Modular Mount for Radiotherapy Apparatus Using Cylindrical Bearing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The variability in radiotherapy apparatus designs increases manufacturing costs and reduces production flexibility due to the lack of common elements across different arrangements, leading to higher development costs and inventory requirements.
Innovation Solution
A modular mount with a cylindrical bearing surface and axial through-hole, allowing for the attachment of various radiation sources and detectors on retractable arms, enabling the creation of multiple radiotherapy systems with shared components and simplified manufacturing processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If different radiotherapy apparatus arrangements are designed separately, then each arrangement can be optimized for its specific treatment format, but development costs increase and manufacturing flexibility decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing a common mount structure with a cylindrical bearing surface and axial through-hole that can be used across multiple radiotherapy apparatus arrangements. This single mount design supports different linear accelerators and radiation sources, allowing the same base structure to serve multiple treatment formats (gantry arrangements, toroidal shell arrangements, etc.), thereby reducing development costs and improving manufacturing flexibility while maintaining adaptability to various treatment requirements
2Adaptability or versatility
If different radiotherapy apparatus arrangements are designed separately, then each arrangement can be optimized for its specific treatment format, but development costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The common mount structure serves multiple treatment formats including gantry arrangements and toroidal shell arrangements, allowing a single design to support various linear accelerators and radiation sources. This universal design approach enables sharing of development resources across different radiotherapy systems, reducing overall development costs while maintaining the ability to provide specialized treatment formats
3Adaptability or versatility
If different radiotherapy apparatus arrangements are designed separately, then each arrangement can be optimized for its specific treatment format, but inventory requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The standardized mount with cylindrical bearing surface and axial through-hole can accommodate different linear accelerators, radiation sources, and detector configurations. This universality allows the same mount inventory to be used across multiple treatment formats and system configurations, significantly reducing the total inventory requirements compared to maintaining separate specialized components for each treatment format
4Ease of manufacture
If a modular mount design is used to share common components, then development costs are reduced and manufacturing flexibility is improved, but the complexity of accommodating multiple configurations increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the radiotherapy apparatus into modular components: a standardized mount structure, detachable linear accelerators, removable radiation sources, and separate detector assemblies. This segmentation allows each component to be independently manufactured and tested, simplifying production while the standardized interfaces between components manage the overall system complexity through clear connection protocols
Data Source
AI summary
A mount for a radiotherapy apparatus may include a cylindrical bearing surface to allow the mount to be supported in a rotateable manner, a housing extending from the bearing surface and having an extent in a direction along an axis of the cylindrical bearing surface, the mount having an axial through-hole which encompasses the axis of the cylindrical bearing surface, the housing having at least one opening communicating with the through-hole and extending in a direction transverse to the axis of the cylindrical bearing surface.