Patent ID: 7088798

Claim:
A method for conducting a computed tomography examination of a patient implemented through a user interface to a computer of a computed tomography apparatus, said user interface comprising a computerized display screen and at least one input device, said method comprising the steps of: through said computer, displaying a presentation on said display screen comprising a scout view area, a tomographic image area, a workflow list area, a parameter setting area, and a load button; automatically highlighting only a patient registration option in said workflow list on said display screen and thereafter only permitting entry of patient parameters into said parameter setting area by an operator via said input device; upon completion of entry of said patient parameters, automatically highlighting a scanning program selection option in said workflow list and displaying a figure representing a patient body in said parameter setting area and allowing an operator only to select a scanning program by interacting with said figure with said input device, and displaying a plurality of figures respectively representing different patient postures in said parameter setting area and allowing an operator only to select a patient posture by interacting with said plurality of figures representing patient posture with said input device; after selection of said scanning program and said patient posture, automatically highlighting a scout view option in said workflow list on said display screen and displaying a plurality of scanning parameter cards in said parameter setting area and allowing an operator only to set scout view scanning parameters in said scanning parameter cards and to activate said load button to load said scout view planning parameters into said computer, and said operator then starting said scout view scanning to produce a scout view; automatically displaying said scout view in said scout view area on said display screen to allow a scanning plan to be determined by an operator, and automatically entering the scanning program selected by the operator and allowing the operator only to set tomography scanning parameters in said scanning parameter cards in said parameter setting area and to set tomography reconstruction parameters in reconstruction parameter cards displayed in said parameter setting area, said operator activating said load button to load said tomography scanning parameters into said computer, and the operator starting said tomography scanning, and automatically displaying a tomographic image in said tomographic image area on said display screen; upon completion of said tomography scanning, said operator selecting an end of examination option in said workflow list; and automatically ending the examination by restoring blank entries on said display screen in said scout view area, said tomographic image area and said parameter setting area, and re-highlighting said patient registration option in said workflow list.