JP2010051583A - Coil and magnetic resonance imaging system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coil improving the adhesion property to a region to be radiographed, and a magnetic resonance imaging system having the coil. <P>SOLUTION: The coil 13 includes a headrest 52, coil element housing members 53 and 54, presser members 57 and 58, and presser member support bases 59 and 60. The presser members 57 and 58 are slidably supported to the presser member support bases 59 and 60 respectively. As the presser members 57 and 58 press the coil element housing members 53 and 54 on the head and the neck of a patient, the coil element housing members 53 and 54 can be closely attached to the region to be radiographed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a coil that receives an MR signal from a subject, and a magnetic resonance imaging system having the coil.

Conventionally, a coil used for diagnosis of a plaque at a carotid artery bifurcation has been known (see Patent Document 1).
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-21322

  In order to obtain a high-quality MR image of the carotid bifurcation, the coil needs to be in close contact with the neck. However, the coil disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-21322 has a problem that it is difficult to bring the coil into close contact with the neck.

  An object of this invention is to provide the coil which can improve the adhesiveness to an imaging | photography site | part, and the magnetic resonance imaging system which has the coil in view of said situation.

The coil of the present invention that solves the above problems
An arrangement part where an imaging region of the subject is arranged;
A coil element housing member for housing the coil element;
By pressing the coil element housing member, a pressing member that presses the coil element housing member against the imaging region disposed in the placement portion;
A support that supports the pressing member so that the pressing member can move in a direction approaching the placement portion;
have.

  In the present invention, the pressing member that presses the coil element housing member against the imaging region of the subject is movable in a direction approaching the arrangement portion where the imaging region of the subject is disposed. Therefore, when the adhesion between the coil element housing member and the imaging region is poor, the coil element housing member can be firmly pressed against the imaging region by moving the pressing member in the direction approaching the placement portion, and high quality. MR images can be obtained.

  The best mode for carrying out the invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the best mode for carrying out the invention.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a magnetic resonance imaging system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The magnetic resonance imaging system 1 is an MR (Magnetic).
Resonance) device 10, control device 20, and operation device 30.

  The MR apparatus 10 has a gantry 11 and a table 12. A subject 14 is sleeping on the table 12. The MR apparatus 10 includes the coil 13 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The coil 13 is installed at a site extending from the head 14 a to the neck 14 b of the subject 14. The coil 13 is a coil for depicting a carotid bifurcation CA (see FIG. 40) in the region extending from the head 14a to the neck 14b. A specific structure of the coil 13 will be described later.

  The control device 20 controls the MR device 10 and processes data from the coil 13 to reconstruct an image. The reconstructed image is sent to the operation device 30.

  The operation device 30 sends a command to the control device 20 or displays a reconstructed image from the control device 20 on the monitor 31.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the coil 13, and FIG. 3 is a top view of the coil 13.

  The coil 13 includes a substrate 51, a headrest 52, two coil element housing members 53 and 54, two holding arms 55 and 56, two pressing members 57 and 58, and two pressing member support bases 59 and 60. And two fixing screws 61 and 62.

  FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the coil 13.

  A headrest 52, two holding arms 55 and 56, and two support members 59 and 60 are fixed to the substrate 51. As shown in FIG. 40 described later, the headrest 52 is provided with a head portion 14a and a neck portion 14b of the subject 14. The two holding arms 55 and 56 are arms that hold the coil element housing members 53 and 54, respectively. The two pressing member support bases 59 and 60 are bases that slidably support the pressing members 57 and 58, respectively.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the headrest 52, the two holding arms 55 and 56, and the two support members 59 and 60 separately from the substrate 51.

  The substrate 51 has a headrest fixing region 510, holding arm fixing regions 511 and 512, and support base fixing regions 513 and 514.

  The headrest fixing area 510 is an area where the headrest 52 is fixed. The holding arm fixing regions 511 and 512 are regions to which the holding arms 55 and 56 are fixed, respectively. The support base fixing regions 513 and 514 are regions to which the pressing member support bases 59 and 60 are fixed, respectively.

  The headrest 52 has a headrest receiving portion 52a and a sponge 52b. The headrest receiving portion 52a is formed of a hard material. The headrest receiving portion 52 a is fixed to the headrest fixing region 510 of the substrate 51.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the headrest receiving portion 52 a is fixed to the headrest fixing region 510 of the substrate 51.

  The headrest receiving portion 52a is fixed to the headless region 510 with an adhesive or a screw. A sponge 52b is affixed to the headrest receiving portion 52a.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the sponge 52b is attached to the headrest receiving portion 52a.

  The sponge 52b is affixed to the headrest receiving portion 52a with an adhesive or the like. As shown in FIG. 40 described later, the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14 are not directly disposed on the hard headrest receiving portion 52a, but are disposed on a sponge 52b made of a soft material. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the subject 14 from feeling pain or discomfort. Further, since the sponge 52b is affixed to the hard headrest receiving portion 52a, the headrest receiving portion 52a firmly receives the weights of the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14. Therefore, the headrest 52 can support the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14 without causing the subject 14 to feel pain or discomfort.

