Back to results
US 10,952,696 B2Granted
Sensor array in a component of an imaging device
AssigneeSiemens Healthcare GmbH
InventorStefan Popescu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for detecting measurement signals during a medical imaging procedure executed by a medical device includes detecting measurement signals with a set of sensor nodes, which are integrated in a component of the medical imaging device, wherein each sensor node (SN) operates autonomously and wirelessly, and locally preparing the detected signals for being transmitted according to an interference-free instruction protocol, to a gateway.
Claims17
A method for detecting measurement signals during a medical imaging procedure executed by a medical imaging apparatus, said method comprising:
- detecting respective measurement signals with a plurality of sensor nodes that are integrated in said medical imaging apparatus, by operating each sensor node autonomously and wirelessly;
- and
- operating a gateway circuit to locally prepare the plurality of detected signals for transmission from said gateway circuit according to an interference-free instruction protocol that includes a set of instructions issued by the gateway circuit, for reception and processing at said sensor nodes, the set of instructions including a MUTE and UNMUTE instruction and a SLEEP and WAKE-UP instruction, wherein:
- the MUTE instruction serves to initiate a MUTE mode in which the sensor nodes are configured to disable data transmission while continuing and to detect the measurement signals and store corresponding data, the MUTE mode being activated during a readout of the medical imaging apparatus operating as a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus;
- the UNMUTE instruction serving to initiate an UNMUTE mode in which the sensor nodes are configured to harvest ambient energy from the medical imaging apparatus, which is activated during a radio frequency excitation (RFE) phase and gradient encoding (GRAD-ENC) phase of the medical imaging device operating as the magnetic resonance imaging device;
- the SLEEP instruction serves to initiate a SLEEP mode in which the sensor nodes are configured to disable data transmission and disable detection of the measurement signals;
- and
- the WAKE-UP instruction serves to initiate a WAKE-UP mode in which the sensor nodes are configured to enable the detection of the measurement signals and enable data transmission.
5 more elements
A component for a medical imaging apparatus, said component comprising:
- a component body designed to perform a function in a medical imaging procedure executed by the medical imaging apparatus;
- and
- a set of wirelessly and autonomously operating sensor nodes integrated in, and fabricated in one piece with, said component body, each sensor node including an energy supply unit that provides electricity that operates the sensor node, at least one sensor element that detects at least one type of measurement signal, and a communication unit, and a memory that locally stores the measurement signals detected by said at least one sensor of said sensor node, wherein the sensor nodes are configured to operate in:
- a MUTE mode in which the sensor nodes are configured to disable data transmission while continuing and to detect the measurement signals and store corresponding data, the MUTE mode being activated during a readout of the medical imaging apparatus operating as a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus;
- an UNMUTE mode in which the sensor nodes are configured to harvest ambient energy from the medical imaging apparatus, which is activated during a radio frequency excitation (RFE) phase and gradient encoding (GRAD-ENC) phase of the medical imaging device operating as the magnetic resonance imaging device;
- a SLEEP mode in which the sensor nodes are configured to disable data transmission and disable detection of the measurement signals;
- and
- a WAKE-UP mode in which the sensor nodes are configured to enable the detection of the measurement signals and enable data transmission.
5 more elements
A medical imaging system comprising:
- a medical imaging device that executes a medical imaging procedure;
- a component designed to perform a function in said medical imaging procedure executed by said medical imaging device;
- and
- a set of wirelessly and autonomously operating sensor nodes integrated in, and fabricated in one piece with, said component, each sensor node including an energy supply unit that provides electricity that operates the sensor node, at least one sensor element that detects at least one type of measurement signal, and a communication unit, and a memory that locally stores the measurement signals detected by said at least one sensor of said sensor node, wherein the sensor nodes are configured to operate in:
- a MUTE mode in which the sensor nodes are configured to disable data transmission while continuing and to detect the measurement signals and store corresponding data, the MUTE mode being activated during a readout of the medical imaging apparatus operating as a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus;
- an UNMUTE mode in which the sensor nodes are configured to harvest ambient energy from the medical imaging apparatus, which is activated during a radio frequency excitation (RFE) phase and gradient encoding (GRAD-ENC) phase of the medical imaging device operating as the magnetic resonance imaging device;
- a SLEEP mode in which the sensor nodes are configured to disable data transmission and disable detection of the measurement signals;
- and
- a WAKE-UP mode in which the sensor nodes are configured to enable the detection of the measurement signals and enable data transmission.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.