Air-cooled PET scanner gantry

Abstract

A PET scanner system is provided having a PET scanner gantry configured to deliver uniformly distributed cooling air to a plurality of detectors housed therein. The PET scanner gantry includes a cooling air delivery manifold comprising: a patient tunnel portion; and a front funnel portion. The front funnel portion includes an annular inner wall defining an inlet opening for the patient tunnel portion; and a plenum having an annular structure for carrying a flow of pressurized cooling air received from a remote source, supplementing the pressurized cooling air with an ambient air supply, and directing the pressurized cooling air to the plurality of detectors.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to novel configurations for a PET or PET / CT scanner gantry that improve cooling of PET detector electronics. Background Art

[0002] Medical imaging devices, such as PET and PET / CT scanners, require cooling, where the patient is positioned within a tunnel. This cooling is typically accomplished by applying one or more cooling media. This cooling medium can be a liquid, a gas, or a combination of both. The presence of a tunnel for the patient within the imaging volume significantly limits the placement of components, such as gamma detectors, within the PET scanner to radial arrangements around the tunnel. The operational impact of the cooling system on patient comfort must be considered. For example, in existing PET and PET / CT scanner systems, the noise generated by the cooling system can be undesirably loud.

[0003] Typically, individual electronic components, such as gamma detector assemblies, are employed with their own cooling arrangements and / or grouped together in such a way that sharing a common cooling medium flow is very difficult due to the aforementioned limitations of space and patient comfort.

[0004] Gamma detector assemblies include several electronic components, such as SiPM detectors and their associated drivers. All of these electronic components generate heat during operation and must be cooled to maintain optimal performance, as overheating can adversely affect performance. Therefore, in conventional PET and PET / CT scanner systems, the electronic components typically have their own cooling air source. This cooling air source must be evenly distributed and reliable to prevent overheating, or it must compensate for heating-related errors exhibited by the electronic components. However, these design elements often conflict with one another.

[0005] In conventional PET or PET / CT scanners, one or more cooling fans are enclosed within the gantry housing the gamma detectors to ensure the performance of the gamma detectors and other electronics within. However, this assurance comes at a cost. Each cooling fan pushes the noise level toward a maximum threshold, and if the gamma detector array is to operate in concert, any detector, for example, could fail due to a failed fan, bringing the entire system down. With a large number of fan units, the statistical probability of system failure is detrimental to ensuring a reliable design. Consequently, systems incorporating multiple cooling fans carry hidden costs associated with system downtime, maintenance, component replacement, and patient discomfort due to noise. Conversely, when considering the gantry volume loss, evenly distributing the cooling air flow around the PET gantry using only one or a few fans can be difficult to achieve, especially when the air flow must be balanced and stable. Liquid cooling systems are even more expensive, where failure can have catastrophic consequences. Therefore, there is a need for an improved cooling system for PET or PET / CT scanners. Summary of the Invention

[0006] In one aspect, a PET scanner gantry including a cooling air delivery manifold according to the present disclosure is disclosed. The air delivery manifold includes a patient tunnel portion, a front funnel portion, and a plurality of gamma detectors housed within the PET scanner gantry and positioned behind the front funnel portion. The front funnel portion includes: an annular inner wall defining an entry opening for the patient tunnel portion; and an air plenum comprising an annular structure for carrying a pressurized air flow received from a remote source. The plenum includes an annular nozzle configured to direct the pressurized air flow to the plurality of gamma detectors. The plenum also includes a supplemental air inlet that draws additional air from ambient air and combines it with the primary pressurized cooling air flowing out of the annular nozzle as high-velocity air.

[0007] Also disclosed is a PET scanner system equipped with a PET scanner gantry. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] The features of the embodiments described herein will be more fully disclosed in the following detailed description, which will be discussed in conjunction with the accompanying Figure 1 All drawings are schematic and are not intended to represent the actual sizes of the structures or the relative proportions of their sizes.

[0009] Figure 1 is an illustration of a cross-sectional view of a PET scanner gantry incorporating a cooling air delivery manifold of the present disclosure.

[0010] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 Cross-sectional view of a portion of the PET scanner gantry.

[0011] Figure 3 yes Figure 2 Detailed perspective view of the cross-sectional portion shown in .

