X-ray Imaging System Proximity Sensor Safety Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
During interventional X-ray procedures, it is challenging to prevent unintended X-ray radiation exposure to the operator's hands, as existing countermeasures require manual input or are not fully effective in detecting and preventing irradiation.
Innovation Solution
A medical imaging system equipped with proximity sensors and a processing unit that generate distance information and detect temporal differences to identify objects, such as hands, within the X-ray beam's path, triggering a warning signal to prevent irradiation, and optionally adjusting the beam or interrupting X-ray emission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If manual countermeasures such as lead gloves or dosimeters are used, then operator protection is provided, but the system requires manual input and user action
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically detects objects in the X-ray beam path using proximity sensors and triggers protective measures without requiring manual input from the operator. The processing unit continuously monitors distance information and autonomously determines when protective actions are needed, making the system self-protecting rather than requiring user activation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical protective measures (putting on lead gloves, manually activating dosimeters) with an automated sensor-based detection and control system. The mechanical action of donning protective equipment is substituted by electronic sensing and automatic system response.
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If proximity sensors are used to detect objects in real-time, then automatic detection capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The proximity sensors and processing unit serve multiple functions: they detect the presence of objects in the beam path, measure distance to objects, trigger protective measures, and provide continuous monitoring. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated components for each protective function.
Solution Approach 2:
The processing unit acts as an intermediary between the proximity sensors and the protective measures. It receives raw distance information from sensors, processes this data to determine object presence and risk level, and then triggers appropriate protective actions. This intermediary layer simplifies the overall system architecture by centralizing the decision-making logic.
Data Source
AI summary
A medical imaging system having an X-ray image acquisition device, a plurality of proximity sensors located at components of the X-ray image acquisition device and a processing unit is able to prevent unintended X-ray radiation to an object in a field of irradiation. For this purpose, the processing unit is configured for determining temporal differences of distance information delivered by the proximity sensors, for generating reference distance information based on acquired distance information with an X-ray source, an X-ray detector and the patient support in fixed positions, for filtering out reference distance information from the acquired distance information and for generating a signal in case temporal differences are determined exceeding a predetermined threshold.