Siemens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc.

Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Other

The University of Tennessee Research Foundation

James Luke Corbeil

Ziad Burbar

Matthias J Schmand

Nan Zhang

Stefan Stocker

Mark S Andreaco

Jeffrey Donald Bostrom

Ralf Ladebeck

Troy Marlar

John David Keller

Johannes Breuer

Ronald Nutt

Robert A Mintzer

Maciej P Kapusta

Wolfgang Renz

Hubertus Fischer

Mehmet Aykac

Ronald Grazioso

Peter Hansen

Piotr Szupryczynski

James Williams

Brant Quinton

Andrew Philip Moor

Sanghee Cho

Robert E Nutt

Bernd J Pichler

James Christopher Arnott

Matthew Eric Martin

Günter Schnur

Don Kelley

Carl Sisemore

Markus Vester

Vladimir Y Panin

James D Williams

Volker Matschl

Charles L Melcher

Peter Carl Cohen

Stefan B Siegel

Christian J Michel

Inki Hong

Niraj K Doshi

Merry A Koschan

Paul Schleyer

Alexander Andrew Carey

Martin Judenhofer

Rainer Paul

Charles H Hayden, Jr

Michael Dulude

Ron Grazioso

Keith Gerlach

Nicholas Gullette

Gregory J Hayzen

Sridhar Kuppuswamy

Marcus Vester

Martin Schramm

Ludwig Eberler

John Keller

A PET system for a PET/MRI machine is disclosed. The PET system includes a PET detector assembly arranged to form a single gap aligned with the high-density support structure assembly and the shielded cable assembly that run along the patient bed in the PET/MRI machine. The PET detector arrangement maximizes the allowable diameter of the PET system within the MR magnet and ensures that the high-density material does not interfere with image acquisition. Further, various image reconstruction techniques compatible with the PET detector arrangement are described.

Arrangement of pet detectors for combined PET/MR systems

A patient handling system (PHS) for a medical imaging system having a tunnel that extends through at least one scanning portion of the system. The PHS includes a first moveable pedestal that supports a detachable first pallet that includes a first patient. The first pedestal moves the first pallet through the tunnel to enable scanning of the first patient. The PHS also includes a second moveable pedestal located at a tunnel exit. The second pedestal attaches to the first pallet as the first pallet moves through the tunnel and the first pedestal subsequently detaches from the first pallet. The second pedestal then moves away from the tunnel exit to remove the first pallet from the tunnel. A second patient to be scanned is simultaneously prepared for scanning on a second pallet as the first pallet is moved through the tunnel in order to increase patient throughput through system.

Patient handling system comprising a first moveable pedestal and a second moveable pedestal for a medical imaging system

A fluid coolant system for a gantry of a medical imaging apparatus cools scalable detector electronic assemblies (DEAs) within the gantry. Each DEA includes within its modular housing a first chill plate thermally conductively coupled to cooling detector elements therein and a separate, second chill plate thermally conductively coupled to other electronic components therein, such as electronic circuit boards and/or power supplies. In some embodiments, the first chill plate is oriented between the detector elements and the second chill plate, for thermally isolating the detector elements from other heat dissipating components within the DEA. In some embodiments, coolant flow cascades sequentially through the first chill plate and then through the second chill plate.

Cooling system integrated within modular, detector electronic assembly for a diagnostic medical imaging apparatus

A displacement mechanism for placing an optical device onto a patient's eyes and removing the optical device from the patient's eyes when the patient is located in a patient bore of a medical imaging system. The mechanism includes a pneumatic device and a resilient element attached between an inner surface of the patient bore and the optical device wherein the resilient element extends through the pneumatic device and wherein the optical device is spaced apart from the patient's eyes in a first position. A pump inflates the pneumatic device to move the optical device to a second position wherein the optical device is placed on the patient's eyes. Inflation of the pneumatic device extends the resilient element and biases the resilient element to return to the first position. A vent valve vents air from the pneumatic device to return the optical device to the first position.

Displacement mechanism for patient controlled placement and removal of an optical device in a confined space environment

A medical imaging system that includes a gantry having an inner bore surface that defines a bore for receiving a patient, wherein a digital display is attached to the inner bore surface of the bore. The system also includes a patient bed for moving the patient into the bore. Further, visual content is displayed on the display that has a calming effect on the patient.

Digital display for a medical imaging system bore

A fluid coolant system for a gantry of a medical imaging apparatus cools scalable detector electronic assemblies (DEAs) within the gantry. Each DEA includes therein a first chill plate for cooling detector elements and a second chill plate for cooling electronic components and power supplies. Coolant flow cascades sequentially through the first chill plate and then through the second chill plate. Plural DEAs in an interconnected chain cascade coolant in sequence through all their first chill plates, before cascading the coolant through all their second chill plates. A matrix of the scalable DEAs are circumferentially and axially oriented within the imaging system's gantry, for any axial length scanning field of the imaging apparatus.