[0012] Figure 4 yes Figure 2 Detailed illustration of the cross-sectional portion shown in FIG, annotating cooling air flow according to the present disclosure.

[0013] Figure 5 is an illustration of a cooling air delivery manifold according to another embodiment of the present disclosure including outlets for directing exhaust air.

[0014] Figure 6-Figure 7 yes Figure 5 A cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a cooling air delivery manifold showing the internal structure.

[0015] Figures 8A-8C is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a cooling air delivery manifold including an assembly of two or more plenums according to the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] This description of the exemplary embodiments is intended to be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire written description. The drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and certain features may be shown exaggerated or in somewhat schematic form for the sake of clarity and conciseness. Throughout this description, relative terms such as "horizontal," "vertical," "upward," "downward," "top," and "bottom," and their derivatives (e.g., "horizontally," "downward," "upward," etc.) should be interpreted as referring to the orientation being described or shown in the drawing in question. These relative terms are for convenience of description and are generally not intended to require a particular orientation. Terms including "inwardly" versus "outwardly," "longitudinally" versus "laterally," etc., are to be interpreted relative to one another or to an axis of elongation or rotation or center, as appropriate. Terms referring to attachment, coupling, and the like (such as "connected" and "interconnected") refer to relationships in which structures are fixed or attached to one another, directly or indirectly through intermediate structures, as well as removable or rigid attachments or relationships, unless expressly stated otherwise. The term "operably connected" refers to an attachment, coupling, or connection that permits the structures involved to operate as intended by virtue of the relationship.

[0017] Disclosed herein is a cooling air delivery manifold concept that integrates the cooling air delivery manifold into the cover assembly of the gantry of a PET scanner or a PET / CT hybrid scanner. For discussion purposes, the term "PET scanner" will be used herein to refer to both PET scanner and PET / CT hybrid scanner embodiments.

[0018] More specifically, a cooling air delivery manifold is integrated into the front funnel portion of the patient tunnel of a PET scanner gantry. The cooling air delivery manifold is configured so that it is not limited by the presence of holes or other radial constraints. The cooling air delivery manifold is configured to receive a supply of pressurized cooling air from one or more remote sources and uniformly deliver the cooling air to the gamma detectors in the gantry by utilizing an airfoil shape incorporated into the cooling air delivery manifold.

[0019] refer to Figure 1-Figure 3 , discloses a PET scanner gantry 100 including a cooled air delivery manifold 110 according to the present disclosure. The air delivery manifold 110 includes a patient tunnel portion 120, a front funnel portion 130, and a plurality of gamma detectors 50 housed within the PET scanner gantry 100 and positioned behind the front funnel portion 130. The front funnel portion 130 includes an annular inner wall 132 defining an inlet opening for the patient tunnel portion 120, and a plenum 134 comprising an annular cavity structure for carrying a pressurized air flow received from one or more remote sources (not shown). The annular cavity structure of the plenum 134 has an interior space 134′ that carries the pressurized air flow. In one embodiment, the annular cavity structure of the plenum 134 can also be described as having a generally torus shape. Figure 1 The illustration in FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the PET scanner gantry 100 and shows approximately half of the annular cavity structure of the plenum 134 .

[0020] One benefit of the cooling air delivery manifold 110 of the present disclosure is that it allows one or more pressurized cooling air sources (i.e., the hardware that provides the pressurized cooling air supply, such as a fan or impeller) to be located remotely from the PET scanner system so that a patient in the PET scanner can be isolated from the noise of such hardware.

[0021] The plenum 134 includes an annular nozzle 135 configured to direct a flow of pressurized cooling air from the interior space 134' to the plurality of gamma detectors 50. The air nozzle 135 may be located at Figure 2 and Figure 3 Each individual detector in the array of gamma detectors 50 has one or more heat sinks 52 attached thereto to cool the detector.

