Medical examination system with generation of the internal patient image controlled by a surface image of the patient

• US 4,907,252 A
• Filed: 01/27/1989
• Issued: 03/06/1990
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/1988
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Siemens AG
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Aichinger, Horst, Gerlach, Hans-Juergen
• Primary Examiner(s): Church, Craig E.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NOT, DEFINED
• Application Number:
  US07/302,683
• Time in Patent Office: 403 Days
• Field of Search: 378/99, 378/145-146, 378/63, 378/150-153, 378/195, 378/205-206, 378/209, 128/653, 128/654, 128/660.07, 324/309, 324/318
• US Class Current: 378/98.5
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/0487 Motor-assisted positioning
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/08 Auxiliary means for directing the radiation beam to a particular spot, e.g. using light beams
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0858 involving measuring tissue layers, e.g. skin, interfaces

Abstract

A medical examination system includes components for generating an internal image of a patient, such as an x-ray image, and components for generating an image of the external surface of at least a portion of the patient. The signals obtained from the surface scan of the patient are used to control the positioning of other components, such as the patient support and/or the primary radiation diaphragm. The internal and surface images can be compared to achieve precise positioning of the patient and/or a setting of the primary radiation diaphragm to avoid blooming.

Claims

1. A medical examination system for examining a patient comprising:

means for generating an internal image of said patient, said means including an adjustable component;

means for scanning a surface of said patient and generating a surface image of said patient;

a memory for storing said surface image; and

means for comparing said surface image stored in said memory with a current internal image of said patient for generating a drive signal for said adjustable component based on the difference between said stored image and said current image.

2. An examination system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said adjustable component is a patient support.

3. An examination system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for generating an internal image includes means for generating a radiation beam, and wherein said adjustable component is a primary radiation diaphragm disposed in said beam.

4. An examination system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said adjustable component is an ink printer for applying markings on said patient.

5. An examination system as claim in claim 1 wherein said means for generating an internal image of said is a means for generating an x-ray image of said patient.

6. An examination system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for scanning a surface of said patient and generating a surface image of said patient is a laser scanner.

11. A medical examination system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for generating an internal image of said patient is a means for generating an x-ray image of said patient.

7. A medical examination system for examining a patient comprising:

means for generating an internal image of a patient, said means including an adjustable component;

means for storing said internal image;

means for comparing a stored internal image with a current internal image and for generating a first comparison result dependent upon the correlation of the stored and current internal images;

means for scanning a surface of said patient and generating a surface image of said patient;

means for storing said surface image of said patient;

means for comparing a stored surface image with a current surface image and generating a second comparison result dependent upon the correlation between said stored and current surface images; and

means for evaluating said first and second comparison results to generate a control signal for said adjustable component.

8. A medical examination system as claimed in claim 7 wherein said adjustable component is a patient support.

9. A medical examination system as claimed in claim 7 wherein said means for generating an internal image includes means for generating an x-ray beam, and wherein said adjustable component is a primary radiation diaphragm disposed in said beam.

10. A medical examination system as claimed in claim 7 wherein said adjustable component is an ink printer for applying markings on said patient.