JPH11290293A - Bed and medical image diagnostic apparatus using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bed which allows an operator to move a subject to an imaging position freely in a medical image diagnostic apparatus along with a lower cost. SOLUTION: A scale 43 with a length graduation thereon is fixed on a longitudinal rim of a top board 13 of a bed 10 and a marker scale made of a transparent material with markers 41 and 42 thereon is so arranged on a top board support part 14 as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the top board 13 above the scale 43 with a guide 45. The interval of the markers 41 and 42 is made to correspond to a distance between the center of a measuring space of a gantry 20 of an MRI device and the cross point of a cross beam of a projector mounted on the gantry.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bed for a medical image diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to a bed suitable for a diagnostic apparatus in which it is difficult for an operator to confirm a photographing area.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Many medical image diagnostic apparatuses have an image measuring unit and a bed separately. For example,
X-ray equipment for circulatory organs, gamma camera equipment, X-ray CT equipment,
An MRI apparatus or the like. Of these devices, many of the diagnostic devices that call the image measuring unit a gantry have difficulty in visually positioning the subject at the imaging center.
The reason is that, when the subject is positioned in the opening of the gantry, the image measurement unit covers just above the subject. For this reason, in X-ray CT and MRI apparatuses,
A light projector is provided at the end of the gantry on the couch side for positioning of the subject, and the subject's imaging region is temporarily moved to the light emitter to perform positioning, and then the couch top is electrically driven. A two-step positioning method is adopted in which the driving mechanism moves the fixed distance between the projector and the imaging center in the gantry to align the imaging region of the subject with the imaging center of the apparatus.

[0003] In addition to the electric drive mechanism, a mechanism for manually retreating the top plate from the gantry is provided in the bed to be combined with the apparatus having the gantry structure in order to cope with a change in the physical condition of the subject. Have been.

[0004]

Functionally, a bed for an image diagnostic apparatus is required to be able to quickly and accurately position a subject at an imaging position of the apparatus. It is desired that a bed having the above function be provided at low cost.

[0005] However, the above-mentioned conventional couch cannot be moved as desired by the operator because the couchtop is moved by electric power, and also moves by a fixed distance between the projector and the photographing center in the gantry. And a manual retraction mechanism are inevitably expensive. Furthermore, if the aging of the drive mechanism occurs, the positioning will be inaccurate,
Adjustments must be made as often as once every few years to eliminate backlash in the drive chain and gears.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is a first object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive bed that allows an operator to move a subject to a photographing position in a gantry at will. Aim.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a medical image diagnostic apparatus having excellent operability.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A first object of the present invention is to provide:
In a bed for an image diagnostic apparatus in which a top on which a subject rests is movably provided by a top support, the top is manually movably installed and the top is moved by a predetermined distance in a predetermined direction. This is achieved by providing a graduation mechanism that clearly indicates that the table has been moved between the table support and the table in the direction in which the table moves.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a gantry having an imaging area for imaging a subject in an opening, and a gantry attached to an end of the opening of the gantry in a direction in which the subject is inserted. A light projector that externally indicates the imaging region of the subject, and a couch for an image diagnostic apparatus in which a couchtop on which the couchtop rests is movably provided by a couchtop support,
A graduation mechanism for manually setting the top plate so as to be movable, and indicating that the top plate has been moved in a predetermined direction of the top plate by a distance between the center of the imaging area in the gantry and the irradiation center of the projector. And a bed provided between the top support and the top so as to be movable in the direction of movement of the top.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an MRI apparatus as a medical image diagnostic apparatus embodying the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a bed, reference numeral 20 denotes a gantry of the MRI apparatus, and reference numeral 30 denotes a projector for positioning an imaging part of a subject. The MRI system has the following system configuration:
In addition to the gantry 20 and the bed 10, an operation console, an image processing device, a power supply, and a transmission / reception coil are provided, but these are not shown because they are not related to the present invention.

The couch 10 is composed of a support base 11 installed on the floor of the examination room and a top plate 12 provided above the support base 11. The support base 11 has a frame member for placing the bed 10 on the floor and a moving mechanism for moving the support base 11 in the vertical direction, but these are not shown because a known technique can be used. . The top plate section 12 is fixed to the support base section 11 and has a top plate support section 14 that supports the top plate 13 and serves as a guide for movement of the top plate 13 in a longitudinal direction and a direction orthogonal thereto.