  The substrate 51 has holding arm regions 511 and 512 to which the holding arms 55 and 56 are fixed.

  The holding arms 55 and 56 hold the coil element housing members 53 and 54, respectively.

  FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the holding arm 55.

  The holding arm 55 has an arm portion 551 and an attachment portion 552. The attachment portion 552 has a structure that is detachably attached to the arm portion 551.

  FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of the holding arm 55.

  The arm portion 551 has a bendable structure. The lower end 551a of the arm portion 551 is fixed to the holding arm fixing region 511 (see FIG. 7) of the substrate 51. A screw groove 551c is formed on a side surface of the upper end 551b of the arm portion 551, and an attaching portion 552 is detachably attached to the upper end 551b. The adhering portion 552 includes an adhering sheet base 553 and an adhering sheet 554.

FIG. 10 is a view showing the adhesion sheet 554 separately from the adhesion sheet base 553.
The adhesion sheet base 553 is a base on which the adhesion sheet 554 is attached.

  FIG. 11 is a perspective view (a), a front view (b), a side view (c), a top view (d), and an AA cross-sectional view (e) of FIG. .

  As shown in FIG. 11A, the attachment sheet base 553 has an attachment portion 553a attached to the upper end 551b (see FIG. 9) of the arm portion 551 and a surface to be attached to which the attachment sheet 554 (see FIG. 10) is attached. 553b. As shown in FIGS. 11D and 11E, the attachment portion 553a is formed with a through hole 553c. As shown in FIG. 11E, a thread groove 553d is formed on the inner wall surface of the through hole 553c. The thread groove 553d is formed so as to be screwed into the thread groove 551c (see FIG. 9) of the upper end 551b of the arm portion 551. Therefore, the attachment sheet base 553 can be detachably attached to the arm portion 551 by screwing the screw groove 553d of the attachment portion 553a of the attachment sheet base 553 into the screw groove 551c of the upper end 551b of the arm portion 551.

  Returning to FIG.

  The adhesion part 552 has an adhesion sheet 554. The back surface 554a of the adhesion sheet 554 is attached to the adherend surface 553b of the adhesion sheet base 553 with an adhesive or the like. The surface of the adhesion sheet 554 is an adhesion surface 554b that is detachably attached to the adherend surface 632b (see FIG. 19 described later) of the coil element housing member 53. The attachment portion 552 is configured by attaching the back surface 554a of the attachment sheet 554 to the attachment surface 553b of the attachment sheet base 553. By attaching the attachment portion 552 to the arm portion 551, the holding arm 55 (see FIG. 8) is configured. The holding arm 55 is fixed to a holding arm fixing region 511 (see FIG. 7) of the substrate 51.

  Although the holding arm 55 has been described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 11, the other holding arm 56 (see FIG. 7) has the same structure as the holding arm 55. Therefore, detailed description of the other holding arm 56 is omitted. The holding arm 56 is fixed to the holding arm fixing region 512 of the substrate 51.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a state in which the holding arms 55 and 56 are fixed to the holding arm fixing regions 511 and 512 of the substrate 51, respectively.

  The holding arms 55 and 56 are fixed to the holding arm fixing regions 511 and 512 with an adhesive or a screw.

  Further, the substrate 51 has support base fixing regions 513 and 514 to which the pressing member support bases 59 and 60 are fixed.

  13 is a perspective view of the pressing member support base 59, FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 13, and FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG.

  The pressing member support base 59 has a support surface 59a that supports the pressing member 57 (see FIG. 4). Further, the side portions 59b and 59c of the pressing member support base 59 are formed in a U-shaped cross section as shown in FIG. The side portion 59b is formed with a fitting groove 59d into which the side end edge 671d (see FIG. 23) of the pressing member 57 is inserted, and the other side portion 59c has a side edge 671e ( An insertion groove 59e into which a reference is made is formed. Further, a through hole 59h penetrating the support surface 59a is formed in the vicinity of one of the two side end surfaces 59f and 59g of the pressing member support base 59. As shown in FIG. 15, a thread groove 59i is formed on the inner wall surface of the through hole 59h. The thread groove 59i is formed so as to be screwed into a thread groove 61a (see FIG. 37) of the fixing screw 61 described later.

  The pressing member support base 59 configured as described above is fixed to the support base fixing region 513 (see FIG. 6) of the substrate 51.

  13 to 15, the pressing member support base 59 has been described, but the other pressing member support base 60 (see FIG. 7) has the same structure as the pressing member support base 59. Therefore, detailed description of the other pressing member support 60 is omitted. The pressing member support base 60 is fixed to the support base fixing area 514 of the substrate 51.

  16 is a view showing a state in which the pressing member support bases 59 and 60 are fixed to the support base fixing regions 513 and 514 of the substrate 51, respectively. FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

  The pressing member support bases 59 and 60 are fixed to the support base fixing regions 513 and 514 with an adhesive or a screw. As shown in FIG. 17, the pressing member support base 59 is fixed so that a part 591 of the pressing member support base 59 protrudes from the substrate 51. The through hole 59 h of the pressing member support base 59 is formed in a part 591 of the pressing member support base 59. Therefore, the through hole 59 h of the pressing member support base 59 is disposed at a position protruding from the substrate 51. The pressing member support 60 is also fixed so that a part 601 of the pressing member support 60 protrudes from the substrate 51. The through hole 60 h of the pressing member support base 60 is formed in a part 601 of the pressing member support base 60, and thus the through hole 60 h of the pressing member support base 60 is disposed at a position protruding from the substrate 51.

