Automated radioisotope seed cartridge

An automated cartridge for use in an automated system for low dose radioisotope procedures comprising:

• a housing arrangement, the housing arrangement including structure that mates with structure of the automated system;
• a rotatable drum within the housing arrangement containing a plurality of radioisotope seeds and a plurality of spacers preloaded into chambers that are spaced around a periphery of the rotatable drum;
• an aperture in the housing arrangement through which an elongated member selectively ejects radioisotope seeds from chambers in the rotatable drum when a given chamber is aligned with the aperture;
• and
• a stepper motor to selectively drive the rotatable drum into alignment with the aperture.

An automated cartridge for use in an automated system for low dose radioisotope procedures comprising:

• a housing arrangement, the housing arrangement including structure that mates with structure of the automated system;
• a selectively positionable member within the housing arrangement containing a plurality of radioisotope seeds preloaded in chambers defined in the positionable member,
• an aperture in the housing arrangement through which an elongated member selectively ejects radioisotope seeds from chambers in the positionable member when a given chamber is aligned with the aperture;
• automated means for positioning the selectively positionable member in alignment with the aperture;
• and
• at least one position sensor located in the line of travel of the elongated member to detect movement of the elongated member.

An automated cartridge for use in an automated system for low dose radioisotope procedures comprising:

• a housing arrangement, the housing arrangement including structure that mates with structure of the automated system;
• a selectively positionable member within the housing arrangement containing a plurality of radioisotope seeds preloaded in chambers defined in the positionable member;
• an aperture in the housing arrangement through which an elongated member selectively ejects radioisotope seeds from chambers in the positionable member when a given chamber is aligned with the aperture;
• automated means for positioning the selectively positionable member in alignment with the aperture;
• and
• a machine readable storage medium that stores indicia representing at least the quantity and location of the plurality of radioisotope seeds preloaded into the cartridge.

An automated cartridge for low dose radioisotope procedures comprising:

• a housing arrangement;
• a selectively positionable member within the housing arrangement containing a plurality of radioisotope seeds preloaded in chambers defined in the positionable member;
• an aperture in the housing arrangement through which an elongated member selectively ejects radioisotope seeds from chambers in the positionable member when a given chamber is aligned with the aperture;
• and
• a machine readable storage medium accessible via an electrical connector that stores indicia representing at least the quantity and location of the plurality of radioisotope seeds preloaded into the cartridge.

A cartridge for use in an automated system for low dose radioisotope procedures comprising:

• a housing arrangement, the housing arrangement including structure that mates with structure of the automated system;
• a selectively positionable member within the housing arrangement containing a plurality of radioisotope seeds wherein each radioisotope seed is located in a unique chamber defined in the positionable member;
• an aperture in the housing arrangement through which an elongated member selectively ejects individual radioisotope seeds from chambers in the positionable member when a given chamber is aligned with the aperture;
• and
• a machine readable storage medium accessible via an electrical connector that stores indicia representing what is located in each chamber in the positionable member.

An automated cartridge for low dose radioisotope procedures comprising:

• a housing arrangement;
• a selectively positionable member within the housing arrangement containing a plurality of radioisotope seeds preloaded in chambers defined in the positionable member;
• an aperture in the housing arrangement through which an elongated member selectively ejects radioisotope seeds from chambers in the positionable member when a given chamber is aligned with the aperture;
• automated means for positioning the selectively positionable member in alignment with the aperture, and
• a feedback means for generating a positional feedback signal of a position of the chambers of the positionable member relative to the aperture that is communicated to the automated means.

An automated cartridge for use in an automated system for low dose radioisotope procedures comprising:

• a housing arrangement, the housing arrangement including structure that mates with structure of the automated system;
• a rotatable drum positioned within the housing arrangement and containing a plurality of radioisotope seeds and a plurality of spacers preloaded in chambers defined around a periphery of the rotatable drum;
• an aperture in the housing arrangement through which an elongated member selectively ejects radioisotope seeds from chambers in the rotatable drum when a given chamber is aligned with the aperture;
• a first stepper motor operably connected to drive the rotatable drum;
• a second stepper motor operably connected to drive a capstan assembly that operably drives the elongated member along a line of travel through a selectively indexed one of the chambers spaced around the periphery of the rotatable drum;
• and
• an encoder for the rotatable drum that generates a positional feedback signal of an index of the chambers of the rotatable drum relative to the line of travel.

A method of operating an automated cartridge for use in an automated system for low dose radioisotope procedures comprising:

• loading a replaceable cartridge into the automated system, the replaceable cartridge having an automated positionable member containing a plurality of radioisotope seeds preloaded in chambers defined in the positionable member and an aperture through which an automated elongated member selectively ejects radioisotope seeds from chambers;
• automatically positioning the positionable member and generating a positional feedback signal of a position of the chambers relative to the aperture;
• and
• automatically ejecting radioisotope seeds from the selected chamber using the elongated member when the positional feedback signal indicates that a selected chamber is in line with the aperture.

A method of operating an automated cartridge for use in an automated system for low dose radioisotope procedures comprising:

• loading a replaceable cartridge into the automated system, the replaceable cartridge having a positionable member containing a plurality of radioisotope seeds preloaded in chambers defined in the positionable member and an aperture through which an elongated member selectively ejects radioisotope seeds from chambers;
• automatically positioning the positionable member and generating a positional feedback signal of a position of the chambers relative to the aperture;
• automatically ejecting radioisotope seeds from the selected chamber using the elongated member when the positional feedback signal indicates that a selected chamber is in line with the aperture;
• storing a machine-readable indicia representing what is located in each chamber in the positionable member;
• and
• using the machine-readable indicia to control an order in which the radioisotope seeds are ejected from the chambers.