Mobile Medical Imaging System Including A Latching System
A mobile medical imaging system includes a base defining a track, an imaging gantry, and a gantry mount supporting the imaging gantry for movement along the track between a plurality of track poses. The plurality of track poses includes a park pose defined with the gantry mount arranged adjacent to a first track end. The mobile medical imaging system further includes a catch operatively attached to the gantry mount and a latching system including a pedal operatively attached to the base and supporting a latch. The pedal is configured for movement between an engaged position that places the latch in a lock position with the latch engaging the catch to retain the imaging gantry in the park pose, and a disengaged position that places the latch in a released position with the latch spaced from the catch to permit translation of the gantry mount away from the park pose.
1 . A mobile medical imaging system comprising:
a base defining a track extending between a first track end and a second track end;
an imaging gantry having at least one imaging component and defining an imaging bore;
a gantry mount supporting the imaging gantry for movement along the track between a plurality of track poses including a park pose defined with the gantry mount arranged adjacent to the first track end;
a translation mechanism interposed between the base and the gantry mount to drive the gantry mount between the plurality of track poses in an imaging mode to acquire image data of a patient within the imaging bore;
a catch operatively attached to the gantry mount for concurrent movement between the plurality of track poses; and
a latching system including a pedal operatively attached to the base and supporting a latch, the pedal configured for movement between:
an engaged position that places the latch in a lock position with the latch engaging the catch to retain the imaging gantry in the park pose, and
a disengaged position that places the latch in a released position with the latch spaced from the catch to permit translation of the gantry mount away from the park pose in response to one of: powered operation of the translation mechanism, and user-applied force applied to back-drive the translation mechanism.
2 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the gantry mount includes:
a gantry mount base operatively attached to the base,
a gantry mount member operatively attached to the gantry mount base for rotation relative to the gantry mount base, the gantry mount member supporting the imaging gantry such that the gantry mount member and the imaging gantry are configured to rotate together about a first axis relative to the base.
3 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 2 , wherein:
the latch and the catch are spaced from the first axis,
the latching system inhibits rotation of the gantry mount and the imaging gantry relative to the base where the latch is in the lock position and the gantry mount is in the park pose, and
the latching system permits rotation of the gantry mount and the imaging gantry relative to the base where the latch is in the released position.
4 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 2 , wherein:
the imaging bore defines an imaging axis that is parallel to the track where the gantry mount is in the park pose and the mobile medical imaging system is in the imaging mode, and
the plurality of track poses of the gantry mount includes a transport pose where the gantry mount is arranged between the first track end and the second track end and the gantry mount member and the imaging gantry are rotated such that the imaging axis is transverse to the track.
5 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 2 , wherein the gantry mount member includes a gimbal having a pair of arms, each arm coupled to an opposite side of the imaging gantry to support the imaging gantry above the base and the gimbal, wherein the imaging gantry is configured to tilt about a second axis relative to the gimbal.
6 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 2 , further comprising:
a gantry motor interposed between the gantry mount base and the gantry mount member for rotating the gantry mount member relative to the base about the first axis; and
a controller in communication with the gantry motor to control operation of the gantry motor.
7 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 6 , wherein the gantry mount further comprises a catch sensor in communication with the controller and arranged adjacent to the catch and configured to generate a catch engagement signal in response to engagement of the latch with the catch;
wherein operation of the gantry motor is inhibited based on the catch engagement signal indicating that the pedal is in the engaged position; and
wherein the latching system further includes a sensor projection disposed adjacent to the latch and configured to engage the catch sensor when the latch is in the lock position such that the catch sensor generates the catch engagement signal.
8 . (canceled)
9 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a translation motor operatively attached to the translation mechanism to drive the gantry mount between the plurality of track poses; and
a controller in communication with the translation motor to control operation of the translation motor.
10 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 9 , wherein the gantry mount further comprises a catch sensor in communication with the controller and arranged adjacent to the catch and configured to generate a catch engagement signal in response to engagement of the latch with the catch;
wherein operation of the translation motor is inhibited based on the catch engagement signal indicating that the pedal is in the engaged position; and
wherein the latching system further includes a sensor projection disposed adjacent to the latch and configured to engage the catch sensor when the latch is in the lock position such that the catch sensor generates the catch engagement signal.
11 . (canceled)
12 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the pedal is spaced below the gantry mount when pedal is in the disengaged position.
13 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the catch is defined by a bottom portion of the gantry mount, and the latch moves toward the bottom portion of the gantry mount as the latch moves between the released position and the lock position.
14 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 13 , wherein:
the catch defines a first profile, and
the latch defines a second profile shaped for engagement with the first profile to urge the gantry mount along the track to align the latch with the catch in the lock position.
15 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein latching system further comprises a biasing member operatively attached to the pedal to bias the pedal toward the engaged position.
16 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 15 , wherein the pedal is disposed above a bottom portion of the gantry mount when the pedal is in the engaged position, and the bottom portion of the gantry mount is configured to deflect the pedal from the engaged position toward the disengaged position as the gantry mount translates from the second track end toward the first track end.
17 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 15 , wherein the pedal is arranged for user engagement in a first direction and the latching system is configured to retain the pedal in the disengaged position in response to a first user engagement with the pedal in the first direction for disengaging the latch; and
wherein the latching system is configured to release the pedal from the disengaged position in response to a second user engagement with the pedal in the first direction for engaging the latch.
18 . (canceled)
19 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 17 , wherein the latching system further comprises:
a housing defining a first channel extending between a first top end and a first bottom end, a link landing arranged adjacent to the first bottom end, and a second channel extending between a second bottom end arranged adjacent to the link landing, and a second top end connected to the first channel; and
a link extending between a first end operatively attached to the pedal and a second end, wherein the second end of the link travels along the first channel in response to the first user engagement to abut the link landing to retain the pedal in the disengaged position, and wherein the second end of the link travels along the second channel in response to the second user engagement to release the pedal from the disengaged position.
20 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one imaging component comprises a rotor supporting an x-ray source and a detector and disposed within a housing defined by the imaging gantry for rotation around the imaging bore.
21 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 20 , wherein the x-ray source includes a fan-beam x-ray source, and the detector includes an array of detectors; and
wherein the rotor rotates around the imaging bore as the translation mechanism drives the gantry mount along the track in the imaging mode to acquire helical scan x-ray CT images of a patient within the imaging bore.
22 . (canceled)
23 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 1 , further comprising a pedestal mounted to the base adjacent to the first track end and configured to support a patient support above the base.
24 . The mobile medical imaging system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a robotic arm extending between a base end operatively attached to the imaging gantry and a mount end arranged for movement relative to the base end; and
an end effector attached to the mount end of the robotic arm and configured to support a tool for engaging a target site, wherein the robotic arm is configured to maintain alignment of the tool relative to the target site.
25 . (canceled)
26 . (canceled)