Methods and systems for controlling movement of detectors having multiple detector heads

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9655574-B2
Application number	US-201514837837-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 27, 2015
Priority date	Sep 3, 2013
Publication date	May 23, 2017
Grant date	May 23, 2017

Abstract

Methods and systems for controlling movement of detectors having multiple detector heads are provided. One system includes a gantry, a patient support structure supporting a patient table thereon, and a plurality of detector units. At least some of the detector units are rotatable to position the detector units at different angles relative to the patient table. The imaging system further includes a detector position controller configured to control the position of the rotatable detector units, wherein at least some of the rotatable detector units positioned adjacent to each other have an angle of rotation to allow movement of the rotatable detector units a distance greater than a gap between adjacent rotatable detector units. The detector position controller is configured to calculate at least one of field of view avoidance information or collision avoidance information to determine an amount of movement for one or more of the rotatable detector units.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An imaging system comprising:
a plurality of detector units configured to be coupled to at least one of a gantry or a patient support structure, at least some of the detector units being at least one of rotatable or translatable to position the detector units at different angles relative to a patient; and
a detector position controller configured to control the position of the detector units, at least some of the detector units positioned adjacent to each other, the detector position controller further configured to calculate field of view avoidance information to determine an amount of movement for a proposed movement from an initial position to a destination position for one or more of the detector units, wherein the field of view avoidance information corresponds to obstructions in a field of view of at least one of the detector units for the proposed movement, wherein the detector position controller is configured to determine whether or not image data within an obstructed field of view of one or more of the detector units will be acquired by one or more others of the detector units.

2. The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the detector position controller is further configured to rotate the at least one of the detector units to at least one of avoid or reduce field of view obstruction of adjacent detector units.

3. The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the detector position controller is further configured to translate the at least one of the detector units away from the patient to at least one of avoid or reduce field, of view obstruction of adjacent detector units.

4. The imaging system of claim 3 , wherein the detector position controller is further configured to linearly translate the at least one of the detector units away from the patient.

5. The imaging system of claim 4 , wherein the detector position controller is further configured to translate the at least one of the detector units radially to at least one of avoid or reduce field of view obstruction of adjacent detector units.

6. The imaging system of claim 3 , wherein the detector position controller is further configured to translate the at least one of the detector units away from an adjacent detector unit to at least one of avoid or reduce field of view obstruction of adjacent detector units.

7. The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the detector position controller is configured to not move the one or more detector units having an obstructed field of view when it is determined that the image data within an obstructed field of view will be acquired by one or more others of the detector units.

8. The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the detector position controller is configured to move at least some of the detector units at the same time.

9. The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the detector position controller is configured to move at least some of the detector units at a different time than at least some others of the detector units.

10. The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the detector position controller is configured to calculate the field of view avoidance information using position information stored in a database, and to update the database after movement of at least one of the detectors.

11. The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the detector position controller is further configured to perform coordinated movement of a plurality of the rotatable detector units to avoid field of view obstruction of adjacent rotatable detector units.

12. The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein, when at least one of the rotatable detector units has a portion of a field of view obstructed by an adjacent rotatable detector unit, the detector position controller is further configured to discard image data for the portion of the field of view that is obstructed.

13. The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the detector position controller is further configured to control movement of at least some of the rotatable detector units through a range of motion or at a different velocity than at least some of different ones of the rotatable detector units.

14. An imaging system comprising:
a gantry;
a patient support structure supporting a patient table thereon;
a plurality of detector units configured to be coupled to at least one of the gantry or the patient support structure, at least some of the detector units being at least one of rotatable or translatable to position the detector units at different angles relative to a patient; and
a detector position controller configured to control the position of the detector units, at least some of the detector units positioned adjacent to each other, the detector position controller further configured to calculate field of view avoidance information to determine an amount of movement for a proposed movement from an initial position to a destination position for one or more of the detector units, wherein the field of view avoidance information corresponds to obstructions in a field of view of at least one of the detector units for the proposed movement, wherein the detector position controller is configured to determine whether or not image data within an obstructed field of view of one or more of the detector units will be acquired by one or more others of the detector units.

15. The imaging system of claim 14 , wherein the detector position controller is further configured to rotate the at least one of the detector units to at least one of avoid or reduce field of view obstruction of adjacent detector units.

16. A method comprising
determining position and field of view information for a plurality of detector units;
determining a proposed movement of at least one of the detector units from an initial position to a destination position;
calculating, with the at least one of the detector units at the initial position, field of view avoidance information based on the proposed movement and current positions of at least some of the detector units, wherein the field of view avoidance information corresponds to obstructions in a field of view of the at least one of the detector units for the proposed movement;
determining whether or not image data within an obstructed field of view of one or more of the detector units will be acquired by one or more others of the detector units;
generating one or more position adjustment signals based on the calculated field of view avoidance information; and
controlling movement of the plurality of detector units using the one or more position adjustment signals.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein controlling movement of the plurality of detector units comprises controlling coordinated movement of at least some of the detector units to avoid field of view obstruction.

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising not moving the one or more detector units having an obstructed field of view when it is determined that the image data within an obstructed field of view will be acquired by one or more others of the detector units.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Tsukerman Leonid
• Bouhnik Jean-Paul
• Hefetz Yaron

Classifications

• A61B6/0414

  with compression means · CPC title

• A61B6/0407

  Supports, e.g. tables or beds, for the body or parts of the body · CPC title

• A61B6/102

  Protection against mechanical damage, e.g. anti-collision devices · CPC title

• A61B6/4266

  characterised by using a plurality of detector units (A61B6/4014 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61B6/4447

  Tiltable gantries · CPC title