Themes
  • 3D printing
  • Filament extrusion
  • PLA
  • Plastic
  • Radiation oncology
  • Radiotherapy
Amount granted
$15,000

Description

Radiotherapy is a recognized method in the fight against cancer. In some cases, it is preferable to use a customized accessory called a "bolus", a layer of material placed on the patient's skin to increase the dose of radiation deposited on the skin's surface. At the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Montréal, boluses are currently manufactured by 3D printing using polylactic acid (PLA), a thermoplastic polymer. As each bolus is tailor-made for a specific patient, it is impossible to reuse it once the patient's treatment is complete, which generates a significant amount of plastic waste. It would therefore be interesting to know whether the PLA used for this application can be recycled and reprinted to create new boluses for other patients. This would maintain good treatment performance while seeking to integrate circular economy concepts.

Affiliated research axes

Axis 2: Planning Optimization

2.4 – Plan and optimize the production of products and delivery of services in the context of the circular economy

Axis 3: Resource and Product Maximization

3.3 – Identify models for product circularization strategies

Member(s)

  • Emna Helal

    Ph.D. Institutional Researcher
  • Lucas Hof

    Professor
  • Nicole Demarquette

    Ph.D. Professor

Collaborators

Stéphane Bedwani

Medical physicist at CHUM

Gabriel Matheus Pinto

Student at ÉTS

Julien Dravigné

Student at Université de Montréal
The RRECQ is supported by the Fonds de recherche du Québec.
Fonds de recherche - Québec