Design and prototype a patient rotation system for the world-first MRI-Linac machine, used to treat cancer tumors
The Australian MRI-Linac at the Ingham Institute is a world-first research and technology project that has combined a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner and a radiotherapy linear accelerator (Linac) to improve radiation treatment of cancer tumors.
Design Momentum was asked to work with the Ingham and Liverpool Hospital teams to develop a fully operational rotating patient couch that would accurately position a patient within the restricted architecture of this first high-field ‘inline’ system. Not only did the couch need to operate with high accuracy and constant adjustment in all axis, but patient safety and comfort were critical in defining a successful solution. Remote adjustment and real-time monitoring of the patient couch allows clinicians to pinpoint parts within the tumour that are most active and aggressive, so a higher dose of radiation can be delivered to those areas with greater accuracy and reduce damage to surrounding healthy tissues in the body.
We continue to support the Ingham team with ongoing testing and development of this unique and important technology.
Our role and responsibilities
“DM designed and manufactured a bespoke rotating patient couch device for our MRI-linac. This project was extremely difficult to execute with many inherent restrictions but we were very impressed with the attention to detail and ability to adapt to the problems they were faced with. The final device works well and exceeds our expectations.”
Prof. Gary Liney, Senior Medical Physician Ingham Institute of Applied Medical Research
