Automatic aligning mechanism for nuclear magnetic resonance imaging apparatus

An automatic aligning mechanism for a nuclear magnetic resonance imaging apparatus including a gantry supporting a main coil, having a central space into which a subject is inserted, for generating a static magnetic field for said subject inserted into said central space, and supporting a gradient coil for generating a gradient magnetic field for producing position information of a portion of said subject induced with a nuclear magnetic resonance signal in said static magnetic field, said imaging apparatus producing an image of a section of said subject at a predetermined inspecting position in said central space of said main coil on the basis of said nuclear magnetic resonance signal from said portion of said subject, said mechanism comprising:

• a table top supporting base having a table top on which said subject is placed and which is movable to move said subject into and out from an opening of said gantry;
• means for measuring a position of an inspected portion of said subject on said table top, wherein said position measuring means includes an inspected-portion indicating member movable along a longitudinal side edge of said table top;
• indicating-member-moving-distance measuring means for measuring a moving distance of said inspected-portion indicating member from a predetermined initial position;
• and
• means for detecting a distance between an inspected portion of said subject and a predetermined inspecting position in said central space of said main coil on the basis of a measured result by said position measuring means, and for moving said table top for a detected distance toward said opening of said gantry.