Mobile X-ray Detector Docking for Precise Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mobile X-ray imaging systems with freely positionable detectors face challenges in achieving precise position and orientation information necessary for tomographic scans, especially when the detector is occluded by patient or equipment surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A docking compartment is integrated beneath the patient support surface, allowing the portable detector to be positioned and oriented relative to landmarks on the support, thereby determining the source-detector geometry through visual sensors and registration mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a freely positionable portable detector is used in mobile X-ray imaging, then the patient does not have to be moved and imaging equipment can be brought to the patient, but precise position and orientation information about the source focal spot and detector cannot be readily determined when the detector is occluded by patient, table, or blankets
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary positioning system consisting of optical sensors, markers, and a processing system that mediates between the occluded detector and the imaging system controller. This intermediary system determines detector position and orientation through optical markers and sensor data without requiring direct line-of-sight to the detector itself, resolving the contradiction by enabling precise measurement despite occlusion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces direct mechanical measurement of detector position with an optical measurement system. Instead of mechanically measuring detector location (which would be blocked by occluding objects), the system uses optical sensors to detect markers and calculate detector position through geometric relationships, substituting mechanical measurement with optical measurement that can penetrate occlusions.
2Productivity
If a portable detector is positioned below the patient on a shelf, then a single-exposure X-ray image can be obtained with coarse alignment sufficient for basic imaging, but tomographic scans requiring precise position and orientation information cannot be performed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic positioning system that can adapt to different imaging modes. The detector positioning mechanism transitions from a fixed coarse position suitable for single-exposure imaging to a precisely controlled position enabled by the optical measurement system when tomographic scanning is required, allowing the system to optimize for different productivity and precision requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the precision parameter of detector positioning based on the imaging mode. For single-exposure imaging, coarse alignment parameters are sufficient; for tomographic scanning, the system activates high-precision positioning by calculating exact detector position and orientation from optical sensor data, thereby adjusting the positioning parameter precision according to the required imaging quality.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present approach relates to the use of a spatially registered detector docking compartment 56 to determine source 16 and detector 22 alignment in a patient imaging context. In certain implementations, sensors and/or cameras provide visual data that may be analyzed to determine a spatial relation between an X-ray source 16 and landmarks 64 provided on a patient support surface 60, where the landmarks 64 have a known spatial relationship to a detector positioned beneath the patient support surface.