Reducing vibration of a cantilevered patient support surface

Abstract

A system and method for reducing vibration of a cantilevered patient support surface are provided herein. A system includes a spring and roller coupled with the spring. The spring creates an upwards spring bias on the patient support surface. The roller is coupled with the spring via a roller lever arm. A frictional resistance at the roller arm and an upward directed spring bias enables the roller to maintain constant contact with the patient support surface.

1 . A system for reducing vibration of a cantilevered patient support surface, comprising:
 a spring, wherein the spring creates an upwards spring bias on the cantilevered patient support surface; and   a roller coupled with the spring via a roller lever arm, wherein a frictional resistance at the roller arm and an upward directed spring bias enables the roller to maintain constant contact with the cantilevered patient support surface.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein a friction disc at the roller lever arm generates the frictional resistance, and the friction disc has a static friction disc coefficient and a dynamic friction disc coefficient of the friction disc are near equal. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the upward spring bias is adjustable. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the spring is a torsion spring. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the upwards spring bias is approximately three times greater the friction force. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the friction disc is constructed from Rulon-J. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the patient support surface is at a constant deflection. 
     
     
         8 . A method for reducing vibration of a cantilevered patient support surface, comprising:
 providing an upward spring bias on the cantilevered patient support surface with at least one spring;   providing a frictional resistance with a roller coupled with the spring via a roller lever arm:,   maintaining constant contact between the roller and the cantilevered patient support surface; and   creating a constant deflection of the cantilevered patient support surface wherein the patient anatomy does not change in vertical position during image data acquisition.   
     
     
         9 . The method for reducing vibration of a cantilevered patient support surface of  claim 8 , wherein the upward spring bias is provided by a plurality of springs. 
     
     
         10 . The method for reducing vibration of a cantilevered patient support surface of  claim 8 , wherein the upward spring bias is provided by a torsion spring. 
     
     
         11 . The method for reducing vibration of a cantilevered patient support surface of  claim 8 , wherein the frictional resistance is provided by a friction disc. 
     
     
         12 . The method for reducing vibration of a cantilevered patient support surface of  claim 8 , wherein the frictional resistance is provided by a friction disc constructed from Rulon-J. 
     
     
         13 . The method for reducing vibration of a cantilevered patient support surface of  claim 8 , further comprising avoiding stick-slip of the cantilevered patient support surface, wherein the frictional resistance is provided by a friction disk having static and dynamic friction coeffecients similar enough to avoid stick-slip, wherein stick-slip is defined as a momentary positioning of the roller out of contact with the cantilevered patient support surface. 
     
     
         14 . The method for reducing vibration of a cantilevered patient support surface of  claim 8 , wherein the frictional resistance is provided by friction disc having a static friction Elise coefficient and a dynamic friction coefficient that are near equal. 
     
     
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