Liquid injector with appropriate operating conditions set by selecting displayed image

• US 8,359,087 B2
• Filed: 10/24/2003
• Issued: 01/22/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nemoto Kyorindo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nemoto Kyorindo Company Limited
• Inventors: Nemoto, Shigeru
• Primary Examiner(s): Cwern, Jonathan
• Application Number:
  US10/691,570
• Publication Number:
  US 20040162484A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,378 Days
• Field of Search: 600/300, 600/301, 600/407, 600/432, 604/154, 604/155, 604/67, 715/764, 715/810, 715/841
• US Class Current: 600/431
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/032 Transmission computed tomography [CT]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/037 Emission tomography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/481 involving the use of contrast agents
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/485 involving fluorescence X-ray imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/481 involving the use of contrast agent, e.g. microbubbles introduced into the bloodstream analysis of echo signal exploiting properties of a contrast enhancer in devices for short-range imaging with acoustic waves G01S7/52039
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/14208 with a programmable infusion control system, characterised by the infusion program
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/007 for contrast media
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/1456 with a replaceable reservoir comprising a piston rod to be moved into the reservoir, e.g. the piston rod is part of the removable reservoir
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/31 Details
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation

Abstract

A liquid injector stores data of operating conditions of a liquid injection mechanism for regions to be imaged, and also stores data of schematic images of a plurality of body sections and schematic images of regions to be imaged in association with each other. The liquid injector displays the schematic images in the shape of a human body. When one of the schematic images of the corresponding regions is selected, the liquid injector reads the data of corresponding operating conditions, and controls operation of the liquid injection mechanism according to the read operating conditions. When the operator manually selects one of the schematic images of the body sections and then manually selects one of the schematic images of the corresponding regions, the liquid injector automatically injects a contrast medium into the subject under operating conditions corresponding to the selected region to be imaged.

Claims

1. A liquid injector for injecting at least a contrast medium into a subject whose fluoroscopic image is to be captured by an imaging diagnostic apparatus, wherein said contrast medium is available in a plurality of types having different concentrations of an effective component, said liquid injector comprising:

a liquid injection mechanism for injecting at least said contrast medium into said subject;

an injection control means for controlling operation of said liquid injection mechanism under operating conditions whose data have been read;

a display/touch panel adapted to display a plurality of body sections in schematic images of shapes of a human body and accept selection of one of said body sections when one of the displayed plurality of body sections is touched, wherein when one of the body sections is selected, said display/touch panel is further adapted to display at least one of a plurality of regions to be imaged of the human body in schematic images of shapes of regions and accept selection of one of said regions to be imaged when one of the displayed regions to be imaged is touched; and

said injection control means is configured

(i) to read out, from a condition storage device, a base-operation condition including data of;

a predetermined injection time for the injection corresponding to the selected region,

a necessary dose of effective component of the contrast medium per unit weight of the subject corresponding to the selected region,

a concentration of the effective component, and

a variable pattern of an injection rate,

(ii) to calculate a necessary volume of the contrast medium based on the read out necessary dose of effective component per unit weight, the weight of the subject, and the concentration of the effective component,

(iii) to make an injection pattern based on the calculated necessary volume of the contrast medium and the base-operation condition, and

(iv) to perform the injection of said contrast medium based on the injection pattern by controlling the operation of said liquid injection mechanism,

wherein the injection rate of the base-operation condition is configured to be changed based on the calculated necessary volume of said contrast medium, and wherein the predetermined injection time is unchanged, for all volumes of the contrast medium, when making the injection pattern, whereby a timing of an optimum concentration of the contrast medium will be substantially unchanged for all volumes of the contrast medium.

2. A liquid injector according to claim 1, wherein

said liquid injection mechanism comprises a contrast medium injection mechanism for injecting a contrast medium and a solution injection mechanism for injecting a saline solution,

said base-operation condition stored in said condition storage device comprises a pattern whereby the injection of the contrast medium and the injection of the saline solution are interlinked for the selected region to be imaged, and

said injection control means is for reading out the base-pattern in which the injection of the contrast medium and the injection of the saline solution are interlinked, and for performing the interlinked injection of said contrast medium and said saline solution by controlling said contrast medium injection mechanism and said solution injection mechanism.

3. A liquid injector according to claim 2, further comprising:

medium loading means for removably loading an information storage medium which stores at least one of the data of body items for said subject and the data of imaging items;

wherein at least one of the data of body items and the data of imaging items is read out from the loaded information storage medium.

4. A liquid injector according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the data of body items and the data of imaging items is read out on-line from an external database device which stores at least one of the data of body items for said subject and the data of imaging items.

5. A liquid injector according to claim 1, wherein, said base-operation condition including an injection time for the selected region is modified based on an imaging item.

6. A liquid injector according to claim 5, wherein, said imaging item is selected from the types of the imaging diagnostic apparatus and imaging rates.

7. A liquid injector according to claim 1, wherein said condition storage means stores, as said base-operation condition, data of a variable pattern in which an injection rate of said contrast medium is changed with time to keep said fluoroscopic image in a predetermined contrast range.