3D printing mobile medical service cabinet case

Project Background

Under the strong impetus of the wave of medical informatisation and intelligence, the traditional inpatient ward check mode has gradually exposed many shortcomings, with problems such as low efficiency, information lag, and confusing drug management becoming more and more prominent. In order to effectively solve these pain points, improve the efficiency of room visits, reduce the incidence of medical errors, a tertiary hospital together with technology companies, jointly developed a medical mobile medical service cabinet. The service cabinet is a deep integration of Internet of Things, automation and 3D printing technology, and is committed to realising the digital and mobile upgrading of medical processes and opening a new chapter of intelligent healthcare.

Client: Inpatient Department of a tertiary hospital (anonymised at the request of the client)
Industry: Intelligent Healthcare
Technology Application: SLA 3D Printing Prototype Verification + Small Batch Customised Production
3D Printer Model: SLA 3D Printer SLA 800

Demand Analysis

Core Pain Points

Under the traditional medical model, doctors mainly rely on manual recording of medical records and checking of unimplemented medical orders during room visits, which is not only time-consuming and labour-intensive, but also highly prone to missing or delayed items. The same applies to the distribution of medicines, which relies entirely on manual checking, resulting in a high risk of mislabelling. In addition, the dispersed storage of medical equipment means that in the event of an emergency, it often takes a lot of time for medical staff to access the equipment, which seriously affects the efficiency of treatment.
Functional Requirements
To meet the needs of modern healthcare, the service cabinet needs to have the function of real-time synchronisation of patients’ medical records, examination reports and unfinished medical projects, so that doctors can obtain the latest and most accurate patient information at any time and any place. At the same time, it should support bedside printing of patient name stickers and drug labels to achieve rapid and accurate output of information. In terms of mobility, it needs to have the ability to automatically move to the designated bed, significantly reducing the round-trip time of medical staff and enhancing work efficiency. In addition, the service cabinet should be integrated with the storage function of drugs and basic tools to provide ‘one-stop’ service for healthcare personnel and ensure that the required items are within reach in the process of checking rooms.

Solution Design

1. Hardware Configuration

The mobile chassis adopts advanced design and is equipped with 4 universal silent wheels, running smoothly and with very low noise. At the same time, it is equipped with LIDAR and SLAM (Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping) algorithms, which can accurately identify the surrounding environment and achieve precise navigation of beds, so that it can travel flexibly and accurately arrive at the target location even in the complex inpatient environment.
The intelligent terminal is equipped with a 15.6-inch touch screen, which is easy and smooth to operate. The terminal is deeply integrated with the hospital’s HIS system, which can dynamically display patient information and the progress of medical advice in real time, so that doctors can fully grasp the patient’s situation with just one click, providing powerful support for diagnostic and treatment decisions.
The printing module has a built-in high-performance thermal printer with powerful functions, which not only supports the printing of A4 medical records, but also realises the customised output of drug labels to meet the printing needs in different scenarios. The printed content is clear and accurate, which fully meets the strict requirements of medical records.
The storage system adopts a layered design with reasonable layout, making full use of space. At the same time, it is equipped with temperature and humidity sensors that can monitor the internal environment in real time to ensure that the drugs and consumables are always under safe and stable storage conditions to safeguard their quality and effectiveness.

2. Software system

Data Central Station, as the ‘intelligent brain’ of the service cabinet, seamlessly connects with the hospital database, enabling automatic and timely synchronisation of the patient’s electronic medical records, test results and unimplemented medical instructions, ensuring real-time and accurate information. No matter when and where, doctors can access the latest patient data, providing a reliable basis for diagnosis and treatment.
The task reminder function combines voice broadcasting and interface highlighting to remind healthcare personnel of unfinished items, such as infusion, medication change, etc., effectively avoiding omissions and ensuring that all medical tasks are carried out on time and accurately.
Permission management is based on RFID technology to achieve doctor authentication, only authorised doctors can operate, to ensure the safety and traceability of the operation process. Each operation has a detailed record, which is convenient for subsequent enquiry and management, effectively guaranteeing medical safety.

