U.S. patent number 3,833,813 [Application Number 05/292,120] was granted by the patent office on 1974-09-03 for device for examining a patient, in particular by means of x-rays.
This patent grant is currently assigned to U.S. Philips Corporation. Invention is credited to Pierre Lucien Jules James.
United States Patent |
3,833,813 |
James |
September 3, 1974 |
DEVICE FOR EXAMINING A PATIENT, IN PARTICULAR BY MEANS OF
X-RAYS
Abstract
An x-ray examination device including on the frame two guides
defining circular paths about a single horizontal axis, with a
first and a second carriage movable along said paths, the first
carriage supports a radiation section, and the second carriage
accommodates a patient support. The radiation section and patient
support are also pivotable about a common vertical axis extending
between them.
Inventors: |
James; Pierre Lucien Jules
(Saint-Gratien (Val D Oise), FR) |
Assignee: |
U.S. Philips Corporation (New
York, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
23123313 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/292,120 |
Filed: |
September 25, 1972 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
|
162564 |
Jul 14, 1971 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
378/179; 378/196;
378/181 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61B
6/4441 (20130101); A61B 6/501 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61B
6/00 (20060101); G03b 041/16 () |
Field of
Search: |
;250/54,55,56,57,58,91,92 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Lawrence; James W.
Assistant Examiner: Church; C. E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Trifari; Frank R.
Parent Case Text
This is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 162,564, filed July
14, 1971, now abandoned.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. In an apparatus for X-ray examination of a patient, a frame
including a guide that defines upper and lower circular paths in
generally vertical planes about a central horizontal axis, a first
carriage engaged to said guide for movement between positions along
the upper circular path, including a top-center position, a second
carriage engaged to said guide for movement between positions along
the lower circular path, including a bottom center position, each
of said carriages being movable independently of the other, a
radiation support that is C-shaped with two arms and is secured to
said first carriage and pivotal about a first pivot axis that is
vertical only when the first carriage and support are in said
top-center position on said circular path, an X-ray source secured
to one of said arms and a radiation receiver secured to the other
arm, the source and receiver aligned co-axially along a second
horizontal or radiation axis that intersects said first pivot axis
and can coincide with said central horizontal axis, a patient
support secured to said second carriage and pivotal about a second
pivot axis which extends through said patient support and which
will be vertical only when said support and second carriage are in
said bottom center position, said second and first carriages being
movable independently of each other about said second and first
pivot axes respectively so that a patient on said second carriage
can be situated so his head is at the intersection of said first
pivot and central horizontal axes and said radiation axis, and said
carriages are movable to permit irradiation of the patient's head
from a multitude of angles, said apparatus further comprising
connection means between said patient support and said second
carriage permitting said support to pivot about a third horizontal
axis (a) that intersects said second pivot axis, and (b) that lies
in the plane of said first pivot and central horizontal axes when
said second carriage is in its bottom center position.
2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said upper path and lower
path are in the same vertical plane.
3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said guide and said first
carriage have closely adjacent guide surfaces, one of said surfaces
including a groove and the other including projection means
extending into said groove, and said second carriage and guide are
similarly constructed.
Description
This invention relates to a device for examining a patient, in
particular by means of X-rays, in which a part of the body to be
examined is always situated within the main ray of the beam of rays
emitted by the source of radiation in the various spatial positions
to be successively occupied by the patient for examination and in
the various spatial positions of a source of radiation or radiation
receiver incorporated in the device. During the movements of the
patient between various positions a possibly injected contrast
medium such as, for example, air is displaced in or around the part
of the body to be examined so that the X-ray images received by the
radiation receiver are comparatively rich in contrast. The
radiation receiver may be an image intensifier as well as a film
which is sensitive to X-rays. Devices of the kind set forth are
particularly suitable for examining parts of the head.
In order to obtain a device enabling examinations to be performed
at an as large as possible number of angles of incidence of the
beam of rays, it is necessary that the various possible movements
of the patient can be combined in many ways with the various
movements of the source of radiation or radiation receiver.
A known device of the kind set forth comprises a vertically
arranged stand to which a guide, situated in a vertical plane, is
rigidly secured. This guide extends over such a portion of a circle
circumference that a carriage which is movable along the guide can
be displaced over one quarter of the circle circumference. Via a
shaft which is rotatable with respect to the carriage, a mainly
C-shaped carrier arm is suspended from the carriage. From one end
of the C-shaped carrier arm the source of radiation is suspended
while the other end of the carrier arm supports the radiation
receiver. By placing, for example, the head of a patient in the
intersection of the main ray of the X-ray beam and the said
rotatable shaft and by moving the carriage along the circular
guide, the shaft secured to the carriage also being rotated, the
patient's head can in principle be exposed at a number of spatial
angles corresponding to half a sphere. One drawback is that in
practice a considerable part of the in principle possible angles of
exposure cannot be utilized because parts of the body which are not
to be subjected to exposure or parts of the patient support are
situated within the beam of rays. Consequently, the device of the
kind set forth is frequently used in combination with a special
patient chair by means of which a sitting patient can be made to
assume different spatial positions. One drawback of the described
combination is that the patient can only be exposed in the sitting
posture and not, for example, in the often desired lying posture. A
further drawback is that the patient chair which is to be movable
for various purposes, each time has to be accurately positioned
with respect to the source of radiation.
