Kyphotic lift for MRI imaging bed

A method of supporting a patient with kyphosis during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the method comprising:

• placing a patient on a body support of a kyphotic lift having a lift mechanism, wherein the body support is operable to support an upper body of the patient including at least a chest and an abdomen of the patient;
• lifting the body support away from an MRI bed with the lift mechanism to raise hips of the patient to a position where the hips and thighs of the patient are above the torso;
• positioning a head of the patient to align with an MRI head coil;
• performing MRI imaging using the MRI head coil to produce a patient image;
• and
• lowering the body support toward the MRI bed with the kyphotic lift to lower the hips of the patient toward the MRI bed.

A kyphotic lift, comprising:

• a rigid support base, wherein the support base is a planar substrate that is adapted to be positioned onto an existing MRI bed;
• a planar, rigid body support including a first end rotationally secured, via a hinge, to the support base and a second end that is free to lift relative to the support base, the body support including a torso support segment and a hip support segment, the body support being movable away from the support base by rotating at the hinge and being operable to raise at least a chest and an abdomen of the a kyphotic patient during use;
• and
• a lift mechanism disposed between the support base and the body support and configured for lifting the second end of the body support relative to the support base, via rotation at the hinge, to a position where the hip support segment is above the torso support segment such that hips and thighs of the kyphotic patient are above the torso and such that the head of the kyphotic patient is positionable in an MRI head coil.