JP4779699B2 - X-ray equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an X-ray imaging apparatus configured to capture a long X-ray image in which an entire long imaging range in a body axis direction of a subject is contained in a single X-ray image.

  In a diagnostic X-ray imaging apparatus, for example, long imaging is performed in which a long area from the vicinity of a subject's neck to the vicinity of a knee is imaged so that the entire image fits in one X-ray image. Sometimes. Of the long photographing methods, a method by slot scanning photographing will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the apparatus for this purpose, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the movement of the subject with respect to the X-ray irradiation field at the time of imaging.

  X-rays radiated from the X-ray tube 1 are fan-shaped by a collimator 2 in a body-side direction perpendicular to the body axis of the subject 3 and shaped into a fan beam having a thickness f in the body axis direction. After irradiating the subject 3 placed on the plate 4, passing through the subject 3, and facing the X-ray tube 1 across the subject 3 and the top plate 4, for example, a flat panel type It is detected by an X-ray detector 5 such as an X-ray detector, converted into an electric signal, and read by an image collecting unit 10 constituted by, for example, a personal computer. Since the image obtained at this time is taken by fan beam-like X-rays, it is a strip-like image having a width f corresponding to the beam thickness f.

  Accordingly, only one strip area having a width f in the long region to be imaged is imaged by one irradiation of the fan beam X-ray, so that the long beam position where the irradiation position of the fan beam X-ray is the starting point of imaging is taken. The subject is moved so as to move from one end of the region, for example, near the neck as shown in FIG. 3 (a) to the other end that is the end point of imaging, for example, near the knee as shown in FIG. 3 (b). The photographing is repeated while moving the person 3 in the body axis direction by the beam thickness f. FIG. 3C is a view of the positions of both ends of the moving range of the X-ray irradiation field with respect to the subject 3 as viewed from above the top plate 4. A plurality of strip-like images obtained by the image collection unit 10 by these photographing are transmitted to the long image composition unit 11 constituted by, for example, a workstation or the like so as to be combined into one long image. . The combined long image is subjected to appropriate image processing in accordance with an instruction from the operation panel 13 and displayed on the image display unit 12 as an image as shown in FIG. 3D, for example (see, for example, Patent Document 1). .

  Next, the irradiation position of the fan beam X-ray is moved from one end of the long region that is the starting point of imaging to the other end that is the ending point of imaging, and X-rays are emitted every time the beam thickness f is moved. An example of a method of repeating shooting will be described below. In FIG. 5, the X-ray tube 1 and the X-ray detector 5 held by a holding device (not shown) having a single structure or different structures in the examination room are horizontally placed in the longitudinal direction on the upper surface of the bed 14 installed on the floor. It arrange | positions on both sides of the subject 3 mounted on the top plate 4 hold | maintained so that movement is possible. When an operator (not shown) operates the top panel operation panel 7 to instruct the movement of the top panel 4 to the head side or the foot side, the top panel movement control unit 6 constituted by, for example, a microcomputer or the like causes the bed 14 to move. For example, a pulse motor or a top plate driving mechanism 4B (built in the bed 14) that electrically drives a top plate moving mechanism 4A constituted by a ball screw mechanism or the like that changes the rotation of the motor into a linear motion. A signal indicating this and a pulse train instructing rotation are output. The top plate movement control unit 6 is reset when the top plate 4 reaches the mechanical home position (not shown) by the origin detection unit 4C, which is also built in the bed 14, and outputs the number of pulses output to the top plate drive unit 4B. A coordinate position in the longitudinal direction of the top 4 can always be recognized by a counter (not shown) built in the top movement control unit 6 that counts by addition or subtraction according to the rotation direction.

  The operator operates the top panel operation panel 7 to move the top panel 4 to the head side or the foot side, and refers to the light irradiation field simulating the X-ray irradiation field of the X-ray tube 1 while referring to the subject 3. Place the end point of long shooting in the irradiation field. FIG. 3B shows this state. After the operator stops the top 4 at the end point position, when the top panel operation panel 7 is operated to notify that this position is the end point, the top plate The movement control unit 6 stores the coordinate position of the top plate 4 in the longitudinal direction, that is, the count value B at that time of the counter of the top plate movement control unit 6 as the top plate end point position. Thereafter, the top plate 4 is moved to the starting point position shown in FIG. 3A by the same method, and the count value A of the counter at that time is stored as the top plate starting point position. The operator performs the above operation while paying attention to the position of the subject 3 with respect to the irradiation field in the vicinity of the subject 3 in the examination room.

