| US 7,508,204 B2 | ||
| Method for supporting an MRI examination by means of positioning and checking MRI accessory implementation | ||
| Sultan Haider, Erlangen (Germany); and Peter Kreisler, Buckenhof (Germany) | ||
| Assigned to Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Munich (Germany) | ||
| Filed on Mar. 21, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/385,579. | ||
| Claims priority of application No. 10 2005 013 851 (DE), filed on Mar. 24, 2005. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2006/0235291 A1, Oct. 19, 2006 | ||
| Int. Cl. G01V 3/00 (2006.01); A06B 5/055 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 324—307 [324/309; 324/318; 324/322; 600/414; 600/426; 600/411; 600/410] | 9 Claims |
| 1. A method for checking that all auxiliary MRI accessories (such as alarm balls, patient pillows, RF coils, etc.) are implemented
(i.e. actively attached) and positioned correctly before initiating an MRI scan using a magnetic resonance device comprising:
initially positioning and actively implementing (i.e. actively attaching), all of the desired auxiliary MRI accessories about
a patient that is to undergo the MRI scan, wherein all of the desired auxiliary MRI accessories have a separate identifiable
marker, which is detectable by the MR device; and
using the magnetic resonance device in order to test and check that all of the desired auxiliary MRI accessories are positioned
and implemented correctly by generating an MRI test image having at least a partial view of the patient and which records
on the generated test image the presence, position, and orientation of any detected auxiliary MRI accessory markers;
comparing, by means of pattern recognition, the generated test image showing the contour/shape of the patient and the position
and orientation of each of the recorded markers for each of the detected auxiliary MRI accessories, which are active and implementation
ready with a stored standard image showing all of the recorded auxiliary MRI accessory markers, when they are positioned/oriented
correctly and are implementation ready (i.e. active, attached) in preparation for performing the MRI scan;
determining, via matched pattern comparison, that all of the auxiliary MRI accessories for performing the MRI scan are present,
actively ready, and positioned/oriented correctly before initiating the MRI scan based on a result of the image comparison
between the generated test image and the stored standard image; and
displaying the result of the image comparison on a monitor, while issuing an alarm message when one or more of the auxiliary
MRI accessories is not present, is absent, missing or is improperly positioned or is improperly oriented; and
indicating readiness for the MRI scan, when all auxiliary MRI accessories are present and positioned/oriented properly based
on the image comparison.
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