Mindready Solutions © 2003 Page 1

Louis M. BoivinDirector, Business Development

Scientific Imaging Event National Instruments, BostonNovember 2003

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• A leader in:• Micro-automation Systems• Test Systems• Embedded Systems

• In business for over 28 years

• More than 200 engineers and technicians with global presence

• Commissioned hundreds of test and automation systems

• ISO 9001:2000 certified

• www.mindready.com

Mindready Solutions

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Although prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in men, in most cases, the disease is confined to the gland itself. One common treatment, brachytherapy, involves implanting small radioactive pellets or "seeds" into the prostate to deliver radiation directly to the malignancy.

This technique has grown in popularity because confining and targeting the therapy directly to the cancer site can significantly reduce side effects to the rest of the body. The advantages of this method include more-rapid patient recovery, lower costs, and reduced incidence of complications.

BrachySeed implants contained iodine-125, a short-lived isotope with a half-life of 60 days, meaning that after 200 days, 90% of the radioactivity within the implanted seeds would have decayed or become non-active.

Palladium-103 seeds decay at three times the rate of iodine-125 seeds, allowing a more intense initial dose of radiation for use primarily in treatment of more-aggressive tumors.

Introduction on Brachytherapy

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Mindready’s assembly concept enables:

• Vision on each step of the assembly to control the process

• Force sensing to detect problem at source

• Parallel assembly for optimum throughput

• Robotic unload to laser welding

• Vibration bowls to feed components

Automated assembly for BrachyseedsMindready’s assembly concept enables:Mindready’s

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�Project objectives:

�• Development of an automatic inspection system

�• Delivery within 16 weeks

�• Addresses radioactive security issues

�• FDA approval is necessary

�• Repeatability and scalability

• 100% inspection

Quality control of Brachyseeds

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�Features:�• A radio-active cylindrical assembly of 4 x 0.8 mm

�• Inspection of the laser weld:�• width�• depth�• profile�• pin holes �• cracks

�• Quality control on:�• dimensions�• parallelism�• surface profile

Quality control of Brachyseeds

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The inspection station offers:

• No human manipulation

• A classification into individual bins

• Counting and statistics

• Radiation measurements

• 3 possible modes of operation :• Automatic• Semi-automatic• Manual

Quality control of Brachyseeds

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Technical challenges:

• Cause the component to roll on itself

• Take a frame every 6 degrees (60 frames/seed)

• Compile the data in real time

• Respect production cycle time

• Minimized vibration during rolling

• Use of different cameras and lighting

• Perform analysis on specific areas

• Archive data and generate custom reports

Quality control of Brachyseeds

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Operator interface: Display

• Offers 100% control of the process

• Replay mode capabilities

• Colors indicate pass or fail for each criteria

• Mode of operation can be changed at anytime

• Log file of events available

Quality control of BrachyseedsOperator interface: DisplayOperator interface: Display

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Operator interface: Diagnostic

• Displays analysis on each frame

• Results of inspections are color-coded

• Statistical results are displayed

• Easy access to files containing operating parameters

Quality control of BrachyseedsOperator interface: DiagnosticOperator interface: Diagnostic

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Operator interface: Calibration

• Modifications can be made easily to the system configuration (parameters & limits)

• All optical parameters and limits can be set on a sliding scale

• Access privileges based on level of authority

Quality control of BrachyseedsOperator interface: Calibration

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Benefits of working with Mindready:�• No human manipulation (radioactive security issues)

�• 100% inspection over 360 degrees

�• Repetitive decisions now based on objective measurements� instead of subjective operator decision

�• Adjustable parameters and limits (no programming)

�• Data logging and reporting capabilities (reference pictures )

�• Better process control

�• Improved yield

Quality control of BrachyseedsBenefits of working with Mindready:Benefits of working with Mindready:�•