Adjustable scanner
First Claim
1. An apparatus for dental and facial imaging, the apparatus comprising:
- a rotatable gantry having an axis of rotation generally in the direction of local gravitational vertical, the gantry configured to be rotated during an imaging procedure;
a source of penetrating radiation mounted on the gantry;
an elongated detector for detecting radiation from the source of penetrating radiation and producing image data, the detector mounted opposite the source on the gantry, and having a length, a long axis, and a short axis;
the rotatable gantry, source, and detector configured to receive the head of a patient between the source and the detector when the patient is in an upright position, with the axis of rotation of the gantry passing through the patient'"'"'s head;
wherein the detector is mounted rotatably to the gantry and movable between a first position in which the long axis of the detector is generally perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the gantry and a second position in which the long axis of the detector is generally parallel to the axis of rotation of the gantry; and
a computing device configured to receive image data from the detector and further configured to generate an image of at least a first portion of the patient'"'"'s head if the detector is in the first position and to generate an image of at least a second portion of the patient'"'"'s head if the detector is in the second position, wherein the second portion of the patient'"'"'s head is different from the first portion of the patient'"'"'s head.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
For dental and facial imaging, a source of x-rays (14) or other penetrating radiation and a detector (20) are mounted opposite one another on a rotatable gantry (28), so that the head of the patient can be positioned between the source (14) and the detector (20), with the axis of rotation (36) of the gantry passing through the patient'"'"'s head. The detector is longer in one direction than in the perpendicular direction, generally rectangular, and is rotatable between a position in which the long axis is transverse to the axis of rotation of the gantry and a position in which the long axis is generally parallel to the axis of rotation of the gantry. The length of the detector along the long axis is sufficient for fully detailed computed CT when the long axis is transverse, and for full-face CT when the long axis is parallel.
34 Citations
24 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for dental and facial imaging, the apparatus comprising:
-
a rotatable gantry having an axis of rotation generally in the direction of local gravitational vertical, the gantry configured to be rotated during an imaging procedure; a source of penetrating radiation mounted on the gantry; an elongated detector for detecting radiation from the source of penetrating radiation and producing image data, the detector mounted opposite the source on the gantry, and having a length, a long axis, and a short axis; the rotatable gantry, source, and detector configured to receive the head of a patient between the source and the detector when the patient is in an upright position, with the axis of rotation of the gantry passing through the patient'"'"'s head; wherein the detector is mounted rotatably to the gantry and movable between a first position in which the long axis of the detector is generally perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the gantry and a second position in which the long axis of the detector is generally parallel to the axis of rotation of the gantry; and a computing device configured to receive image data from the detector and further configured to generate an image of at least a first portion of the patient'"'"'s head if the detector is in the first position and to generate an image of at least a second portion of the patient'"'"'s head if the detector is in the second position, wherein the second portion of the patient'"'"'s head is different from the first portion of the patient'"'"'s head. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method for dental and facial imaging using an apparatus comprising a computing device, a rotatable gantry having an axis of rotation generally in the direction of local gravitational vertical, a penetrating radiation source mounted on the gantry, and an elongated detector mounted opposite the source on the gantry and having a length, a long axis, and a short axis, the method comprising:
-
rotating the detector between a first position in which the long axis of the detector is generally perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the gantry and a second position in which the long axis of the detector is generally parallel to the axis of rotation of the gantry; generating an image of at least a first portion of a patient'"'"'s head if the detector is in the first position; and generating an image of at least a second portion of the patient'"'"'s head if the detector is in the second position, wherein the second portion of the patient'"'"'s head is different from the first portion of the patient'"'"'s head, and wherein each of the steps of generating an image of at least a first portion and second portion comprises; receiving the patient'"'"'s head between the source and the detector when the patient is in an upright position, with the axis of rotation of the gantry passing through the patient'"'"'s head, rotating the gantry about the axis of rotation of the gantry, generating penetrating radiation by the radiation source during the step of rotating the gantry, detecting the penetrating radiation by the elongated detector to produce image data, and receiving the image data by the computing device. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
Specification