Patent ID: 11857356
Assignee: SIEMENS HEALTHCARE LIMITED
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  G | IPC A  G

Claim 19:
20. An apparatus for capturing medical images of a body, the body being a human body or a body of an animal, the apparatus comprising:
an acquisition unit configured to
perform a monitoring scan including detecting first medical imaging data corresponding to magnetic resonance data or x-ray data, and
perform a medical imaging scan of the body;

a processing unit configured to
determine a start time for starting manual contrast administration, a timing of at least one of the start time for starting the manual contrast administration, a beginning of the medical imaging scan or an end of the medical imaging scan being based on user-selected points in time, and the user-selected points in time being based on an examination protocol, a contrast agent or a patient characteristic,
produce first images of the body based on the magnetic resonance data or the x-ray data,
detect a signal level at a defined position in the body from the first images,
compute a first time interval based on a characteristic time interval between the start time for starting the manual contrast administration and a time at which the signal level at the defined position in the body reaches a threshold level, and
compute an end time for ending the manual contrast administration such that the end time for ending the manual contrast administration precedes the end of the medical imaging scan by the first time interval; and

a signaling unit coupled to the acquisition unit, the signaling unit configured to
outputting a first advance signal at a first defined time before the start time for starting manual contrast administration,
output a first indication at the start time instructing performance of the manual contrast administration,
output a second advance signal after computing the end time, the second advance signal being a color-coded signal or an audio signal, and
output a second indication at the end time for ending the manual contrast administration, the second indication instructing termination of the manual contrast administration, and the second advance signal being output at a second defined time before the second indication is output.