MR audio unit
AssigneeSiemens Healthcare GmbH
InventorStefan Popescu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present embodiments relate to an audio unit for reducing an awareness of a noise produced by a magnetic resonance machine, to an audio system, to a magnetic resonance system, and to a method for operating an audio unit. The audio unit includes a vibration sensor unit, a control unit (e.g., a microcontroller), and at least one loudspeaker. The vibration sensor unit may be configured to detect signals transmitted by bone conduction, and may be configured to transmit the signals to the control unit. The control unit may be configured to control the at least one loudspeaker based on the transmitted signals.
Claims26
An audio unit for reducing awareness of a noise produced by a magnetic resonance machine, the audio unit comprising:
- a vibration sensor unit;
- a control unit;
- and
- at least one loudspeaker,
- wherein the vibration sensor unit is configured to detect mechanical vibrations produced by the magnetic resonance machine and transmitted to a hearing organ of a patient by bone conduction, and
- wherein the control unit is configured to drive the at least one loudspeaker based on the mechanical vibrations to reduce the noise produced by the magnetic resonance machine via destructive interference.
An audio system comprising:
- a first audio unit;
- and
- a second audio unit,
- wherein the first audio unit and second audio unit comprise:
- a vibration sensor unit;
- a control unit;
- and
- at least one loudspeaker,
- wherein the vibration sensor unit is configured to detect mechanical vibrations transmitted to a hearing organ of a patient by bone conduction, and
- wherein the control unit is configured to drive the at least one loudspeaker based on the mechanical vibrations to reduce noise via destructive interference.
A magnetic resonance system comprising:
- a magnetic resonance machine;
- and
- an audio system comprising:
- a first audio unit;
- and
- a second audio unit,
- wherein the first audio unit and second audio unit comprise:
- a vibration sensor unit;
- a control unit;
- and
- at least one loudspeaker,
- wherein the vibration sensor unit is configured to detect mechanical vibrations produced by the magnetic resonance machine and transmitted to a hearing organ of a patient by bone conduction, and
- wherein the control unit is configured to drive the at least one loudspeaker based on the mechanical vibrations to reduce noise produced by the magnetic resonance machine via destructive interference.
A method for operating an audio unit, the method comprising:
- detecting, with a vibration sensor unit of the audio unit, mechanical vibrations produced by a gradient coil unit of a magnetic resonance machine during an operating phase of the gradient coil unit;
- and
- generating, with at least one loudspeaker of the audio unit, a loudspeaker acoustic signal that interferes with the mechanical vibrations via destructive interference to reduce a noise produced by the gradient coil unit of the magnetic resonance machine.
A computer program product comprising a computer program configured to be loaded directly into a non-transitory memory of a programmable processing unit of a control unit, the computer program, when executed, is configured to cause the control unit of a magnetic resonance machine to:
- detect, with a vibration sensor unit of an audio unit, mechanical vibrations produced by a gradient coil unit of the magnetic resonance machine during an operating phase of the gradient coil unit;
- and
- generate, with at least one loudspeaker of the audio unit, a loudspeaker acoustic signal that interferes with the mechanical vibrations via destructive interference to reduce a noise produced by the gradient coil unit of the magnetic resonance machine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.