Claims
- 1. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising:(a) a stationary magnet having a pair of elements spaced apart from one another along a horizontal axis and a patient-receiving space between said elements, said magnet being operative to direct magnetic flux between said elements through said patient-receiving space; (b) a patient positioning device operable to hold a patient in an upright orientation in said patient-receiving space; and (c) an elevator for raising or lowering the patient positioning device relative to said magnet while the patient positioning device is holding the patient in an upright orientation so as to position any part of the patient within said patient-receiving space.
- 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said patient positioning device includes an elongated support having a long axis, said patient support being tiltable between a vertical orientation in which the long axis of the patient support extends vertically and a horizontal orientation in which the long axis of the patient support extends horizontally.
- 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 further comprising a pivot, said patient support being tiltable about said pivot, wherein said elevator includes a linear movement device operative to move the patient support relative to said pivot so that the patient support moves vertically when the patient support is in said vertical orientation and moves horizontally when the patient support is in said horizontal orientation.
- 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 further comprising a support frame, said pivot, said elevator and said patient positioning device being mounted to said support frame so that said patient support can be tilted relative to the support frame about said pivot and moved relative to the support frame by said linear movement device.
- 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said support frame is movable relative to said magnet.
- 6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said patient positioning device further includes a platform projecting from said elongated support at one end thereof, whereby a patient can stand on said platform and lean against said elongated support when said support is in a substantially vertical orientation.
- 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said patient positioning device includes a seat.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/031,610, filed Nov. 27, 1996 and 60/032,589, filed Nov. 29, 1996, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein. The present application is a continuation of and also incorporates herein by reference the disclosure of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/789,460 filed Feb. 21, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,414,490, which application is a continuation of and also incorporates herein by reference the disclosure of co-pending, commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/978,084 filed Nov. 25, 1997 now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/993,072, filed Dec. 18, 1992 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,165, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/975,913, filed Nov. 21, 1997 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,201,394.
US Referenced Citations (31)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
1-242056 |
Sep 1989 |
JP |
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60/031610 |
Nov 1996 |
US |
|
60/032589 |
Nov 1996 |
US |
Continuations (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/789460 |
Feb 2001 |
US |
Child |
10/136939 |
|
US |
Parent |
08/978084 |
Nov 1997 |
US |
Child |
09/789460 |
|
US |
Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08/975913 |
Nov 1997 |
US |
Child |
08/978084 |
|
US |
Parent |
07/993072 |
Dec 1992 |
US |
Child |
08/975913 |
|
US |