Composite Curved Guide Rails for Lightweight High-Load C-Arms
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Solution Overview
Problem
C-arms in medical imaging systems face challenges with significant weight and inertia, leading to vibrations and image artifacts due to the high mechanical load on steel guide rails, which compromise image quality and structural integrity.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of lightweight guide rails made of aluminum or steel, with rod channels and rods, secured to the C-arm to support the C-arm's movement, enhancing structural strength and reducing weight while maintaining load capacity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If steel guide rails are used to support the C-arm, then load capacity is sufficient, but weight increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining aluminum (lightweight material) for the guide rail body with steel rods (high strength material) for load-bearing elements. This composite structure achieves both weight reduction and sufficient load capacity, resolving the contradiction between using steel (strong but heavy) and aluminum (light but potentially weaker).
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by using different materials in different locations of the guide rail structure. The aluminum body provides lightweight support while steel rods are strategically placed in critical load-bearing positions. This localized material differentiation optimizes both weight and strength where needed most.
2Productivity
If the C-arm is moved at high speed to imaging position, then productivity is improved, but vibrations increase due to inertia
Solution Approach 1:
The composite aluminum-steel guide rail structure reduces overall mass while maintaining structural integrity. Lower mass reduces inertial forces during high-speed movement, thereby minimizing vibrations and image artifacts. The steel rods provide localized stiffness to control vibration characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the guide rail system by transitioning from solid steel to a composite aluminum-steel structure. This parameter change (material composition, density, mass distribution) directly affects the inertia and vibration characteristics, enabling high-speed operation with reduced harmful vibrations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the C-arm rotational range is extended, then adaptability is improved, but structural strength is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The composite aluminum-steel guide rail structure enables extended rotational range while maintaining strength. The aluminum body allows for longer, more flexible rail designs, while strategically placed steel rods provide the necessary structural reinforcement to handle the increased mechanical stresses from broader rotation angles.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide rail structure is segmented into aluminum body sections and steel rod reinforcement elements. This segmentation allows the design to optimize each component's function - the aluminum sections provide flexibility and extended range, while the steel rod segments provide localized strength where structural demands are highest.
Data Source
AI summary
A C-shaped arm for use with a medical imaging system includes a C-shaped portion, a radiation source carried by the C-shaped portion, a radiation detector carried by the C-shaped portion, and a pair of guide rails secured to opposed sides of the C-shaped portion, wherein each of the pair of guide rails has a body formed of a lightweight material and including a pair of rod channels formed therein and a pair of rods engaged within the pair of rod channels. The body can be formed by extruding the lightweight material into a unitary structure for the body with the pair of rods engaged at least partially within the pair of rod channels using an interference fit either prior to or after bending the body into the desired curved shape for the guide rail.