the principles and operation of a monitor assembly according to the present invention may be better understood with reference to the figures , wherein like reference numbers identify like elements throughout the various figures , and the accompanying description . referring now to the drawings , fig1 a through 1c illustrate an embodiment 10 , of a monitor assembly of the present invention , that is intended to be used with a general electric precision 500d radiography fluoroscopy unit ( general electric company , fairfield , conn ., usa ). while a general electric precision 500d radiography fluoroscopy unit is preferred , those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to this brand of fluoroscope or to any fluoroscope . the invention may be employed , either as illustrated or with slight modifications , with other brands of fluoroscopes and other equipment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . monitor assembly 10 includes a conventional monitor 12 such as a fimi - philips lcd mml 1821 series monitor ( fimi philips , saronno , italy ) or some other appropriate monitor , a joint assembly 14 and a bracket 16 . fig2 a and 2b show details of joint assembly 14 . joint assembly 14 includes a ball joint 18 and an adjustable arm 20 . monitor 12 is rigidly attached to ball joint 18 . both the length of arm 20 and the angle between arm 20 and ball joint 18 are adjustable , as shown . the end of arm 20 is rigidly attached to bracket 16 , as shown in fig1 a - 1c . ball joint 18 allows monitor 12 to be swiveled relative to arm 20 , and arm 20 allows monitor 12 and ball joint 18 to be moved together up and down ( angular adjustment ) and in and out ( length adjustment ) relative to bracket 16 and hence relative to the fluoroscopy unit to which monitor assembly 10 is secured . joint assembly 14 and bracket 16 are made of a suitably rigid material . examples of some suitable materials include metals such as aluminum and polymers such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and polycarbonate . fig3 shows monitor assembly 10 reversibly secured to the image intensifier / housing 32 of a general electric radiography fluoroscopy unit 30 . a fluoroscopist can easily adjust the orientation of monitor 12 and ( within the limits of translational extension of arm 14 ) the distance between monitor 12 and image intensifier tower 32 . a fluoroscopist also can position a patient as desired on the examination table of the fluoroscopy unit 30 and conduct diagnostic procedures while looking at the display of the imaging output from fluoroscopy unit 30 on monitor 12 without turning his or her body away from fluoroscopy unit 30 and without interrupting the diagnostic procedures . the examination table can be placed at any angle relative to the floor , from horizontal to vertical ; and monitor assembly 10 can be adjusted accordingly for the convenience of the fluoroscopist . additional monitors may be provided in the conventional manner so that personnel other than the fluoroscopist can see the same display that the fluoroscopist sees . fig4 a - 4c illustrate another embodiment 10 ′, of a monitor assembly of the present invention , that is intended to be used with a phillips allura xper fluoroscopy unit ( koninklijke philips electronics n . v ., eindhoven , the netherlands ). monitor assembly 10 ′ may employ the same monitor 12 and joint assembly 14 as monitor assembly 10 but a different bracket 16 ′. bracket 16 ′ includes four l - pieces 22 arranged in a rectangular shape of adjustable length and width , as shown in fig4 a , and also an orthogonal brace 24 that is secured to the l - piece arrangement by clamp screws , as shown in fig4 b , so as to allow the separation of the distal end 26 of orthogonal brace 24 from the l - piece arrangement to be adjusted , as shown in fig4 c . while four l - shaped pieces and adjustability of both the length and width are preferred , those skilled in the art will recognize that different shapes could be employed to achieve the same adjustability and shape and the l - piece arrangement could have a fixed length and / or width and still fall within the scope of the invention . those skilled in the art will also recognize that orthogonal brace 24 could be fixedly secured to the l - piece arrangement and the l - piece arrangement could be separable to achieve the same or similar results and still fall within the scope of the invention . fig5 shows monitor assembly 10 ′ reversibly secured to the flat detector 42 of the c - arm 40 of a phillips allura xper fluoroscopy unit . orthogonal brace 24 is shown cushioned against the top of flat panel detector by a rubber sleeve , although it need not be to fall within the scope of the invention . in general , the bracket of a monitor assembly of the present invention may be either custom - designed for a specific type of diagnostic device , or semi - custom - designed for a class of diagnostic devices of similar geometry , or a universal bracket that is adaptable to a wide range of diagnostic devices . the illustrated brackets 16 and 16 ′ are of the second type : brackets that are designed for a class of diagnostic devices of similar geometry . for example , fig6 a and 6b are two views of monitor assembly 10 with bracket 16 reversibly secured to the image intensifier tower 52 of the iso - c - arm 50 of a siemens siremobile unit ( siemens ag , berlin and munich , germany ). while the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments , it will be appreciated that many variations , modifications and other applications of the invention may be made . for example , the connection to the monitor need not be a ball joint . it could be a fixed connection , a connection that only has movement in one direction , or in 2 directions rather than a free range of directions . such connections are conventional and need not be described further . further , the arm could be a fixed length , telescoping or of an accordion type . these various arms are also well known and thus need not be described further . those skilled in the art will recognize that additional joints could be employed to further enhance the degree of movement of the monitor relative to the diagnostic device . it is to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention as described herein , and all statements of the scope of the invention , which as a matter of language , might be said to fall therebetween .
a monitor assembly includes a monitor , for displaying output of a diagnostic device such as a fluoroscope , to which is operationally attached a bracket that is operative to secure the monitor to the diagnostic device so that an operator of the diagnostic device can view the output while operating the diagnostic device and without interrupting the operation of the diagnostic device . preferably , the monitor is attached to the bracket by a joint assembly that allows the monitor to be translated and rotated relative to the bracket .