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ePaper created 2018-02-16, 11:17:41 | version 1.38.0
new dimention of imaging cone beam supplement | imaging is accomplished using a rotating gantry with a fixed X-ray source and a detector. Giani told us that, during the rotation, multiple sequential projection im- ages, ranging from 150 to 450, are acquired to com- plete the arc. This procedure varies from a conven- tional medical CT scan, which uses a fan-shaped X-ray beam in a helical progression to acquire individual im- age slices of the field of view (FOV) and then stacks the slices to obtain a 3-D representation. When we first approached X-Mind trium, we no- ticed right away the distinctive ergonomics of the ra- diographic unit. The device has an extremely short U-arm, which moves around the patient during the image acquisition phase. This is supported by the pat- ented kinematics and collimation and aids comforta- ble positioning of the patient’s jaw. The entire system is designed with ergonomic efficiency in mind and takes up very little space in the practice room. With a secondary collimator (X-ray tube assembly) installed, the patient is not exposed to additional collimator movements. Excellent quality assurance ACTEON produces high-end quality products that undergo a tried-and-tested quality control process. “The production of X-Mind trium has risen month after month, especially since we obtained U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval and then launched X-Mind trium in the US,” stated Alvise Reither, the Milan factory manager. He explained that, by chang- ing the factory’s layout and the flow of materials, new workflow processes were established. The manufac- turing plant is continuously expanding, and with ad- ditional operators, it is able to meet the demands of the market. “In this factory, we use the Kanban ap- proach principle, which means that we produce on stock, but finalise the product based on order. This way, we can balance demand with available capacity,” added Reither. Moreover, ACTEON applies significant quality con- trols during all processes, from the assembly of the core of the machine to final testing, which includes checking of the components and the configuration of the workstation. According to the factory manager, this procedure has been streamlined significantly in comparison to last year. Reither showed us a large number of testing cabinets containing devices being checked. With complete concentration, employees in front of computers verify the correctness of every step before the X-Mind trium units are distributed. It is in this context that a large quantity of X-Mind trium devices are manufactured, tested and shipped each week. “We have an excellent product quality. We want to ensure a high-quality standard, so employees take turns at the workstations. We also want to make sure that each employee knows and understands all the processes leading up to the finalisation of the prod- uct, establishing an appreciation of the importance of each step in the assembly. We further want our em- ployees to respect ACTEON’s standard of quality. This follows the two steps of the quality control: (1) check- ing that all cables and parts are well assembled and (2) testing the machine’s functionality in the testing cab- inets. Our quality manager also inspects the compo- nents when they are sent to us and before we put them into stock. No parts are assembled externally. A mix of components, cables, mechanical parts, motors and sensors are assembled by hand. That is also part of our quality management,” Reither detailed. CAD/CAM 4 2017 49