Thereafter, the operator moves to an operation room separated from the examination room by an X-ray protective wall, and uses an operation panel 9A of an X-ray controller 9 constituted by, for example, a microcomputer, for example, a long-length imaging technique and appropriate imaging. After setting the conditions, a push button (not shown) of the hand switch 9B is pressed to start shooting. As a result, the X-ray controller 9 drives the high voltage generator 8 to apply a pulsed high voltage to the X-ray tube 1, so that the X-rays are irradiated to the subject 3 and the X-rays at the starting position. Photographing and image collection by the image collection unit 10 are performed. When the top plate movement control unit 6 receives a notification from the X-ray controller 9 that the X-ray imaging is completed at the starting position, the top plate driving unit 4B and the top plate moving mechanism 4A make the beam thickness of the top plate 4 to the head side. After moving by f, the X-ray controller 9 is notified of the end of movement. As a result, the X-ray controller 9 performs imaging at the strip position adjacent to the start position. The top plate movement control unit 6 and the X-ray controller 9 repeat the above operation, and when the top plate 4 reaches the top plate end position, the counter value becomes B, and the photographing at the end point position is finished. The repetition of the above operation is terminated. In order to ensure safety by the X-ray controller 9, the above repeating operation is continued while confirming that the push button of the hand switch 9B is being pushed by the operator. The movement is stopped upon reaching the end point position, and the push button is released after the series of X-ray irradiation is completed. On the other hand, when photographing at the end position of the top plate is completed, all the strip-shaped images from the start position to the end position are transmitted from the image collection section 10 to the long image composition section 11 and become one long image. Are connected to each other and displayed on the image display unit 12 and stored in the image recording device 15.
JP 2004-236929 A

  In the case of performing long shooting by the slot scan shooting described above, the operator must determine the start point position and the end point position by using a light irradiation field in advance. In this case, the operator determines the body surface of the subject. The position of the organ and bone is imagined and the positioning is performed, and the light field does not necessarily coincide with the X-ray field with high accuracy. It is difficult to determine with sufficient positional accuracy, and even if the imaging range is set so as to avoid the site where it is desired to avoid exposure as much as possible, for example, gonads, undesired exposure may occur at the boundary portion. In addition, since the imaging range is specified by such a method in the vicinity of the subject in the examination room, and the subsequent imaging is performed by moving to the operation room separated by the X-ray protective wall, the operator's work efficiency is improved. There is room for improvement. The present invention is to solve these problems.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the fan beam X-ray beam is directed to the subject placed on the top plate so that the beam spreading direction is a direction perpendicular to the body axis of the subject. An X-ray tube for irradiation, an X-ray detector disposed opposite to the X-ray tube and detecting X-rays transmitted through the subject and converting the detected X-ray into an electrical signal, and the top plate or the oppositely disposed A moving means for moving the X-ray tube and the X-ray detector in the body axis direction of the subject; a first imaging range setting means for setting a start point and an end point position of the imaging range based on position information of the moving means; Each time the subject moves in the body axis direction by the beam thickness of the fan beam X-ray by the moving means, a strip-like image output from the X-ray detector is collected and the first imaging is performed. The image of the entire shooting range set by the range setting means is synthesized. A long image creation unit that edits the entire imaging range into a single long X-ray image, an image storage unit that stores the long X-ray image, and a display unit that displays the long X-ray image. in X-ray imaging apparatus, a positional information storage憶means for storing positional information of the movable unit about the shooting range in association with the elongated X-ray image, displays the start point and the end point position of the photographic range on said display means A second imaging range setting unit that is set by position information on the long X-ray image; and the set position information is converted into position information of the moving unit based on the position information stored in the position information storage unit. An X-ray imaging apparatus provided with position information conversion means is provided.

  According to the present invention, since a new imaging range is designated using the long imaging image and its imaging range information that have been acquired and stored in the past for each subject, the subject is in the longitudinal direction of the top board each time. By placing them at the same position, it is possible to set the positions of the start point and the end point while specifically confirming the position of the bone, the position of a certain organ, etc. on the image, and the light field and the X-ray field. Therefore, the accuracy of setting the imaging range for the subject can be improved, and unnecessary X-ray exposure at a portion adjacent to the start point or the end point can be prevented. Further, since the setting of the shooting range and the shooting operation can be performed in the operation room, the operator's work efficiency is improved as compared with the conventional case.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an apparatus for performing long photographing according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a method for specifying a long photographing range according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the movement of the subject relative to the X-ray irradiation field at the time of imaging described in the background art section. In these drawings, the components and the like denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 5 are the same as those in FIG.

