Medical installation having an apparatus for acquiring the position of at least one object located in a room

• US 6,272,368 B1
• Filed: 10/01/1998
• Issued: 08/07/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Siemens AG
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Alexandrescu, Mircea
• Primary Examiner(s): Lateef, Marvin M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lin, Jeoyuh
• Application Number:
  US09/164,312
• Time in Patent Office: 1,041 Days
• Field of Search: 600/312, 600/473, 600/476, 600/477, 600/407, 250/358.1, 250/574, 250/349, 128/897, 128/653.1, 364/559, 364/516, 345/158
• US Class Current: 600/407
• 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 6/102 Protection against mechanical damage, e.g. anti-collision devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/488 involving pre-scan acquisition
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4061 Avoiding collision or forbidden zones
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/45169 Medical, rontgen, x ray
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/49143 Obstacle, collision avoiding control, move so that no collision occurs

Abstract

A medical installation, having an apparatus for acquiring the position of at least one object located in a room, also has a light transmitter for emitting a light fan and a camera for acquiring at least one object. The signals of the camera are supplied to an evaluation unit that generates 3D data on the basis of these signals corresponding to the at least one object that are utilized for avoiding collisions of the object.

Claims

1. A medical installation for use in an examination room, comprising:

a plurality of moveable installation components in an examination room, each of said components having a movement controller which controls movement of that component in said examination room;

a light transmitter which emits a light fan within a field of view including at least one of said components;

a camera disposed remote from said components for acquiring an image, including said at least one component, irradiated by said light fan and producing camera signals corresponding to said image; and

evaluation means, connected to each said movement controller, supplied with said camera signals for generating three-dimensional data from said camera signals identifying a position of said at least one component in said examination room and for controlling the movement controller of said at least one component for preventing collision of said at least one component with other installation components and with persons in said examination room.

2. A medical installation as claimed in claim 1 wherein said light transmitter comprises means for emitting a two-dimensional light fan.

3. A medical installation as claimed in claim 2 wherein said light transmitter comprises means for emitting a light beam and includes a first mirror on which said light beam is incident for deflecting said light beam in a first plane to produce a deflected beam, and a second mirror in which said deflected beam is incident for deflecting said deflected beam in a second plane to produce said light fan, said second plane being oriented substantially perpendicularly to said first plane.

4. A medical installation as claimed in claim 3 wherein said camera generates said camera signals in a plurality of frames including a first frame followed by successive frames, and further comprising means for moving said first mirror to conduct a plurality of successive scans of said examination room in said first plane including a first scan followed by a plurality of successive scans, and for synchronizing said first scan with said first frame and each of said successive scans respectively with said successive frames.

5. A medical installation as claimed in claim 1 wherein said light transmitter comprises means for emitting a fan-shaped light beam as said light fan, said fan-shaped light beam being disposed in a first plane, and wherein said light transmitter further comprises a mirror for moving said fan-shaped light beam in a second plane for scanning said examination room in successive scans in said second plane, said second plane being oriented substantially perpendicularly to said first plane, and wherein said camera signal comprises a plurality of successive frames, and means for synchronizing movement of said mirror for synchronizing said scans in said second plane with said frames in said camera signal.

6. A medical installation as claimed in claim 1 wherein said light transmitter comprises an infrared light source.

7. A medical installation as claimed in claim 6 further comprising an infrared filter disposed in front of said camera allowing only light from said infrared light source to pass through said infrared filter.

8. A medical installation as claimed in claim 6 wherein said infrared light source comprises an infrared laser.

9. A medical installation as claimed in claim 1 wherein said camera comprises a CCD camera.

10. A medical installation as claimed in claim 1 wherein said light transmitter is disposed at a ceiling of said examination room.

11. A medical installation as claimed in claim 1 further comprising at least one means for producing an additional set of three-dimensional data of said at least one object in said examination room, and means for correlating said three-dimensional image with said at least one further set of three-dimensional data for avoiding said collisions.

12. A medical installation as claimed in claim 1 wherein said camera comprises a television camera.