Technology Realisation Path

1. Prototype Verification (SLA 3D Printing)

In the prototype verification stage, the R&D team gives full play to the advantages of SLA 3D printing technology to achieve rapid iteration. Using light-curing 3D printing technology, the service cabinet shell and internal structure samples can be produced in a very short time. Amazingly, three rounds of design optimisation were completed in just 72 hours, greatly reducing the development cycle.
In the function test, the mobile navigation accuracy of the service cabinet was strictly verified, and the result showed that the error was ≤5cm, which fully met the actual use requirements. The R&D team used SLA 3D printers to directly output the shell samples of the service cabinet. In terms of personalised customisation such as cabinet hollow structure and medicine storage compartment, SLA 3D printing technology has demonstrated its strong ability to shape complex designs in one go without the need for cumbersome assembly processes, fully demonstrating its unique advantages in detail design.

2. Technical advantages: why SLA 3D printing has become the first choice for medical device R & D

SLA 3D printing has high precision and excellent surface quality, the layer thickness of up to 0.05mm, the surface roughness of the printed model is low, and it is easier to polish and colour it later on, which can satisfy the stringent requirements on the appearance and accuracy of the medical device.
For the traditional process is difficult to process the hollow, hollow structure, such as cabinet cooling holes, drug label exit, etc., SLA 3D printing technology can easily cope with, directly realize the complex structure of the one-shot moulding, greatly simplify the production process, reduce the assembly process, improve the production efficiency.
Compared with traditional moulding, SLA 3D printing has a huge advantage in terms of time and cost. While traditional moulding takes 2 – 3 weeks to produce a prototype, SLA 3D printing takes only 72 hours, which allows for faster design iterations and the ability to identify and resolve design flaws in a timely manner. By quickly verifying design defects, such as navigation errors, interface mismatches, etc., it effectively avoids the high cost of later mould modifications and reduces the cost of trial and error by 60%, saving a lot of time and money for R&D work.

Sample Testing

The samples made with SLA 3D printing technology have undergone rigorous and comprehensive testing and optimisation to ensure the stability and reliability of its functions. In the networking system test, the actual network environment of the hospital was simulated, and the system was tested for a long time and with high intensity. The results show that the system is able to record and query medical information quickly and accurately, and the data transmission is stable without delay or error, providing a solid technical guarantee for the smooth implementation of medical work.
In the printing function test, the printed labels were meticulously inspected, and both clarity and accuracy were fully in line with the strict requirements of medical records, which can effectively avoid medical errors caused by labelling problems.
The storage space design has been repeatedly considered and optimised, and in the actual test, it can fully meet the storage needs of daily medicines and medical tools, with a reasonable layout and easy access, providing great convenience for healthcare workers.
In the mobile function test, the service cabinet shows excellent performance, able to travel smoothly according to the preset route, automatically avoid obstacles when encountering obstacles, with high positioning accuracy, able to accurately and precisely arrive at the designated beds, providing convenient and efficient mobile support for doctors’ check-ups.

Innovation Points and Industry Value

Technology Integration Innovation

SLA 3D printing technology is innovatively applied to the development of medical device prototypes, which is a highly effective initiative that directly shortens the R&D cycle by 50% and greatly improves the R&D efficiency. At the same time, the combination of SLAM algorithm and hospital map data successfully realised the autonomous navigation of medical devices, which provides new technical ideas and solutions for the development of intelligent healthcare.

Conclusion

The successful case of the medical mobile service cabinet fully demonstrates that SLA 3D printing technology is no longer limited to the ‘prototype validation’ stage, and is gradually extending to the ‘functional parts manufacturing’. Its significant advantages of high precision, high efficiency and low cost are profoundly affecting and changing the medical device R&D process, bringing brand new development opportunities for the medical industry.
In the future, with the continuous development and improvement of multi-material SLA 3D printing technology, medical devices will be able to achieve more complex structural integration and functional fusion, and further promote the landing of intelligent healthcare. The medical mobile service cabinet has redefined the medical service mode of the inpatient department through the double-wheel drive of ‘hardware intelligence + process digitisation’, and its successful practice has provided a valuable and replicable solution for the construction of smart hospitals, which is expected to be widely promoted and applied in the medical industry, and play an important role in upgrading the level of medical services and improving the experience of patients in medical treatment. It is expected to be widely promoted and applied in the medical industry, playing an important role in upgrading the level of medical services and improving patients’ experience.