Application specific emission and transmission tomography
First Claim
1. A motorized and computer controlled imaging system for generating images of a target body part suspended within an imaging area of the system, comprising:
- a support having a rotation axis extending through the imaging area and at least one imaging device having an imaging device axis which passes through a first imaging device field of view, the imaging device being mounted to the support so as to be selectively movable during imaging in three dimensions, including radial movement relative to the rotation axis, rotational movement about the rotation axis, vertical movement parallel to the rotation axis, and pivoting movement about a pivot axis perpendicular to said rotation axis, whereby said imaging device can be selectively moved along a path that defines a curved 3-dimensional surface,wherein said at least one imaging device comprises a pair of gamma cameras,whereby said gamma cameras can be selectively moved during imaging along a 3D path that defines a curved 3-dimensional surface, to acquire data to generate a 3-dimensional image, and will, while traveling in a downward arc toward a pole of the target body part, move vertically downward and pivot to continue to face the surface of the body part being imaged.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A compact and mobile gantry for 3-dimensional Application Specific Emission and/or Transmission Tomography (ASETT) imaging of the breast in single photon or coincidence emission modes, and single photon, or coincidence, or x-ray transmission modes. While the ASETT gantry was designed, built and evaluated for imaging metabolically active lesions in the pendant breast, it can also be used to image other organs and objects. This system overcomes physical constraints associated with imaging a pendulous breast in prone patients, while simultaneously satisfying sampling criteria for sufficient data collection in the pendulous breast reference frame. When combined with an offset cone-beam tomographic x-ray transmission imaging system, this dual modality ASETT system could provide simultaneous and coregistered structural and functional information about large or dense breasts, breasts with indeterminate x-ray mammography, and could also be used to accurately 3-dimensionally guide biopsy or surgical resection. Moreover, with the offset beam orientation, the transmission system is designed to have a variable FOV and minimize overall absorbed breast dose.
60 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A motorized and computer controlled imaging system for generating images of a target body part suspended within an imaging area of the system, comprising:
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a support having a rotation axis extending through the imaging area and at least one imaging device having an imaging device axis which passes through a first imaging device field of view, the imaging device being mounted to the support so as to be selectively movable during imaging in three dimensions, including radial movement relative to the rotation axis, rotational movement about the rotation axis, vertical movement parallel to the rotation axis, and pivoting movement about a pivot axis perpendicular to said rotation axis, whereby said imaging device can be selectively moved along a path that defines a curved 3-dimensional surface, wherein said at least one imaging device comprises a pair of gamma cameras, whereby said gamma cameras can be selectively moved during imaging along a 3D path that defines a curved 3-dimensional surface, to acquire data to generate a 3-dimensional image, and will, while traveling in a downward arc toward a pole of the target body part, move vertically downward and pivot to continue to face the surface of the body part being imaged. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. An imaging system for generating images of a body part suspended within an imaging area of the system, comprising:
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a support having a rotation axis extending through the imaging area and at least one imaging device having an imaging device axis which passes through a first imaging device field of view, the imaging device being mounted to the support so as to be selectively movable in three dimensions, including radial movement relative to the rotation axis, rotational movement about the rotation axis, vertical movement parallel to the rotation axis, and pivoting movement about a pivot axis perpendicular to said rotation axis, whereby said imaging device can be selectively moved along a path that defines a curved 3-dimensional surface, wherein said imaging device comprises a gamma camera or a detector for Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and further comprising an X-ray source and an X-ray detector disposed diametrically opposite said X-ray source, said X-ray source and X-ray detector being disposed such that a line extending from said X-ray source to said X-ray detector is disposed at an angle to said imaging device axis. - View Dependent Claims (5)
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6. An imaging system for generating images of a body part suspended within an imaging area of the system, comprising:
