Portable medical imaging system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10842453-B2
Application number	US-201615180126-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 13, 2016
Priority date	Feb 3, 2016
Publication date	Nov 24, 2020
Grant date	Nov 24, 2020

Abstract

The medical imaging system may include a movable station and a gantry. The movable station includes a gantry mount rotatably attached to the gantry. The gantry includes an outer C-arm slidably mounted to and is operable to slide relative to the gantry mount, an inner C-arm is slidably coupled to the outer C-arm and, an imaging signal transmitter and sensor are attached to the C-arms. The two C-arms work together to provide a full 360 degree rotation of the imaging signal transmitter. In one embodiment, the imaging signal transmitter and imaging sensor are offset from a center axis of the medical imaging system such that the portable medical imaging system is operable to capture an enlarged field of view.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A portable medical imaging system comprising:
a movable station comprising a movable c-arm, wherein the movable c-arm includes an outer arm and an inner arm, the inner arm having a first end and a second end;
an imaging signal transmitter attached to the first end and an imaging sensor positioned opposite to the imaging signal transmitter and attached to the second end; and
a first translation device mounting the imaging signal transmitter to the first end and a second translation device mounting the imaging sensor to the second end,
wherein the imaging signal transmitter and imaging sensor are movable from a center axis of the medical imaging system via the first translation device and the second translation device such that the portable medical imaging system is operable to capture an enlarged field of view,
wherein the imaging signal transmitter and the imaging sensor are not rotatably moveable independent of the inner arm,
wherein the movable station includes omni-directional wheels,
wherein a gantry mount includes navigation markers for enabling automatic registration of two dimensional or three dimensional images acquired by the system,
wherein the outer arm is configured to telescopically slide along a gantry mount to allow at least 180 degrees of rotation of the c-arm about its central axis relative to the gantry mount, and
wherein the outer arm includes guide rails and the gantry mount includes rollers, wherein the rollers are positioned within the guide rails of the outer arm.

2. The portable medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein a 360 degree rotation of the imaging signal transmitter and the imaging sensor provides complete coverage of the enlarged field of view.

3. The portable medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the imaging signal transmitter and the imaging sensor are translated a distance from the center axis of the c-arm before any imaging occurs.

4. The portable medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the first and second translation devices comprise a first linear actuator and a second linear actuator, respectively, the first linear actuator acting to position the imaging signal transmitter in tandem with the second linear actuator acting to position the imaging sensor for taking a desired image or images.

5. The portable medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the first and second translational devices are selected from the group consisting of linear tracks, linear actuators, and ball screws.

6. The portable medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the first and second translational devices are adapted for movement along a linear axis in an orientation that is perpendicular or parallel to an axis of a Cartesian coordinate system.

7. The portable medical imaging system of claim 1 , further comprising:
the gantry mount, the gantry mount configured to be attached to the movable station; and
a gantry rotatably attached to the gantry mount, the gantry including the movable c-arm,
wherein the inner arm and the outer arm together are configured to provide a 360 degree rotation of the imaging signal transmitter and the imaging sensor.

8. The portable medical imaging system of claim 6 , wherein the linear axis provides an additional degree of freedom in taking an image of an object requiring a field of view larger than the movable station without the at least one linear axis.

9. A portable medical imaging system, comprising:
a movable station;
a gantry mount attached to the movable station;
a gantry rotatably attached to the gantry mount and including a first C-arm slidably mounted to and operable to slide relative to the gantry mount;
a second C-arm slidably coupled to the first C-arm, the first and second C-arms together providing a 360 degree rotation about an object to be imaged;
at least one linear actuator mounted on the second C-arm, the at least one linear actuator mounting an imaging signal transmitter and/or an imaging sensor for movement in a linear axis on the movable station; and
a control system for controlling motion of the movable station and the at least one linear actuator, and for controlling imaging of the portable imaging system,
wherein the imaging signal transmitter and the imaging sensor are not rotatably moveable independent of the second c-arm,
wherein the movable station includes omni-directional wheels,
wherein the gantry mount includes navigation markers for enabling automatic registration of two dimensional or three dimensional images acquired by the system,
wherein the first c-arm is configured to telescopically slide along the gantry mount to allow at least 180 degrees of rotation of the first c-arm about its central axis relative to the gantry mount, and
wherein the first c-arm includes guide rails and the gantry mount includes rollers, wherein the rollers are positioned within the guide rails of the first c-arm.

10. The portable medical imaging system of claim 9 , wherein the imaging signal transmitter and the imaging sensor are translated a distance from a center axis of the c-arm before any imaging occurs.

11. The portable medical imaging system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one linear actuator comprises a first linear actuator and a second linear actuator under control of the control system, the first linear actuator acting to position the imaging signal transmitter in tandem with the second linear actuator acting to position the imaging sensor for taking the desired image.

12. The portable medical imaging system of claim 9 , wherein the linear axis is adapted for an orientation that is perpendicular or parallel to an axis of a Cartesian coordinate system.

13. The portable medical imaging system of claim 9 , wherein the linear axis provides an additional degree of freedom in taking an image of an object requiring a field of view larger than the movable station without the at least one linear axis.

14. The portable medical imaging system of claim 9 , further comprising
a first motor that provides a sliding movement of the first C-arm relative to the gantry mount; and
a second motor that provides a sliding movement of the second C-arm relative to the first C-arm.

15. A portable medical imaging system comprising:
a movable station comprising a movable c-arm, wherein the movable c-arm includes an outer arm and an inner arm, the inner arm having a first end and a second end;
an imaging signal transmitter attached to the first end and an imaging sensor positioned opposite to the imaging signal transmitter and attached to the second end; and
wherein the imaging signal transmitter and imaging sensor are offset from a center axis of the medical imaging system such that the portable medical imaging system is operable to capture an enlarged field of view,
wherein the imaging signal transmitter and the imaging sensor are not rotatably moveable independent of the inner arm,
wherein the movable station includes omni-directional wheels,
wherein a gantry mount includes navigation markers for enabling automatic registration of two dimensional or three dimensional images acquired by the system,
wherein the moveable c-arm is configured to telescopically slide along the gantry mount to allow at least 180 degrees of rotation of the c-arm about its central axis relative to the gantry mount, and
wherein the outer arm includes guide rails and the gantry mount includes rollers, wherein the rollers are positioned within the guide rails of the outer arm.

16. The portable medical imaging system of claim 15 , where the imaging signal transmitter and imaging sensor are in fixed positions.

Assignees

• Globus Medical Inc

Inventors

• Johnson Norbert
• Stevens Robert
• Salem Hisham
• Cheng Yuan

Classifications

• A61B6/03

  Computed tomography [CT] · CPC title

• A61B6/547

  involving tracking of position of the device or parts of the device · CPC title

• A61B5/055

  involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging · CPC title

• A61B6/4405

  the apparatus being movable or portable, e.g. handheld or mounted on a trolley · CPC title

• A61B6/4441 Primary

  the rigid structure being a C-arm or U-arm · CPC title