Portable medical imaging system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11058378-B2
Application number	US-201615180124-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 13, 2016
Priority date	Feb 3, 2016
Publication date	Jul 13, 2021
Grant date	Jul 13, 2021

Abstract

Medical imaging devices, systems, and methods thereof. 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 operable to slide relative to the gantry mount, an inner C-arm slidably coupled to the outer C-arm and, an imaging signal transmitter and sensor attached to the C-arms. The two C-arms work together to provide a full 360 degree rotation of the imaging signal transmitter. The movable station may include a motion control system and an imaging control system. In embodiments, the motion control system includes omni-directional wheels for precision controlled-movement of the movable station.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A portable medical imaging system comprising:
a movable station having a front, a back, a first side disposed between the front and the back, and a second side opposite the first side disposed between the front and the back;
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;
an imaging signal transmitter attached to the second C-arm;
an imaging sensor attached to the second C-arm and operably connected with the imaging signal transmitter, the first and second C-arms together providing a 360 degree rotation of the imaging signal transmitter;
a plurality of omni-directional wheels allowing multiple-axis movement of the portable imaging system;
a first handle attached to the first side of the movable station and a second handle attached to the second side of the movable station;
a plurality of sensors including at least one first sensor attached to the first handle and at least one second sensor attached to the second handle for detecting a desired movement of the movable station; and
a control system responsive to the plurality of sensors for controlling the multiple-axis movement of the portable imaging system by actuating each of the plurality of omni-directional wheels, wherein a motion applied by each of the omni-directional wheels is in a direction and proportional to a force applied to the plurality of sensors,
wherein the control system is adapted to place the movable station in a transport mode when the first handle and the second handle are actuated and is adapted to place the movable station in a fine-tune mode when only one of the first handle or the second handle is actuated,
wherein each one of the plurality of omni-directional wheels includes a rotatory encoder to provide positional feedback to the control system,
wherein feedback from the rotary encoders from each of the omni-directional wheels is stored for later use in restoring the movable station to a desired location.

2. The portable medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the multiple axis movement is selected from the group consisting of: movement in a plane; movement in a 2-D coordinate system; and three axis movement in a forward-backward direction, movement in a side direction and rotation about a defined axis perpendicular to the forward-backward and side directions.

3. The portable medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sensors for detecting a desired movement are selected from the group consisting of a strain gauge, force-sensing resistor, a piezoelectric sensor, a piezo capacitive pressure sensor, a piezo resistor and a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) micro-scale strain gauge.

4. The portable medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the control system places the movable station in the fine-tune mode when the sensor in only one of the first and second handles is actuated.

5. The portable medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein some of the plurality of sensors for detecting a desired movement are mounted in a joystick of the movable station, and wherein the desired movement is indicated by a movement of the joystick in addition to movement of the first and second handles.

6. The portable medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sensors are operable to sense a desired front left wheel force in a forward/backward direction, a desired rear left wheel force in the forward/backward direction, a desired rear left wheel force in a side direction, a desired front right wheel force in a forward/backward direction, a rear right wheel force in a side direction and a rear right wheel force in a backward/forward direction.

7. The portable medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sensors comprises a sensor array mounted in a planar configuration selected from the group consisting of a circular array, an elliptical array, a rectangular array and a square array.

8. The portable medical imaging system of claim 1 , 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.

9. The medical imaging system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one motor under control of the control system for providing power to each of the plurality of omni-directional wheels.

10. The medical imaging system of claim 8 , further comprising:
a cable carrier containing a plurality of electrical cables; and
a first cable router having a through-hole and mounted to an outer surface of the first C-arm, the cable carrier extending from the gantry mount over the outer surface of the first C-arm, through the through-hole of the first cable router and over an outer surface of the second C-arm.

11. A portable medical imaging system comprising:
a movable station, having a front, a back, a first side disposed between the front and the back, and a second side opposite the first side disposed between the front and the back, the movable station comprising an imaging signal transmitter and an imaging sensor mounted on the movable station;
a plurality of omni-directional wheels allowing three-axis movement of the portable imaging system in a general area of a plane;
a first handle attached to the first side of the movable station and a second handle attached to the second side of the movable station;
a plurality of sensors including at least one first sensor attached to the first handle and at least one second sensor attached to the second handle for detecting a desired movement of the movable station; and
a control system responsive to the plurality of sensors for controlling the three-axis movement of the portable imaging system by actuating two or more of the plurality of omni-directional wheels, wherein a motion applied by each of the omni-directional wheels is in a direction and proportional to a force applied to the plurality of sensors,
wherein the control system is adapted to place the movable station in a transport mode when the first handle and the second handle are actuated and is adapted to place the movable station in a fine-tune mode when only one of the first handle or the second handle is actuated.

12. The portable medical imaging system of claim 11 , further comprising:
a gantry mount attached to the movable station; and
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; and
a second C-arm slidably coupled to the first C-arm, the first and second C-arms together providing a 360 degree rotation of the imaging signal transmitter;
wherein the imaging signal transmitter and the imaging sensor are attached to the second C-arm.

13. The portable medical imaging system of claim 11 , wherein the control system places the movable station in the fine-tune mode when the sensor in only one of the first and second handles is actuated.

14. The portable medical imaging system of claim 11 , wherein the control system is adapted to rotate the movable station along a vertical axis perpendicular to the ground using the omni-directional wheels.

15. The portable medical imaging system of claim 11 , wherein some of the plurality of sensors for detecting a desired movement are mounted in a joystick of the movable station, and wherein the desired movement is indicated by a movement of the joystick.

16. The portab

Assignees

• Globus Medical Inc

Inventors

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

Classifications

• H02G11/006

  using extensible carrier for the cable, e.g. self-coiling spring (extensible conductors or cables H01B7/06) · CPC title

• A61B6/485

  involving fluorescence X-ray imaging · CPC title

• A61B6/547

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

• A61B6/56

  Details of data transmission or power supply, e.g. use of slip rings · CPC title

• A61B5/055

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