  As described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 17, the headrest 52, the holding arms 55 and 56, and the pressing member support bases 59 and 60 are fixed to the substrate 51. In addition, what combined the board | substrate 51 and the press member support stand 59 and 60 is equivalent to the support body of this invention.

  Coil element housing members 53 and 54 (see FIG. 4) are detachably attached to the two holding arms 55 and 56 fixed to the substrate 51, respectively.

  FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing a state in which the coil element housing members 53 and 54 are attached to the holding arms 55 and 56.

  By attaching the coil element housing members 53 and 54 to the holding arms 55 and 56, the coil element housing members 53 and 54 are held near the headrest 52. Next, the structure of the coil element housing member 53 will be described.

  19 is a perspective view of the coil element housing member 53 as viewed from the front side, and FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the coil element housing member 53 as viewed from the back side.

  The coil element housing member 53 includes a coil element housing 63 and a sponge 73.

FIG. 21 is a view showing the sponge 73 separated from the coil element housing 63.
The sponge 73 is affixed to the coil element housing 63.

  FIG. 22 is an exploded perspective view of the coil element housing 63.

  The coil element housing 63 has an inner housing portion 631 and an outer housing portion 632. A sponge 73 (see FIG. 21) is attached to the outer surface 631a of the inner housing portion 631. In addition, three coil elements are provided on the inner surface 631b of the inner housing portion 631 (see FIG. 23).

  FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an inner surface 631b of the inner housing portion 631.

  Three looped coil elements 633, 634, and 635 are provided on the inner surface 631b of the inner housing portion 631. The three coil elements 633, 634, and 635 are arranged so that the coupling between the coil elements 633, 634, and 635 is reduced. By providing the three coil elements 633, 634, and 635, the range that can be depicted in the MR image can be made wider than in the case of one or two coil elements. Therefore, although the position of the carotid artery branch CA (see FIG. 41) differs slightly depending on the subject, the carotid artery CA CA is provided regardless of the subject by providing the three coil elements 63, 634, and 635. Can be drawn with sufficient emphasis.

  If the carotid artery branch CA can be depicted, the number of coil elements is not necessarily three, but may be three or less, or three or more. Further, the coil elements 633, 634, and 635 are loop-shaped coil elements, but the coil elements are not necessarily loop-shaped coil elements, and coil elements having other shapes (for example, 8-shaped coil elements). It may be.

  Next, the outer housing part 632 of the coil element housing 63 will be described.

  FIG. 24 is a view showing the outer surface 632 a of the outer casing portion 632 of the coil element casing 63.

  An outer surface 632a of the outer casing 632 is provided with a surface to be attached 632b to which an attachment surface 554b (see, for example, FIG. 10) of the holding arm 55 is detachably attached. The adherend surface 632 b has a larger area than the attachment surface 554 b of the attachment portion 552 of the holding arm 55. The reason why the adherend surface 632b of the outer housing portion 632 has a larger area than the attachment surface 554b of the attachment portion 552 of the holding arm 55 will be described later.

  The coil element casing 63 is configured by attaching the inner casing 631 and the outer casing 632 configured as described above to each other.

  In addition, although FIG. 19-24 demonstrated the coil element accommodating member 53, the other coil element accommodating member 54 (refer FIG. 18) is also the same structure as the coil element accommodating member 53. FIG. Therefore, detailed description of the other coil element housing member 54 is omitted. The coil element housing member 54 is detachably attached to the holding arm 56.

  Returning to FIG. 18, the description will be continued.

  The pressing member support bases 59 and 60 are fixed to the substrate 51. Pressing members 57 and 58 (see FIG. 4) are attached to the pressing member support bases 59 and 60, respectively. Next, the structure of the pressing member 57 will be described.

FIG. 25 is a perspective view of the pressing member 57 viewed from the front side.
The pressing member 57 includes a pressing pad base 571 and two pressing pads (pressing portions) 572 and 573.

FIG. 26 is an exploded perspective view of the pressing member 57.
The pressing pad base 571 is a base on which the two pressing pads 572 and 573 are attached.

FIG. 27 is a perspective view of the pressing pad base 571 as viewed from the front side, and FIG. 28 is a perspective view of the pressing pad base 571 as viewed from the back side.
The pressing pad base 571 includes a pad base horizontal substrate 671 and two pad base vertical substrates 771 and 871 extending perpendicular to the pad base horizontal substrate 671.

  29 to 32 are a front view, a rear view, a top view, and a bottom view of the pressing pad base 571. FIG.

  The pad base horizontal substrate 671 has an upper surface 671a and a lower surface 671b (see FIG. 29). The lower surface 671b of the pad base horizontal substrate 671 constitutes a sliding surface that slides on the support surface 59a (see FIG. 13) of the pressing member support base 59.

