JP6640303B2 - Magnetic resonance imaging system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a magnetic resonance imaging system in which a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, an automatic injector, and the like are arranged in an electromagnetically shielded imaging room, and in particular, exchanges control signals between devices in the imaging room and an outdoor controller. Resonance imaging system with increased flexibility in the arrangement of communication interfaces for the purpose and improved convenience.

  Generally, when a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus (MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging) is used, the magnetic resonance imaging apparatus is arranged in an electromagnetically shielded imaging room in order to reduce the influence of an external electromagnetic field. When using an automatic injector (injector) for injecting a contrast agent into a patient, this injector is also arranged in the imaging room.

  The imaging room is a space surrounded by a shield wall or the like. The shield wall has a performance of shielding an electromagnetic wave in a predetermined frequency band (for example, 1 GHz or less) that can affect imaging. A part of the shield wall is usually provided with a viewing window for looking into the room.

  Patent Literature 1 and the like disclose a technique relating to communication between a medical device arranged in an imaging room and a controller or the like placed outside the room. Specifically, a communication interface for exchanging control signals through an observation window of an imaging room has been proposed. In this communication interface, electromagnetic waves such as infrared rays and visible rays are used.

Japanese Patent No. 2752909

  According to the communication interface as described above, there is no need to route a communication line between devices inside and outside the imaging room, and thus there is an advantage that the use of the devices becomes easy. However, since this communication interface exchanges signals with infrared rays, visible rays, or the like, basically, units (transceivers) that communicate with each other must be placed relatively close to each other across a window and opposed to each other. There are restrictions such as must be.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to increase the degree of freedom of arrangement of a communication interface for exchanging control signals between a device in an imaging room and a controller outside the room, which is convenient. The present invention relates to a magnetic resonance imaging system with improved performance.

In order to achieve the above object, a magnetic resonance imaging system of the present invention comprises:
An imaging room in which the magnetic resonance imaging apparatus is disposed, surrounded by a shield wall that shields a predetermined frequency band that can affect imaging by the magnetic resonance imaging apparatus,
Injection means for injecting a drug solution into a patient, which is arranged in the imaging room,
A controller arranged outside the imaging room, for controlling the operation of the injection means,
A communication interface for exchanging control signals between the injection means and the controller;
With
The communication interface is a wireless system that performs communication through the shield wall using a frequency band higher than the predetermined frequency band.
Note that "communication through a wall" means that a radio wave penetrates a shield wall and a control signal is exchanged by the radio wave.

  According to such a configuration, since the communication interface is a wireless system, there is no need to provide an opening in the shield wall and pass a communication line therethrough or lay a line under the floor. In addition, since the communication interface is a wireless system that performs communication through a shield wall, it is not necessary to arrange units of the communication interface to face each other with a window therebetween as in the configuration described in Patent Literature 1, and the degree of freedom of arrangement is reduced. Be improved.

  As a wireless method of the communication interface, for example, a frequency band of 2 GHz or more may be used. Further, a standard such as IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, or 802.11g may be used.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the degree of freedom in arranging a communication interface for exchanging control signals between equipment in an imaging room and an outdoor controller is increased, and magnetic resonance imaging with improved convenience is further improved. A system can be provided.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a magnetic resonance imaging system according to an embodiment. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of the system in FIG. 1.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the magnetic resonance imaging system of the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the magnetic resonance imaging system 1 includes an imaging room 10 in which a magnetic resonance imaging device 13 is arranged, and the imaging room 10 is surrounded by a shield wall 11. Means for imparting the electromagnetic shielding property to the shield wall 11 is not particularly limited. For example, a metal mesh material or the like can be used. The shield wall 11 shields an electromagnetic wave of a predetermined frequency band (for example, 1 GHz or less) that may affect the imaging of the magnetic resonance imaging apparatus 13. Although not shown, the shield wall 11 is provided with a viewing window (not shown) for viewing the inside, a door for entering and exiting the room, and the like.

The magnetic resonance imaging apparatus 13 arranged in the imaging room 10 is conventionally known, and in this example, an image of a predetermined part of a patient lying on a bed is taken.
The imaging room 10 is also provided with an automatic injector 15 for injecting a medical solution such as a contrast agent into a patient. The automatic injector 15 includes a syringe holding unit 14 to which a syringe filled with a drug solution is mounted, a driving unit (not shown) for pushing a piston of the syringe toward a cylinder member, and a control circuit (not shown) for controlling the operation thereof. Although not shown, a memory, a CPU, and the like are provided). Since the automatic injector 15 is held on a stand with casters, it can be moved freely.

  Injection of a drug solution to a patient is automatically performed according to a protocol (injection condition) set in advance according to, for example, the weight of the patient. According to such automatic injection, an appropriate amount of a drug solution can be injected into a patient at a preferable injection rate.

  A controller 21 having a monitor, a keyboard, and the like (not shown) for controlling operations of the automatic injector 15 and the like is disposed outside the imaging room 10.

