The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 13, 2004
Filed:
Apr. 19, 2001
Frederik Visser, Eindhoven, NL;
Johannes Jacobus Van Vaals, Eindhoven, NL;
Bartholomeus Muskens, Eindhoven, NL;
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., Eindhoven, NL;
Abstract
In interventional MRI, for example, in neurosurgical applications, the head of a patient must be positioned on a head support while allowing reproducible manipulation of the head. The head support must be made of a material that is compatible with MR. Furthermore, spatial restrictions imposed by the bore of the magnetic resonance apparatus have to be dealt with. The head support in accordance with the invention includes a support whereon the patient head or a stereotactic frame can be rested. The head support is suppored by a mounting device. Both the support and mounting device are fixed on the table top. The mounting device provides a sliding surface that enables rotation of the support relative to the mounting device. The support can be curved towards the table top thus providing a concave surface so as to lower the supporting surface for a stereotactic frame and hence to minimize the total volume of the construction. When a radius of between 10 cm and 18 cm is chosen for the sliding surface, the patient will not suffer from stress to the cervical vertebrae during rotation of the supporting means. The reproducibility of the patient positioning with respect to the head support is thus improved, since it is not necessary to reposition the patient after each rotation so as to reduce the induced stress.