WO2005063120A1

WO2005063120A1 - Focusing-board assembly for imaging diagnosis equipment

Info

Publication number: WO2005063120A1
Application number: PCT/KR2003/002871
Authority: WO
Inventors: Moo-Seong Cho
Original assignee: Moo-Seong Cho
Priority date: 2003-12-26
Filing date: 2003-12-29
Publication date: 2005-07-14
Also published as: KR100446001B1; AU2003289539A1

Abstract

A focusing-board assembly for imaging diagnosis equipment is disclosed. The focusing-board assembly is applied to an imaging diagnosis equipment which is provided with a scanner body having a bow in which a cylindrical hollow is formed, and a carriage bed for guiding a patient into the bow. The focusing-board assembly includes at least one focusing board installed on the inner circumference of the hollow bow to attract patient's eyes, a combination unit for combining the focusing board to the inner circumference of the bow so that the focusing board may slide thereon, and a hooking member for fixing the focusing board to a certain position. The focusing board has an image painted or printed on the upper surface thereof in a color different from the inner circumference.

Description

FOCUSING-BOARD ASSEMBLY FOR IMAGING DIAGNOSIS EQUIPMENT [Technical Field]

The present invention relates to a focusing-board assembly for an imaging diagnosis equipment, and more particularly to a focusing-board assembly for an imaging diagnosis equipment to relieve the mental stress caused in a closed space when a patient is photographed in a cylindrical closed space for medical examination like MRI or CT.

[ Background Art]

An imaging diagnosis equipment used for diagnosing or preventing various diseases of a human being employs MRI (Magnetic Resonance Image), CT (Computer Tomography), X-ray, supersonic waves and so on, in brief. Seeing MRI gaining much interest recently as an example, MRI is used in such a way that, after a person is laid down in a device having magnets, MRI analyzes signals generated from hydrogen atom nuclei existing in the human body by applying magnetic field and high frequency waves and then configures an image by calculating difference of resonance phenomenon of each tissue and structure. Such MRI has an advantage that it does not harm the human body since it does not use radioactive rays, ^' conventionally used. However, since the person should be photographed for a long time in a narrow space, it sometimes difficult to photograph the patient if the patient suffers from a disease such as claustrophobia or cardionephric weakness. position out of the cylinder with turning in a circle around the patient. CT is widely used for diagnosis of various diseases since it allows to see a certain portion of the human body in a two-dimensional sectional image. However, like the above MRI, CT has a problem that a patient should be in a limited space for a long time. In order to solve such problems, a wind is blown or aroma such as vanilla perfume is given into the photographing space of the conventional device so as to make the patient convenient. However, such methods just give effects in fragments but hardly stabilize a mental state of the patient throughout the photographing period lasting over 30 minutes. In addition, though a method for painting a color on the entire inside of the photographing space was used, it gives the substantially same effects as the case not painting the color, thereby not solving the mental uneasiness of the patient. [Disclosure] [ Technical Problem ]

The present invention is designed to solve the problem of the prior art, and therefore an object of the invention is to provide a focusing-board assembly for an imaging diagnosis equipment, which gives mental and physical easiness by solving the mental stress caused by a closed space in a visual manner. [Technical Solution]

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a focusing-board assembly adopted for an imaging diagnosis equipment that includes a scanner body having a bow with a cylindrical hollow and a carriage bed for guiding a patient; a combination unit for combining the focusing board to the inner circumference of the hollow bow so as to be slidable thereon; and a hooking member for fixing the focusing board to a predetermined position, and wherein a color different from a color of the inner circumference of the hollow is painted on the upper circumference of the hollow, or an image is printed thereon. In another aspect of the invention, there is also provided a focusing-board assembly adopted for an imaging diagnosis equipment that includes a scanner body having a bow with a cylindrical hollow and a carriage bed for guiding a patient into the bow, wherein the focusing-board assembly includes at least one focusing board installed on an imier circumference of the hollow bow so as to attract eyes of the patient; a combination unit for combining the focusing board to the inner circumference of the hollow^r bow so as to be slidable thereon; and a moving unit for moving the focusing board along a length direction of the bow, and wherein a color different from a color of the inner circumference of the hollow is painted on the upper circumference of the hollow, or an image is printed thereon. Preferably, the moving unit includes a belt installed in a length direction of the bow; a pulley for rotating the belt; and a bracket whose one end is fixed to the focusing board and the other end is fixed to the belt so as to move the focusing board according to rotation of the pulley. In addition, the focusing-board assembly may further include a manipulation unit installed in or out of the bow so as to give a rotational force to the pulley. and a bracket mounted to a rear side of the focusing board and movably combined to the guide rail. [Description of Drawings]

