Surgery – Instruments – Stereotaxic device
Patent
1995-11-03
1997-10-28
Hafer, Robert A.
Surgery
Instruments
Stereotaxic device
1286531, 378163, A61B 1900
Patent
active
056813260
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a stereotactical instrument for identifying, by means of image sectional planes or markers, the spatial position of an area in a patient's body which is to be subjected to treatment, preferably radiation treatment, the position of the area being previously determined, for example by means of angiogram, PET, DSA, CT, MRI or X-ray equipment. The instrument comprises a non-yielding and radiolucent frame which is arranged to support the patient's body and to support an indicating device, a radiolucent fixing means which is arranged inside the frame and on which the patient's body is intended to rest. The fixing means comprises a flexible casing which contains a yieldable substance, at a first stage the fixing means being adapted to permit that the patient be oriented in a desired position, partly sunk into the fixing means, and at a second stage the yieldable substance of the fixing means being given a non-yielding state, thereby fixing the patient in the desired position.
In radiation treatment as well as in surgical operations, the ability to identify the target area with great accuracy is highly important. To minimise the risk, the surgeon must be sure of hitting the correct area in the treatment.
It is vital that the treatment area can be easily and safely identified on different occasions, since, for example, fractionated radiation treatment requires a number of successive treatment sessions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,372 discloses a computerised tomography unit which comprises a radiation-damping and perforated biopsy arch which is displaceably and pivotally attached to the treatment table on which the patient is placed. By means of the X-ray radiation in CT equipment, a sectional image is obtained in which the biopsy arch is outlined, a suitable hole in the biopsy arch being selectable for introducing a needle point in the target area. Although this prior art unit permits in a simple way the target area to be found, the accuracy is jeopardised by the patient not being fixed to the treatment table. Besides, the unit is not intended for radiation treatment.
The object of the present invention is to provide a stereotactical instrument with high accuracy when identifying the target area.
A further object of the invention is to provide a stereotactical instrument which permits safe and repeatable identification of the treatment area.
According to the invention, these objects are achieved by means of an instrument as described above, which is characterised by a partially non-radiolucent orienting means which is mounted on at least one longitudinal side of the frame and which is adapted to indicate the position of the respective image sectional plane through said area in the patient's body, and by the orienting means comprising a first array of lines of different lengths.
Further developments of the invention are describe below.
A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described for the purpose of exemplification, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective schematic view of a patient testing in the frame of an embodiment of the instrument; and
FIG. 2 illustrates an image sectional plane and its orientation the stereotactical system of coordinates.
The inventive stereotactical instrument, which generally designated 1 in FIG. 1, comprises an elongate, non-yielding frame 2 which is made of a material that does not cause any artifacts (disturbances) in the images, i.e., a material which is translucent to X-rays and other radioactive radiation. A fixing means 3 is adapted to be inserted in the frame 2 which is open at the top and at the ends, said fixing means comprising a flexible casing which is impermeable to fluid and hermetically encloses a yielding substance, not shown in FIG. 2. On this fixing means, the patient is caused to take the desired position for diagnostics or treatment, the patient partially sinking into the yieldable fixing means, and a large contact surface against the patient is obtained, see FIG. 2. Subsequently, the
REFERENCES:
patent: 4622185 (1986-11-01), Kostich
patent: 4905267 (1990-02-01), Miller et al.
patent: 5147372 (1992-09-01), Nymark et al.
patent: 5242455 (1993-09-01), Skeens et al.
patent: 5281232 (1994-01-01), Hamilton et al.
patent: 5299253 (1994-03-01), Wessels
Abstract and drawings from Swedish patent application 8802620-8 filed in 1988 (with English translation).
"Biopsibage Minimerar Felstik," Medicinsk Teknik, No. 3, 1990, pp. 23-24.
Elekta Instrument AB
Hafer Robert A.
Koo Benjamin
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