SYNCHRONOUS INTERVENTIONAL SCANNER
First Claim
1. A system for tracking a medical instrument during an interventional procedure using computed tomography (CT), including:
- an X-ray source on a rotating gantry that moves axially parallel to a volume of interest (VOI) on a stationary subject support;
a dynamic collimator positioned between the X-ray source and the VOI and moveable with the X-ray source; and
an X-ray detector positioned opposite the X-ray source and collimator to receive X-rays that have passed through the VOI;
wherein the X-ray source emits a full beam of X-rays and the dynamic collimator passes a wide cone beam to generate a diagnostic image of the VOI and restricts passage of X-rays to a narrow cone beam having a reduced width to generate images of a sub-region during the interventional procedure.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
When performing an interventional CT scan on a subject, radiation dose is limited by employing a dynamic collimator (142) that collimates X-rays emitted by an X-ray source (112). The X-ray source (112) and collimator (142) rotate around a VOI (122) in the subject, and move axially along the VOI (122) to maintain the tip of a medical instrument (144) within the field of view of the narrow cone beam. An instrument tracking component (146) maintains information related to previous and current positions of the instrument (144) relative to the VOI (122) and facilitates tracking the instrument as it moves through the VOI (122). A user interface (136) superimposes images of a sub-region of the VOI (122) in which the instrument tip is located onto a pre-generated diagnostic image for viewing by an operator, to track the medical instrument (144).
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A system for tracking a medical instrument during an interventional procedure using computed tomography (CT), including:
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an X-ray source on a rotating gantry that moves axially parallel to a volume of interest (VOI) on a stationary subject support; a dynamic collimator positioned between the X-ray source and the VOI and moveable with the X-ray source; and an X-ray detector positioned opposite the X-ray source and collimator to receive X-rays that have passed through the VOI; wherein the X-ray source emits a full beam of X-rays and the dynamic collimator passes a wide cone beam to generate a diagnostic image of the VOI and restricts passage of X-rays to a narrow cone beam having a reduced width to generate images of a sub-region during the interventional procedure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of tracking a medical instrument during an interventional CT scan, including:
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emitting X-rays from an X-ray source mounted to a gantry and movable axially and rotationally; opening shutter blades on the collimator to permit a portion of an X-ray cone beam to pass through the VOI; and moving the X-ray source and collimator axially parallel to the VOI to maintain a tip of the medical instrument within a field of view of the X-ray cone beam to track the medical instrument. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A system for minimizing radiation dose while tracking a medical instrument during an interventional CT scan, including:
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means for supporting a subject in a stationary position; means for emitting X-rays to irradiate a portion of a VOI in the subject; means for collimating emitted X-rays into a narrow cone beam;
means for axially and rotationally moving the means for emitting X-rays and the means for collimating along and around the VOI during the interventional CT scan;means for detecting X-rays that have passed through the VOI; means for maintaining a tip of the medical instrument in a field of view of the narrow cone beam as the medical instrument traverses the VOI; means for superimposing reconstructed images of a sub-region of the VOI, in which the tip of the medical instrument is located, onto a pre-generated diagnostic image of the VOI for presentation to a physician; means for monitoring radiation dose received by the VOI; and means for at least one of providing a warning signal, narrowing the cone beam, shutting of the means for emitting X-rays, and switching to an intermittent fluoroscopic scan mode, when the monitored radiation dose approaches a predefined upper limit.
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Specification