  As for the long-time imaging performed using the X-ray imaging apparatus according to the present invention, the first long-time imaging for each subject 3 is performed in substantially the same manner as described in the background art section. In other words, the operator (not shown) places the subject 3 on the top 4 before moving to the head or foot and moves it horizontally to the head side or foot side, and uses the light irradiation field of the X-ray tube 1 to make it long. The imaging start point and end point are positioned, and the table top position information regarding the start point and end point is stored in the table movement control unit 6. After that, when a long image is started by pressing a push button (not shown) of the hand switch 9B of the X-ray controller 9, the top plate movement control unit 6 that controls the movement distance of the horizontal movement of the top plate 4 and the X-ray irradiation are controlled. The X-ray controller 9 is operated in conjunction, and the range from the start point to the end point specified in advance as shown in FIG. 3C, for example, corresponds to the beam thickness f of the fan beam X-ray. Shoot by dividing into strip-like images of width f. As a result, a series of strip-like images collected in the image collecting unit 10 are joined by the long image synthesizing unit 11 so as to become one long image, and displayed on the image display unit 12 and image recording. It is stored in the device 15.

  However, when performing long imaging using the X-ray imaging apparatus according to the present invention, the operator places the subject 3 on the top 4 each time including the first long imaging performed for each subject 3. When placed, a certain position in the longitudinal direction of the top 4 is obtained by, for example, placing the top of the subject 3 at a certain distance from the head side end face of the top 4 marked by an appropriate method. The subject 3 is placed in the position and taken. In addition, when performing long imaging using the X-ray imaging apparatus according to the present invention, the long image synthesizing unit 11 includes a series of images captured from the image collecting unit 10 each time, including the first imaging of each subject 3. When receiving the strip-shaped image, the top-plate position information regarding the start point and end point of the image is received from the top-plate movement control unit 6 and stored in the image recording device 15 as a pair with the synthesized long image.

  A feature of the X-ray imaging apparatus according to the present invention is that the designation of the imaging range of the second and subsequent long imaging performed using this apparatus for each subject 3 has been captured and stored in the image recording device 15. An appropriate image is displayed on the image display unit 12 among the long photographed images of the same subject 3 and is performed on the image. Hereinafter, an example of a method for setting the imaging range of the second and subsequent long imaging performed using the X-ray imaging apparatus according to the present invention will be specifically described.

  The operator operates the operation panel 13 to select an appropriate image from the past long-captured images of the subject 3 stored in the image recording device 15, for example, an image as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed on the image display unit 12, and then the operation panel 13 is further operated to display two cursors 12A and 12B indicated by broken lines from the upper side to the lower side of the screen in FIG. 2 on the screen of the image display unit 12. Let Then, a cursor (not shown) connected to the long image composition unit 11 is used to move the cursors 12A and 12B separately in the left and right directions on the long image displayed on the screen, and one is performed this time. After placing the long shooting start point position and the other one at the end point position, the operation panel 13 is operated again, and the long image shooting section 11 displays these cursor positions and the start point of the long shooting image. The calculation of the top plate start point position C and end point position D of the long photographing performed this time is instructed from the top plate position information relating to the end point according to Equations 1 and 2 shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, a and b are the coordinate values of the start point and end point of the display image on the image position coordinates, respectively, and c and d are the coordinate values of the start point and end point of the long shooting performed on the image position coordinates, respectively. It is. On the other hand, A and B are the coordinate values of the start point and end point of the display image on the top plate position coordinates, respectively, and C and D are the start point and end point of the long photographing performed this time on the top plate position coordinates, respectively. It is a coordinate value. In addition, both Formula 1 and Formula 2 are derived from the fact that the distance on the image position coordinates and the distance on the top position coordinates are in a proportional relationship.

  Thereafter, the values of the top plate starting point position C and end point position D of the long photographing performed this time calculated in the long image composition unit 11 are sent to the top plate movement control unit 6, as described in the background art section. By operating the top panel operation panel 7 to move the top panel 4 and positioning the start point and end point, it is not necessary to store the values of the top panel start point position C and end point position D in the top panel movement controller 6. Become.

