, the mass of carbon fiber is 30% of the mass of epoxy resin, and the mass of glass fiber is 15% of the mass of epoxy resin.

[0045] Carbon fiber possesses high strength, high modulus, and impact resistance, while glass fiber possesses high strength, high modulus, and high tensile strength. By combining epoxy resin with glass fiber and carbon fiber, the elastic modulus, longitudinal bending stiffness, impact resistance, tensile strength, and fatigue life of the supporting structure can be further improved without significantly increasing the density of the material, thus having a minimal impact on image quality.

[0046] In some embodiments, S200, the shape and structural parameters of the grid unit and the transition unit are selected, wherein: the wall thickness of the grid unit 110 is in the range of 3mm to 5mm, which can ensure the local buckling resistance and load-bearing strength between the grid units and facilitate molding during manufacturing. The distance between two adjacent grid units 110 is 20 to 30mm, which maintains the bending stiffness of the support structure while ensuring the lightweight of the support structure and improves the longitudinal modulus of elasticity.

[0047] More specifically, the distance between two adjacent grid units extending along the length of the bed board is 35 mm, and the distance between two adjacent grid units perpendicular to the length of the bed board is 25 mm.

[0048] In some embodiments, S200, the shape and structural parameters of the grid cells and transition cells are selected, wherein when the cross-sectional shape of the transition cell 120 is arc-shaped, the radius of the arc ranges from 0.2 mm to 3 mm. This range can reduce stress concentration at the intersections between grid cells 110, achieve a smooth transition from the molecular scale to the macroscopic scale, and eliminate stress singularities caused by microscopic geometric discontinuities. This multi-scale geometric continuity design allows stress to be distributed more evenly throughout the support structure, avoiding weakening of the support structure due to localized stress concentration.

[0049] More specifically, the accuracy of the arc is controlled within ±0.1mm, and the formula for calculating the arc radius is: R = k×t, where k = 0.15~0.35, and t is the wall thickness of the grid cell 110. The length of the arc is 0.1~0.6 times the width of the grid cell 110, and the transition angle ranges from 15° to 90°.

[0050] In some embodiments, when the cross-sectional shape of the transition unit 120 is elliptical, the ratio of the major axis to the minor axis of the ellipse is 1.5:3.0. This dimension allows the transition region to have a large equivalent radius of curvature in the longitudinal direction of the bed board, thereby alleviating the problem of longitudinal bending stress concentration caused by the patient's gravity and meeting the need to increase rigidity in the longitudinal direction.

[0051] In some embodiments, in S300, the selected manufacturing process can be any one of secondary foaming molding, 3D printing, precision injection molding, thermoforming, RTM process, and vacuum-assisted molding.

[0052] In some embodiments, when the manufacturing process is a two-stage foaming molding process, by Figure 5 As shown, the manufacturing process is as follows: S310, First foaming to form a basic grid-like support structure: Foaming agent, epoxy resin, carbon fiber and glass fiber materials are injected into the foaming mold. Under the set foaming temperature and foaming pressure, the first foaming reaction is carried out to generate a primary foam with a basic grid-like support structure. The pore structure inside the primary foam is initially formed.

[0053] After the first foaming is completed, the foamed body is removed from the foaming mold, cooled and shaped, and its appearance and size are checked. Any unqualified products are screened and rejected.

[0054] S320, Second foaming to form an integrated support structure composed of grid units 110 and transition units 120: The primary foamed material, after cooling, shaping, and screening, is placed back into the foaming mold, a foaming agent is added, and a second foaming reaction is carried out under the set foaming temperature and pressure to generate the set integrated support structure composed of grid units 110 and transition units 120. After the second foaming is completed, pressure holding is required under the foaming pressure to ensure the curing of the support structure.

[0055] S330, Segmented Cooling: After the pressure holding period, a segmented temperature-controlled cooling method is used to cool the support structure to the room temperature. Segmented cooling reduces internal stress or warping caused by uneven thermal shrinkage, further ensuring the dimensional stability and flatness of the support structure.

[0056] In some embodiments, the foaming pressure in S310 and S320 ranges from 0.8 MPa to 1.2 MPa, the foaming temperature is from 120°C to 150°C, and the holding time is from 5 minutes to 10 minutes.

[0057] In S310, the amount of foaming agent is based on the mass of epoxy resin. In the first foaming, the amount of foaming agent is 2% to 3% of the mass of epoxy resin, and in the second foaming, the amount of foaming agent is 1% to 2% of the mass of epoxy resin.

[0058] In some embodiments, the surface roughness of the foaming mold is Ra≤0.8μm and it is made of steel to ensure the long-term accuracy of the foaming mold. The temperature control accuracy is ±2°C to ensure that the epoxy resin matrix reacts uniformly and the fibers are fully impregnated during the curing process, and to effectively suppress the internal stress and geometric deformation of the molding, thereby further ensuring the consistency of the wall thickness of the grid unit 110 and the surface flatness of the support structure.

[0059] The transition unit in the foaming mold has an arc-shaped cross-section, with a geometric tolerance range of ±0.05mm to ±0.2mm and a surface roughness of Ra≤0.8μm.

[0060] In some embodiments, S400, the bed board and the supporting structure are connected by a co-curing process or a structural adhesive to form a treatment bed.

