Patent ID: 8245335

Claim:
Apparatus for use in imaging of a head of a patient using Magnetic Resonance and X-ray imaging comprising: a patient support table, the patient support table comprising; a table support base for mounting in a fixed position in an imaging suite; and an upper patient support portion on which the patient can lie with the part of the patient exposed for imaging; the upper patient support portion being mounted for controlled movement thereof relative to the table support base; a magnetic resonance imaging system for obtaining images of the part of the patient, the magnetic resonance imaging system comprising: a magnet for use with a control system for controlling and varying a magnetic field of the magnet; wherein the magnet is mounted on a magnet support arranged so that the magnet is movable between a magnetic resonance imaging position while the patient support portion remains supported on the table support base and a remote position in which the magnet is removed from the upper patient support portion by a distance such that the upper patient support portion is out of the magnetic field of the magnet; and an X-Ray imaging system comprising: an X-Ray transmitter; an X-Ray receiver; the X-Ray source and the X-Ray receptor being arranged to define an imaging zone; an X-Ray support base; wherein the X-Rav imaging system is mounted for movement relative to the patient support table; the patient table including a head holder for the head of the patient comprising: a mounting portion for engaging an end of the upper patient support portion; a head clamp having mounting points for engaging the head of the patient and an adjustment device for adjusting the spacing of the points; an adjustment coupling for moving the head clamp to different positions on the mounting portion for moving the head of the patient to different positions; the head holder and upper patient support portion being formed of one or more materials which are MR compatible; the head holder and upper patient support portion being formed of one or more materials each of which has for a sample of 10 mm thickness an Aluminum equivalence factor of less than 10 mm; the head holder and upper patient support portion being arranged such that the presence of the structural support component in an imaging zone of a magnetic resonance imaging system when generating the image does not generate any visually determinable distortion in the image.