  The pad base horizontal substrate 671 has a through hole 671c that penetrates from the upper surface 671a to the lower surface 671b. The through hole 671c is formed to extend linearly. As shown in FIG. 40 described later, the fixing screw 61 passes through the through hole 671c.

  Further, the pad base horizontal substrate 671 has two side edges 671d and 671e. The side edge 671d is formed so as to be fitted into the fitting groove 59d (see FIG. 14) of the side portion 59b of the pressing member support base 59. Further, the side edge 671e is formed so as to be fitted into the fitting groove 59e (see FIG. 14) of the side portion 59c of the pressing member support base 59.

  The two pad base vertical substrates 771 and 871 are fixed vertically to the pad base horizontal substrate 671. As shown in FIG. 29, the pad base vertical substrate 771 has a surface 771a to which the pressing pad 572 (see FIG. 26) is attached, and the pad base vertical substrate 871 has the pressing pad 573 (see FIG. 26). ) Is attached to the attached surface 871a.

  Two pressing pads 572 and 573 (see FIG. 26) are attached to the pressing pad base 571 configured as described above, whereby the pressing member 57 (see FIG. 25) is configured.

  25 to 32, the pressing member 57 has been described, but the other pressing member 58 (see FIG. 4) has the same structure as the pressing member 57. Therefore, detailed description of the other pressing member 58 is omitted.

  The pressing member 57 is supported by the pressing member support base 59. Next, how the pressing member 57 is supported by the pressing member support 59 will be described.

  FIG. 33 is a diagram for explaining how the pressing member 57 is supported by the pressing member support base 59. In FIG. 33, for convenience of explanation, the coil element housing members 53 and 54 are illustrated as being detached from the holding arms 55 and 56, respectively.

  The pressing member 57 includes a side edge 671d that fits into the fitting groove 59d (see FIG. 14) of the side portion 59b of the pressing member support base 59, and a fitting groove 59e (see FIG. 14) of the side portion 59c of the pressing member support base 59. And a side end edge 671e to be fitted in. The side edges 671d and 671e of the pressing member 57 are fitted into the fitting grooves 59d and 59e of the pressing member support base 59 from the lateral direction DL of the pressing member support base 59, respectively (see FIG. 34).

  FIG. 34 is a diagram illustrating a state in which part of the side end edges 671d and 671e of the pressing member 57 are fitted in the fitting grooves 59d and 59e of the pressing member support base 59, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 34, after part of the side edges 671d and 671e of the pressing member 57 are fitted into the fitting grooves 59d and 59e of the pressing member support base 59, the pressing member 57 is slid in the lateral direction DL. (See FIG. 35).

  35 is a view showing a state after the pressing member 57 is slid in the lateral direction DL, FIG. 36 is a view of FIG. 35 as viewed from above, and FIG. 37 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 37, the pressing member 57 has a sliding surface 671b (see, for example, FIG. 29) that slides on the support surface 59a of the pressing member support base 59. Therefore, the pressing member 57 can slide in the direction DC1 approaching the headrest 52 and the direction DA1 moving away from the headrest 52 with respect to the pressing member support base 59.

  Further, since the side edges 671d and 671e of the pressing member 57 are fitted in the fitting grooves 59d and 59e of the pressing member support base 59, even if the pressing member 57 slides in the directions DC1 and DA1, the pressing member 57. Can be prevented from falling off the pressing member support base 59.

  The pressing member 57 has a through hole 671c, and the pressing member support base 59 has a through hole 59h. The through hole 671c of the pressing member 57 is formed so that the through hole 59h of the pressing member support base 59 is located inside the through hole 671c of the pressing member 57 even when the pressing member 57 moves in the directions DC1 and DA1. (See FIGS. 36 and 37).

  The pressing member 57 is configured to be fixed to the pressing member support base 59 by a fixing screw 61 (for example, see FIG. 40). Next, the fixing screw 61 will be described (see FIG. 38).

  FIG. 38 is a perspective view (a) of the fixing screw 61 as viewed obliquely from above, and a side view (b) of the fixing screw 61.

  The fixing screw 61 has a head portion 61a, a neck portion 61b, and a shaft portion 61c. A thread groove 61d is formed on the side surface of the shaft portion 61c. The thread groove 61d is formed so as to be screwed into the thread groove 59i (see FIG. 15) of the through hole 59h of the pressing member support base 59.

  FIG. 39 is a diagram illustrating a state before the pressing member 57 is fixed to the pressing member support base 59 with the fixing screw 61, and FIG. 40 is a diagram after the pressing member 57 is fixed to the pressing member support base 59 with the fixing screw 61. FIG.

  The thread groove 61 d formed in the shaft portion 61 c of the fixing screw 61 is formed so as to be screwed into the thread groove 59 i of the through hole 59 h of the pressing member support base 59. Therefore, by screwing the screw groove 61d formed in the shaft portion 61c of the fixing screw 61 with the screw groove 59i of the through hole 59h of the pressing member support base 59, the fixing screw 61 is pressed as shown in FIG. It can be attached to the member support base 59.