  Next, the operator places the subject 3 on the top 4. At this time, as in the case of the first imaging, the operator places the top of the subject 3 at a certain distance from the head-side end surface of the top 4 marked by an appropriate method. The subject 3 is arranged so that each part of the body of the examiner 3 is in the same position every time in the longitudinal direction of the top plate 4. This completes the setting of the shooting range for the long shooting to be performed. Since the subsequent operation for performing the long photographing and the operation of the apparatus by the same operation are the same as those described above, the description thereof will be omitted.

  In the above embodiment, the X-ray tube 1 and the X-ray detector 5 are fixed and the top plate 4 is moved in the longitudinal direction in order to perform slot scan imaging, but the top plate 4 is fixed and the X-ray tube 1 is fixed. The X-ray detector 5 may be moved in the longitudinal direction of the top plate 4 with the X-ray detector 5 facing each other.

  In the above embodiment, the top plate 4 is stopped every time the fan beam-shaped X-ray beam thickness f is moved, and images are collected by a method of repeating X-ray imaging. Images may be acquired by a method of repeating X-ray imaging every time the X-ray beam thickness f is moved while continuously moving at a low speed that can ignore motion blur.

  In the above embodiment, each subject 3 is designated with a long photographing image obtained by slot scanning photographing with this apparatus in the past. However, as shown in FIG. Is used to expand the irradiation field in the body axis direction of the subject 3 and perform normal imaging using the entire surface of the X-ray detector 5, for example, the X-ray tube 1 and the X-ray detector 5 are shown by the solid line in FIG. 4. A long length obtained by synthesizing a plurality of images (images 1 and 2 in FIG. 4) obtained by overlapping a part of each image at a plurality of positions such as two positions of a position and a broken line position. The subsequent photographing range may be designated using the photographed image. At this time, the apparatus stores the center position of each of the obtained images (image 1 and image 2 in FIG. 4) in correspondence with the top panel coordinate position, so that the position on the image is the top panel coordinate. Can be converted to the upper position. 4 are the same as those shown in FIG. 5 and the description thereof will be omitted.

  The present invention relates to an X-ray imaging apparatus configured to capture a long X-ray image in which an entire long imaging range in a body axis direction of a subject is contained in a single X-ray image.

It is a figure for demonstrating the structure of the X-ray imaging apparatus which performs long imaging | photography by this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the designation | designated method of the long imaging | photography range by this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the movement of the to-be-photographed object with respect to the X-ray irradiation field at the time of long imaging | photography. It is a figure for demonstrating another Example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the structure of the conventional X-ray imaging apparatus which performs long imaging | photography.

Explanation of symbols

1: X-ray tube 2: Collimator 3: Subject 4: Top plate 4A: Top plate moving mechanism 4B: Top plate drive unit 4C: Origin detection unit 5: X-ray detector 6: Top plate movement control unit 7: Top Panel operation panel 8: High voltage generator 9: X-ray controller 9A: Operation panel 9B: Hand switch 10: Image collection unit 11: Long image composition unit 12: Image display unit 12A: Cursor 12B: Cursor 13: Operation panel 14: Sleeper 15: Image recording device

Claims (1)

An X-ray tube that irradiates a subject placed on a top plate with a fan beam X-ray so that the beam expanding direction is perpendicular to the body axis of the subject, and the X-ray tube is disposed opposite to the X-ray tube An X-ray detector that detects X-rays transmitted through the subject and converts them into an electrical signal; and the top plate or the X-ray tube and the X-ray detector that are arranged opposite to each other. A moving means for moving in the axial direction; a first imaging range setting means for setting a start point and an end point position of the imaging range based on position information of the moving means; and a fan beam in the body axis direction by the moving means. A strip-like image output from the X-ray detector is collected each time the X-ray beam is moved, and the image over the entire imaging range set by the first imaging range setting means is synthesized. And long to edit the entire imaging range into a single long X-ray image An X-ray imaging apparatus comprising: an image creating unit; an image storage unit that stores the long X-ray image; and a display unit that displays the long X-ray image. Position information storage means for storing position information of the moving means for the range, and second imaging for setting the start point and end point position of the imaging range by position information on the long X-ray image displayed on the display means An X-ray imaging apparatus comprising: range setting means; and position information conversion means for converting the set position information into position information of the moving means based on the position information stored in the position information storage means.

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