U-Shaped Conduit Closure for MRI Bore EMI Shielding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current MRI systems face challenges in maintaining electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency (RF) shielding while allowing for the passage of medical equipment during procedures, which can lead to patient stress, medical complications, and emergency delays due to the need to disconnect equipment and the risk of ferromagnetic objects being attracted into the MRI bore.
Innovation Solution
A U-shaped conduit closure assembly that hermetically seals the MRI bore, allowing medical equipment to be passed through without disconnecting it, providing RF and magnetic shielding, and enabling quick patient extraction by maintaining a sealed environment with RF filtering and attenuating properties, while allowing light and air penetration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the MRI bore is kept open for passage of medical equipment, then ease of operation is improved, but EMI shielding is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The closure assembly is divided into multiple segments including a closure body with sealed chambers, individual cable conduits, and modular components that can be independently positioned and sealed, allowing each segment to maintain shielding while accommodating equipment passage
Solution Approach 2:
Cable conduits act as intermediary structures that provide dedicated sealed pathways for medical equipment cables and tubes to pass through the closure assembly, preventing direct openings while maintaining EMI shielding through the conduit walls
2Object-affected harmful factors
If medical equipment is disconnected for threading into designated positions, then EMI shielding is maintained, but loss of time and patient stress increase
Solution Approach 1:
The closure assembly is pre-configured with multiple cable conduits and sealing mechanisms in place before the MRI procedure begins, allowing medical equipment to be connected and passed through the bore without requiring disconnection and reconnection during the procedure
Solution Approach 2:
The closure assembly serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides EMI shielding, accommodates multiple types of medical equipment (cables, tubes, monitors), and maintains patient connection continuity, eliminating the need for separate procedures for each function
3Adaptability or versatility
If the bore is open for equipment passage, then adaptability is improved, but safety against ferromagnetic objects is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The closure assembly extracts and isolates the aperture opening from the MRI bore, creating a sealed barrier that prevents ferromagnetic objects from entering the bore while maintaining the ability to pass non-ferromagnetic medical equipment through dedicated conduits
Solution Approach 2:
The closure assembly uses flexible sealing walls and conduit structures that can deform and adapt to accommodate various medical equipment configurations while maintaining a continuous sealed barrier that prevents ferromagnetic object intrusion
4Object-affected harmful factors
If pre-built passages are constructed for equipment, then EMI shielding is maintained, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
Cable conduits are nested within the closure assembly structure, with each conduit providing a sealed pathway for specific equipment while being integrated into the overall closure body, reducing the need for separate external passage structures
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution reduces patient stress, minimizes medical complications, and enhances safety by maintaining EMI shielding, reducing the need for repeated MRI procedures due to EMI artifacts, and lowering the number of incidents involving medical equipment and imaging interference.
Implementation Method 1
the closure assembly comprising at least one U-shaped conduit having (i) an array of distal and proximal sealing walls, both are substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and having upwards and downwards directions, and (ii) a recess in between the walls
Implementation Method 2
maintains RF waveguide attenuation shielding during its operation
Implementation Method 3
allowing light and air penetration
Data Source
AI summary
An incubator's closure assembly adapted to shut the aperture of a magnetic resonance imaging device (MRD) having an open bore extended along the MRD's longitudinal axis with a distal end and proximal end, the bore is terminated by the aperture located in the proximal end, into which a neonate's incubator is inserted, thereby shutting the MRD bore aperture. The closure assembly comprising at least one U-shaped conduit having (i) an array of distal and proximal sealing walls, both are substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and having upwards and downwards directions, and (ii) a recess in between the walls having length, in upwards to downwards direction, and width, in distal to proximal direction, each of the proximal wall and the distal wall comprising a cutout at opposite directions, and wherein in the recess, the ratio of length to width is greater than a predefined value n.