Modular, scalable cooling system for a diagnostic medical imaging apparatus

A gantry tube for a medical imaging system. The gantry tube includes a first tube located within a second tube, wherein the first tube is oriented about a longitudinal axis of the system. The gantry tube also includes a plurality of wall elements that extend between the first and second tubes, wherein the walls and first and second tubes form a plurality of channels that extend in an axial direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis wherein each channel is configured to hold a detector of the system. A detector is inserted into or removed from an associated channel in an axial direction from either a first end or a second end of the gantry tube.

Gantry tube for medical imaging system

A gantry cooling system of a diagnostic medical imaging apparatus transfers apparatus-generated heat, such as gantry heat, to a solid material heatsink, via a circulating-fluid coolant conduit. In some embodiments, the heatsink is incorporated in the ground or within the building structure housing the apparatus.

Cooling system with solid material heatsink for a diagnostic medical imaging apparatus

Provided is a method of fabricating a detector array that includes preparing a plurality of slabs of an optical medium of an imaging device, forming a plurality of optical boundaries within at least one of the slabs of optical medium, where the plurality of optical boundaries defining a 1×N array of non-contiguous, independent light-redirecting regions within the at least one slab, arranging the plurality of slabs into a stack with a reflective layer defined between each adjacent slab and affixing the positions of the plurality of slabs with respect to each other. A detector array formed using the method is also provided.

Hybrid lased/air coupled PET block detector

A lighting arrangement for a medical imaging system having a cylindrical wall that forms a tunnel that receives a patient to be scanned. The lighting arrangement includes a light transmitting section aligned on a longitudinal axis of the imaging system wherein the light transmitting section forms a part of the tunnel. The lighting arrangement also includes a reflector section that is radially outside the light transmitting section. In addition, the lighting arrangement includes at least one lighting device located between the reflector section and light transmitting section wherein the lighting device emits light that is reflected by the reflector section onto the light transmitting section and wherein the light is then transmitted through the light transmitting section and into the tunnel to circumferentially illuminate the tunnel.

Lighting arrangement for a medical imaging system

A cooling channel in a gantry of a medical imaging apparatus transfers heat away from the radiation detector and detector electronics, while limiting influence on magnetic fields generated within the gantry, when incorporated in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. The cooling channel includes a non-electrically conducting, non-metallic housing in conductive thermal communication with the detector electronics and the radiation detector. A cooling conduit in the housing circulates coolant fluid. A unitary, non-electrically conductive, non-metallic heat sink in the housing is in direct conductive, thermal communication with the housing and the cooling conduit. A solid, thermally conductive layer is interposed between and affixed to opposing, spaced exterior surfaces of the conduit and the heat sink.

Cooling channel with non-metallic heat sink for a diagnostic medical imaging apparatus

Provided is a PET scanner system having a PET scanner gantry that is configured for delivering a uniformly distributed cooling air to a plurality of detectors housed in the PET scanner gantry. The PET scanner gantry includes a cooling air delivery manifold that includes a patient tunnel portion; and a front funnel portion. The front funnel portion includes an annular interior wall defining an entry opening of the patient tunnel portion; and an air plenum has an annular structure for carrying a flow of pressurized cooling air received from a remote source supplements the pressurized cooling air with a supply of ambient air and directs it to the plurality of detectors.

Air cooled PET scanner gantry

A scintillation block detector employs an array of optically air coupled scintillation pixels, the array being wrapped in reflector material and optically coupled to an array of silicon photomultiplier light sensors with common-cathode signal timing pickoff and individual anode signal position and energy determination. The design features afford an optimized combination of photopeak energy event sensitivity and timing, while reducing electronic circuit complexity and power requirements, and easing necessary fabrication methods. Four of these small blocks, or 'miniblocks,' can be combined as optically and electrically separated quadrants of a larger single detector in order to recover detection efficiency that would otherwise be lost due to scattering between them. Events are validated for total energy by summing the contributions from the four quadrants, while the trigger is generated from either the timing signal of the quadrant with the highest energy deposition, the first timing signal derived from the four quadrant time-pickoff signals, or a statistically optimum combination of the individual quadrant event times, so as to maintain good timing for scatter events. This further reduces the number of electronic channels required per unit detector area while avoiding the timing degradation characteristic of excessively large SiPM arrays.

Silicon photomultiplier based TOF-PET detector

A lighting arrangement for a medical imaging system having a cylindrical wall that forms a tunnel that receives a patient to be scanned. The lighting arrangement includes a transparent wall section formed in the wall, wherein the transparent wall section extends along a transparent portion of a wall circumference. The imaging system also includes a lighting device located adjacent an outer surface of the transparent wall section. The lighting device extends along a device portion of a wall circumference corresponding to the transparent portion wherein light emitted by the lighting device is transmitted through the transparent wall section in a direction orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the tunnel to circumferentially illuminate the tunnel. In addition, a system status is indicated by a color of light emitted by the LEDs. Further, light emitted by the lighting device varies in intensity to indicate a changing count rate.

Growing community of inventors

Knoxville, TN, United States of America

James Luke Corbeil