Arcuate CT Patient Constraint Device for Truncation Artifact Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical imaging technologies, such as PET/CT and SPECT/CT scanners, face challenges in accurately aligning and correcting for patient movement and non-uniform photon attenuation, leading to image distortions and artifacts, especially for patients extending beyond the field of view, which affects the quality of reconstructed images.
Innovation Solution
A constraint device is designed to maintain patients within a specific range (50-60 cm) during imaging procedures, utilizing a main body with arcuate shape and couplers to attach to the patient bed, ensuring the patient remains within the field of view, and incorporating sensors to provide accurate positioning data for iterative reconstruction algorithms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If patients are allowed to extend beyond the field of view during imaging, then patient comfort and positioning flexibility are improved, but image quality deteriorates due to truncation artifacts and non-uniform photon attenuation
Solution Approach 1:
A constraint device is introduced as an intermediary between the patient and the imaging system. This device includes a main body with arcuate shape and multiple couplers that attach to the patient bed, creating a physical boundary that guides patient positioning without directly restraining the patient's body, thus maintaining comfort while ensuring proper positioning within the field of view.
Solution Approach 2:
The constraint device is positioned and configured before the imaging procedure begins. The device pre-establishes the correct positioning geometry and boundaries, preventing positioning errors before they occur during the actual imaging process, thereby ensuring image quality from the start.
2Manufacturing precision
If a constraint device is introduced to maintain patients within the field of view, then image quality is improved by preventing truncation artifacts, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The constraint device is divided into multiple independent components: a main body with arcuate shape and multiple separable couplers. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and facilitates easy attachment to different patient bed configurations, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining the positioning function.
Solution Approach 2:
The constraint device is designed with multiple couplers that can attach to various types of patient beds and imaging systems. The arcuate main body can accommodate different patient sizes and positioning requirements, making the device universally applicable across different imaging modalities and reducing the need for multiple specialized devices.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the field of view is reduced to 50-60 cm range, then photon attenuation uniformity is improved, but the area covered for imaging is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The constraint device enables precise control of the patient's position within a specific distance range of 50-60 cm from the imaging detector. This parameter control ensures that photons travel through a uniform path length and tissue composition, achieving consistent attenuation characteristics while maintaining adequate coverage for diagnostic imaging.
Data Source
AI summary
A constraint having a main body and at least one coupler. The main body can be substantially arcuate in shape and can be configured to constrain a patient. The at least one coupler can couple the main body to a bed or treatment pallet. The constraint can be sized to restrict a patient within a computerized tomography (CT) scan field of view.