Vacuum splints are commonly used in emergency situations as temporary splints to immobilize an injured body part. Magnetic resonance imaging is a common tool used to diagnose a wide variety of injuries that patients may suffer. Performance of magnetic resonance imaging requires the use of receive coils proximate to the injured anatomy, which may be made difficult by the presence of a vacuum splint or other type of splint stabilizing the injured anatomy.
The exemplary embodiments describe a device for supporting a body part. The device includes a sleeve adapted to support the body part. The sleeve contains a chamber that is configured to have substantially all of the air contained therein evacuated. The device also includes a flexible radiofrequency surface receive coil disposed within the chamber.
The exemplary embodiments further describe a method including securing a sleeve about an injured body part. The sleeve contains a chamber that is configured to have substantially all of the air contained therein evacuated. A flexible radiofrequency surface coil is disposed within the chamber. The method further includes evacuating substantially all of the air from the chamber. The method further includes coupling the flexible radiofrequency surface coil to a magnetic resonance imaging device. The method further includes imaging the injured body part using the magnetic resonance imaging device. The flexible radiofrequency surface coil operates as a receive coil for the imaging.
The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description and the related appended drawings, wherein like elements are provided with the same reference numerals. Specifically, the exemplary embodiments relate to vacuum splints with integrated radiofrequency surface receive coils for providing immobilization and supporting magnetic resonance imaging.
Practitioners of emergency medicine commonly use vacuum splints to temporarily immobilize an injured body part. Vacuum splints are commonly used to immobilize trauma-related injuries such as joint dislocations, subluxations, and extremity fractures. Vacuum splints typically comprise an outer vinyl sheeting layer that is filled with a large quantity of polystyrene balls on the order of 2 millimeters in diameter. When air is evacuated from the interior of the sleeve, the splint becomes rigid, immobilizing the injured area.
Because a vacuum splint shrinks to conform to any shape, it may be used on any size patient; its quick and easy application makes it particularly effective for splinting of fractures in children. Further, because a vacuum splint contains no obstructive metal components, it is radiolucent and does not interfere with the radiographic image of the injured limb.
Magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”) devices are commonly used to diagnose a wide variety of conditions in a patient. Among the components of an MRI device are radiofrequency (“RF”) transmitting coils generating electromagnetic fields that are transmitted into the patient, and RF receiving coils detecting resulting electromagnetic radiation from the patient. The detected radiation is then analyzed to yield an image that medical professionals may inspect to make a diagnosis for the patient.
RF coils may fall into two general categories: volume coils and surface coils. Surface coils are typically single-turn or multi-turn loops that are placed directly over the patient's anatomy of interest. Surface coils are sensitive to signals that are close to the coil, and therefore are often used as RF receiver coils because they detect the signal in an organ of interest more efficiently. Although surface coils amplify noise as efficiently as they amplify signal, noise from the rest of the patient is reduced due to the localized nature of the surface coils. Further, although surface coils are placed on or around the surface of a patient, they may be optimized to image deep-body structures. However, surface coils are typically contained within rigid bodies that may not always provide the best fit for all patients.
The exemplary embodiments described herein integrate RF receive coils into a vacuum splint.
The outer sheeting 310 of the vacuum splint 300 may have a chamber therein that is filled with 2-millimeter expanded polystyrene balls. It will be apparent to those of skill in the art that the precise size and material of the balls may vary among differing embodiments, and that other types of particles may be used so long as they are capable of performing as will be described hereinafter. The vacuum splint 300 may also include straps 320, 322 and 324 to secure the vacuum splint 300 around the area to be immobilized. In one exemplary embodiment, the straps 320, 322 and 324 may close by means of hook-and-loop fasteners, but alternate embodiments may use any different type of strap and fastener sufficient to secure the vacuum splint 300 around the immobilized area, while remaining non-metallic in order not to interfere with imaging of the immobilized area. It will be further apparent to those of skill in the art that the precise number and placement of straps to be used may vary in differing embodiments; for example, a splint adapted to immobilize a larger area of the patient's body may include more straps.
