Sequential imaging apparatus
AssigneeApogee Medical Products, Inc.
InventorPeter M. Bonutti
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
For use in medical imaging, an indexing assembly provides repeatable indexing movement of a joint in predetermined angular increments between sequential index positions. Means are provided for limiting movement of the joint to the next selected index position without skipping any index positions. The apparatus is contained entirely within, for example, a primary imaging coil of an MRI apparatus, and is patient directed.
Claims32
A method of imaging a knee joint of patient with an imaging unit, said method comprising the steps of gripping a lower portion of a patient's leg at a location below the knee joint with a cuff which is connected with a rotatable member, positioning the knee joint in the imaging unit, bending the knee joint while the knee joint is in the imaging unit, moving the lower portion of the patient's leg along an arcuate path while bending the knee joint, rotating the cuff and the member under the influence of force applied against the cuff by the lower portion of the patient's leg and transmitted from the cuff to the member during bending of the knee joint, retaining the lower portion of the patient's leg against movement in a direction transverse to the arcuate path during bending of the knee joint, said step of retaining the lower portion of the patient's leg against movement in a direction transverse to the arcuate path including restraining the lower portion of the patient's leg against movement in a direction transverse to the arcuate path under the influence of force transmitted from the member through the cuff to the lower portion of the patient's leg, and imaging the knee joint when the lower portion of the patient's leg is at each of a plurality of positions along the arcuate path.
A method of imaging a knee joint of a patient while the patient is lying on his or her back, said method comprising the steps of gripping a lower portion of a patient's leg at a location below the knee joint with a cuff which is connected with a rotatable member, positioning the knee joint in the imaging unit with the patient lying on his or her back, bending the knee joint while the knee joint is in the imaging unit and while the patient is lying on his or her back, moving the lower portion of the patient's leg along an arcuate path while bendig the knee joint with the patient lying on his or her back, rotating the cuff and the member about an axis extending through the member during bending of the knee joint while the patient is lying on his or her back, retaining the lower portion of the patient's leg against movement in a direction transverse to the arcuate path during bending of the knee joint while the patient is lying on his or her back, said step of retaining the lower portion of the patient's leg against movement in a direction transverse to the arcuate path including restraining the lower portion of the patient's leg against movement in a direction transverse to the arcuate path under the influence of force transmitted from the member through the cuff to the lower portion of the patient's leg, and imaging the knee joint when the lower portion of the patient's leg is at each of a plurality of positions along the arcuate path while the patient is lying on his or her back.
A method of imaging a knee joint of patient with an imaging unit, said method comprising the steps of gripping a lower portion of a patient's leg at a location below the knee joint with a cuff which is connected with a rotatable member, positioning the knee joint in the imaging unit, bending the knee joint while the knee joint is in the imaging unit, rotating the cuff and the member about an axis during bending of the knee joint, moving the cuff along a linear path relative to the rotatable member under the influence of force applied against the cuff by the lower portion of the patient's leg while bending the knee joint, and imaging the knee joint when the lower portion of the patient's leg is at each of a plurality of positions in the imaging unit.
Apparatus for magnetic resonance imaging a knee joint of a patient, said apparatus comprising a magnetic resonance imaging unit, and positioning means for controlling bending of the patient's knee joint with the knee joint in said magnetic resonance imaging unit, said positioning means including a base, a member rotatable relative to said base about an upright axis with said member at least partially in said magnetic resonance imaging unit, cuff means for holding a lower portion of the patient's leg at a location below the knee joint with the knee joint in said magnetic resonance imaging unit and with the patient's leg extending across said member through the upright axis about which said member is rotatable, and connector means for connecting said cuff means with said rotatable member and for rotating said rotatable member under the influence of force transmitted from said cuff means through said connector means to said rotatable member from the lower portion of the patient's leg.
An apparatus for magnetic resonance imaging a knee joint of a patient, said apparatus comprising a magnetic resonance imaging unit, and positioning means for controlling bending of the patient's knee joint with the knee joint in said magnetic resonance imaging unit, said positioning means including a base, a member rotatable relative to said base with said member at least partially in said magnetic resonance imaging unit, cuff means for holding a lower portion of a patient's leg at a location below the knee joint with the knee joint in said magnetic resonance imaging unit, and connector means for connecting said cuff means with said member, said connector means including means for enabling said cuff means to move relative to said member along a linear path in one direction during rotation of said member and flexion of the knee joint and for enabling said cuff means to move relative to said member along the linear path in a direction opposite to the one direction during rotation of said member and extension of the knee joint, said cuff means being movable relative to said member along the linear path under the influence of force transmitted to said cuff means from the lower portion of the patient's leg.
An apparatus as set forth in claim 25 wherein said connector means transmits force from said cuff means to rotate said member under the influence of force applied against said cuff means by the lower portion of the patient's leg.
An apparatus for magnetic resonance imaging a knee joint of a patient, said apparatus comprising a magnetic resonance imaging unit, and positioning means for controlling bending of the patient's knee joint in said magnetic resonance imaging unit, said positioning means including a base, a member rotatable relative to said base with said member at least partially in said magnetic resonance imaging unit, cuff means for holding a lower portion of a patient's leg at a location below the knee joint with the knee joint in said magnetic resonance imaging unit, connector means for connecting said cuff means with said member, an arcuate array of index locations connected with said rotatable member, said arcuate array of index locations having a center of curvature disposed on an axis about which said member is rotatable, an index element movable between an engaged position engaging at least one of said index locations to retain said member against rotation and a disengaged position spaced from said index location to release said member for rotation, biasing means for urging said index element toward the engaged position, and actuator means for moving said index element from the engaged position to the disengaged position against the influence of said biasing means and under the influence of force applied to said actuator means by the patient.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.