Skip to main content

3D printed respiratory motion phantom for next generation cancer radiotherapy

The purpose of this project is to design, model, and fabricate a modular 3D printed phantom insert that contains multiple simulated lung tumors with realistic imaging characteristics to evaluate next generation real time tumor tracking techniques.

Project Overview

Every time a patient breathes, lung tumors move. Accurately tracking this motion is one of the greatest engineering challenges in modern radiation therapy, particularly for patients with multiple lung lesions. New technologies that track tumors in real time and automatically adjust the radiation beam have the potential to improve treatment accuracy while reducing radiation exposure to healthy lung tissue. Before these technologies can be used safely in patients, they must undergo rigorous experimental validation using realistic motion phantoms. The QUASAR respiratory motion phantom is a commercially available system that reproduces realistic patient breathing using a programmable motor capable of generating customizable respiratory motion patterns. While the system accurately simulates breathing motion, it lacks anatomically realistic inserts that mimic patients with multiple lung tumors. The purpose of this project is to design, model, and fabricate a modular 3D printed phantom insert that contains multiple simulated lung tumors with realistic imaging characteristics, while facilitating the use of radiation measurement devices. The design will be integrated into the QUASAR platform and used to evaluate next generation tumor tracking technology for lung cancer radiotherapy.

Team Picture

Team photo. Left to right: Matthew Niemuth, Drew Kruse, Natalie Waibel, Jahan Ingraham, Royal Swick, Avinash Ganti.
Team photo. Left to right: Matthew Niemuth, Drew Kruse, Natalie Waibel, Jahan Ingraham, Royal Swick, Avinash Ganti.

Files

Progress Reports

Contact Information

Team Members

Advisor and Client

Back to Top