[0022] The plenum 134 further includes an airfoil surface 136 positioned adjacent to and downstream of the annular nozzle 135. In some embodiments of the air delivery manifold 110, the annular nozzle 135 is divided into a series of discontinuous slots by a plurality of fins 138 provided at regular intervals along the annular structure of the plenum 134. The plurality of fins 138 may be provided at Figure 1 and Figure 3 The plurality of fins 138 are oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis of the patient tunnel portion 120 so that the pressurized cooling air exiting each discrete slot in the annular nozzle 135 is directed to the gamma detector 50 in the detector electronics assembly (DEA) 55. Additionally, dividing the annular nozzle 135 into a series of discrete slots helps maintain a balanced radially uniform flow of cooling air around the circumferential portion of the front funnel portion 130. For illustrative purposes, the FIG. Figure 1 Only one DEA 55 is shown in FIG. 1 . However, in an actual PET scanner gantry 100 , a plurality of such DEAs 55 are circumferentially arranged around the exterior of the first annular surface 132A, thereby forming a detector ring.

[0023] The annular inner wall 132 is nested within the annular structure of the plenum 134, thereby forming a supplemental air inlet 140 between the annular inner wall 132 and the plenum 134. As a result, when pressurized air flows out of the annular nozzle 135, ambient air is drawn in through the supplemental air inlet 140 and merges with the pressurized air leaving the annular nozzle 135 and flows toward the plurality of gamma detectors 50. The details of this phenomenon are discussed in more detail below.

[0024] like Figure 1 13, the plurality of fins 138 also connect the plenum 134 to the annular inner wall 132. The plurality of fins 138 maintains a desired spacing between the plenum 134 and the annular inner wall 132, which forms a supplemental air inlet 140. The provision of the plurality of fins 138 is applicable to all embodiments of the PET scanner gantry 100 and PET scanner systems disclosed herein.

[0025] The plurality of fins 138 also function to support the plenum 134 under the high pressure of the pressurized cooling air filling the interior space 134' by providing structural rigidity to the plenum. Because the plenum 134 is essentially a curved tube with interrupted sidewalls formed by the annular nozzle 135, without a supporting structure such as fins 138 to hold the edges of the annular nozzle 135 in place and prevent them from bursting outward from the pressure of the pressurized cooling air, the plenum 134 may be unable to maintain its shape.

[0026] The annular inner wall 132 includes a first annular surface 132A facing the tunnel space S defined by the patient tunnel portion 120 and a second annular surface 132B facing the plenum.

[0027] refer to Figure 4 Airfoil surface 136 is contoured so that it descends away from the trajectory T of the high-speed, pressure-driven air exiting annular nozzle 135. Consequently, the distance d between airfoil surface 136 and second annular surface 132B of annular inner wall 132 increases away from annular nozzle 135. Consequently, the volume of the space between airfoil surface 136 and annular inner wall 132 increases in the direction toward gamma detector 50. Furthermore, when pressurized cooling air exits annular nozzle 135, the contour of airfoil surface 136 causes the high-speed air exiting annular nozzle 135 to abut against airfoil surface 136 and pass over it as it flows away from annular nozzle 135 and toward gamma detector 50. Due to this configuration, as the high-speed, pressure-driven cooling air exits annular nozzle 135 and passes along airfoil surface 136, the air expands in volume, thereby creating a low-pressure region L between airfoil surface 136 and second annular surface 132B due to inertia. This low-pressure region L creates a suction force that draws in ambient air through the supplemental air inlet 140. The additional air drawn from the environment through the supplemental air inlet 140 joins the high-speed cooling air flow, thereby increasing the total amount of cooling air directed to the gamma detector 50. Because this process of adding additional air is accomplished without any additional moving hardware (such as a fan or impeller), no additional noise is generated while increasing the volume of the cooling air flow. The airfoil surface 136 feature provided on the plenum 134 is applicable to all embodiments of the PET scanner gantry 100 and PET scanner systems disclosed herein.

[0028] Cooling air can be provided to the plenum 134 from a remote source. In some embodiments, the remote source of cooling air can be located at a distance from the PET scanner to minimize noise to the patient, who will be located in the scanner tunnel. In a preferred embodiment, for patient comfort, the remote source can be located in a different room from the PET scanner to minimize noise at the PET scanner. The remote source of cooling air can be pressurized plant air, sometimes referred to as facility air, in which case the plenum 134 only needs to be connected to the plant air duct. The remote source can be one or more fans or impellers appropriately configured to provide the desired amount of cooling air to the plenum 134. In some embodiments, the remote source of cooling air can be one or more fans or impellers located on or around the gantry structure. In such embodiments, the remote source of cooling air can be provided with appropriate soundproofing packaging to eliminate and minimize noise generated by the remote source. The plenum 134 can include one or more air inlets 160 for receiving the pressurized air flow from the remote source. Figure 5 An embodiment of a PET scanner gantry 100 of the present disclosure having two such air inlets 160 is shown as an example.