  The fixing screw 61 has a neck portion 61b. By screwing the screw groove 61 d of the fixing screw 61 into the screw groove 59 i of the pressing member support base 59, the neck portion 61 b of the fixing screw 61 presses against the pad base horizontal substrate 671 of the pressing member 57. Therefore, the pad base horizontal substrate 671 is fixed to the pressing member support base 59 by the force between the neck portion 61 b of the fixing screw 61 and the pressing member support base 59. In order to slide the pressing member 57 with respect to the pressing member support base 59, the fixing screw 61 may be loosened. By loosening the fixing screw 61, the neck 61b of the fixing screw 61 is separated from the pad base horizontal substrate 671 of the pressing member 57, so that the pressing member 57 can be freely slid in the directions DC1 and DA1.

  33 to 40, the method for fixing the pressing member 57 to the pressing member support base 59 with the fixing screw 61 has been described. However, the other pressing member 58 (see FIG. 4) is the same as the pressing member 57. In this manner, the fixing member 62 is fixed to the pressing member support 60 with a fixing screw 62.

  The coil element housing members 53 and 54 are held by holding arms 55 and 565, respectively, and the pressing members 57 and 58 are fixed to the pressing member support bases 59 and 60 by fixing screws 61 and 62, respectively. 2 and 3) are configured.

  In the present embodiment, the region extending from the head 14a to the neck 14b of the subject 14 is imaged using the coil 13 configured as described above. In particular, in the present embodiment, the operator 29 considers drawing the carotid artery bifurcation CA with emphasis on a portion extending from the head 14a to the neck 14b. Next, how to attach the coil 13 to the subject 14 so that the carotid artery bifurcation can be emphasized and depicted will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 41 to 50. .

  First, as shown in FIG. 1, the coil 13 is installed on the table 12, and the subject 14 is placed on the table 12. At this time, the subject 14 is laid so that the head 14 a of the subject 14 is disposed on the headrest 52 of the coil 13.

  FIG. 41 is a top view of the coil 13 in which the head 14 a of the subject 14 is disposed on the headrest 52.

  The coil element housing members 53 and 54 are located on both sides of the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14. However, since there is a gap G between the coil element housing members 53 and 54 and the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14, a clear image of the carotid artery branch CA cannot be obtained. Therefore, the operator 29 sets the arm portion 551 of the holding arm 55 and the arm portion 561 of the holding arm 56 so that the coil element housing members 53 and 54 come into contact with the side surfaces of the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14. Bend.

  42 is a top view of the coil 13 when the arm portion of the holding arm is bent so that the coil element housing members 53 and 54 are in contact with the side surfaces of the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14. FIG. FIG. 43 is a side view of the coil 13 of FIG. 42 viewed from the coil element housing member 53 side.

  The arm portions 551 and 561 of the holding arms 55 and 56 have a bendable structure. Therefore, by bending the arm portions 551 and 561 of the holding arms 55 and 56, the coil element housing members 53 and 54 can be brought into contact with the side surfaces of the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14.

  If the coil element housing member 53 cannot be brought into good contact with the desired positions of the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14 even if the arm 551 is bent, the coil element is as follows. The position of the housing member 53 can be adjusted.

  44 is a top view of the coil 13 with the coil element housing member 53 removed from the holding arm 55, and FIG. 45 is a side view of the coil 13 of FIG. 44 viewed from the holding arm 55 side.

  The holding arm 55 detachably holds the coil element housing member 53. Therefore, the coil element housing member 53 can be easily detached from the holding arm 55 by peeling the adherend surface 632b of the coil element housing member 53 from the attachment surface 554b of the holding arm 55. After removing the coil element housing member 53 from the holding arm 55, the operator 29 brings the coil element housing member 53 into contact with the desired positions of the head 14 a and the neck 14 b of the subject 14.

  46 is a top view of the coil 13 when the operator 29 supports the coil element housing member 53 at desired positions of the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a side view of the coil 13 as viewed from the coil element housing member 53 side.

  The operator 29 supports the coil element housing member 53 at desired positions on the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14 with his / her hand, and then coiles the attachment surface 554b (see FIG. 46) of the holding arm 55. It adheres to the adherend surface 632b of the element accommodating member 53.

  48 is a top view of the coil 13 when the operator 29 attaches the attaching portion of the holding arm to the adherend surface of the coil element housing member 53. FIG. 49 shows the coil 13 of FIG. It is the side view seen from the side. In FIG. 49, the pressing member 57 is omitted for convenience of explanation.

  49 shows the position of the coil element housing member 53 in FIG. 43, and the broken line B2 in FIG. 49 shows the position of the adherend surface 632b of the coil element housing member 53 in FIG. Therefore, it can be seen from FIG. 49 that the position of the coil element housing member 53 has moved in the upper right direction DS from the position in FIG. Since the adherend surface 632b of the coil element accommodating member 53 has a larger area than the adherent surface 554b of the holding arm 55, the position of the adherent surface 554b of the holding arm 55 is the adherend surface of the coil element accommodating member 53. It can be changed within the range of 632b. Accordingly, the operator 29 attaches the attachment surface 554b of the holding arm 55 to the attachment surface 632b of the coil element accommodation member 5d3 while supporting the coil element accommodation member 53 at a desired position, whereby the holding arm 55 is accommodated in the coil element accommodation. The member 53 can be held at a desired position.