The vacuum splint 300 may also include a valve 330 passing through the outer sheeting 310. The valve 330 may be coupled to a vacuum tube 340 or, as an alternative, any other suction allowing air to be evacuated from within the outer sheeting 310. Preferably, a compressor or other driver generating the suction through the vacuum tube 340 to evacuate the air from the vacuum splint 300 may be located at a sufficiently large distance away from any MRI equipment in order not to interfere with the magnetic fields generated to record patient images.
The vacuum splint 300 may also include flexible RF surface receive coil elements 350, 352 and 354 disposed within the outer sheeting 310. The flexible RF surface receive coil elements 350, 352 and 354 may be fabricated from any appropriate metallic material that is capable of flexing as the vacuum splint 300 is opened or closed and capable of functioning as an RF surface receive coil. The coil elements 350, 352 and 354 may typically be made from copper but may alternately be made from any other metallic or non-metallic conductive material capable of performing as described herein. The exemplary embodiments are discussed with reference to a vacuum splint 300 using three flexible RF surface receive coil elements 350, 352 and 354, but in other embodiments, a single flexible RF surface receive coil or varying numbers of elements may be used. The flexible RF surface receive coil elements 350, 352 and 354 may be connected to an MRI device by a coil power source 360 and a transmission cable 370 through a port 380 traversing the outer sheeting 310 in a manner that allows the outer sheeting 310 to remain airtight when the vacuum splint 300 is in use.
In step 430, the individual may couple the valve 340 to a vacuum source. As noted above, this may be, for example, a vacuum port integrated into an MRI device or nearby; any necessary compressors or vacuum pumps may be located at a safe distance from the MRI device in order not to interfere with the imaging process, with only vacuum tubing near the MRI device itself. In step 440, the vacuum source evacuates air from the inside of the outer sheeting 310. This causes the vacuum splint 300 to contract around the patient's anatomy and become rigid, providing stability and immobilization of the area of interest. The fit provided to the patient may be better than other types of splints, while the surface of the outer sheeting 310 may become slightly irregular, allowing for air circulation to the skin. The flexible RF surface receive coil 350 may also be compressed around the patient's anatomy, creating a rigid coil that is also customized to the patient's anatomy.
In step 450, the flexible RF surface receive coil 350 is coupled to an MRI device through port 360. Because the flexible RF surface receive coil 350 is already in close proximity to the patient's anatomy, no external receive coil need be used in order for imaging to occur. In step 460, MRI imaging of the patient's anatomy may proceed using the MRI device as is known in the art. Once imaging is complete, the vacuum splint 300 may continue to provide stability to the injured anatomy in the manner known in the art. Subsequently, in step 470, the vacuum splint 300 may be removed from the patient's anatomy at an appropriate time; it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that this may be immediately after MRI imaging, after a diagnosis has been made, or at any other appropriate time based on the nature of the patient's condition. After step 470, the method terminates.
The vacuum splint 500 may also include flexible RF surface receive coil elements 550 and 552 disposed within the outer sheeting 510, in the same manner as described above with reference to coil elements 350, 352 and 354 disposed within the vacuum splint 300; the vacuum splint 500 may also include one or more posterior coil elements that are not visible in
The exemplary embodiments may provide a patient with substantially equivalent stability and immobilization to those provided by a prior art vacuum splint. Because the coil contained within the exemplary vacuum splint may become rigid once air is vacuumed out of the splint, it may help to limit patient motion. Additionally, because the coil may conform to the patient's anatomy once air is vacuumed out of the splint, it may be more comfortable to the patient than previously existing apparatuses for applying an RF surface receive coil to the patient. As a further benefit of the close conformity to the patient's anatomy of the RF surface receive coil of the exemplary embodiments, better signal-noise ratio may be achieved due to a precise fit around the patient's anatomy. Further, the high degree of stability provided by the exemplary vacuum splint may aid in minimizing motion artifacts in any resulting MRI scans.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the exemplary embodiments, without departing from the spirit or the scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/IB2015/051922 | 3/17/2015 | WO | 00 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61970968 | Mar 2014 | US |