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a support having a rotation axis extending through the imaging area and an imaging device having an imaging device axis which is the center axis of a field of view of the imaging device, the imaging device being mounted to the support so as to be selectively movable in three dimensions, including radial movement relative to the rotation axis, rotational movement about the rotation axis, vertical movement parallel to the rotation axis, and pivoting movement about a pivot axis perpendicular to said rotation axis, whereby said imaging device can be selectively moved along a path that defines a curved 3-dimensional surface, wherein said imaging device axis is laterally offset from said rotation axis so that said imaging device axis does not intersect said rotation axis and said support is mounted for rotational movement through at least about 180 degrees, whereby when the body part is greater than the imaging device field of view, an entire volume of said body part can be sufficiently sampled to accurately reconstruct the emission activity and/or object distributions. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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10. A gantry for dedicated 3-dimensional tomographic imaging of a target body part, comprising:
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an imaging device support assembly including an imaging device support and a motorized and computer controlled translation assembly for displacing said imaging device support relative to a said body part; a rotary support assembly for rotating said imaging device support assembly about a rotary axis thereof, for displacing said imaging device support about a periphery of said body part, at a radius of rotation determined at least in part by said imaging device support assembly; and at least one imaging device pivotally mounted to said imaging device support, wherein said imaging device is selectively pivoted at said pivot mounting with respect to said imaging device support during imaging, so that a face of said imaging device can be selectively disposed generally parallel to a surface of the body part, wherein at least one of said imaging device support assembly and said rotary support assembly is height adjustable during imaging to determine a spacing of the imaging device from said body part, wherein said translation assembly is configured to provide selective displacement of the imaging device support, during imaging, through an angle φ
about a pivot axis perpendicular to said rotation axis, andwherein at least one of said imaging device support and said translation assembly is configured to selectively radially displace the imaging device mounted thereto, during imaging, relative to the rotation axis, whereby said imaging device can be selectively moved during imaging along a 3D path that defines a curved 3-dimensional surfaces, to acquire data to generate a 3-dimensional image, and will, while traveling in a downward arc toward a pole of the target body part, move vertically downward and Divot to continue to face the surface of the body part being imaged. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A gantry for dedicated 3-dimensional tomographic imaging of a body part, comprising:
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an imaging device support assembly including an imaging device support and a translation assembly for displacing said imaging device support relative to a said body part; a rotary support assembly for rotating said imaging device support assembly about a rotary axis thereof, for displacing said imaging device support about a periphery of said body part, at a radius of rotation determined at least in part by said imaging device support assembly; an imaging device mounted to said imaging device support, wherein said imaging device comprises a gamma camera or a detector for Positron Emission Tomography (PET); and an X-ray source and an X-ray detector disposed diametrically opposite said X-ray source, said X-ray source and X-ray detector being disposed such that a line extending from said X-ray source to said X-ray detector is disposed at an angle to an axis of said imaging device, wherein at least one of said imaging device support assembly and said rotary support assembly is height adjustable to determine a spacing of an imaging device mounted to said imaging device support from said body part, wherein said imaging device support assembly is configured to provide selective displacement of an imaging device mounted thereto through an angle φ
about a pivot axis perpendicular to said rotation axis, andwherein at least one of said imaging device support and said translation assembly is configured to selectively radially displace an imaging device mounted thereto relative to the rotation axis. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A method for three-dimensional tomographic imaging of a target body part of a patient comprising:
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positioning at least one imaging device adjacent a surface of the target body part; and using a motorized and computer controlled imaging device gantry system, selectively displacing said imaging device, during imaging, in a direction radial to a central axis of said target body part, in a rotary direction about a rotational axis along at least a part of a circumferential surface of the target body part, through a pivot angle about a pivot axis transverse to said rotational axis, and vertically with respect to the patient so that during imaging said imaging device follows an approximate three-dimensional surface of at least a portion of said target body part by travelling along a 3D path and will, while traveling in a downward arc toward a pole of the target body part, move vertically downward and pivot to continue to face the surface of the body part being imaged. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification