Mri compatible knee positioning device
OwnerKenton R. Kaufman, Kimberly K. Amrami +2inventors
InventorsKenton R. Kaufman, Kimberly K. Amrami, Matthew F. Koff, Fredrick Schultz
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A device for positioning a subject's knee during an MRI scan. The device includes foot, knee, and thigh positioning apparatuses. Each of the positioning apparatuses can be translated and/or rotated to allow correct and consistent position of the subject's knee within the MRI magnetic bore. The device includes a user control to facilitate repeat measurements of knee characteristics with reduced intra- and inter-technologist variability.
Claims19
A device for positioning a knee of a subject for a medical imaging scan comprising:
- a local coil apparatus extending from a first end to a second end and configured to receive a knee of a subject positioned in an imaging system;
- a thigh positioning apparatus arranged proximal to the first end of the local coil apparatus and configured to position a thigh of the subject associated with the knee of the subject with an adjustable medial thigh support and adjustable lateral thigh support;
- a foot positioning apparatus arranged proximal to the second end of the local coil apparatus and configured to position a foot of the subject associated with the knee with a foot positioning apparatus;
- and
- a user control configured to receive a user-selection of a relative position of each of the foot positioning apparatus, the thigh positioning apparatus, and provide an at least one positional parameter indicating the user-selected, relative position of each of the foot positioning apparatus, the thigh positioning apparatus, designed to facilitate repeated quantitative measurements of a property of the knee across a plurality of medical imaging scans.
A device for positioning a knee of a subject in a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system comprising:
- a local coil apparatus configured to receive therethrough a knee of a leg of a subject positioned in an MRI system;
- and
- a leg stabilizer configured to receive at least one location parameter and position a thigh joint and an ankle joint of the leg in a predetermined configuration associated with the at least one location parameter for repeated quantitative measurements of a property of the knee using the MRI system.
A method for conducting repeated quantitative measurements of a property of a knee of a subject, the method comprising:
- positioning a knee of a leg of the subject within a MRI local coil apparatus;
- positioning a thigh of the leg with an adjustable medial thigh support and an adjustable lateral thigh support each coupled to the MRI local coil apparatus;
- positioning a foot of the leg with a foot positioning apparatus coupled to the MRI local coil apparatus;
- and
- indicating at least one parameter usable to reposition each of:
- the thigh with the adjustable medial thigh support and the adjustable lateral thigh support;
- the knee with the MRI local coil apparatus;
- and
- the foot with the foot positioning apparatus.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.