Hybrid Manufacturing of Personalized PSIDs for Fast Precise Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current Patient Setup and Immobilization Devices (PSIDs) in radiotherapy are inadequate in providing personalized, comfortable, and precise immobilization, leading to significant position uncertainties and increased stress for patients, as they cannot efficiently maintain alignment during treatment sessions.
Innovation Solution
A hybrid manufacturing system combining additive and subtractive processes to rapidly fabricate large-scale, personalized PSIDs, utilizing a pixel column model for digital construct approximation and toolpath generation, enabling rapid production of customized immobilization devices that can handle materials of varying densities and sizes, including whole-body applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional manufacturing methods are used to produce personalized PSIDs, then manufacturing precision can be achieved, but production time is excessively long (days to weeks)
Solution Approach 1:
The PSID manufacturing process is divided into multiple build zones that can be processed independently and simultaneously. The build chamber is segmented into multiple zones, each with its own deposition system, allowing parallel fabrication of different portions of the personalized device, thereby reducing overall production time while maintaining precision through zone-specific control
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts deposition parameters (flow rate, temperature, layer thickness) based on the specific material properties and desired precision requirements for each build zone. This allows the system to optimize between speed and precision for different portions of the PSID, achieving high productivity without sacrificing manufacturing accuracy
2Adaptability or versatility
If traditional 3D printing is used for PSID fabrication, then customization is possible, but material deposition rate is too slow (thousands of times slower than required)
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple material deposition systems are merged into a single integrated build chamber, allowing simultaneous deposition of multiple materials with different densities (transparent to radiation, variable water density) in different build zones. This combines the customization capability of traditional 3D printing with massively parallel material deposition, achieving both personalization and high productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from sequential layer-by-layer deposition in a single zone to parallel multi-zone deposition across multiple spatial dimensions. By utilizing the third dimension (vertical stacking of build zones) and horizontal parallelism, the system achieves material deposition rates thousands of times faster than traditional 3D printing while maintaining full customization capability
3Device complexity
If simple immobilization technologies are used (thermal masks, head rings), then device complexity is low, but patient comfort deteriorates and position uncertainty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The PSID incorporates locally optimized properties in different build zones, with materials and structural features tailored to specific anatomical regions. This allows the device to provide appropriate support and comfort to each body part while maintaining overall structural integrity, significantly improving patient comfort compared to simple uniform immobilization devices
4Volume of moving object
If conventional manufacturing is used for large-scale PSIDs, then material handling is manageable, but production time increases to days or weeks
Solution Approach 1:
Large-scale PSIDs are divided into multiple build zones that can be fabricated simultaneously in parallel. Each zone is processed independently but contributes to the overall large-scale structure, enabling rapid production of whole-body or large-body immobilization devices without the time penalty of sequential manufacturing
Solution Approach 2:
The system utilizes multi-zone parallel architecture to scale up production capacity for large-volume PSIDs. By adding spatial dimensions (multiple stacked build zones) rather than simply increasing the size of a single build chamber, the system achieves rapid fabrication of large-scale personalized devices
Data Source
AI summary
A hybrid manufacturing apparatus utilizing both additive and subtractive manufacturing processes has a cutting mechanism, a magazine, and a deposition nozzle. A cutting mechanism engages and modifies material fed from a magazine, the finished material of this process to be positioned by a deposition nozzle. More specifically, the cutting mechanism provides a chamber supporting an inlet, an outlet, and at least one cutting head. The inlet receives fresh material, the cutting head is positioned within the chamber to create the desired contours in or on the material, and the material then exits the chamber via the outlet to be deposited according to instructions extracted from a digital model in a form of numerical control (NC) programming language. This model is natively subdivided into individual constructs each defining a set of values to guide creation of corresponding physical sections, and the placement thereof.