Automated brachytherapy seed production system
AssigneeBard Acquisition Sub. Inc.
InventorsScott A. Spooner, Tommy L. Thompson, Michael L. Vinson
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Abstract
An automated system, method and apparatus for producing welded end closures in thin-walled metal tubes, preferably sealing a radioactive source inside the tubes, by use of an electronically controlled robot that grasps and sequentially repositions the tube through a series of stations in which the tube is bottom-welded, inspected, filled, inspected, top welded and inspected, and wherein the tube bottom and top are welded using multi-directional laser beams generated by a single laser light source and discharged through a plurality of spaced-apart laser welder heads. Brachytherapy seeds containing radiolabeled microspheres are produced using the system, method and apparatus of the invention.
Claims7
An automated brachytherapy seed production system comprising a radiation safety enclosure having disposed therein a robotically operated tube gripper, a tube dispenser, a radioactive source loader, and a multiple-directional laser welder, wherein the radioactive source loader further comprises a cylinder through which a plurality of radiolabeled microspheres are controllably discharged, and a slide that is actuatable to load the discharged microspheres into a tube having a welded bottom, said tube being supported by the tube gripper.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.