[0029] In some embodiments of the cooling air delivery manifold 110, multiple sources of pressurized cooling air can be connected to the air inlet 160 of the plenum 134. As described above, some examples of sources for pressurized cooling air can be fan(s) or impeller(s). Having multiple pressurized air sources provides redundancy, which can provide improved reliability of the system. Additionally, when multiple pressurized air sources are present, the fans in individual air sources can be operated at lower speeds, thereby reducing the amount of noise generated.

[0030] Combined with the above Figure 1-Figure 4 In the embodiment discussed, after the cooling air supplied by the plenum 134 passes through the detector electronics in the DEA 55, the housing 150 can direct the now heated exhaust air to the surrounding environment. Figure 1 and Figure 2 Reference Figure 5-Figure 7 In some other embodiments, the plenum 134 can be configured to include a direct exhaust conduit 134'-II that can direct the heated exhaust air away from the PET scanner via an exhaust outlet 180. An example of such an exhaust outlet 180 is shown in FIG. Figure 5 middle.

[0031] like Figure 6 and Figure 7 , in this embodiment, the interior space 134′ of the plenum 134 is divided into two main sections, namely, a cooling air duct portion 134′-I configured to deliver pressurized air for cooling, and an exhaust air duct portion 134′-II configured to direct a heated exhaust air flow away from the PET scanner via an exhaust outlet 180. The exhaust air duct portion 134′-II receives the exhaust air flow and directs the exhaust air away from the medical image scanner, wherein the heated exhaust air flow is the cooling air flow after the cooling air flow has flowed through the plurality of gamma detectors and returned to the plenum 134 through the DEA housing 155.

[0032] In some embodiments of the cooling air delivery manifold 110, the air delivery manifold may include more than one unconnected plenum assembly. Figure 8A As shown in FIG, the cooling air delivery manifold 110 may be composed of two plenums 134A and 134B. Figure 8B As shown in FIG, the cooling air delivery manifold 110 may be composed of three plenums 134C, 134D, and 134E. Figure 8CAs shown in FIG, the cooling air delivery manifold 110 may be composed of four plenums 134F, 134G, 134H, and 134I. In these embodiments, each of the more than one plenums 134A, 134B, . . . is structured to be similar in terms of the cross-sectional shape of the plenum 134 and associated structures (such as the annular nozzle 135, the airfoil surface 136, the annular inner wall 132, the supplemental air inlet 140, etc.) that enable the cooling air flow to be directed to the multiple gamma detectors 50. Figure 1-Figure 4 The plenum chamber 134 shown in FIG. Figures 8A-8C In the embodiment shown in FIG, each of the plenums 134A-134I may include at least one air inlet 160A-160I, respectively. These multiple unconnected plenums may be similar to Figure 6-Figure 7 The embodiments shown in are each configured to have both cooling air ducts and exhaust air ducts within each plenum. Each of the plenums 134A-134I will include an air inlet and an air outlet.

[0033] In embodiments where the air delivery manifold 110 is configured as an assembly of more than one unconnected plenum, each plenum has a certain volume of interior space, and each plenum includes one or more air inlets connected to a source of pressurized cooling air. Depending on the needs of a particular application, each of the more than one plenum can be connected to its own pressurized cooling air supply, or they can share a single pressurized cooling air supply.

[0034] According to another aspect, a PET scanner system is disclosed that is equipped with a PET scanner gantry 100 including a cooling air delivery manifold 110 according to the present disclosure.

[0035] Compared to conventional PET scanner detector cooling systems, in which the gamma detector array and associated detector electronics on the detector ring are typically provided with an array of cooling fans, the cooling air delivery manifold 110 provides a less noisy and more reliable system.

