Patent ID: 7669602

Claim:
A hand-held device for optimizing the cervical vertebral radiographic area in a subject to be X-rayed, the device comprising: a cross-bar; a first strut extending orthogonally from the cross-bar, the first strut including a first end and a second end, the first end of the first strut being moveably connected to the cross-bar, and a substantially U-shaped member connected to the second end of the first strut, the U-shaped member being sized to fit on a subject's shoulder, wherein the U-shaped member comprises two portions in an adjustable conformation, each portion comprising an outer section and an inner section, the inner section being the section that is adjacent to the subject's shoulder, and a spring means for extending or contracting an arc of the U-shaped member allowing adjustment of the two portions to fit the subject's shoulder; and a second strut extending orthogonally from the cross-bar, the second strut including a first end and a second end, the first end of the second strut being moveably connected to the cross-bar, and a substantially U-shaped second member connected to the second end of the second strut, the U-shaped second member being sized to fit on the subject's other shoulder, wherein the U-shaped second member comprises two portions in an adjustable conformation, each portion comprising an outer section and an inner section, the inner section being the section that is adjacent to the subject's shoulder, and a spring means for extending or contracting an arc of the U-shaped second member allowing adjustment of the two portions to fit the subject's shoulder, wherein a distance between the first strut and the second strut is adjustable with movement of one of the first strut and the second strut with respect to the other of the first strut and the second strut, and wherein the U-shaped members move the subject's shoulders out of view of the cervical vertebrae when imaging the cervical vertebrae of the subject when downward pressure is applied to the cross-bar.