MECHATRONICS APPLIED TECHNOLOGY DESIGN ENSURES CT MACHINES CAN BE MOVED FROM ONE ROOM TO ANOTHER
When someone has a stroke, every minute counts, with time determining how much brain function is retained. Wolfgang Reith, doctor of medicine and director of the Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology clinic at the Saarland University Hospital in Homburg (Saar), explains: “Two million neurons die every minute… Too much time is wasted when patients have to be moved from the emergency unit to a specialist department so that the condition of their blood vessels can be checked using an imaging process.” So, working closely with Siemens Healthcare, Schaeffler has developed a drive system that enables computer tomography (CT) machines to be moved from one hospital treatment room to another, enabling patients to be diagnosed more quickly after a stroke. For the project, Siemens Healthcare was responsible for the CT machine, the imaging technology and scanner control system. Schaeffler contributed the mechatronics drive system – including the rail guidance system, the floor module, the drive technology, the cable column and the ceiling cassette, which guides all of the supply lines required by the CT machine, plus the drive electronics for the rail
guidance system. There were,
however, a number of specific requirements. For example, the floor module must reach its target position with a maximum tolerance of just 0.5mm – irrespective of whether the machine has travelled a few centimetres or several metres. The speed at which the extremely heavy machine is moved can be from 1mm/s to 120mm/s; and it must also be brought to a complete stop within 10mm if
its impact protection system identifies an obstruction in its travel path. The Sliding Gantry system developed is said to be the first travel drive in the world to fulfill these requirements. CT machines are normally
installed in a fixed location, with the patient passing through the machine on a moving bed during the examination. The term ‘Sliding Gantry’ refers to the entire rail guidance system, including the drive, which moves the CT machine while the patient remains stationary on the treatment table. The decisive benefit comes from the fact that a rail guidance system several metres in length can be used to move the gantry directly between adjacent rooms. “The Sliding Gantry also opens up new possibilities when it comes to CT imaging in the operating room,” explains Dr. Christoph Dickmann, product manager
at Siemens
Healthcare. When invasive treatment is
carried out in or on blood vessels, the doctor must
immediately recognise whether the treatment has been successful. At the same time, the operating team also has the space it needs, since the
mobile CT machine can simply be moved out of the way when necessary.
When a patient has suffered multiple
traumas, it’s also very important to identify life- threatening injuries in various areas of the body as fast as possible. For this reason, a regulation has long been in existence by the German Society for Trauma Surgery stipulating that a full-body CT machine must be available 24 hours a day in close proximity to the trauma room. The new solution meets these requirements. “Whenever the CT machine is not needed in the trauma room, it is available for routine examinations in the adjacent room – and that significantly increases the level of utilisation for the investment,” commented Dickmann. There are 1,600 variations of the Sliding Gantry currently available, which allow the system to be adjusted to suit the individual device and the hospital building. Of additional benefit, the Sliding Gantry is fully assembled and tested before it is delivered to Siemens.
Schaeffler
www.schaeffler.co.uk
IT INFRASTRUCTURE
SOFTWARE & SERVICES
www.rittal.co.uk
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