The Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences (KIRAMS) has identified this problem in its research and has been able to improve it through 3D printing technology, which has positive implications for improving the prognosis of radiation therapy for tumours.
Malignant tumours (cancer) have become one of the major public health problems that pose a serious threat to the health of the population. For example, over the past decade, the incidence of malignant tumours in China has been increasing at an annual rate of about 3.9% and the mortality rate at an annual rate of 2.5%. Currently, radiotherapy has long been ranked alongside surgery and chemotherapy as the three core means of tumour treatment. From a medical point of view, approximately nearly 70% of tumour patients currently require radiation therapy of varying degrees. [1]
One important piece of medical equipment in radiotherapy is the tissue compensating film (bolus), which is used to assist the physician in controlling the radiation dose when administering radiotherapy. Conventional tissue-compensating films, which have different levels of clearance to the human skin surface, can make it difficult to control the radiation dose during radiotherapy, preventing optimal treatment results and, in severe cases, even causing negative effects such as skin damage to the patient.
The Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences (KIRAMS) has identified this problem in its research and has been able to improve it through3D printing technology, which has positive implications for improving the prognosis of radiation therapy for tumours.
3D printing to improve radiotherapy prognosis
Conventional tissue compensation films are mostly made from compensation materials such as petroleum jelly and paraffin wax, which are then encapsulated in a plastic film. To improve the existing problems with compensation films, Dr Jonah's team at the Korea Institute of Radiology and Medical Sciences decided to introduce a more flexible manufacturing process - 3D printing technology.
Conventional tissue compensation film
3D printing process to improve radiotherapy prognosis
To ensure the accuracy of the medical device, the 3D printing sales company recommended Raise3D Shanghai's high precision 3D printer Pro2 Plus to Dr. Jonah. With a minimum layer thickness of 0.01mm, the Pro2 Plus can more accurately assist the physician in customising the tissue compensator to each patient's body structure, resulting in a tight fit between the skin and the tissue compensator and improving the prognosis of radiotherapy. improving the prognosis for radiotherapy.
3D printed tissue indemnity film
The Pro2 Plus, which supports a print size of 305 x 305 x 605 mm, also enables large tissue compensators to be formed in one piece, saving the production team significant assembly time.
The Pro2 Plus in Dr Jonah's team's office
Full-scale application of 3D printing technology expands research horizons
After becoming proficient with the Raise3D Pro2 Plus, Dr Jonah's team became more comfortable with 3D printing technology and found that they could combine the printer, slicing software and materials to do broader medical research.
I Customised pre-operative planning models
In the past, many tools were used to study a patient's condition in advance when developing a procedure. With the Raise3D Pro2 Plus, Dr Jonah can quickly and accurately print out pre-operative models to visualise where the patient needs to be operated on and speed up pre-operative planning.
I Low-cost radiation mask material simulation experiment
Dr Jonah's team is also studying the effects of radiation on materials to verify the performance of materials used to make radiation masks. In traditional tests, the materials were expensive and difficult to work with and an experiment would have been time consuming and costly. With the introduction of the 3D printer, Dr Jonah decided to carry out simulations using 3D printed materials that had the same basic density or quality as the material used for the radiation shield. the Raise3D Pro2 Plus is compatible with a wide range of materials, providing Dr Jonah with a broad base for this experiment.
I Customising the fill and adjusting the density of the model
When slicing models using ideaMaker, it is possible to quickly generate print parameters for different materials, but also to customise them to suit the needs of the print, as Dr Jonah's team did by using the ability to customise the fill structure and adjust the density to print different densities for more in-depth medical research.
Expanding material applications to sustain future research
Dr Jonah's team is a prime example of how 3D printing technology can be used in radiology. They have found that 3D printing has greater value due to the scalability of certain materials. Their next experimental plan is to print flexible and metallic materials to continue to broaden the scope of their research, and the Raise3D printer's high level of material compatibility, as well as an ever-richer Open Fabrics (OFP) program, will be crucial in supporting their R&D progress.