  44 to 49, the position adjustment of the coil element housing member 53 has been described. However, the position adjustment of the other coil element housing member 54 can be performed in the same manner as the coil element housing member 53. it can.

  However, even if the coil element housing members 53 and 54 can be brought into contact with a desired position of the subject 14, if imaging is performed with poor adhesion between the coil element housing members 53 and 54 and the subject 14, The S / N ratio of the received signal of the coil 13 is lowered, and it becomes difficult to emphasize and depict the carotid artery branch CA on the MR image. Therefore, it is desirable that the coil element housing members 53 and 54 are as close as possible to the subject 14. In addition, if the head 14a and neck 14b of the subject 14 move during imaging, body movement artifacts occur on the MR image. Therefore, the head 14a and neck of the subject 14 during imaging. It is desirable that 14b be fixed as much as possible. Therefore, the coil 13 of the present embodiment improves the adhesion between the coil element housing members 53 and 54 and the subject 14, and the pressing member 57 so that the head 14 a and the neck 14 b of the subject 14 can be fixed as much as possible. And 58. Next, by using the pressing members 57 and 58, how the adhesion between the coil element housing members 53 and 54 and the subject 14 is improved, and how the head of the subject 14 is Whether the portion 14a and the neck portion 14b are fixed will be described.

  The pressing member 57 is slidably supported by the pressing member support 59 in a direction DA1 (see FIG. 48) approaching the headrest 52 and a direction DC1 away from the headrest 52. The pressing member 58 is slidably supported with respect to the pressing member support 60 in a direction DA1 (see FIG. 48) approaching the headrest 52 and a direction DC2 away from the headrest 52. Therefore, the coil element housing members 53 and 54 can be pressed against the head 14 a and the neck 14 b of the subject 14 by bringing the pressing members 57 and 58 closer to the headrest 52.

  FIG. 50 is a top view of the coil 13 when the pressing members 57 and 58 are slid in a direction approaching the headrest 52.

  When the pressing members 57 and 58 are brought close to the headrest 52, the fixing screws 61 and 62 are loosened in advance. By loosening the fixing screws 61 and 62, the pressing members 57 and 58 can be slid relative to the pressing member support bases 59 and 60.

  When the pressing members 57 and 58 are brought close to the headrest 52, the coil element housing members 53 and 54 are pressed against the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14. Therefore, the coil element housing members 53 and 54 can be sufficiently brought into close contact with the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14. The operator 29 brings the pressing members 57 and 58 close to the headrest 52 until the coil element housing members 53 and 54 are sufficiently in close contact with the head 14 a and the neck 14 b of the subject 14. The operator 29 confirms that the coil element housing members 53 and 54 are sufficiently in close contact with the head 14 a and the neck 14 b of the subject 14, and tightens the fixing screws 61 and 62. By tightening the fixing screws 61 and 62, the pressing members 57 and 58 are fixed to the pressing member support bases 59 and 60, respectively.

  The two pressing pads 572 and 573 of the pressing member 57 press the coil element housing member 53 against the head portion 14a and the neck portion 14b of the subject 14. The two pressing pads 582 and 583 of the pressing member 58 press the coil element housing member 54 against the head 14a and neck 14b of the subject 14. Therefore, the coil element housing members 53 and 54 can be sufficiently brought into close contact with the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14.

  The coil element housing members 53 and 54 have sponges 73 and 74, respectively. Therefore, when the coil element housing members 53 and 54 are pressed against the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14, the sponges 73 and 74 are deformed according to the shape of the side surfaces of the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14. To do. Therefore, the coil element housing members 53 and 54 can be brought into close contact with the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14 without causing the subject 14 to feel pain or discomfort. Note that the sponge 73 is not necessarily provided.

  As shown in FIG. 50, after the coil element housing members 53 and 54 are sufficiently brought into close contact with the head 14a and neck 14b of the subject 14, the subject 14 is carried into the bore 11a of the gantry 11 (see FIG. 1). And take a picture.

  In the present embodiment, the pressing members 57 and 58 are configured to be movable in a direction approaching the headrest 52 of the subject 14. Accordingly, by moving the pressing members 57 and 58 toward the headrest 52, the coil element housing members 53 and 54 are pressed against the head 14a and the neck 14b, and the coil element housing members 53 and 54 are moved to the head 14a and the head 14a. It is in close contact with the neck 14b. For this reason, imaging can be performed with the coil element housing members 53 and 54 in close contact with the head portion 14a and the neck portion 14b, and the SN ratio of the received signal of the coil 13 can be improved.

  The pressing members 57 and 58 are fixed to the pressing member support bases 59 and 60 by fixing screws 61 and 62, respectively. Therefore, even if the subject 14 tries to move the head 14a and the neck 14b, the pressing members 57 and 58 move the coil element housing members 53 and 54 from the position fixed to the pressing member support bases 59 and 60 to the head. Continue to push toward part 14a and neck 14b. For this reason, even if the subject 14 tries to move the head 14 a and the neck 14 b, the head 14 a and the neck 14 b of the subject 14 are fixed between the coil element housing members 53 and 54. Therefore, body motion artifacts on the MR image can be sufficiently reduced.

