Apparatus and method for determining a position of a patient in a medical examination

• US 20060193443A1
• Filed: 08/25/2005
• Published: 08/31/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens Healthcare GMBH (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Reger, Johannes
• Granted Patent: US 7,454,987 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 378/207
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/061 for measuring dimensions, e.g. length
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/064 for measuring force, pressure or mechanical tension
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/055 involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/704 Tables
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/5276 involving measuring table sag
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/547 involving tracking of position of the device or parts of the device
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2005/1057 monitoring flexing of the patient support or the radiation treatment apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 5/943 with horizontally movable top surface

Abstract

An apparatus and a method are provided for determining a position of a patient during medical examinations. The apparatus comprises a tabletop operable to support the patient, at least one elongatable strain gauge which is integrated into the tabletop, and tabletop sensors operable to detect a sagging of the tabletop as a function of a change in length of the at least one elongatable strain gauge due to the sagging.

Claims

1. An apparatus for determining a position of a patient during medical examinations, the apparatus comprising:

a tabletop operable to support the patient;

at least one elongatable strain gauge integrated into or on the tabletop; and

a sensor operable to detect a sagging of the tabletop as a function of a change in length of the at least one elongatable strain gauge.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one elongatable strain gauge is integral to the tabletop in a longitudinal direction of the tabletop.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one elongatable strain gauge comprises electrically conductive material.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the sensor is operable to detect the sagging as a function of a change in electrical resistance of the at least one elongatable strain gauge.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor is mounted on longitudinal end of the at least one elongatable strain gauge.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a data processing device to evaluate the sagging of the tabletop from measurement data provided by the sensor.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tabletop is secured to a pedestal.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising:

pedestal sensors to detect forces acting on the pedestal due to the sagging.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein a correlation between the data measured by the sensor and the pedestal sensors is stored in a memory of a data processing device.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the data processing device evaluates the sagging of the tabletop from data measured by the pedestal sensors and from the correlation stored in memory.

11. A method for determining a position of a patient during medical examinations, the method comprising the steps of:

integrating at least one elongatable strain gauge into a tabletop operable to support the patient; and

detecting a sagging of the tabletop as a function of a change in length of the at least one elongatable strain gauge.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

integrating the at least one elongatable strain gauge into the tabletop in a longitudinal direction of the tabletop.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one elongatable strain gauge comprises electrically conductive material.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

detecting the change in length of the at least one elongatable strain gauge by measuring a change in electrical resistance of the at least one elongatable strain gauge.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

mounting a sensor on a longitudinal end of the at least one elongatable strain gauge.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

evaluating the sagging of the tabletop from data measured by the sensor.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

securing the tabletop to a pedestal.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

detecting forces acting on the pedestal due to the sagging.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

storing a correlation between the data measured by the sensor and a pedestal sensor in a memory of a data processing device.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

calculating the sagging of the tabletop from the data measured by the pedestal sensor and from the correlation stored in memory.