[0011] Accordingly embodiments of the present invention relate to improving power injectors that are used to inject contrast media and other fluids in a patient or animal.
[0013] Another aspect of the present invention relates to a touch screen interface for the powerhead of the contrast media injector system. The touch screen display can be driven from software so that it is configurable and not dependent on hardwired switches, LED indicators or 7-segment displays. The powerhead can therefore, provide the same functionality as the console display, thereby eliminating the console if desired. In addition to more data and more controls being available at the powerhead, help instructions and other contextual assistance can be provided to help the operator run the equipment.
[0017] One additional aspect of the present invention relates to a dual head injector that utilizes tubing in which the fluid paths remain separate until substantially at the patient. By utilizing this type of V-tubing, the elasticity of the fluid delivery components (e.g., syringe, tubing, etc.) can be easily accommodated and there is reduced lag time in administration of a desired fluid to a patient.
[0020] It will be appreciated that both the test injection and patency check have common characteristics that distinguish them from normal programming of an injector. Specifically, both are an injection that is separately enabled from the stored injection protocol to be administered to the patient, and both are separate from the stored injection protocol, i.e., they may selectively be conducted, or not, at the operator's discretion. Thus, the operator need not perform a patency check or test injection, but has the ready option to do so without altering a stored injection protocol. While the patency check and test injection are thus functionally and operationally separated from a stored protocol, they are nevertheless programmatically controlled injections, and use parameters that may be derived from the later, stored injection protocol, e.g., the flow rates or use of fluids is modeled after the planned injection. Because the test injection and patency check are programmatically controlled injections, they may accurately mimic the stored injection protocol in the relevant aspects, without the effort of human involvement and the possibility for human error. Furthermore, because they are programmatically controlled, it is possible to calculate the fluid requirements of the patency check or test injection, which may be combined with the planned subsequent injection to ensure that there is sufficient injectable fluid available, thus ensuring that time is not lost re-filling the injector (which may involve re-entering the scanning room after it has been sealed) as may occur if a patency check or test injection is manually performed. Finally, in the context of a dual headed injector, a test injection or patency check, because it is programmatically controlled, may include functionality to automatically return the injector tubing to an appropriate initial state, e.g., a state in which the tubing is filled with saline or contrast media, or a mixture, as the operator and physician prefers for the imaging procedure.
[0021] Another aspect of the present invention relates to a mount for a display screen on an injector that permits the screen to be positioned flush with a surface of the injector or to be moved to a position extending from the surface of the injector. In the described embodiment the mount provides a double swivel permitting the screen to be swivelled away from the injector surface and pivoted about its axis, thereby facilitating visibility of the screen for numerous possible injector and operator positions.
[0023] A further aspect of the present invention relates to an injector powerhead for injection from first and second syringes, which may contain fluids of two different types, in which the injector permits an operator to identify the type of fluid contained in the first or the second syringe, thus enabling the operator to use either syringe location for either type of fluid, at the operator's discretion.