  In the magnetic resonance imaging system 1 of the present embodiment, exchange of control signals between the controller 21 and the automatic injector 15 is performed via the communication interface 18 using a wireless system. Specifically, the communication interface 18 includes a unit 18a inside the imaging room and a unit 18b outside the room.

  In this example, the indoor unit 18a is integrally formed with the automatic injector 15 (the injector 18 may be incorporated in the injector as a function of the automatic injector 15, or may be a separate component. Which may be attached to the device). The outdoor unit 18b is line-connected to the controller 21 as an example. Each of the units 18a and 18b has a function of transmitting radio waves and a function of receiving radio waves transmitted from the other party.

  For communication between these units 18a and 18b, a wireless system capable of communicating through the shield wall 11 is used, and a frequency band (for example, 2 GHz or more, higher than a predetermined frequency band (for example, 1 GHz) that the shield wall 11 can shield). Preferably, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) are used. In general, the frequency band used by the magnetic resonance imaging apparatus 13 for imaging is often several hundred MHz (corresponding to this, the shield wall 11 can shield, for example, 1 GHz or less). On the other hand, since the communication interface 18 of the present embodiment uses a higher frequency band, this radio wave does not affect imaging.

  When the above-mentioned frequency band is used, a wireless standard such as IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, or 802.11g may be used, or a wireless USB using a frequency band of 3 to 4 GHz may be used. Such an interface can be used.

  Next, the operation of the magnetic resonance imaging system of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the magnetic resonance imaging system.

  In step S1, the operator operates the controller 21 to cause the controller 21 to read a predetermined injection protocol (conditions for injecting a drug solution into a patient), and modify the injection conditions as necessary. For example, the injection conditions can be appropriately modified according to the patient's current weight, the type of the drug solution to be injected, and the like.

  Next, the data of the injection condition is transmitted from the controller 21 to the automatic injector 15 via the communication interface 18 (step S2). The automatic injector 15 receives this data and holds it in a built-in memory (not shown).

Next, in step S3, the automatic injector 15 performs an injection operation according to the injection conditions (step S3). During the injection operation, the automatic injector 15 sends data on the status of the injection (data such as the amount of the drug solution injected into the patient at the present time) to the controller 21 via the communication interface 18 as needed. .
The controller 21 receives this and displays it on a monitor (not shown) as an injection status in real time.

During the injection operation, the controller 21 checks at a predetermined time interval whether the communication interface 18 is maintained in a communicable state (step S4). If the communication interface 18 has become unable to communicate for some reason, the controller 21 displays a predetermined alarm on its monitor (not shown) (step S5). According to such a configuration, the operator confirming the alarm can stop the injection of the chemical solution by performing a predetermined procedure (for example, performing an operation for emergency stop of the automatic injector).
When the communication interface 18 is normal, the injection of the drug solution is continued, and the injection operation ends when a predetermined amount of the drug solution has been injected (step S6).

  As described above, according to the magnetic resonance imaging system of the present embodiment, the exchange between the controller 21 disposed outside the electromagnetically shielded imaging room 10 and the automatic injector 15 disposed therein is performed. The communication can be performed via the communication interface 18 adopting a wireless system. Therefore, there is no need to provide an opening in the shield wall 11 and pass a communication line (cable) therethrough or lay a line under the floor, thereby simplifying the operation of constructing the system. Further, according to the communication interface 18 of the present system, since the infrared light or the visible light is not used, the units 18a and 18b of the communication interface 18 do not need to be opposed to each other with a window interposed therebetween. Degree of freedom can be improved.

In the above example, the mode in which the unit 18a of the communication interface 18 is incorporated in the automatic injector 15 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is connected to the automatic injector 15 by wire. There may be.
Alternatively, when a battery is disposed in the imaging room 10 as a power source of the automatic injector 15, the unit 18a may be integrally formed with the battery and placed near a corner in the imaging room.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Magnetic resonance imaging system 10 Imaging room 11 Shield wall 13 Magnetic resonance imaging device 15 Automatic injector 18 Communication interface 18a, 18b Unit 21 Controller

Claims (6)

An automatic injector for injecting a drug solution into the patient,
A power supply for the auto-injector;
Communication means that enables communication between the automatic injector and a controller that controls the operation of the automatic injector,
A drug solution injection system comprising:
The communication means,
A first unit that wirelessly transmits data from the automatic injector to the controller;
A second unit for transmitting data in a wireless manner from the controller side to the automatic injector;
Has,
The drug solution injection system, wherein the power supply and the first unit are integrally formed, and are separately formed from the automatic injector and the controller. Further, a controller for controlling the operation of the automatic injector,
The drug solution injection system according to claim 1. The auto-injector is located in an imaging room;
The controller is arranged outside the imaging room,
The drug solution injection system according to claim 2. The drug solution injection system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the automatic injector injects a contrast agent as a drug solution. The drug solution injection system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the automatic injector is configured to hold a plurality of containers containing a drug solution. The drug solution injection system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the automatic injector is configured to receive injection condition data set on the controller side via the communication unit.

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