[0061] The bed board can be 2000mm long, 800mm wide, and 50mm thick, with a weight of less than 30kg. This design ensures longitudinal rigidity while achieving lightweight construction. The reduced weight of the bed board lessens the load on the motion mechanism, thereby improving positioning accuracy and facilitating clinical operation and maintenance. The dimensions of the bed board can also be adjusted according to actual needs; this application does not impose specific limitations.

[0062] In some embodiments, a method for manufacturing a treatment bed according to this application further includes quality inspection, specifically: (1) Geometric accuracy test: When the section of the transition unit 120 is arc-shaped, the radius of the arc is tested by a coordinate measuring machine. If the result shows that the actual value of the arc radius is within ±0.05 mm of the design value, it meets the requirements for preparation and molding. Otherwise, it needs to be remade.

[0063] (2) Stress distribution detection: The stress concentration factor of the transition unit 120 was detected by photoelasticity method. The results showed that the local stress concentration factor of the support structure with transition unit 120 was reduced by more than 30% compared with the traditional honeycomb support structure, which can suppress the phenomenon of cracks in the support structure.

[0064] (3) Rigidity test: The longitudinal elastic modulus of the support structure was tested using a universal testing machine. Compared with the traditional solid structure or honeycomb structure, it was increased by more than 20%, which further proved that the directional arrangement of fibers and the connection between transition units and grid units can improve the bending stiffness of the support structure.

[0065] (4) Image quality test: The fabricated bed board was placed in a clinical CT scanner for scanning to evaluate its impact on X-ray attenuation. The test results showed that, compared with traditional solid or honeycomb structure bed boards, the CT value increase caused by the epoxy resin, carbon fiber, and glass fiber mixture used in this application was less than 5%, indicating that it had less interference with image quality and could meet the imaging requirements in precision radiotherapy. This test shows that the support structure of this application can improve the longitudinal rigidity of the treatment bed without affecting image quality, thereby improving image guidance accuracy and positioning accuracy.

[0066] Therefore, the grid units of this application extend along the longitudinal support direction of the bed board. While sacrificing the lateral moment of inertia of the support structure, it increases the longitudinal moment of inertia of the support structure, thereby improving the longitudinal stiffness of the bed board and increasing its bending stiffness under vertical loads. Thus, the treatment bed of this application can reduce deformation caused by the patient's weight, ensuring that the actual position of the tumor area is consistent with the center position of the medical linear accelerator, improving the positioning accuracy of the treatment bed and meeting the requirements of precise radiotherapy. Furthermore, the manufacturing method of this application uses fiber-reinforced resin-based composite materials to prepare the grid units and transition units, wherein the fibers extend along the longitudinal support direction of the bed board, which can improve the mechanical strength and stability of the longitudinal equation of the treatment bed, further enhancing the bending strength of the bed board under vertical loads.

[0067] In the description of this specification, the use of terms such as "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "illustrative embodiment," "example," "specific example," and "some examples" indicates that the specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of this application. In this specification, the illustrative expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples.

[0068] Although embodiments of this application have been shown and described, those skilled in the art will understand that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of this application, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A treatment bed, comprising a bed board, characterized in that, The bed board includes a first surface and a second surface; wherein the first surface and the second surface are disposed opposite to each other; A support structure is disposed inside the bed board to support the bed board; wherein the support structure includes a transition unit and a plurality of arrayed grid units, the grid units extending along the first surface of the bed board to the second surface, and adjacent grid units are connected by the transition unit.

2. The treatment bed according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cross-sectional shape of the grid unit is at least one of rectangular grid, rhomboid grid, hexagonal grid and fractal grid.

3. The treatment bed according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cross-sectional shape of the transition unit is at least one of arc and ellipse.

4. A method for manufacturing a treatment bed according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, include: Based on the actual working conditions, select the shape and structural parameters of the grid unit and the transition unit; Based on the shape and structural parameters, design and manufacture a mold for integrally molding the grid unit and the transition unit; Based on the mold, using the selected manufacturing process, an integrated support structure composed of the grid unit and the transition unit is prepared; The support structure is connected to the bed board to prepare a treatment bed.

5. A method for manufacturing a treatment bed according to claim 4, characterized in that, The grid unit and the transition unit are made of fiber-reinforced resin-based composite material; wherein the fiber extends from the first surface of the bed board to the second surface; the fiber is at least one of carbon fiber, glass fiber, aramid fiber, and basalt fiber.

6. A method for manufacturing a treatment bed according to claim 5, characterized in that, The resin is epoxy resin, and the fiber is carbon fiber and glass fiber.

7. A method for manufacturing a treatment bed according to claim 4, characterized in that, The shape and structural parameters of the selected grid unit and transition unit are as follows: the wall thickness of the grid unit is in the range of 3mm to 5mm, and the distance between two adjacent grid units is 20 to 30mm.

8. A method for manufacturing a treatment bed according to claim 4, characterized in that, The shape and structural parameters of the selected grid unit and transition unit, wherein when the cross-sectional shape of the transition unit is circular, the radius of the circle ranges from 0.2mm to 3mm.

9. A method for manufacturing a treatment bed according to claim 4, characterized in that, The selected manufacturing process is any one of the following: secondary foaming molding, 3D printing, precision injection molding, thermoforming, RTM process, and vacuum-assisted molding.

10. A method for manufacturing a treatment bed according to claim 9, characterized in that, The method for manufacturing the treatment bed also includes quality inspection, which includes at least one of geometric accuracy inspection, stress distribution inspection, rigidity testing, and image quality testing.

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