3D Printed Bolus Protects Cancer Patients During Radiation Therapy, May Cut Treatment Costs Substantially #3DxMedicine #3DThursday #3DPrinting

Pasted Image 8 14 14 4 58 PM

3D Printed Bolus Protects Cancer Patients During Radiation Therapy, May Cut Treatment Costs Substantially. From 3DPrint.com:

Electron Beam Therapy (EBT) is a type of radiotherapy that uses electrons to treat the tumor site. Because of the finite range of electron beams the dose falls off rapidly leaving deeper tissue unaffected by the treatment. Superficial tumors such as those present in skin cancer are a primary location of treatment for EBT. In addition, EBT is sometimes used in conjunction with radiation directly after a mastectomy or lumpectomy.

The scope of each treatment is determined by modifying the amount of energy used. One means of modifying the amount of energy is through the application of a bolus to the site to be treated. A bolus is a mass that has been shaped for application to a particular area where its thickness is differentiated in order to modify the energy that is allowed to pass through it.

Researchers at Dalhousie University and the Nova Scotia Cancer Center in Halifax recently released a paper in the Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics in which they discussed the use of 3D printing as a mechanism for creating boluses for electron radiation therapy. An exacting method for the creation of each bolus is required as dosage patterns must be tailored to each patient’s surface structure and cancer presence.

To create a bolus the research team developed an in-house algorithm taking into account dose distribution in terms of coverage, conformity, and homogeneity within the targeted area. The results of the calculation indicate the exact form needed to administer the appropriate dosage. The team had previously studied other methods for bolus design creation, such as fabrication with a milling machine from an electron pencil beam design. Those creations presented problems because of the margin of error inherent in the processes used for their creation, and because of irregularities in individual patient’s surfaces. Therefore, unnecessarily high doses could be delivered to critical structures and tissues immediately underlying the targeted area….

Read more about this unique approach and the data collected so far at 3DPrint.com.

Pasted Image 8 14 14 4 58 PM

Pasted Image 8 14 14 4 59 PM


649-1
Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, interactive art, and design with your 3D printer! We also offer the LulzBot TAZ – Open source 3D Printer and the Printrbot Simple Metal 3D Printer in our store. If you’ve made a cool project that combines 3D printing and electronics, be sure to let us know, and we’ll feature it here!


Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards

Join Adafruit on Mastodon

Adafruit is on Mastodon, join in! adafruit.com/mastodon

Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.

Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.

Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!

Join over 36,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord

CircuitPython – The easiest way to program microcontrollers – CircuitPython.org


Maker Business — “Packaging” chips in the US

Wearables — Enclosures help fight body humidity in costumes

Electronics — Transformers: More than meets the eye!

Python for Microcontrollers — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: Silicon Labs introduces CircuitPython support, and more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi

Adafruit IoT Monthly — Guardian Robot, Weather-wise Umbrella Stand, and more!

Microsoft MakeCode — MakeCode Thank You!

EYE on NPI — Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey

New Products – Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! — #NewProds 7/19/23 Feat. Adafruit Matrix Portal S3 CircuitPython Powered Internet Display!

Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Subscribe at AdafruitDaily.com !



No Comments

No comments yet.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.