Electricity: measuring and testing – Particle precession resonance – Spectrometer components
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-04
2001-05-08
Arana, Louis (Department: 2862)
Electricity: measuring and testing
Particle precession resonance
Spectrometer components
C324S318000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06229311
ABSTRACT:
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
Not Applicable
REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems and, more particularly, to the arrangement, interconnection and configuration of MRI system components which provides an improved, integrated and simplified system.
The following patent references have been considered: U.S. Pat. No. 4,003,426 (Best et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,994 (Ewing); U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,820 (Edelstein et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,046 (Vavrek et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,074 (Kaufman et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,265 (Sugahara); U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,173 (Sasahara); U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,686 (Inoue et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,544 (Ziarati); and U.S. Pat. No. Re 33505 (Vinegar et al.).
MRI systems are well known imaging systems used in the healthcare field for the diagnosis and treatment of patients. MRI systems are installed in hospitals and other healthcare facilities in expensive, custom tailored suites.
FIG. 1
shows a typical arrangement and configuration of an MRI system. The typical MRI system includes many subsystems which are developed independently and packaged separately in conventional relay racks or cabinets. Each rack or cabinet is interconnected with the other subsystems by a large number of expensive cables. These subsystems can include RF power subsystems, gradient power subsystems, spectrometer subsystems, power supply and power distribution subsystems, cooling subsystems and auxiliary systems such as motor controllers, temperature sensing and control systems, and shim power subsystems.
Typically, the MRI system is installed in a suite which includes a shielded room, an operator control room and an equipment room. The walls of the shielded room are specifically designed to contain certain electromagnetic fields and radiation generated by the equipment located therein, and to exclude interfering signals. The operator console is located in the operator control room, adjacent to the shielded room, and can include a window to enable the operator to observe the MRI scanner in operation. The equipment room is adjacent to the shielded room and the operator control room and houses the plurality of interconnected subsystems that perform the MRI system functions. The equipment room also includes a power distribution panel for supplying electricity to the each of the subsystems. A cooling system is also needed to cool all the subsystem equipment in the equipment room since the equipment usually generates a substantial amount of heat which if left unattended could interfere with the performance of the equipment.
The prior art MRI systems are complex due to the number of separate pieces of equipment and the number of interconnections needed to connect the data, control and power signals among the various cabinets, the MRI scanner, the patient table and the operator console. Typically, the interconnections are accomplished using expensive cables which are shielded to protect the signals from noise. The system is further complicated because many of the cables must penetrate walls in order to interconnect subsystems that are located in different rooms. For example, the MRI scanner, located in the shielded room, is connected to the Gradient Power Controller, RF Assembly and Spectrometer equipment housed in cabinets that are located in the equipment room. In order to facilitate the connection between the shielded room and the equipment room, a penetration panel is provided to facilitate the connection through a shielded wall, while maintaining the shielded barrier between the two rooms. The use of a penetration panel increases the number of connectors, which reduces the reliability of the MRI system and makes the interconnections more susceptible to noise related errors. In addition, in order to facilitate noise rejection, many of the interconnections are provided with intermediate filters which increases the costs of the overall installation.
The prior art systems are wasteful and redundant because each of the subsystems is independently developed and includes its own power supply. Typically, the redundant power supplies and associated support electronics along with the extensive filtering components generate sufficient heat to require a separate cooling system.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved installation for an MRI system.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved installation for an MRI system in which the various subsystems are integrated onto a portion of the shielded room wall, combining penetrations and eliminating conventional electronic cabinets with separate filters.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved installation for an MRI system which includes an integrated system for controlling the MRI scanner and the scanning process as well for processing the data received which does not require a separate cooling arrangement for each subsystem.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved installation for an MRI system in which the various subsystems are integrated onto a physical assembly sharing a common data bus, control bus, and/or power bus to minimize cabling.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one aspect of the invention an MRI system is installed into a suite made of essentially two adjacent rooms: the shielded room and the operator control room. The walls, floor and ceiling of the shielded room are shielded to prevent the escape of electromagnetic radiation. The MRI scanner and the patient table are located in the shielded room. The integrated processing and control system and the operator console are located in the operator control room. The integrated processing and control system is mounted to a wall, or a portion of a wall, that separates the shielded room from the operator control room and functions as a heat sink for the heat generating equipment that make up the integrated processing and control system. To this extent the effective thermal mass of the heat sink wall is at least one order of magnitude greater than the combined thermal mass of the heat generating equipment which is mounted on the heat sink wall. By providing a large heat sink for transferring heat, the need to have separate equipment and operator control rooms is eliminated, although providing two such rooms with a heat sink wall is well within the scope of the present invention. In one embodiment the wall is a passive heat sink, and in another embodiment the wall is an active heat sink wall.
In addition, the cables that interconnect the devices and systems in the shielded room with the different modules of the integrated processing and control system are connected directly to the appropriate modules via connectors mounted to the backside of the integrated processing and control system which penetrate the wall into the shielded room.
The integrated processing and control system is adapted to perform at least some, if not all, of the system functions normally associated with MRI systems. Preferably, the integrated processing and control system includes a system controller (such as a computer), an RF assembly including a transceiver and RF amplifier, a power supply, a Power Gradient Controller Assembly, a power filter module and a power distribution module. Additional or auxiliary equipment modules, such as motor controllers and sensors, temperature controllers and sensors and shim power supplies can also be included. Preferably, the integrated processing and control system includes at least one power bus for supplying power to each of the control system modules and at least one data/control bus in order to facilitate the transfer of data and control signals between equipment modules.
REFERENCES:
patent: Re. 33505 (1990-12-01), Vinegar et al.
patent: 4003426 (1977-01-01), Best et al.
patent: 4585994 (1986-04-01), Ewing
patent: 4613820 (1986-09-01), Edelstein et al.
patent: 4646046 (1987-02-01), Vavrek et al.
patent: 5184074 (1993-02-01), Kaufman et al
Analogic Corporation
Arana Louis
McDermott & Will & Emery
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