THE BEAM TEAM: MACHINING AS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

摘要

IF JOHN BARR MISSES A DELIVERY DATE, THE cancer patient whose life depends on him has to wait to get treatment. Barr and his crew of machinists produce patient-specific compensators and apertures that are used to target proton beams in radiation treatment at cancerous tumors without harming surrounding healthy tissue. Barr's crew is known as the Beam Team. They work out of a fully stocked machine shop located on the lower level of the Proton Therapy Center at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston (www.mdan-derson.org/protontherapy), and while the team operates much like any other production shop, it faces unusual challenges. Job leadtimes are typically hours, not days; not weeks. Communication and data exchange with other treatment center departments are paramount. And, no two parts the shop makes are ever the same. Each part is individually and painstakingly made for each cancer patient.