APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC AND FOR MEDICAL GUIDED INTERVENTIONS AND THERAPY

摘要

Systems and methods for medical diagnostic and for medical guided interventions using multiple imaging systems are introduced. These systems and methods recognize the need for a relatively simple and modular way of combining information available from two or more medical imaging apparatus in medical diagnosis and in image guided surgery and therapy. Particularly these methods enable to minimize mechanical constraints involved in a cooperative operation of several medical imaging devices. The apparatus and methods introduced in the present invention enable to measure the relative position between different medical imaging devices and between the image planes and/or image volumes produced by them by means of using a position measuring system based with attachable position measuring components. This facilitates image fusing when images of the same plane/volume are available from different medical imaging systems. Additionally/alternately it enables to position a second medical imaging device over a desired area/volume according to information received from the image produced by the first medical imaging device.