MEDICAL IMAGING ENVIRONMENT COMPATIBLE POSITIONING ARM

摘要

A positioning arm for positioning and holding a device within a medical imaging environment workspace has: (a) a free-end link (10) in the form of a circular cylinder having a distal end face (12) and an adjoining end face, with the adjoining end face forming a specified angle with the cylinder's centerline and the distal end face (12) adapted to allow for the connection of the device to the free-end link (10), (b) a plurality of intermediate links (14a-e), each in the form of a circular cylinder having end faces that form a specified angle with the links' centerline, and each of these intermediate links having a channel (16) connecting their end faces, (c) a base link (28) in the form of a circular cylinder having a base end face and an adjoining end face, with the adjoining end face forming a specified angle with the link's centerline and the base end face adapted to allow for the connection of the arm to a supporting surface, (d) a cable (24) that passes through the link channels so that one cable end attaches to the free-end link and the other end attaches to the base link, and (e) a locking mechanism (40) that attaches to the cable (16) and applies tension to the cable so as to pull adjoining end faces into contact so as to lock them together by frictional, wherein these components are fabricated from MRI compatible materials (e.g., plastics, glass, ceramics, rubbers, composites, and certain non-ferrous metals such as aluminum, titanium, brass, and nitilol).