JPH04317631A - Magnetic resonance imaging system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the MRI system by which the photographing remaining time can be informed to a patient who is being photographed by a voice. CONSTITUTION:The MRI device is provided with a photographing time setting part 5 for setting photographing time information, a subtracting part 3 for subtracting its photographing time information as time elapses, and obtaining photographing remaining time information, a sound signal generating part 2 for generating a sound signal consisting of a voice waveform corresponding to its photographing remaining time information, and a loudspeaker 1 for generating a voice based on its sound signal. Also, in addition to the constitution, this system is provided with a switch 4 for instructing a timing for outputting a sound signal to the loudspeaker 1 from the sound signal generating part 2.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus (hereinafter referred to as an "MRI apparatus") that notifies a patient during imaging of the remaining time for imaging (hereinafter referred to as "remaining time for imaging").

0002

2. Description of the Related Art An MRI apparatus can obtain morphological information of a patient and functional information such as spectroscopy using magnetic resonance phenomena. Magnetic resonance is a phenomenon in which atomic nuclei with non-zero spin and magnetic moment placed in a static magnetic field resonantly absorb and emit only electromagnetic waves of a specific frequency.

[0003] Generally, when a patient is imaged by a whole-body MRI apparatus as shown in FIG. 4, the patient is housed inside a cylindrical body. The cylinder has a magnet arranged around it, and the magnet generates a static magnetic field inside the cylinder. Usually, the bore diameter of the magnet is very small, at most 600 mm ~1,
000 mm, and the inner diameter of the cylinder is even smaller than the bore diameter of the magnet. In addition, the imaging time of the MRI device is
This is extremely long compared to the imaging time of an X-ray diagnostic device, etc., and usually takes several minutes to several tens of minutes.

[0004] Many patients feel uneasy when kept inside a narrow cylindrical body for a long time. In order to alleviate this anxiety to some extent, it has been considered to display the remaining imaging time on the display to inform the patient. If the display is installed inside a cylinder, it will be strongly influenced by the static magnetic field and will malfunction. Therefore, as shown in FIG. A mirror 21 is installed on the wall opposite to the opening, and is also installed inside the cylindrical body within the patient's field of vision.
can be viewed through.

However, the above-described display method using a display and a mirror has the following problems. The inside of the cylindrical body of an MRI device is very narrow, so it is not possible to provide sufficient space between the mirror and the patient's eyes, making it very difficult to see. , the interior of the cylinder became increasingly narrower. Additionally, many patients close their eyes to reduce their anxiety. But of course I had to open my eyes to find out how much time I had left to shoot.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an MRI apparatus that can indicate the remaining imaging time to a patient during imaging not by display but by audio.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] An MRI apparatus according to the present invention includes: an imaging time setting means for setting imaging time information; a subtraction unit that subtracts the imaging time information as time passes to obtain imaging remaining time information; The present invention is characterized in that it includes an audio signal generating section that generates an audio signal having an audio waveform according to the remaining time information, and a voice generating device that emits audio based on the audio signal.

[0008] In addition to the above features, the MRI apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the audio signal generating section outputs the audio signal to the vocalization device when an input is received from the outside.

[0009]

[Operation] According to the present invention, by notifying the patient during the imaging process of the remaining imaging time by voice, the patient can know the remaining imaging time even if the patient closes his or her eyes.

0010

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram of a magnet assembly of an MRI apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, cut away along a diagonal line so that the inside of the cylindrical body can be seen, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a sound generating device included in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the sound generation device.

As shown in FIG. 1, a magnet assembly 10 capable of housing a patient P inside a cylindrical body includes a static magnetic field coil (not shown) using a normal conduction or superconductivity method around the cylindrical body, and a gradient coil. It consists of a gradient magnetic field generating coil (not shown) for generating a magnetic field, and an implantable whole body probe (not shown) for transmitting a rotating high frequency magnetic field and receiving the induced magnetic resonance signals. A bed 11 is provided below the cylindrical body, which supports a patient P lying on his back and is movable from the outside to the inside of the magnet assembly 10.

A switch 4 is provided in the middle of the bed 11 and protrudes above the bed 11 at a position where one hand, for example, the left hand, is placed when the patient P is lying down. However, the switch 4 may be provided from above the bed 11 via a flexible cable of a predetermined length and made movable so that the position of the switch 4 corresponds to the body shape of the patient P. In synchronization with the pressing operation of the switch 4 by the patient P, a sound generation operation of the remaining imaging time is performed. Details of the sound generation operation will be described later.

The speaker 1 is located at a sufficient distance from the magnet assembly 10 in order to escape from the influence of the magnetic field, and is normally provided on the side of the wall on the side of the patient's P head with its sound-emitting surface facing the patient P. The patient P then utters a voice indicating the remaining imaging time to the patient P, for example, "10 minutes and 10 seconds left." However, this speaker 1 can also be used in common with an existing speaker for transmitting the operator's voice to the patient P during mutual communication between the patient P and the operator.

