Anatomical imaging system with centipede belt drive

Abstract

An anatomical imaging system comprising: a CT machine; and a transport mechanism mounted to the base of the CT machine, wherein the transport mechanism comprises a fine movement mechanism for moving the CT machine precisely, relative to the patient, during scanning. An anatomical imaging system comprising: a CT machine; and a transport mechanism mounted to the base of the CT machine, wherein the transport mechanism comprises: a gross movement mechanism for transporting the CT machine relatively quickly across room distances; and a fine movement mechanism for moving the CT machine precisely, relative to the patient, during scanning. An imaging system comprising: a scanner; and a transport mechanism mounted to the base of the scanner, wherein the transport mechanism comprises: a gross movement mechanism for transporting the scanner relatively quickly across room distances; and a fine movement mechanism for moving the scanner precisely, relative to the object being scanned, during scanning. A method for scanning a patient comprising: providing an anatomical imaging system, the system comprising: a CT machine; and a transport mechanism mounted to the base of the CT machine, wherein the transport mechanism comprises: a gross movement mechanism for transporting the CT machine relatively quickly across room distances; and a fine movement mechanism for moving the CT machine precisely, relative to the patient, during scanning; transporting the CT machine to the patient, across room distances, using the gross movement mechanism; and scanning the patient while moving the CT machine precisely, relative to the patient, with the fine movement mechanism. A method for scanning a patient, comprising: moving a CT machine across room distances to the patient; and scanning the patient while moving the CT machine precisely relative to the patient during scanning. A method for scanning an object, comprising: moving a scanner across room distances to the object; and scanning the object while moving the scanner precisely relative to the object during scanning.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.