  The coil 13 of this embodiment has a headrest 52. However, the headrest 52 is not necessarily provided. If the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14 can be fixed during imaging, the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14 are directly arranged on the substrate 51. You may be made to do.

  The coil 13 of the present embodiment has two coil element housing members 53 and 54. However, there may be only one coil element housing member, or three or more.

  In the present embodiment, the pressing members 57 and 58 can be moved in a direction approaching the headrest 52 by sliding the pressing members 57 and 58 with respect to the pressing member support bases 59 and 60. However, the pressing members 57 and 58 may be moved in a direction approaching the headrest 52 by a method other than sliding the pressing members 57 and 58 with respect to the pressing member support bases 59 and 60.

  In the present embodiment, the pressing members 57 and 58 can be fixed to the pressing member support bases 59 and 60 using the fixing screws 61 and 62. However, instead of using the fixing screws 61 and 62, for example, the pressing members 57 and 58 are provided with protrusions, and the pressing member support bases 59 and 60 are provided with through holes into which the protrusions of the pressing members 57 and 58 are inserted. The pressing members 57 and 58 may be fixed to the pressing member support bases 59 and 60 by inserting the protrusions of the members 57 and 58 into the through holes of the pressing member support bases 59 and 60.

  In the present embodiment, the pressing members 57 and 58 each have two pressing pads. However, the number of pressing pads may be one or three or more. Further, another pressing portion different from the pressing pad may be provided, and the coil element housing member may be pressed against the imaging region of the subject.

  In this embodiment, the pressing member support bases 59 and 60 are fixed to the substrate 51. However, a support body in which the substrate 51 and the pressing members 59 and 60 are integrally formed may be manufactured, and the pressing members 57 and 58 may be slidably supported by the integrally formed support body. .

  In the present embodiment, the adherend surface 632 b of the coil element housing member 53 has a larger area than the adherent surface 554 b of the holding arm 55. However, the attachment surface 632b of the coil element housing member 53 may have the same area as the attachment surface 554b of the holding arm 55 or an area smaller than the attachment surface 554b of the holding arm 55.

  In this embodiment, the attachment surface 632 b is provided on the coil element accommodation member 53 and the attachment surface 554 b is provided on the holding arm 55, whereby the holding arm 55 holds the coil element accommodation member 53. However, instead of providing the adherend surface 632b and the attachment surface 554b, the holding arm 55 may be configured to hold the coil element housing member 53 using another mechanism.

  In the present embodiment, the holding arm 55 holds the coil element housing member 53 in a detachable manner. However, the coil element housing member 53 may be fixed to the holding arm 55.

  In the present embodiment, a region from the head 14a to the neck 14b of the subject 14 is imaged. However, the coil of the present invention is not limited to the imaging of the head 14a and the neck 14b, but can be applied to imaging of other parts (for example, the leg) other than the head 14a and the neck 14b. is there. For example, when it is desired to photograph the leg portion, a leg coil element housing member formed so as to fit the shape of the leg portion may be used instead of the coil element housing members 53 and 54. Since the coil of the present invention has a pressing member, a high-quality MR image of the leg can be obtained by pressing the leg coil element housing member against the leg with the pressing member.

