Radio-transparent Headrest for CBCT Patient Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing extraoral radiographic apparatuses face challenges in immobilizing patients' heads without generating motion or metal artefacts, require repeated patient repositioning for correct FOV centering, and have high costs due to large X-ray sensor panels, especially when acquiring specific anatomical areas like the ears or vertebral column.
Innovation Solution
A radio-transparent, relocatable headrest that can be tilted up to 45°, integrated with a patient table and gantry system allowing movement along three axes, using a smaller X-ray sensor panel to minimize artefacts and reduce unnecessary radiation exposure, while enabling precise patient positioning without repeated locking and unlocking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a rigid support structure is used to block the patient's head, then motion artefacts are reduced, but metal artefacts are generated and radiation exposure to sensitive organs increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from metal to radio-transparent materials (plastic, carbon, or wood) for the headrest structure. This parameter change eliminates metal artefacts while maintaining the blocking effectiveness through proper structural design and positioning
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by positioning the headrest structure specifically outside the primary X-ray field of view while maintaining blocking effectiveness. The structure is designed to block the patient's head in the required position without impinging on the FOV, thereby reducing radiation exposure to sensitive organs while preventing motion artefacts
2Area of stationary object
If a large X-ray sensor panel is used to capture the entire field of view, then all anatomical areas can be acquired in one position, but the cost of the apparatus increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic positioning capability to the patient support system, allowing movement along three axes (longitudinal, lateral, and vertical). This dynamic adjustment enables the use of a smaller sensor panel while still capturing the required anatomical areas through multiple positions, thereby reducing apparatus cost
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the imaging process into multiple acquisitions at different positions rather than requiring a single large sensor panel to capture everything at once. The patient support can be repositioned to acquire different anatomical areas sequentially
3Device complexity
If the patient table is fixed in position, then the structure is simple, but repeated locking and unlocking is required for correct FOV centering
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the fixed patient table into a dynamically adjustable system with three degrees of freedom (longitudinal, lateral, and vertical movement). This dynamic positioning allows continuous adjustment to center the FOV on different anatomical areas without repeated locking and unlocking operations
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs the patient support system with multi-functionality, integrating movement capabilities along all three axes to handle various positioning requirements. This universal positioning system can accommodate different anatomical areas and imaging configurations without requiring multiple separate positioning operations
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
The solution effectively blocks the patient's head without artefacts, reduces radiation exposure to sensitive areas, lowers the overall cost of the apparatus by using a smaller X-ray sensor panel, and allows for efficient and precise patient positioning with reduced radiation doses during scout image acquisition.
Implementation Method 1
an X-ray source-detector assembly. Said assembly is designed to rotate about an anatomical area of analysis for acquiring raw volumetric tomographic data
Data Source
AI summary
A radiographic apparatus includes a gantry and a table supporting a patient and having a device that immobilizes the head of the patient lying on the table. Such device includes a dome configured to support the head of the patient; a basal plate; one or more junctions provided at a first end of the basal plate; two uprights provided at a second end of the basal plate opposed to the first end, two slits being defined in the two uprights, a slide being disposed within each slit; and a cursor sliding in the two slits and configured to be blocked in position by a bushing, wherein the basal plate, the one or more junctions, the two uprights, the cursor, and the bushing are all radio-transparent and non-metallic.