As shown in FIG. 2, the audio generating device includes a speaker 1, an audio signal generating section 2, a subtracting section 3, a switch 4, and a photographing time setting section 5. The imaging time setting unit 5 stores in advance time information (hereinafter referred to as "imaging time") required for a plurality of imaging operations corresponding to information regarding various imaging conditions, such as coil type, information on the imaging site, etc. (hereinafter referred to as "imaging information"). The camera is equipped with a memory that stores information (hereinafter referred to as "information"), and when the operator inputs information from the input terminal I by operating various switches on the console (not shown) before shooting, the shooting time information is stored in the memory. are selectively read and set. The subtraction unit 3 has a clock circuit, inputs the shooting time information from the shooting time setting unit 5, and subtracts the shooting time specified by the shooting time information in seconds from the time of starting shooting according to the elapse of time. , obtain information on the remaining shooting time.

As mentioned above, the switch 4 is connected to the bed 11.
It is provided so as to protrude upwardly, and when pressed and turned on by the patient P, it issues an output instruction to output information on the remaining imaging time from the subtraction section 3 to the audio signal generation section 2.

The audio signal generating section 2 includes an audio signal memory (not shown), and the audio signal memory stores a plurality of audio signals to represent various remaining imaging times. The audio signals include audio signals common to various expressions of remaining imaging time and audio signals specific to individual expressions of remaining imaging time. An audio signal that is common to various expressions of remaining shooting time is, for example, an audio signal that expresses the sentence "It's minutes and seconds left," and an audio signal that is unique to each expression of remaining shooting time is "
This is an audio signal expressing words related to numbers from 1 to 60, such as ``25'' and ``42''. These audio signals are stored in an audio signal memory in advance as analog waveforms, and audio signals expressing words related to numbers corresponding to information on the remaining shooting time inputted from the subtraction unit 3 and audio signals expressing sentences are extracted from this audio signal. By selectively reading out the audio signal from the audio signal memory and editing it in a predetermined order, an audio signal representing the remaining shooting time can be obtained. The audio signal expressing the remaining shooting time is, for example, an audio signal expressing "5 minutes and 17 seconds left."

The audio output method for obtaining this audio signal may be a waveform storage method, a parameter storage method, or any other method, but in this embodiment, the number of sentences used is 1.
In addition, since the number of words used is not so large, a recording/editing method is adopted, which is one of the waveform storage methods that is excellent in terms of clarity. As mentioned above, the speaker 1 is normally provided on the side surface of the wall on the side of the head of the patient P, with its sounding surface facing the patient P. The remaining imaging time is announced to the patient P.

The sound generation operation of the remaining imaging time of the MRI apparatus configured as described above will be explained with reference to FIG. The operator accommodates the patient P in a predetermined position within the magnet assembly 10. In step S1, the operator inputs imaging conditions according to the patient P, and instructs the MRI apparatus to start imaging, thereby determining the imaging conditions. In step S2, a photographing time is set in the photographing time setting section 5 based on the photographing conditions determined in step S1. In step S3, whether the patient P presses the switch 4 when wanting to know the remaining imaging time during imaging, that is, the switch 4 is in the on state, or the state in which the patient P does not press the switch 4, that is, the switch 4 is in the off state. Determine. If the switch 4 is on, the process moves to step S4, and if the switch 4 is off, the process moves to step S5.

In step S4, the remaining imaging time when the patient P presses the switch 4 is output from the speaker 1. That is, an audio signal is generated in the audio signal generating section 2 based on the remaining imaging time information when the switch 4 is turned on, and the remaining imaging time is transmitted to the patient P by voice from the speaker 1.

In step S5, the remaining shooting time is calculated by the subtraction unit 3.
subtract as time passes. In step S6, it is determined whether the remaining shooting time subtracted by the subtraction unit 3 is zero. If the remaining shooting time is not zero, the process moves to step S3, and if the remaining shooting time is zero, this flow is ended. As described above, according to this embodiment, the remaining time for imaging can be announced to the patient being imaged by voice.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the embodiment, when the patient presses a switch, the remaining imaging time is emitted from the speaker, but the remaining imaging time may be automatically emitted from the speaker at predetermined time intervals. Further, in the embodiment, the remaining imaging time is communicated to the patient in seconds, but it may also be communicated in minutes.

[0022]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, by notifying the patient of the remaining imaging time by voice, it is possible to know the remaining imaging time even if the patient closes his/her eyes. Existing equipment, i.e. speakers, can be used,
It is possible to provide an MRI apparatus that does not require display equipment such as a display.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a magnet assembly of an MRI apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a sound generation device of an MRI apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the sound generating device of the MRI apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a conventional MRI apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Speaker, 2...Audio signal generation part, 3...Subtraction part, 4...
Switch, 5... Shooting time setting section, 10... Magnet assembly, 11... Bed.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. Photographing time setting means for setting photographing time information; a subtraction section that subtracts the photographing time information as time passes to obtain remaining photographing time information; and an audio waveform according to the photographing remaining time information. What is claimed is: 1. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising: an audio signal generating section that generates an audio signal consisting of an audio signal; and a voice generating device that emits audio based on the audio signal. 2. The magnetic recording device according to claim 1, wherein the audio signal generating section outputs the audio signal according to the remaining time information of the imaging to the voice generating device when an input is received from the outside. Resonance imaging device.