MRI Table Filler Insert for Flat Surface and RF Coil Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
In medical imaging systems, particularly MRI scanners, patients are often unable to assist in their transfer due to disability, and maintaining patient position and sanitizing the support system pose challenges.
Innovation Solution
A patient support system with a recessed portion and a radio frequency (RF) head coil assembly, along with a filler insert that complements the recessed portion, allowing for optimized imaging geometry and easy sanitization by providing a flat surface when the RF head coil is not in use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a recessed portion is created in the patient support table to accommodate the RF head coil assembly, then imaging geometry is optimized, but the surface becomes non-flat when the coil is not installed, reducing patient comfort and complicating sanitization
Solution Approach 1:
The patient support table is segmented into a main table structure and a removable filler insert. The filler insert is a separate component that can be installed or removed as needed, allowing the system to transition between having a recessed portion (when insert is removed for imaging) and a flat surface (when insert is installed for comfort and sanitization).
Solution Approach 2:
The filler insert is extracted as a removable component from the patient support table structure. This allows the recessed portion to be temporarily filled when the RF head coil assembly is not in use, restoring the flat surface for patient comfort and easier sanitization, while maintaining the optimized imaging geometry capability when the insert is removed.
2Measurement precision
If the RF head coil assembly is permanently installed in the recessed portion, then imaging quality is maintained, but the support system cannot be easily sanitized and patient comfort is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically changes configuration between two states: with the filler insert installed (providing flat surface for sanitization and comfort) and without the filler insert (providing optimized imaging geometry). The RF head coil assembly remains permanently installed in the recessed portion, but the removable insert allows temporary restoration of the flat surface when imaging is not required.
Solution Approach 2:
The filler insert acts as an intermediary component between the patient support table and the RF head coil assembly. It fills the recessed portion when the coil is not in use, providing a flat surface that facilitates sanitization and improves patient comfort, while allowing the coil to be properly positioned during imaging procedures.
3Ease of operation
If the patient support table has a flat surface, then patient comfort is improved and sanitization is easier, but optimized imaging geometry cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patient support table is divided into functional zones: the main flat table surface for patient comfort and the recessed portion (accessible by removing the filler insert) for optimized coil positioning. This segmentation allows both flat surface benefits and optimized imaging geometry to be achieved at different times.
Solution Approach 2:
The patient support table dynamically transitions between providing a completely flat surface (with filler insert installed) and providing optimized imaging geometry (with filler insert removed and RF head coil assembly in place). This dynamic reconfiguration allows the system to adapt to different operational requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
When imaging a patient using a magnetic resonance (MR) imager, it is desirable to locate an radio frequency (RF) head coil at a position lower than the flat table top patient surface in order to optimize the geometry of the patient anatomy and the RF coil. A flat table top is provided for an MR patient support table (10) that includes a pocket or recessed portion (50) that accepts an RF head coil (14), thereby optimizing imaging geometry. When the RF coil is not mated to the recessed portion of the table (10) a filler insert (20) is mated therewith. This allows an operator to use the table top without the filler insert to position a neurovascular coil at an optimized location below the table top surface for brain imaging, as well as to convert the patient support table back to a completely flat top by removing the coil and installing the flat surface filler insert for additional positioning requirements. The filler insert feature allows for therapy planning using magnetic resonance with optimized image quality in a radiation therapy treatment environment.