Patient pose detection apparatus

A patient pose detection system, comprising:

• a medical imaging unit;
• at least one millimeter wave and/or terahertz sensor and
• a processing unit;
• wherein the at least one-millimeter wave and/or terahertz sensor is located in the vicinity of a patient on a patient support of the medical imaging unit;
• wherein the at least one millimeter wave and/or terahertz sensor is configured to acquire millimeter wave and/or terahertz image data of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit prior to medical image data of the patient being acquired by the medical imaging unit;
• wherein the at least one millimeter wave and/or terahertz sensor is configured to provide the millimeter wave and/or terahertz image data of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit to the processing unit;
• and
• wherein the processing unit is configured to determine a pose of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit, wherein the determination of the pose of the patient on the patient support comprises utilization of the millimeter wave and/or terahertz image data of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit, wherein the system comprises a visible or infrared sensor, wherein the visible or infrared sensor is configured to be located in the vicinity of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit, wherein the visible or infrared sensor is configured to acquire visible or infrared image data of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit prior to medical image data of the patient being acquired by the medical imaging unit, wherein the visible or infrared sensor is configured to provide the visible or infrared image data of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit to the processing unit, and wherein the determination of the pose of the patient on the patient support comprises utilization of the visible or infrared image data of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit;
• wherein the millimeter wave and/or terahertz image data of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit comprises a first millimeter wave and/or terahertz image of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit acquired at a first time frame and a second millimeter wave and/or terahertz image of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit acquired at a second time frame after the first time frame, and wherein the visible or infrared image data of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit comprises a first visible or infrared image of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit acquired contemporaneously with the first millimeter wave and/or terahertz image of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit.

A patient pose detection method comprising:

• acquiring by at least one millimeter wave and/or terahertz sensor located in the vicinity of a patient on a patient support of a medical imaging unit millimeter wave and/or terahertz image data of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit prior to medical image data of the patient being acquired by the medical imaging unit;
• providing by the at least one millimeter wave and/or terahertz sensor the millimeter wave and/or terahertz image data of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit to a processing unit;
• and
• determining by the processing unit a pose of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit, wherein the determining the pose of the patient on the patient support comprises utilizing the millimeter wave and/or terahertz image data of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit, wherein a visible or infrared sensor is configured to be located in the vicinity of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit, wherein the visible or infrared sensor is configured to acquire visible or infrared image data of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit prior to medical image data of the patient being acquired by the medical imaging unit, wherein the visible or infrared sensor is configured to provide the visible or infrared image data of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit to the processing unit, and wherein the determination of the pose of the patient on the patient support comprises utilization of the visible or infrared image data of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit;
• wherein the millimeter wave and/or terahertz image data of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit comprises a first millimeter wave and/or terahertz image of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit acquired at a first time frame and a second millimeter wave and/or terahertz image of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit acquired at a second time frame after the first time frame, and wherein the visible or infrared image data of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit comprises a first visible or infrared image of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit acquired contemporaneously with the first millimeter wave and/or terahertz image of the patient on the patient support of the medical imaging unit.