[0036] It will be understood that the above description is of exemplary embodiments of the invention and that the invention is not limited to the particular forms shown. Modifications may be made in the design and arrangement of elements without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A medical image scanner gantry, comprising: A cooling air delivery manifold, the cooling air delivery manifold comprising: Patient tunnel section; and anterior funnel portion; a plurality of gamma detectors housed within the medical image scanner gantry and positioned behind the front funnel portion, the front funnel portion comprising: an annular inner wall defining an access opening to the patient tunnel portion; and a plenum comprising an annular structure for carrying a pressurized air flow received from a remote source, wherein the plenum includes an annular nozzle configured to direct the pressurized air flow as a high-velocity air stream toward the plurality of gamma detectors for cooling the plurality of gamma detectors and their associated electronic components; The annular inner wall is nested inside the annular structure of the air collecting chamber, thereby forming a supplementary air inlet between the annular inner wall and the air collecting chamber, so that when the high-speed air flow flows out of the annular nozzle, ambient air is sucked in through the supplementary air inlet and merged with the high-speed air flow leaving the annular nozzle and flows to the multiple gamma detectors as a cooling air flow.

2. The medical image scanner gantry of claim 1 , wherein the plenum further comprises an airfoil surface adjacent to and positioned downstream of the annular nozzle for directing the high-speed air flow toward the detector. 3 . The medical image scanner gantry of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of fins connecting the plenum to the annular inner wall. 4 . The medical image scanner gantry of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of fins maintain a desired spacing between the plenum and the annular inner wall, the desired spacing forming the supplemental air inlet. 5 . The medical image scanner gantry of claim 2 , further comprising a plurality of fins connecting the plenum to the annular inner wall. 6 . The medical image scanner gantry of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of fins maintain a desired spacing between the plenum and the annular inner wall, the desired spacing forming the supplemental air inlet.

7. The medical image scanner gantry of claim 1, wherein the plenum comprises an air inlet for receiving the pressurized air flow from a remote source.

8. The medical image scanner gantry of claim 2, wherein the plenum comprises an air inlet for receiving the pressurized air flow from a remote source.

9. The medical image scanner gantry according to claim 1, wherein the annular inner wall includes a first annular surface facing the opening of the patient tunnel portion and a second annular surface facing the plenum chamber, and the second annular surface further includes an annular ridge provided on the second annular surface and located downstream of the annular nozzle.

10. The medical image scanner gantry of claim 1 , wherein the plenum chamber comprises: a cooling air duct portion for carrying the pressurized air flow, wherein the cooling air duct portion includes the annular nozzle; as well as An exhaust air duct portion is configured to receive an exhaust air flow and direct the exhaust air away from the medical image scanner, wherein the exhaust air flow is the cooling air flow after the cooling air flow has flowed through the plurality of gamma detectors.

11. A medical image scanner gantry, comprising: A cooling air delivery manifold, the cooling air delivery manifold comprising: Patient tunnel section; and anterior funnel portion; a plurality of gamma detectors housed within the medical image scanner gantry and positioned behind the front funnel portion, the front funnel portion comprising: an annular inner wall defining an access opening to the patient tunnel portion; and an assembly of two or more plenums, wherein each of the two or more plenums has a curved structure that collectively form an annular assembly, wherein each of the two or more plenums includes structure for carrying a pressurized air flow received from a remote source, wherein each of the two or more plenums includes a curved nozzle configured for directing the pressurized air flow as a high velocity air stream toward the plurality of gamma detectors for cooling the plurality of gamma detectors and their associated electronic components; The annular inner wall is nested inside the annular assembly formed by the two or more air collecting chambers, thereby forming a supplementary air inlet between the annular inner wall and the two or more air collecting chambers, so that when the high-speed air flow flows out of the curved nozzle, ambient air is sucked in through the supplementary air inlet and merged with the high-speed air flow leaving the curved nozzle and flows to the multiple gamma detectors as a cooling air flow.

12. The medical image scanner gantry of claim 11, wherein each of the two or more plenum chambers further comprises an airfoil surface adjacent to and positioned downstream of the curved nozzle for directing the high-speed airflow toward the detector.

13. The medical image scanner gantry of claim 11, further comprising a plurality of fins connecting the two or more plenums to the annular inner wall.

