US 12,226,247 B2
Modular, scalable cooling system for a diagnostic medical imaging apparatus
Ziad Burbar, Knoxville, TN (US); John Keller, Knoxville, TN (US); Andrew Philip Moor, Knoxville, TN (US); and James L. Corbeil, Knoxville, TN (US)
Assigned to Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., Malvern, PA (US)
Appl. No. 17/998,162
Filed by Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., Malvern, PA (US)
PCT Filed Jun. 23, 2021, PCT No. PCT/US2021/070751
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 8, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/263274, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 30, 2021.
Application 17/998,162 is a continuation in part of application No. PCT/US2020/070462, filed on Aug. 26, 2020.
Application 17/998,162 is a continuation in part of application No. 16/946,514, filed on Jun. 25, 2020, granted, now 11,154,262.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/198,079, filed on Sep. 28, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0218252 A1, Jul. 13, 2023
Int. Cl. A61B 6/00 (2024.01); A61B 6/42 (2024.01)
CPC A61B 6/4488 (2013.01) [A61B 6/4233 (2013.01); A61B 6/4275 (2013.01); A61B 6/4411 (2013.01); A61B 6/4435 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for cooling a gantry of a medical imaging apparatus, comprising:
providing a gantry forming a patient tunnel;
providing a cooling apparatus, coupled to and external the gantry, having a coolant supply for supplying fluid coolant to the gantry, and a coolant return for returning the coolant to the cooling apparatus;
orienting a first detector electronic assembly (DEA) within the gantry outboard of the patient tunnel, the DEA having:
a housing;
detector elements in the housing, for detecting incident photons of electromagnetic radiation originating outside of the housing;
other electronic components in the housing;
a fluid cooled, first chill plate in the housing that is thermally conductively coupled to the detector elements, for cooling the detector elements, the first chill plate having a first inlet for receiving the coolant from the coolant supply and a first outlet for discharging the coolant to the coolant return, the first inlet and the first outlet in communication with an exterior surface of the housing; and
a fluid cooled, second chill plate in the housing that is thermally conductively coupled to the other electronic components, for cooling the other electronic components, the second chill plate having a second inlet for receiving the coolant from the coolant supply and a second outlet for discharging the coolant to the coolant return, the second inlet and the second outlet in communication with an exterior surface of the housing;
orienting a second DEA in the gantry, having the same structure as the first DEA:
coupling directly or indirectly, the first inlet of the first chill plate of the second DEA to the coolant supply of the cooling apparatus upstream of the first DEA;
coupling the first outlet of the first chill plate of the second DEA to the respective first inlet of the first DEA;
coupling the second outlet of the second chill plate of the first DEA to the respective second inlet of the second DEA;
coupling directly or indirectly, the second outlet of the second DEA to the coolant return of the cooling apparatus; and
circulating the coolant between the gantry and the cooling apparatus at a flow rate that maintains a specified stable temperature bandwidth for all of the detector elements in both the first and second DEAs.