|
|
Automatic body contouring
Drawing on its
experience in automatic collision protection for
cardiovascular imaging systems, Philips Applied Technologies
has developed a highly sensitive Automatic Body Contouring
system. Used in Philips’ new BrightView range of SPECT
scanners, the system assures optimum positioning of the
detectors close to the patient’s body during a scan to
provide superior image resolution.
|
|
|
Our contributions
|
| |
|
|
- |
Electric field sensing techniques
|
|
- |
Advanced sensor processing
techniques
|
|
- |
Contour correction algorithms
|
|
- |
Lithographic processing
|
|
- |
Advanced electric-field
simulation techniques
|
|
|
IDrawing on its experience in automatic
collision protection for cardiovascular imaging systems,
Philips Applied Technologies has developed a highly
sensitive Automatic Body Contouring system. Used in Philips’
new BrightView range of SPECT scanners, the system assures
optimum positioning of the detectors close to the patient’s
body during a scan to provide superior image resolution. In SPECT (Single Proton Emission Computed Tomography) scans,
the closer the detectors are positioned to the patient’s
body, the better the resolution of the SPECT images. This
has prompted the development of systems that enable the
detectors to closely follow the contours of the body as a
patient moves horizontally through the scanner.
Traditionally, these systems rely either on optical sensors
to locate any object or surface close to the face of the
detector, or on a ‘pre-scan’ phase during which the operator
manually guides the detectors over the contours of the
patient’s body to produce a spatial map of the patient. This
map is then used to guide the detectors during the scan.
Both these systems have drawbacks. The visual system can be
confused by clothing, while the spatial-mapping system
requires extra time for the pre-scan and cannot allow for
the patient movement.
To overcome these drawbacks, Philips Applied Technologies
has developed a new Automatic Body Contouring (ABC) system
based on the BodyGuard collision-protection system it
developed for Philips’ cardiovascular imaging systems. The
system uses an array of capacitive sensors made of thin
metallic foil located in the face of the collimator cover to
measure the electric field generated by the collimator. It
relies on the fact that a grounded object in the vicinity of
the cover (the patient’s body lying on a carbon-fiber table)
causes minute changes in this field that depend upon the
object size and distance from the cover. The system scans
the signals from the sensors and automatically translates
these into a single detector-to-patient distance
measurement. Sensors are also located in the side of the
collimator cover to provide collision protection. The ABC
system also embodies special interpolation and
contour-correction algorithms developed by Philips Applied
Technologies to contend with irregularities in the body’s
surface (for example breasts, hips and facial features).
The new system dramatically simplifies the workflow of a
SPECT scan. The operator simply selects the start angle and
detector orientation, and commands the system to start. The
robotic manipulators then automatically move the detectors
to the desired initial position and slowly decrease their
radius until they reach the selected detector-to-patient
separation. At the end of each acquisition, the robotic
manipulators move the detectors a small distance away from
the patient to reorient them for the next acquisition.
As it measures changes in the electric field between the
sensor array and the patient’s skin, the system cannot be
fooled by clothing. And since it makes adjustments
on-the-fly, small movements by the patient during a scan
will not interfere with the acquisition.
Working closely with Philips Nuclear Medicine Systems, the
ABC system is now incorporated in the full range of
collimators available with Philips new BrightView SPECT
scanners.
|
|
|
|
|
 news loading
events loading
|
|