The accompanying drawings that is incorporated in the specification and compose a part of the specification exemplarily show a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and play a role of illustrating the principle of the invention together with the detailed description of the preferred embodiment, provided later. In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a focusing-board assembly for an imaging diagnosis equipment according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a front view showing the focusing-board assembly for an imaging diagnosis equipment according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a focusing board according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a combination unit of a focusing board according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a moving unit of a focusing board according to still another embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 6 shows a manipulation panel of FIG. 5. [Best Mode]

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail referring to the dictionary meanings, but interpreted based on the meanings and concepts corresponding to technical aspects of the invention on the basis of the principle that the inventor is allowed to define terms appropriate for the best explanation. Therefore, the description proposed herein is just a preferable example for the purposed of illustrations only, not intended to limit the scope of the invention, so it should be understood that other equivalents and modifications could be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. FIGs. 1 and 2 are sectional view and front view respectively showing a focusing-board assembly for an imaging diagnosis equipment according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a focusing board. Referring to FIGs. 1 to 3, the focusing-board assembly is adopted for an imaging diagnosis equipment that includes a scanner body 1 having a doughnut shape and a carriage bed 6 movable into a hollow bow 2 of the scanner body so that a patient may lie down thereon. The focusing-board assembly includes a focusing board 10 installed to an inner circumference 2a of the bow. The bow 2 of the scanner body 1 has a hollow cylindrical shape with a predetermined length, and the carriage bed 6 is installed thereto to be capable of reciprocating. For photographing, a patient enters into the bow 2 with lying down on the carriage bed 6. Then, a photographing device (not shown) photographs each portion of the human body selectively with moving in various directions and at various angles around the lying-down patient. Preferably, the focusing board 10 is disposed at a position where the lying-down patient may focus his/her eyes thereon. For example, the focusing board 10 may be installed at both sides of the carriage bed 6 and on the upper surface of the inner circumference 2a of the bow, which is positioned in the front of the patient who is laid down, as shown in FIG. 2. At this time, if the focusing board 10 is positioned exactly at both sides or in the front of the patient, it may hinder photographing of the head of the patient. Thus,

the focusing board 10 is preferably positioned substantially within the range of 188°

horizontally and 120° vertically, that is a field of vision of a human being.

The focusing board 10 is a board having a length and a width of about 50mm, respectively. Preferably, the focusing board 10 has a curvature corresponding to the

inner circumference 2a of the hollow bow 2. At least one focusing board 10 is installed to both sides or on the upper surface of the inner circumference 2a of the bow 20. A board surface of the focusing board 10 that is seen by a lying-down patient may adopt a single-color plate or an image board. In case of the single-color plate, the focusing board 10 preferably has a color different from the inner circumference 2a of the bow, and most preferably has a green color that may relieve fatigue of the eyes to the minimum among natural colors. In case of the image board, it is preferable that various image boards are prepared to conform to the taste of the patients so that the image board may be exchanged selectively. According to the present invention, the focusing board 10 has a combination upper half of the human body such as the head or the breast is photographed, the upper part of the body firstly enters into the bow 2. Meanwhile, when a lower half of the human body such as a leg or the pelvis is photographed, a lower part of the body firstly enters into the bow 2. Thus, the level of vision of the patient is changed according to the part of the body entered into the bow 2, so it is preferable that the focusing board 10 is movable selectively. Preferably, the combination unit 20 includes a guide rail 22 installed to the inner circumference 2a of the hollow bow 2, and a hooking member 30 capable of fixing the focusing board 10 movably to the guide rail 22. Specifically, the guide rail 22 is installed to the inner circumference 2a of the hollow scanner body 1 along a moving direction of the carriage bed 6, and has a predetermined concave slit 24. In addition, a bracket 32 is installed to the rear side of the focusing board 10.

