X-ray CT scanner
AssigneeKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
InventorYasuo Nobuta
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An X-ray CT scanner, favorable to mass screening, has a gantry in which an X-ray tube radiates an X-ray beam for a patient carrying through an opening for scanning formed therein. The X-ray tube rotates inside the gantry under scanning. The scanner has also an element for reconstructing computed tomography images with using data of the X-ray beam received through the patient. The scanner comprises a couch having a tabletop on which the patient lies down, the tabletop being movable along a longitudinal direction of the couch. Also provided are an element for carrying the tabletop from an initial position through the opening and an element for recognizing a predetermined longitudinal scan range while the tabletop is being carried. Further provided is an element for working the reconstruction element when the scan range is recognized.
Claims43
An X-ray CT scanner having a gantry in which an X-ray tube rotatably incorporated therein radiates an X-ray beam upon a patient carried through an opening of the gantry and an X-ray detector rotatably incorporated in the gantry detects the X-ray beam transmitted through the patient, data of the X-ray beam thus-detected being used for reconstructing computed tomography images, the scanner comprising:
- a couch having a tabletop on which the patient lies, the tabletop being movable along a longitudinal direction of the couch;
- means for carrying the tabletop from a predetermined initial position of the tabletop in the longitudinal direction through the opening of the gantry;
- means for detecting a standard position of the patient in the longitudinal direction at a radiation position of the X-ray beam in the gantry while the tabletop is being carried by the carrying means;
- means for recognizing a scan range of the patient in response to detection information from the detecting means while the tabletop is being carried by the carrying means, said scan range being limited by a start position and an end position in the longitudinal direction;
- means for scanning the scan region of the patient by the X-ray beam radiated from the X-ray tube for obtaining the data of the computed tomography images in response to information notifying the scan range recognized by the recognizing means;
- and
- means for reconstructing the computed tomography images using the data of the X-ray beam detected by the X-ray detector.
An X-ray CT scanner having a gantry in which an X-ray tube rotatably incorporated therein radiates an X-ray beam upon a patient carried through an opening of the gantry and an X-ray detector rotatably incorporated in the gantry detects the X-ray beam transmitted through the patient, data of the X-ray beam thus-detected being used for reconstructing computed tomography images, the scanner comprising:
- a couch having a tabletop on which the patient lies, the tabletop being movable along a longitudinal direction of the couch;
- means for carrying the tabletop from a predetermined initial position of the tabletop in the longitudinal direction through the opening;
- means for recognizing a scan range of the patient in the longitudinal direction while the tabletop is being carried by the carrying means for obtaining the computed tomography images, the scan range corresponding to a desired predetermined scanning region;
- means for scanning the scan region of the patient by the X-ray beam radiated from the X-ray tube for obtaining the data of the computed tomography images in response to information notifying the scan range recognized by the recognizing means;
- and
- means for reconstructing the computed tomography images using the data of the X-ray beam detected by the X-ray detector;
- said recognizing means having a slit formed at one end along the longitudinal direction on the tabletop, the slit being inserted by a rod means whose longitudinal length corresponds to the scan range, the rod means having a different physical property from the slit, and a detector to detect each point on the longitudinal length of the rod means.
An X-ray CT scanner having a gantry in which an X-ray tube rotatably incorporated therein radiates during scanning an X-ray beam upon a patient carried through an opening of the gantry, and having means for reconstructing computed tomography images using data of the X-ray beam received through the patient, the scanner comprising:
- means for generating a signal indicative of a start and an end of the scanning;
- and
- means for informing the patient of temporary discontinuation of respiration required for the scanning on the basis of the signal from the signal generating means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.