Method and system for diagnosing faults in imaging scanners

Details Method and system for diagnosing faults in imaging scanners Method and system for diagnosing faults in imaging scanners

1999-10-08

2001-08-14

Bruce, David V. (Department: 2882)

X-ray or gamma ray systems or devices

Specific application

Computerized tomography

C378S207000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06275559

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to systems for diagnosing imaging scanners, and, in particular, to a system for diagnosing faults in imaging scanners without utilizing proprietary diagnostic information.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Hospitals and other medical facilities utilize a variety of imaging scanner equipment, including computed tomography (CT) scanners, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging systems, and x-ray apparatus to produce images of internal parts of patients under examination. These imaging scanners are produced by various manufacturers, such as General Electric, Picker, Phillips, etc. In many instances, medical imaging scanners are maintained by service companies that do not have direct association with the manufacturer of the equipment being serviced. In such servicing arrangements, the original manufacturer of the imaging system will often remove all tools, including proprietary diagnostic software programs from the imaging system that are used to help service its equipment. This leaves the servicing company with the challenging task of attempting to maintain medical imaging equipment without having access to the proprietary information necessary to service such equipment. Because medical imaging equipment is extremely complex and intricate, it is extremely difficult to service these machines when there are no diagnostic tools available.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Thus, there is a particular need for a diagnostic system that is capable of identifying problems in imaging scanners without having access to the proprietary diagnostic software programs.
The present invention is directed to a method and system for identifying faults in an imaging system, such as a non-original equipment manufacture (non-OEM) scanners, having a number of detectors generating intensity measurement signals representative of the intensity of radiation impinging thereupon, and a number of subsystem components coupled to the detectors for reconstructing images from the detector signals received. The present diagnostic system collects data file output by at least one of the components and uses the collected data file to identify possible faulty detectors and other faulty subsystem components. Identification of faulty detectors and faulty subsystem components may be accomplished by performing a correlation operation on the current data file collected after a fault is suspected. The correlation values derived by the correlation operation are used to identify which detectors and subsystem components are suspected of faulty operations.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4853946 (1989-08-01), Elliott et al.
patent: 6105149 (2000-08-01), Bonissone et al.

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