The bracket 32 is slidably reciprocated along the guide rail 22 with being inserted into the slit 24 of the guide rail 22. For this purpose, a wheel 34 interposed between bearings (not shown) is rotatably installed in the bracket 32 so as not to give an influence on the image. Thus, if a patient enters into the bow 2 in a lying-down state on the carriage bed 6, the patient may move the focusing board 10 to a desired position just by pushing or pulling it by hand. FIG. 4 shows a hooking member 30' according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, the hooking member 30' has a bracket 32' groove (not shown) formed in a sidewall of the slit with being inserted into the slit of the guide rail installed to the inner circumference of the bow. Thus, if a patient pushes the focusing board 10 by hand, the elastic projection 36 is selectively hooked to the toothed groove to fix its position. Preferably, the elastic projection 36 is preferably made of a material that does not give an influence on the image, such as rubber. Meanwhile, though it is described above that the focusing board 10 is moved manually, the present is not limited to that case. For example, FIGs. 5 and 6 shows an automatic mode moving unit of a focusing board according to still another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIGs. 5 and 6, the automatic mode moving unit 40 includes a belt 42 installed in a length direction of the bow, a pulley 44 for rotating the belt 40, and a bracket 46 whose one end is fixed to the focusing board and the other end is fixed to the belt 42 so as to move the focusing board 10 according to the rotation of the pulley 44. Here, the moving unit 40 configured as mentioned above is generally known in the art, and not described here in detail. However, in this embodiment, the belt 42 includes a time belt having properties of rubber, and the pulley 44 includes a sprocket and a roller, of course. In addition, the moving unit 40 may further include a manipulation panel 50 as shown in FIG. 6 so as to give a rotational force to the pulley 44. The manipulation panel 50 is installed in or out of the bow 2 of the scanner body 1 so that the patient entering into the bow may manipulate it by himself/herself or a photographer may equipment according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is described in detail as follows. Seeing the manual mode first, a patient wears a suitable patient gown made of cotton for photographing, and then lies down on the carriage bed 6. The patient lies down so that the head is toward the scanner body 1 for photographing his/her upper half or the leg is toward the scanner body 1 for photographing his/her lower half. Subsequently, if the carriage bed 6 on which the patient is lying down is entered into the bow of the scanner body 1, the patient adjusts the focusing board 10 installed to the bow to a position where the patient may conveniently fix his/her eye to the focusing board 10 by suitably pushing or pulling the focusing board 10 by hand. Meanwhile, seeing the automatic mode, the patient who enters into the bow 2 in a lying-down state on the carriage bed 6 controls the manipulation panel 50 installed in the bow by himself/herself so that the focusing board 10 is adjusted to a position where he/she may conveniently fix his/her eye to the focusing board 10. In addition, in case that the manipulation panel 50 is installed out of the bow, a protector or a photographer may move the focusing board before photographing after the patient enters into the bow. As mentioned above, the focusing board 10 suitably fixed to a position matched with the eyes of the patient has a color different from the inside of the bow 2 or an image attracting interest of the patient, so the eyes of the patient are naturally focused on the focusing board 10. preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. [Industrial Applicability]

According to the focusing-board assembly for an imaging diagnosis equipment of the present invention, since the eyes of a patient is naturally focused on the focusing board during a long time photographing, the patient recognizes the inside of the scanner as a convenient space mentally stable, not as a closed space.

Claims

[CLAIMS] [Claim 1 ]

A focusing-board assembly adopted for an imaging diagnosis equipment that includes a scanner body having a bow with a cylindrical hollow and a carriage bed for guiding a patient into the bow, the focusing-board assembly comprising: at least one focusing board installed on an inner circumference of the hollow bow so as to attract eyes of the patient; a combination means for combining the focusing board to the inner circumference of the hollow bow so as to be slidable thereon; and a hooking means for fixing the focusing board to a predetermined position, wherein a color different from a color of the inner circumference of the hollow is painted on the upper circumference of the hollow, or an image is printed thereon. [Claim 2]

A focusing-board assembly adopted for an imaging diagnosis equipment that includes a scanner body having a bow with a cylindrical hollow and a carriage bed for guiding a patient into the bow, the focusing-board assembly comprising: at least one focusing board installed on an inner circumference of the hollow bow so as to attract eyes of the patient; a combination means for combining the focusing board to the inner circumference of the hollow bow so as to be slidable thereon; and a moving means for moving the focusing board along a length direction of the bow, wherein a color different from a color of the inner circumference of the hollow is painted on the upper circumference of the hollow, or an image is printed thereon. [Claim 3]

The focusing-board assembly adopted for an imaging diagnosis equipment according to claim 2, wherein the moving means includes: a belt installed in a length direction of the bow; a pulley for rotating the belt; and a bracket whose one end is fixed to the focusing board and the other end is fixed to the belt so as to move the focusing board according to rotation of the pulley. [Claim 4] The focusing-board assembly adopted for an imaging diagnosis equipment according to claim 3, further comprising a manipulation unit installed in or out of the bow so as to give a rotational force to the pulley. [Claim 5]

The focusing-board assembly adopted for an imaging diagnosis equipment according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the combination means includes: a guide rail installed on an inner circumference of the scanner body along a moving direction of the carriage bed; and a bracket mounted to a rear side of the focusing board and movably combined to the guide rail.