In the present embodiment, the gantry 20 of the MRI apparatus is of a vertical magnetic field type in which a static magnetic field is formed in a vertical direction, and a uniform magnetic field serving as a measurement space extends on a longitudinal extension of the top plate 13 of the bed 10. In order to generate a region, a pair of vertically divided magnets is provided, and the pair of magnets is supported by two columns.

A light projector 30 is provided on the outer periphery of the gantry 20 on the upper magnet side. As shown in FIG. 1, one of the light emitters 30 irradiates the top plate 13 with a cross light beam in which one is along the longitudinal direction of the top plate and the other is in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

The above is a known configuration of a conventional MRI apparatus. Next, features of the present invention will be described. FIG.
In the apparatus, the top support 14 is provided with a graduation mechanism 40 that allows the operator to recognize that the top 13 has been moved by a certain distance. This graduation mechanism 40 is provided with two triangular markers 41 and 42. The distance between these markers 41 and 42 is fixed, and the distance is the cross point of the cross light of the projector 30 in plan view of FIG.
(Positioning point) 31 is the distance between the center of the measurement space of the gantry 20 of the MRI apparatus (the center of the photographable area).
Therefore, when the top 13 is moved toward the gantry by the distance between the two markers, the point at the cross point of the projector 30 is moved to the center of the measurement space of the gantry 20.

The scale mechanism 40 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 43 denotes a scale fixed to the top plate 13, and scales in millimeter units and centimeter units are engraved on the surface. Reference numeral 44 denotes a marker scale attached to the top support 14 so as to be movable in parallel with the scale 43. The marker scale 44 includes the two markers 41 and 42 which cross the cross light 31 of the projector 30 as described above. A point 47 is provided at a distance between the point and the center of the measurement space of the gantry 20, and a knob 47 is attached to the operator's finger when moving.
The marker scale 44 is supported by guides 45 and 46 so that the operator can slide the marker scale manually.

Next, how to use the scale mechanism 40 of the present invention will be described. First, the operator determines the imaging region of the subject lying on the top of the bed 10. After deciding the part to be imaged, top plate 1
3 is moved in the direction of the gantry 20 so that the position of the cross section of the cross beam 31 of the light projector 30 is aligned with the imaging region. When the positioning is completed, the operator moves the marker scale 44 to move the tip of the triangle of the marker 41 of the marker scale 44 to a reference position on the top 13, for example, the end surface of the top 13 or the reference of the scale 43. To the scale that can be used. Next, the operator pushes the top plate 13 in the gantry direction to move the top plate 13 so that the reference scale of the scale 43 matches the tip of the triangle of the marker 42 of the scale marker 44. With the above operation, the imaging region of the subject is gantry 2
It is aligned with the center of the zero measurement space. Thereafter, the operator starts imaging with the MRI apparatus.

According to the present invention, the projector 30
It is only necessary that the marker scale 44 can be adjusted to a position serving as a mark on the top plate when the cross point of the cross ray 31 is adjusted. Therefore, the scale 43 is not essentially required. This is effective when fine adjustment is performed or when the stepping of the top 13 is manually performed when the bed is used for an X-ray CT apparatus other than the MRI apparatus.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the alignment is manually performed by the operator, the operator can perform the alignment as he or she wants. Further, since an electric top plate moving mechanism is not required, an inexpensive bed can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of a medical image diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a bed scale mechanism of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Bed 13 Top board 14 Top support part 20 Gantry of MRI apparatus 30 Projector 40 Scale mechanism 41,42 Marker 43 Scale 44 Marker scale

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A bed for an image diagnostic apparatus in which a top on which a subject rests is movably provided by a top support,
The top plate is manually movably installed, and a graduation mechanism that clearly indicates that the top plate has been moved in a predetermined direction by a predetermined distance is provided between the top support portion and the top plate. A bed characterized by being provided so as to be movable in a moving direction. 2. A gantry having an imaging area for imaging a subject in an opening, and a gantry attached to an end of the opening of the gantry in a direction in which the subject is inserted, and imaging the subject outside the gantry. A couch for an image diagnostic apparatus in which a projector for pointing a part and a couchtop on which a subject rests are movably provided by a couchtop support, wherein the couchtop is manually movably installed, and A graduation mechanism that clearly indicates that the top board has been moved in a predetermined direction of the top board by a distance between the center of the imaging region in the gantry and the irradiation center of the projector, between the top support section and the top board. And a bed provided so as to be movable in the direction of movement of the top board.