Development of a 3D printed quality control tool for evaluation of x-ray beam alignment and collimation

The aim of this work was to develop a low-cost, 3D printed tool to evaluate X-ray beam alignment and collimation. The study was divided into two phases: 1) the development of 3D printed prototypes; and 2) a comparison with a commercial test object. A 3D printer was used to develop two objects that utilized 40% infill and were each printed with a different filament PLA (polylactic acid) and ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene). Two pieces of X-ray equipment were used for the beam collimation and beam alignment tests. For validation, a standard commercial tool was used, and the evaluation results of the prototypes were compared with those of the commercial tool. The tests performed with both the prototypes and the standard tool showed a deviation of +/- 1 cm between the light field and the radiation field. The central ray's perpendicularity was evaluated through the coincidence between the rod and the metallic circle. The test of central ray alignment conducted with a standard tool revealed an axis perpendicularity of 1.5 degrees, while both prototypes presented axis perpendicularities of less than 3 degrees. The prototypes proved to be effective tools and were easy to handle. The variety of printing materials that can be used and the ease with which the filaments can be acquired contribute to a low cost of production.