US-12616433-B2 - Mammography system having a protective unit

Abstract

The invention relates to a mammography system having a stand unit for locating the mammography system on the floor; an L-shaped source unit, the L-shaped source unit including an arm connected to an X-ray detector in a rotatably mounted manner on a front face of the stand unit, and another arm of the L-shaped source unit protrudes substantially perpendicularly, an X-ray source being located at an end of the source unit remote from the stand unit; and a substantially U-shaped protective unit.

Inventors

• Marcus Radicke
• Jutta SPEITEL
• Stephanie GOETTLER
• Ralf Nanke
• Lukas Eller
• Tom Weidner
• Juliane MUENCH
• Andreas Limmer

Assignees

• Siemens Healthineers Ag

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20220923

Priority Date

20210930

Claims (19)

1. 1 . A mammography system comprising: a stand unit for locating the mammography system on a floor; an L-shaped source unit, the L-shaped source unit including an arm connected to an X-ray detector in a rotatably mounted manner on a front face of the stand unit, and another arm of the L-shaped source unit protrudes substantially perpendicularly, an X-ray source being located at an end of the source unit remote from the stand unit; and a substantially U-shaped protective unit, the substantially U-spaced protective unit including a first arm attached to the stand unit in a rotatably mounted manner such that the protective unit is rotatable independently of the source unit, the substantially U-shaped protective unit including a second arm extending along a top face of the source unit in a first operating state, and the substantially U-shaped protective unit including a third arm having, at the end of the protective unit remote from the stand unit, a protective shield for supporting a head of a patient.
2. 2 . The mammography system of claim 1 , wherein the protective unit is configured to be substantially form-fitting along a rear face of the stand unit and along the source unit in a first operating state.
3. 3 . The mammography system of claim 1 , wherein the protective unit is stationary in an acquisition state.
4. 4 . The mammography system of claim 1 , wherein the protective shield is adjustable to suit an object under examination.
5. 5 . The mammography system of claim 1 , wherein the protective unit comprises sensors for collision protection.
6. 6 . The mammography system of claim 1 , wherein the protective shield pivots away automatically in the event that an applied force exceeds a threshold value.
7. 7 . The mammography system of claim 5 , wherein a signal connection is configured to transmit a collision risk from the protective unit to a controller of the mammography system.
8. 8 . The mammography system of claim 1 , wherein the protective unit comprises a lighting unit.
9. 9 . The mammography system of claim 1 , wherein the protective unit comprises at least one of a display unit or input unit.
10. 10 . The mammography system claim 9 , further comprising: a presence sensor configured to distinguish between an object under examination and a user.
11. 11 . The mammography system of claim 1 , wherein the protective unit comprises a cleaning unit.
12. 12 . The mammography system of claim 1 , wherein a position sensor of the protective unit is connected to a controller of the mammography system.
13. 13 . The mammography system of claim 1 , wherein the protective shield has a convex curvature toward an object under examination.
14. 14 . The mammography system of claim 13 , wherein the shape of the protective shield conforms to the head of the patient.
15. 15 . The mammography system of claim 1 , wherein the protective shield comprises at least one of a temperature sensor or a heart rate sensor.
16. 16 . The mammography system of claim 2 , wherein the protective unit comprises a cleaning unit.
17. 17 . The mammography system of claim 16 , wherein a position sensor of the protective unit is connected to a controller of the mammography system.
18. 18 . The mammography system of claim 17 , wherein the protective shield has a convex curvature toward an object under examination.
19. 19 . The mammography system of claim 18 , wherein the shape of the protective shield conforms to the head of the patient.

Description

PRIORITY STATEMENT This application is the national phase under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of PCT International Application No. PCT/EP2022/076462 which has an International filing date of Sep. 23, 2022, which designated the United States of America, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to European Patent Application No. 21200287.7, filed Sep. 30, 2021 and European Patent Application No. 22197199.7, filed Sep. 22, 2022, the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. FIELD One or more example embodiments of the present invention relates to a mammography system having a protective unit that protects the head of the object under examination from collisions with the X-ray source. RELATED ART In X-ray based breast imaging, the patient is normally examined standing up. In this process, the breast is placed on an X-ray detector; opposite the detector is an X-ray tube which, in the case of a 3D acquisition (tomosynthesis), is deflected in relation to the detector normal. In modern devices, the X-ray tube moves at a speed of over 2° per second. The X-ray tube is positioned at a distance of about 650 mm from the detector, which means that for many patients the tube movement takes place at head height. The distance between moving tube and patient head is only a few centimeters because of the necessary positioning. Therefore a collision with the moving X-ray tube is theoretically possible and should be ruled out as far as possible by the system hardware and software. DE 10 2006 007 833 A1 discloses an imaging device such as a mammography device, for instance, for producing radiographic images and/or images of an object that have been recreated by tomosynthesis. This device contains an X-ray source, a breast support located between the X-ray source and an image receiver, wherein the X-ray source is located in a head element that is fastened on a rotatably mounted arm carried by a first carriage, which slides on a pillar, and at least one radiotransparent compression plate, which is located between the radiation source and the breast support and fastened on a second carriage for sliding in order to compress the breast of a patient. The device has at least one shield for protecting the head or neck of the patient, which shield can be held in a fixed position in relation to the head or neck of the patient, between the path of the X-ray source and the head or neck of the patient during a tomographic acquisition, in which the X-ray source is rotated, or between the X-ray source and the head or neck of the patient when radiographic images are to be acquired, it being possible to retract or remove the shield. SUMMARY One or more example embodiments of the present invention defines a mammography system that allows comfortable protection of the patient. The object is achieved according to the invention by a mammography system as claimed in claim 1. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Exemplary embodiments of the invention are described in greater detail below with reference to drawings, in which: FIG. 1 shows schematically a representation of an X-ray system according to the invention in a first embodiment; FIG. 2 shows schematically a representation of an X-ray system according to the invention in a second embodiment; FIG. 3 shows schematically a representation of an X-ray system according to the invention in a third embodiment; FIG. 4 shows schematically a representation of an X-ray system according to the invention in a fourth embodiment; FIG. 5 shows schematically a representation of an X-ray system according to the invention in a fifth embodiment; FIG. 6 shows schematically a representation of an X-ray system according to the invention in a sixth embodiment; and FIG. 7 shows schematically a representation of an X-ray system according to the invention in a seventh embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In particular, one or more example embodiments of the present invention can relate to a mammography system, having: a stand unit for locating the mammography system on the floor;an L-shaped source unit, one arm of which is connected to an X-ray detector in a rotatably mounted manner on a front face of the stand unit, and the other arm protrudes substantially perpendicularly, with the result that an X-ray source is located at the end of the source unit remote from the stand element or the stand unit;a substantially U-shaped protective unit, the first arm of which is attached to the stand unit, preferably to a rear face of the stand unit, in a rotatably mounted manner such that it can rotate independently of the source unit, the second arm extends along the top face of the source unit in a first operating state, and the third arm has, at the end of the protective unit remote from the stand element, a protective shield for supporting the patient's head. The mammography system is designed to be located and fastened on the floor, in particular of an examination room. The stand unit stands on the floor. On the