Spine coil unit
AssigneeSiemens Aktiengesellschaft
InventorHeinz Hahn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In order to increase the speed at which a user of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system may electrically or optically connect and physically attach a spine coil unit to the MRI system, the spine coil unit includes a connector extending away from a side of a spine coil housing. The spine coil unit is positioned on a patient table of the MRI system and moved along the patient table of the MRI system adjacent to or in physical contact with a corresponding MRI system-side connector. A lever rotatably attached to the spine coil housing may be rotated into a corresponding recess in the MRI system to physically attach and electrically or optically connect the connector of the spine coil housing and/or to positionally fix the spine coil housing relative to the MRI system-side connector.
Claims18
A radiofrequency (RF) coil unit comprising:
- a coil housing comprising a first side;
- an RF coil disposed in the coil housing;
- a lever movably attached to the coil housing;
- and
- a rigid coil connector extending away from the first side of the coil housing, the rigid coil connector being in communication with the RF coil of the coil housing,
- wherein the lever is operable to be moved into a corresponding recess in a support of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the movement of the lever into the corresponding recess causing movement of the coil housing along a patient table supporting the coil housing, the rigid coil connector being physically attached to and in communication with a connector of a data acquisition system of the MRI system and a position of the coil housing being fixed relative to a position of the connector of the data acquisition system of the MRI system after the movement of the lever into the corresponding recess.
A spine coil unit comprising:
- a spine coil housing;
- a radiofrequency (RF) coil disposed in the spine coil housing, the RF coil being configured to receive magnetic resonance signals emitted by a patient supported by the spine coil housing;
- a lever rotatably attached to the spine coil housing;
- and
- a coil connector physically connected to the spine coil housing and in communication with the RF coil of the spine coil housing,
- wherein the lever is operable to be rotated into a corresponding recess in a support of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, such that the position of the spine coil housing is fixed relative to the position of a connector of the MRI system the MRI system, the rotation of the lever into the corresponding recess causing movement of the spine coil housing along a patient table supporting the spine coil housing, the coil connector being physically attached to and in communication with the connector of the MRI system after the rotation of the lever into the corresponding recess.
A method of using a coil unit, the method comprising:
- positioning the coil unit on a patient table of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the coil unit comprising a radiofrequency (RF) coil;
- physically attaching and electrically or optically connecting a coil connector electrically or optically connected to the RF coil of the coil unit to a connector of the MRI system;
- and
- positioning a lever rotatably attached to the coil unit into a corresponding recess in a support of the MRI system such that the physically attaching and the electrically or optically connecting is maintained in place by the lever, the positioning of the lever into the corresponding recess moving the coil unit along the patient table, the coil connector being physically attached and electrically or optically connected to the connector of the MRI system after the positioning of the lever into the corresponding recess.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.