Patient handling arrangements for NMR imaging systems
AssigneeTechnicare Corporation
InventorsRobert L. Carper, John T. Keller
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A patient handling system for an NMR imaging system includes a portable patient table having a bottom portion and a top portion. The table is docked adjacent to the magnet of an NMR system. The top portion may be elevated to align the top portion with the magnet bore. A patient pallet, located on the top portion of the table, is then moved into and out of the magnet bore. The pallet includes a number of modules upon which the patient reclines. At least one module includes a radio frequency coil for NMR imaging. The other modules are dummy modules which do not contain r.f. coils and support other parts of the patients's body.
Claims13
In a nuclear magnetic resonance imaging system, including a magnet housing containing a magnet having a bore in which a subject to be imaged is to be located, a patient handling system comprising:
- a mobile patient table which may be located so as to oppose said magnet bore, said patient table including a bottom portion and a top portion;
- a patient pallet, movably located on said top portion and adapted to be moved between said top portion and said magnet bore;
- and
- docking means for mating said mobile patient table with said magnet, said docking means providing an electrical connection between said magnet housing and said patient table.
In a nuclear magnetic resonance imaging system, including a magnet having a bore in which a subject to be imaged is to be located, a patient handling system comprising:
- a patient table which may be located so as to oppose said magnet bore, said patient table including a bottom portion and a top portion;
- a patient pallet, movably located on said top portion and adapted to be moved between said top portion and said magnet bore;
- mechanically driven transport means for transporting said patient pallet into and out of said magnet bore, including latch means for connecting said transport means to said patient pallet;
- and
- release means, located on said pallet, for manually releasing said latch means from said pallet, whereby said pallet may be manually removed from said magnet bore.
In a nuclear magnetic resonance imaging system, including a magnet having a bore in which a subject to be imaged is to be located, a patient handling system comprising:
- a mobile patient table which may be located so as to oppose said magnet bore, said patient table including a bottom portion and a top portion;
- a patient pallet, movably located on said top portion and adapted to be moved between said top portion and said magnet bore;
- docking means for mating said mobile patient table with said magnet;
- and
- retaining means for preventing movement of said patient pallet relative to said top portion when said mobile patient table is not mated with said magnet.
In a nuclear magnetic resonance imaging system, a patient pallet comprising a plurality of modules for supporting a subject, said modules being capable of being aligned to form a substantially uniform supporting surface over a majority of its surface area, and including at least one active coil module including a radio frequency coil, and at least one dummy module similar to said active coil module and containing no radio frequency coil.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.