HEAD SUPPORT FOR INTERVENTIONAL MR

摘要

In interventional MRI, for example, in neurosurgical applications, the head of a patient must be positioned on a head support while allowing reproducible manipulation of the head. The head support must be made of a material that is compatible with MR. Furthermore, spatial restrictions imposed by the bore of the magnetic resonance apparatus have to be dealt with The head support (15) in accordance with the invention comprises supporting means (1) whereon the patient head or a stereotactic frame can be rested. The supporting means (1) rest on the mounting means (2) and are fixed on the table top thereby. The mounting means (2) provide a sliding surface (16) that enables rotation of the supporting means (1) relative to the mounting means (2). The supporting means (1) can be curved towards the table top on which they rest, thus providing a concave surface (9) so as to lower the supporting surface for a stereotactic frame and hence minimize the total volume of the construction. When a radius of between 10 cm and 18 cm is chosen for the sliding surface (16), the patient will not suffer from stress to the cervical vertebrae during rotation of the supporting means (1). The reproducibility of the patient positioning with respect to the head support (15) is thus improved, since it is not necessary to reposition the patient after each rotation so as to reduce the induced stress.