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US 12,752,276 B2Granted
System and method for multi-axis imaging of specimens
AssigneeFaxitron Bioptics, LLC
InventorsCiaran Purdy, Donogh O'Driscoll
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A specimen holding and positioning apparatus operable to substantially non-movably maintain a specimen (e.g., an excised tissue specimen) in a fixed or stable orientation with respect to the apparatus during imaging operations (e.g., x-ray imaging), transport (e.g., from a surgery room to a pathologist's laboratory), and the like for use in facilitating accurate detection and diagnosis of cancers and/or other abnormalities of the specimen.
Claims18
A method of imaging a tissue specimen, comprising:
- non-movably retaining the tissue specimen at least partially within a specimen apparatus;
- inserting the specimen apparatus containing the tissue specimen into an imaging chamber of an imaging system, the imaging system having an x-ray source and an x-ray detector positioned along an imaging axis, the x-ray source disposed at one end of the imaging chamber and the x-ray detector disposed at an opposite end of the imaging chamber with the imaging axis fixed within the imaging chamber, the imaging chamber also having a pair of walls oriented parallel with the imaging axis and with the imaging axis disposed therebetween, wherein inserting the specimen apparatus into the imaging chamber includes removably interconnecting the specimen apparatus to at least one of the pair of walls such that the specimen apparatus is rotatable around a rotational axis orthogonal relative to the imaging axis, and wherein the imaging chamber is devoid of any structure or components between the x-ray source and the x-ray detector other than at least a portion of the specimen apparatus containing the tissue specimen;
- orienting the specimen apparatus within the imaging chamber such that the tissue specimen is disposed along the imaging axis and between the x-ray source and the x-ray detector;
- acquiring at least one first x-ray image along a first axis through the tissue specimen;
- rotating the specimen apparatus around the rotation axis and relative to the x-ray source;
- and
- acquiring at least one second x-ray image along a second axis through the tissue specimen, the second axis different than the first axis.
4 more elements
A system for imaging an excised tissue specimen, comprising:
- a specimen apparatus configured to non-movably retain the tissue specimen;
- and
- an imaging system defining an imaging chamber, the imaging system having an x-ray source and an x-ray detector that are positioned along an imaging axis that extends through the imaging chamber, the x-ray source disposed at one end of the imaging chamber and the x-ray detector disposed at the opposite end of the imaging chamber with the imaging axis fixed within the imaging chamber, the imaging chamber also having a pair of walls oriented parallel with the imaging axis and with the imaging axis disposed therebetween, the specimen apparatus removably interconnected to at least one of the pair of walls such that the specimen apparatus is rotatable around a rotation axis orthogonal relative to the imaging axis, and wherein the imaging chamber is devoid of any structure or components between the x-ray source and the x-ray detector other than at least a portion of the specimen apparatus that can retain the tissue specimen;
- wherein the imaging chamber is configured to receive the specimen apparatus such that the tissue specimen is oriented along the imaging axis and between the x-ray source and the x-ray detector, and
- wherein the specimen apparatus is rotatable around the rotation axis extending through the imaging chamber such that at least one first x-ray image can be acquired along a first axis through the tissue specimen and at least one second x-ray image can be acquired along a second axis, the second axis different than the first axis via rotation of the specimen apparatus.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.