14. The medical image scanner gantry of claim 11 , wherein each of the two or more plenum chambers comprises: a cooling air duct portion for carrying the pressurized air flow, wherein the cooling air duct portion includes the curved nozzle; as well as An exhaust air duct portion is configured to receive an exhaust air flow and direct the exhaust air away from the medical image scanner, wherein the exhaust air flow is the cooling air flow after the cooling air flow has flowed through the plurality of gamma detectors.

15. A medical image scanner system, comprising: A medical image scanner gantry, the medical image scanner gantry comprising: A cooling air delivery manifold, the cooling air delivery manifold comprising: Patient tunnel section; and anterior funnel portion; a plurality of gamma detectors housed within the medical image scanner gantry and positioned behind the front funnel portion, the front funnel portion comprising: an annular inner wall defining an access opening of the patient tunnel portion; and a plenum comprising an annular structure for carrying a pressurized air flow received from a remote source, wherein the plenum includes an annular nozzle configured to direct the pressurized air flow as a high-velocity air stream toward the plurality of gamma detectors for cooling the plurality of gamma detectors and their associated electronic components; The annular inner wall is nested inside the annular structure of the air collecting chamber, thereby forming a supplementary air inlet between the annular inner wall and the air collecting chamber, so that when the high-speed air flow flows out of the annular nozzle, ambient air is sucked in through the supplementary air inlet and merged with the high-speed air flow leaving the annular nozzle and flows to the multiple gamma detectors as a cooling air flow. 16 . The medical image scanner system of claim 15 , wherein the plenum further comprises an annular airfoil surface positioned adjacent to and downstream of the annular nozzle.

17. The medical image scanner system of claim 15, further comprising a plurality of fins connecting the plenum to the annular inner wall.

18. The medical image scanner system of claim 17, wherein the plurality of fins maintain a desired spacing between the plenum and the annular inner wall, the desired spacing forming the supplemental air inlet.

19. The medical image scanner system of claim 16, further comprising a plurality of fins connecting the plenum to the annular inner wall.

20. The medical image scanner system of claim 19, wherein the plurality of fins maintain a desired spacing between the plenum and the annular inner wall, the desired spacing forming the supplemental air inlet.

21. The medical image scanner system of claim 15, wherein the plenum comprises an air inlet for receiving the pressurized air flow from the remote source.

22. The medical image scanner system of claim 15 , wherein the annular inner wall comprises a first annular surface facing the opening of the patient tunnel portion and a second annular surface facing the plenum chamber, and the second annular surface further comprises an annular ridge provided on the second annular surface and located downstream of the annular nozzle.

23. The medical image scanner system of claim 15, wherein the plenum chamber comprises: a cooling air duct portion for carrying the pressurized air flow, wherein the cooling air duct portion includes the annular nozzle; as well as An exhaust air duct portion is configured to receive an exhaust air flow and direct the exhaust air away from the medical image scanner, wherein the exhaust air flow is the cooling air flow after the cooling air flow has flowed through the plurality of gamma detectors.

24. The medical image scanner system of claim 15, wherein the ambient air drawn in through the supplemental air inlet and combined with the high-speed air flow exiting the annular nozzle does not generate additional noise.

25. The medical image scanner system of claim 24, wherein the ambient air drawn in through the supplemental air inlet and combined with the high-speed air flow exiting the annular nozzle does not generate additional noise due to the absence of an additional fan or impeller.

26. The medical image scanner system of claim 15, wherein providing the remote source for pressurized air minimizes noise at the medical image scanner system.

27. The medical image scanner system of claim 15, wherein the medical image scanner system further comprises a plurality of remote sources for providing the pressurized air flow received by the plenum chamber, whereby the provision of the plurality of remote sources minimizes noise at the medical image scanner system.

28. The medical image scanner system of claim 15, wherein the remote source is remote from the medical image scanner system.

29. The medical image scanner system of claim 15, wherein the remote source comprises at least one of pressurized factory air, one or more fans, or one or more impellers.

30. The medical image scanner system of claim 29, wherein the remote source comprising at least two sources allows the one or more fans to operate at a reduced speed.

31. The medical image scanner system of claim 30, wherein noise is further reduced due to a reduced speed of the one or more fans.

32. The medical image scanner system of claim 15, wherein the remote source is located within the gantry.

33. The medical image scanner system of claim 32, wherein the remote source is provided with sound insulation to minimize noise.

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