The invention has for its object to provide a device enabling
exposure at a great plurality of different angles of incidence,
while it is also possible to place the patient in various
postures.
To this end the invention is characterized in that the device
comprises an annular stand which is arranged in a vertical plane
and which is provided with at least one circular guide along which
a first and a second carriage are movable, a mainly C-shaped
carrier arm being secured to said first carriage through the
intermediation of a rotary shaft, the centre line of which is
situated in a vertical plane, a source of radiation being provided
near one end of the C-shaped carrier arm, the center line of which
coincides, on the one hand with the center line of a radiation
receiver provided near the other end of the carrier arm and, on the
other hand, with the center line of the circular guide, the second
carriage being provided with a patient support which is adjustable
with respect to the second carriage at least to a degree such that
a part of the body to be supported can be moved into the
intersection of the center line of the source of radiation and the
center line of said rotary shaft.
In order that the invention may be readily carried into effect, one
emodiment thereof will now be described in detail, by way of
example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic
drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view through a symmetry
plane of an embodiment of a device according to the invention.
FIG. 2 is a front view of the device shown in FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The embodiment of a device according to the invention shown in FIG.
1 comprises an annular stand 1 which is permanently arranged in a
vertical plane, and which has a central, horizontal axis, and which
is provided with two annular guide profiles 2 and 3 situated in
mutually parallel planes and symmetrically about said central axis.
The guide profile 2 is situated at the front of the stand 1, the
guide profile 3 being situated at the rear of the stand. A first
carriage 4 and a second carriage 5 are arranged along the guide
profiles 2 and 3 so as to be movable. The first carriage 4 has two
recesses 6 and 7 gripping around the guide profiles 2 and 3,
respectively, the second carriage 5 having two recesses 8 and 9
which also grip around the guide profiles 2 and 3. The stand 1
accommodates the usual means (not shown for clarity) for moving,
braking and locking the carriages 4 and 5. In the portion of the
carriage 4 which is denoted by the reference numeral 10, a rotary
shaft 11 is located to which a mainly C-shaped supporting shaft 12
is secured. The center line or first pivot axis AA of the rotary
shaft 11 is situated in a vertical plane parallel with the plane of
the annular stand 1. Secured to one end of the carrier arm 12 is an
X-ray tube which is shielded by an envelope 13 and which has a
diaphragm 14, the other end of the carrier arm 12 supporting in a
slidable manner with respect to the X-ray tube, an image
intensifier 15, an observation or recording device 16, and a
storage 17 for X-ray films. The observation device or recording
device 16 is shown only schematically but may comprise, as usual, a
display screen, a film camera, a TV pick-up tube and a TV display
tube. The carrier arm 12 is proportioned such that in any position
of the carriage 4 the direction of the main ray of the beam of rays
or radiation axis coincides with the rotation-symmetry or central
horizontal axis of the annular stand 1 if the carrier arm 12 is in
the position shown in FIG. 1.
Located in a portion 18 of the carriage 5 is rotary shaft 19 along
a second horizontal axis to which a support 20 is secured
supporting a patient table 21. The patient table 21 comprises a
portion 22 in respect of which a portion 23, serving as a back
support, can be hinged through an angle of 90.degree. about an axis
which is parallel with portion 22 of the patient table. Also
present in the support 20 is a shaft of the usual construction
which is not shown in FIG. 1 and which is rotatable and slidable
such as, for example, a rotatable telescopic shaft on which the
patient table 21 is secured. The center line or second pivot axis
BB of said shaft coincides with the center line BB of the rotary
shaft 11 in the position of the carriages 4 and 5 shown in FIG. 1,
namely with carriages 4 and 5 respectively and bottom center
positions in their respective guides. The motor drives of the
shafts 10 and 19, situated in the carriages 4 and 5, respectively,
are of a known kind. For the sake of clarity the drives are not
shown in FIG. 1. The patient table 21 may, of course, also consist
of parts which are slidable with respect to each other in order to
enlarge the resting area. By adjusting the height of the patient
table 21, for example, the head of a patient sitting on the patient
table can be simply brought to the intersection C of the main ray
and the centre lines AA and BB, in the positions of the carriages 4
and 5 and the rotary shaft 19 which are shown in FIG. 1. The
patient's posture thus obtained is usually used as a starting point
for the movements necessary for an examination of the brain. The
distance between patient table 21 and support 20 is then
maintained.
For the examination the following movements, for example, can be
performed (see also FIG. 2):
a movement of the carriage 4 in the directions F.sub.1 and
F.sub.2,
a movement of the carriage 5 in the directions F.sub.3 and
F.sub.4,
a rotation about the axis AA through an angle of 360.degree. of the
carrier arm 12,
a rotation about the axis BB through an angle of 360.degree. of the
patient table 21,
a comparatively small angle variation of the shaft 19.
By means of a device according to the invention a very large number
of angles of exposure can be realized, while the positioning of the
patient requires only a small number of simple manipulations.
The embodiment described in the foregoing is the most universal
one. Utilizing the invention, however, the shaft 19 can be rigidly
secured to the carriage 5 for less extensive examinations. The
rotary movement of the patient table 21 with respect to the support
20 is not always necessary either.
* * * * *