Patient table design with reduced attenuation for emission and transmittion tomography

An image acquisition system, comprising:

• a medical imaging device configured to generate imaging data for a subject disposed in an examination region;
• a medical imaging subject support table comprising a conveyor belt maintained in tension and passing through the examination region of the medical imaging device;
• and
• at least one sensor configured to measure a sag value of the conveyor belt or to detect sag of the conveyor belt greater than a threshold.

An imaging system, comprising:

• a medical imaging subject support table including:
• a movable portion configured to move through a bore of an imaging device;
• table supports positioned outside of the bore of the imaging device on opposite ends of the bore and supporting the movable portion outside the bore of the imaging device;
• and
• one or more support bars disposed in the bore and connected at their ends with the table supports, the support bars providing support for the movable portion inside the bore.

An imaging system, comprising:

• a gantry defining a bore;
• a table extending through the bore, the table being configured to move the patient through the bore during an image acquisition procedure;
• and
• one or more radiation absorbing layers embedded into the table adjacent opposing ends of the bore, the radiation absorbing layers being configured to prevent radiation from entering an imaging area within the bore.