1 is a block diagram of a magnetic resonance imaging system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a perspective view of a coil 13. FIG. 3 is a top view of a coil 13. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a coil 13. FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a headrest 52, two holding arms 55 and 56, and two support members 59 and 60 separately from a substrate 51. It is a figure which shows a mode that the headrest receiving part 52a was fixed to the area | region 510 for fixing a headrest of the board | substrate 51. FIG. It is a figure which shows a mode that the sponge 52b was affixed on the headrest receiving part 52a. 4 is an enlarged view of a holding arm 55. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a holding arm 55. FIG. It is the figure which separated and showed adhesion sheet 554 from adhesion sheet stand 553. They are the perspective view (a), front view (b), side view (c), top view (d), and AA sectional view (e) of FIG. It is a figure which shows a mode that the holding arms 55 and 56 were fixed to the holding arm fixing area | regions 511 and 512 of the board | substrate 51, respectively. 6 is a perspective view of a pressing member support base 59. FIG. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is BB sectional drawing of FIG. It is a figure which shows a mode that the press member support bases 59 and 60 were each fixed to the support base fixation area | regions 513 and 514 of the board | substrate 51. FIG. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows a mode that the coil element accommodating members 53 and 54 were attached to the holding arms 55 and 56. FIG. It is the perspective view which looked at the coil element accommodating member 53 from the front side. It is the perspective view which looked at the coil element accommodating member 53 from the back side. It is the figure which separated and showed sponge 73 from the coil element housing | casing 63. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a coil element housing 63. FIG. It is a figure which shows the inner surface 631b of the inner side housing | casing part 631. FIG. 6 is a view showing an outer surface 632a of an outer casing 632 of a coil element casing 63. FIG. It is the perspective view which looked at the press member 57 from the front side. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a pressing member 57. FIG. It is the perspective view which looked at the press pad base 571 from the front side. It is the perspective view which looked at the press pad base 571 from the back side. It is a front view of the pressing pad base 571. It is a rear view of the pressing pad base 571. 5 is a top view of a pressing pad base 571. FIG. It is a bottom view of the pressing pad base 571. It is a figure explaining how the press member 57 is supported by the press member support stand 59. FIG. It is a figure which shows a mode that a part of side edge 671d and 671e of the press member 57 was fitted in the insertion grooves 59d and 59e of the press member support stand 59, respectively. It is a figure which shows the mode after sliding the pressing member 57 to the horizontal direction DL. It is the figure which looked at FIG. 35 from the top. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view (a) of the fixing screw 61 as viewed obliquely from above, and a side view (b) of the fixing screw 61. It is a figure which shows a mode before the press member 57 is fixed to the press member support stand 59 with the fixing screw 61. FIG. It is a figure which shows a mode after the press member 57 was fixed to the press member support stand 59 with the fixing screw 61. FIG. 4 is a top view of the coil 13 in which the head 14a of the subject 14 is disposed on the headrest 52. FIG. 6 is a top view of the coil 13 when the arm portion of the holding arm is bent so that the coil element housing members 53 and 54 are in contact with the side surfaces of the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14. FIG. It is the side view which looked at the coil 13 of FIG. 42 from the coil element accommodating member 53 side. 6 is a top view of the coil 13 in a state where the coil element housing member 53 is detached from the holding arm 55. FIG. It is the side view which looked at the coil 13 of FIG. 44 from the holding arm 55 side. 4 is a top view of the coil 13 when the operator 29 supports the coil element housing member 53 at desired positions of the head 14a and the neck 14b of the subject 14. FIG. It is the side view which looked at the coil 13 of FIG. 46 from the coil element accommodating member 53 side. 7 is a top view of the coil 13 when the operator 29 attaches the attaching portion of the holding arm to the adherend surface of the coil element housing member 53. FIG. FIG. 49 is a side view of the coil 13 of FIG. 48 as viewed from the coil element housing member 53 side. 6 is a top view of the coil 13 when the pressing members 57 and 58 are slid in a direction approaching the headrest 52. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Magnetic resonance imaging system 10 MR apparatus 11 Gantry 12 Table 13 Coil 14 Subject 14a Head 14b Neck part 20 Control apparatus 30 Operation apparatus 31 Monitor 51 Board | substrate 52 Headrest 52a Headrest receiving part 52b, 73 Sponge 53, 54 Coil element accommodating member 55, 56 Holding arm 57, 58 Press member 59, 60 Press member support base 59a Support surface 59b, 59c Side portion 59d, 59e Insertion groove 59f, 59g Side end surface 59h, 60h Through hole 59i, 61a, 61d, 551c, 553d Screw Groove 61, 62 Fixing screw 61a Head 61b Neck 61c Shaft 63 Coil element housing 510 Headrest fixing area 511, 512 Holding arm fixing area 513, 514 Support base fixing area 551 Arm part 551a Lower end 551b Upper end 52 Adhering part 553 Adhering sheet base 553a Attachment part 553b Adhered surface 553c, 671c Through hole 554 Adhering sheet 571 Pressing pad base 572, 573 Pressing pad 631 Inner housing part 631a Outer surface 631b Inner surface 632 Outer housing parts 633, 634, 635 Coil element 671 Pad base horizontal substrate 671a Upper surface 671b Lower surface 671d, 671e Side edge 771, 871 Pad base vertical substrate

Claims (13)

An arrangement part where an imaging region of the subject is arranged;
A coil element housing member for housing the coil element;
A pressing member that presses the coil element housing member against the imaging region disposed in the placement portion by pressing the coil element housing member;
A support that supports the pressing member such that the pressing member is movable in a direction approaching the placement portion;
Having a coil.   The said support body is a coil of Claim 1 which has a supporting member which supports the said press member so that the said press member can move to the direction which approaches the said arrangement | positioning part.   The coil according to claim 2, comprising two combinations of the coil element housing member, the pressing member, and the support member.   The coil according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the support includes a substrate to which the support member is fixed.   The coil according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the pressing member has two pressing portions.   The coil as described in any one of Claims 1-5 which has a fixing screw which fixes the position of the said press member.   The coil as described in any one of Claims 1-6 which has a holding member holding the said coil element accommodating member.   The coil according to claim 7, wherein the coil element housing member is detachably held by the holding member. The coil element housing member has an adherend surface,
The coil according to claim 8, wherein the holding member has an attachment surface that adheres to the adherend surface.   The coil according to claim 9, wherein the adherend surface has a larger area than the adherent surface. The coil element housing member is
A coil element housing that houses the coil element;
The coil as described in any one of Claims 1-10 which has a deformable member attached to the said coil housing | casing and which can deform | transform according to the shape of the said imaging | photography site | part. The placement section is
The coil as described in any one of Claims 1-11 which has a headrest by which the head of a subject is arrange | positioned.   The magnetic resonance imaging system which has a coil as described in any one of Claims 1-12.

Images