Patent ID: 7702375

Claim:
A medical imaging apparatus comprising: a scanner having an open interior volume configured to receive a patient and configured to acquire image data from the patient, said scanner having an exterior with a front wall surrounding an opening through which said open interior volume is accessed; and a light source located completely behind said front wall inside said exterior of said scanner, said light source emitting light that interacts with said front wall that causes a substantial surface portion of said front wall, at least surrounding said opening and being separate from said light source, to be illuminated exclusively with dispersed illumination designed to make the illuminated surface portion dominate said opening in a visual perception of said front wall at said exterior of said scanner to reduce anxiety of the patient prior to the patient being received in said open interior volume, at least a portion of said front wall being comprised of optically translucent material that conducts said light from said light source and that disperses said light, at said substantial surface portion, as said dispersed illumination.