Portable medical imaging system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11523784-B2
Application number	US-202016952814-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 19, 2020
Priority date	Feb 3, 2016
Publication date	Dec 13, 2022
Grant date	Dec 13, 2022

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. In 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;
an outer C-arm slidably mounted to the movable station; and
an inner C-arm slidably coupled to the outer C-arm;
an imaging signal transmitter attached to one side of the inner C-arm, the outer and inner C-arms together providing a 360 degree rotation of the imaging signal transmitter;
an imaging sensor mounted to the other side of the inner C-arm;
a first translation device mounting the imaging signal transmitter and a second translation device mounting the imaging sensor, the first and second translation devices adapted to move the imaging signal transmitter and the imaging sensor laterally relative to a center axis of the medical imaging system;
a motion control module which coordinates a movement of the first and second translation devices such that the imaging signal transmitter and the imaging sensor move in a same coordinated direction;
a cable carrier containing a plurality of electrical cables;
a first cable router having a through-hole and mounted to an outer surface of the outer C-arm, the cable carrier extending over the outer surface of the outer C-arm, through the through-hole of the first cable router and over an outer surface of the inner C-arm; and
a second cable router having a through-hole and mounted to the outer surface of the inner C-arm, the cable carrier extending through the through-hole of the second cable router,
wherein the cable carrier extends in a first circumferential direction and enters the second cable router in a second circumferential direction opposite to the first circumferential direction to create a service loop over the outer surface of the inner C-arm.

2. 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 motion control module controlling the first and second linear actuators to position the imaging signal transmitter in tandem with the imaging sensor for taking a desired image or images.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. The portable medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein:
the movable station includes a plurality of motorized wheels and strain gauges; and
the motion control module is configured to sense the strain gauges and control corresponding movement of the motorized wheels.

6. The portable medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the cable carrier extends in the first circumferential direction and enters the first cable router in the second circumferential direction opposite to the first circumferential direction to create a 180 degree service loop over the outer surface of the outer C-arm.

7. The portable medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein:
the movable station includes a plurality of motorized wheels and strain gauges; and
the motion control module is configured to sense the strain gauges and place the motorized wheels in a fine-tune mode.

Assignees

• Globus Medical Inc

Inventors

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

Classifications

• A61B6/03

  Computed tomography [CT] · CPC title

• A61B6/4441 Primary

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

• A61B6/4405

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