Mammography system and method employing offset compression paddles automatic collimation and retractable anti-scatter grid
First Claim
1. A method of imaging a patient'"'"'s breast with x-rays comprising:
- providing a flat panel digital x-ray receptor having a proximal edge, and an x-ray source selectively emitting an x-ray beam toward the receptor;
positioning a patient'"'"'s breast between the source and receptor, off-center relative to said proximal edge, for imaging with said beam;
compressing the breast toward the receptor with a compression paddle that is mounted off-center relative to said proximal edge, in accordance with the off-center position of the breast; and
imaging the breast with x-rays emitted from the source and received by the digital receptor while the breast is compressed with said paddle.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A mammographic imaging system (1) is optimizd for use with a single fixed size flat panel digital image receptor (5). It accommodates compression devices (paddles) of varying sizes, and positions them properly in the field of view of the image receptor (5). When a compression paddle (2) with size smaller than the field of view of the image receptor is used, the compression paddle (2) can be shifted laterally in the direction parallel to the chest wall, so as to facilitate different views of different size breasts, and permit the image receptor to image as much of the desired tissue as possible. An automatic X-ray collimator (40) restricts the X-ray illumination (30) of the breast (3) in accordance with compression paddle (2) size and location in the field of view. An anti-scatter grid (4), mounted inside the image receptor enclosure, just below the top cover of the enclosure, can be retracted out of the field of view of the image receptor for use in magnification imaging.
147 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method of imaging a patient'"'"'s breast with x-rays comprising:
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providing a flat panel digital x-ray receptor having a proximal edge, and an x-ray source selectively emitting an x-ray beam toward the receptor;
positioning a patient'"'"'s breast between the source and receptor, off-center relative to said proximal edge, for imaging with said beam;
compressing the breast toward the receptor with a compression paddle that is mounted off-center relative to said proximal edge, in accordance with the off-center position of the breast; and
imaging the breast with x-rays emitted from the source and received by the digital receptor while the breast is compressed with said paddle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A mammography system comprising:
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a flat panel digital x-ray receptor having a proximal edge;
an x-ray source selectively emitting a collimated x-ray beam toward the receptor;
a compression paddle removably mounted for selective movement at least along a direction of said proximal edge and along a direction of said beam;
wherein at least for selected breast x-ray protocols a patient'"'"'s breast is positioned off-center relative to said proximal edge and said paddle also is positioned off-center relative the proximal edge, according to said off-center position of the breast, to compress the breast toward the receptor for x-ray imaging. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method of carrying out x-ray breast imaging comprising:
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providing a single-size, flat panel, digital x-ray receptor, said receptor having a proximal edge that is nearest a chest wall of a patient during x-ray imaging of a patient'"'"'s breast;
compressing a patient'"'"'s breast between the receptor and a compression paddle such that the compressed breast is at a position selected to be offset from a center of said proximal edge; and
imaging the compressed breast with x-rays collimated in accordance with said offset position of the breast such that a center plane of the x-rays that is perpendicular to said proximal edge is at a position selected to be offset from the center of the edge.
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29. An x-ray mammography system comprising:
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a flat panel, digital x-ray receptor having a proximal edge that is nearest a chest wall of a patient during x-ray imaging of a patient'"'"'s breast;
an x-ray source selectively emitting a collimated x-ray beam toward the receptor;
a compression paddle and a mounting arrangement for said paddle selectively moving the paddle generally along a centerline of said x-ray beam and also along a said proximal edge, including to positions selected to be offset from a center of said proximal edge;
said x-ray source collimating said x-ray beam such that said centerline of the beam is oriented in a direction related to a selected position of the paddle, including at paddle positions selected to be offset from a center of said proximal edge; and
said collimation changing with changes in position of the paddle along said proximal edge.
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30. A system comprising:
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an x-ray source selectively emitting an x-ray beam;
a flat panel, digital x-ray receptor positioned to receive x-rays emitted from said source;
said receptor having a proximal edge that is closest to a patient'"'"'s chest wall during x-ray imaging of a patient'"'"'s breast;
a compression paddle mounted to selectively compress a patient'"'"'s breast toward the receptor for imaging with said x-ray beam;
said paddle being selectively positioned with a centerline thereof that is transverse to said proximal edge being offset from a center of the proximal edge; and
said x-ray source collimating said x-ray beam to direct the beam in a direction related to the offset of the paddle centerline from the center of said proximal edge.
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31. A method of carrying out x-ray breast imaging comprising:
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providing an imaging flat-panel digital x-ray receptor having a proximal edge that is nearest a chest wall of a patient during x-ray imaging of a patient'"'"'s breast;
selectively compressing the breast at a position offset from a center of said proximal edge of the receptor, using a compression paddle that is mounted for selective movement at least along the direction of said proximal edge of the receptor; and
imaging the compressed breast with an x-ray beam that has a center offset from said center of the proximal edge of the receptor in said direction.
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32. A method of breast imaging with x-rays comprising:
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providing an imaging flat-panel digital x-ray receptor having a proximal edge that is nearest a chest wall of a patient during cranio-caudal x-ray imaging of a patient'"'"'s breast, and a compression paddle for selectively compressing the breast toward the receptor;
selectively causing relative movement between the paddle and the receptor in a direction along the proximal edge of the x-ray receptor to thereby offset a center of the paddle from a center of the proximal edge of the x-ray receptor; and
imaging the breast in a cranio-caudal or another orientation with x-rays while the centers of the paddle and the proximal edge of the x-ray receptor are offset in the direction along the proximal edge. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34)
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35. A system comprising:
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an x-ray source and an imaging flat panel digital x-ray receptor spaced from each other along an x-ray beam axis;
a compression paddle mounted between the source and detector, wherein at least one of the paddle and receptor is movable relative to the other in a first direction along the x-ray beam axis to compress a patient'"'"'s breast;
said receptor having a proximal edge that is closest to a patient'"'"'s chest wall when the source and receptor are taking a cranio-caudal x-ray image a patient'"'"'s breast;
said paddle and receptor being mounted for relative motion with respect to each other in a second direction that is along the proximate edge of the receptor and is transverse to the first direction to thereby selectively offset a center of the paddle relative to a center of the edge for taking an x-ray image of a breast compressed with the paddle, said image being taken in a cranio-caudal or another orientation. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38)
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Specification