Adaptable Sheet of Coils for MRI Patient Fit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current MRI systems face challenges in accommodating patients of varying sizes and shapes, leading to discomfort, poor image quality, and increased costs due to the need for multiple receiver coils and extended installation times.
Innovation Solution
An adaptable sheet of coils stored within a cradle that can be pulled out to fit specific patient sizes and geometries, with a storage structure that automatically retracts the excess coil expanse after imaging, ensuring a comfortable and close fit.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the same sheet of receiver coils is used for patients of various sizes, then device complexity is reduced, but image quality deteriorates and patient comfort worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The receiver coil sheet is designed with flexible and adjustable properties, allowing it to be customized for each patient's body size and shape. The coil sheet can be stretched, folded, or configured in different arrangements to achieve optimal contact and fit, transforming a static fixed-size coil into a dynamic adaptable device that maintains high image quality across diverse patient populations.
Solution Approach 2:
The physical parameters of the receiver coil sheet are made variable rather than fixed. The sheet can be adjusted in terms of its effective size, shape, and configuration to match different patient anatomies. This parameter adaptability allows a single coil sheet design to replace multiple fixed-size coils, reducing device complexity while preserving image quality through optimal parameter matching for each patient.
2Device complexity
If the same sheet of receiver coils is used for patients of various sizes, then device complexity is reduced, but patient comfort deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The receiver coil sheet incorporates flexible materials and adjustable configurations that allow it to conform to different patient body shapes and sizes. This dynamic adaptability enables the coil to provide comfortable fit for pediatric, adult, and obese patients alike, eliminating the need for multiple rigid fixed-size coils while maintaining patient comfort through customized fitting.
Solution Approach 2:
The receiver coil sheet is constructed using flexible thin film or sheet material that can be easily stretched, folded, and shaped to match various patient anatomies. This flexibility allows the coil to adapt to different body contours without causing discomfort, providing a comfortable imaging experience across diverse patient populations while using a single versatile device.
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple sheets of receiver coils of various sizes are maintained, then image quality is improved for different patient sizes, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
A single receiver coil sheet design is created that can serve multiple patient populations (pediatric, adult, obese) through adjustable configurations. The universal coil sheet replaces the need for multiple specialized coils of different sizes, reducing device complexity and cost while maintaining high image quality through adaptable fitting for each patient type.
Solution Approach 2:
The receiver coil sheet is designed with dynamic adjustability features that allow it to be customized for different patient sizes and imaging applications. This single versatile coil can be configured to provide optimal image quality for various patient anatomies, eliminating the need to maintain multiple fixed-size coils and reducing overall system complexity.
4Manufacturing precision
If multiple sheets of receiver coils of various sizes are maintained, then image quality is improved for different patient sizes, but loss of time increases due to selection and installation
Solution Approach 1:
A universal receiver coil sheet design is implemented that can accommodate all patient sizes and imaging applications through adjustable configurations. This eliminates the time-consuming process of selecting and installing different coil sheets for different patients, as a single versatile coil can be quickly adapted to fit any patient anatomy while maintaining high image quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The receiver coil sheet is pre-designed with inherent adjustability features and flexible configurations that enable quick adaptation to different patient sizes. This preliminary design consideration allows technologists to rapidly configure the appropriate coil size and shape without time-consuming selection and installation processes, improving workflow efficiency while maintaining image quality.
Data Source
AI summary
An imaging system is presented. The imaging system includes a cradle, and a first sheet of coils disposed inside of the cradle such that a first end of the first sheet of coils protrudes out of the cradle and a second end of the first sheet of coils is coupled to a structure, wherein a requisite expanse of the first sheet of coils is flexibly pulled out from the cradle by pulling the first end.