JP2000070244A - X-ray device for medical use - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To keep a distance between the focus of an X-ray tube and an exami nee body constant even in the case of being provided with an X-ray tube supporting part made displaceable in a horizontal direction and a vertical direc tion by parallel link arms. SOLUTION: In this X-ray device for medical use provided with the X-ray tube supporting part 16 made displaceable in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction by the parallel link arms 14a and 14b provided movably in the vertical direction along a column 9 provided on a moving truck 3 and the X-ray tube 18 supported by the X-ray tube supporting part 16, the distance L between the focus 24 of the X-ray tube 18 and the examinee body 22 is preset to a prescribed value. The device is also provided with a means for detecting the inclination angle θ of the parallel link arms 14a and 14b at the time of displacing the X-ray tube 18 in the horizontal direction, displacing the X-ray tube supporting part 16 in the vertical direction and performing correction so as to match the distance L between the X-ray tube focus 24 the examinee body 22 with the prescribed preset value.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medical X-ray apparatus for irradiating a subject with X-rays to take an X-ray image of a diagnosis site, and more particularly to a medical X-ray apparatus capable of being displaced horizontally and vertically by a parallel link arm. The present invention relates to a medical X-ray apparatus capable of maintaining a constant distance between the focus of an X-ray tube and a subject even when the X-ray tube support section is provided.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional medical X-ray apparatus, for example, a mobile X-ray apparatus, is mainly used for a round-trip in a hospital, and has an X-ray high-voltage generator and an X-ray controller mounted on a mobile carriage. An X-ray tube is supported by a support member provided on the movable trolley, and the movable trolley is moved manually or electrically to be used for X-ray imaging at a bedside such as a hospital room. Then, at the time of actual imaging, the X-ray tube is moved horizontally or vertically according to the posture of the subject in order to irradiate the subject with the X-rays.

[0003] In order to support the X-ray tube on a support member provided on a movable trolley, for example, a telescopic method in which an arm that expands and contracts in the horizontal direction is used, and a displacement in the horizontal and vertical directions are possible. There is a pantograph type in which a parallel link arm is used for support. The pantograph method has an advantage that the X-ray tube can be set at a high position even if the height of the support member is not so high, and a large moving range of the X-ray tube can be secured while being compact.

[0004]

However, in the conventional support of the pantograph type X-ray tube in the medical X-ray apparatus, since the X-ray tube is supported by using the parallel link arm, the subject is not examined. Even if it is desired to move the X-ray tube only in the horizontal direction in order to align the X-ray with the imaging part, the displacement also occurs in the vertical direction, and the X
The distance between the focus of the tube and the subject varied. Therefore, the X-ray irradiation on the subject may not be focused. Therefore, it is necessary to appropriately move the support using the parallel link arm with respect to the support member of the movable trolley in the vertical direction, and adjust the distance between the X-ray tube focal point and the subject to match the set value. was there.
For this reason, the photographing operation is complicated.

Accordingly, the present invention addresses such a problem and focuses on the X-ray tube even when it has an X-ray tube support that can be displaced horizontally and vertically by a parallel link arm. It is an object of the present invention to provide a medical X-ray apparatus capable of maintaining a constant distance between a subject and a subject.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a medical X-ray apparatus according to the present invention is provided so as to be movable in a vertical direction along a support member provided on a base, and is provided in a horizontal direction by a parallel link arm. And X that can be displaced vertically
In a medical X-ray apparatus including a X-ray tube support unit and an X-ray tube supported by the X-ray tube support unit, the distance between the focus of the X-ray tube and the subject is preset to a predetermined value. In advance,
When the X-ray tube is displaced in the horizontal direction, the inclination angle of the parallel link arm is detected, and the X-ray tube support is displaced in the vertical direction, so that the distance between the X-ray tube focal point and the subject is the preset value. Is provided.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a medical X-ray apparatus according to the present invention. This medical X
The X-ray apparatus irradiates a subject with X-rays to take an X-ray image of a diagnostic site. For example, the X-ray apparatus is a mobile X-ray apparatus mainly used for round-trips in a hospital, and includes a traveling wheel 1.
And a movable trolley 3 including a universal wheel 2 for changing directions.

[0008] An X-ray tube 18 to be described later is provided on the movable carriage 3.
An X-ray high-voltage generator 4 for supplying a high voltage to the X-ray tube and an X-ray controller 5 for controlling the emission conditions and the exposure timing of the X-rays generated from the X-ray tube 18 are mounted on the housing. 6
Covered with. An operating device 7 for transmitting an operation command to the X-ray controller 5 and the like to control the entire device is provided on the upper surface of the housing 6. At the upper rear end of the housing 6, a travel handle 8 for traveling the entire apparatus with the movable carriage 3 is provided.

At the front end of the movable trolley 3, a column 9 as a support member is provided upright in the vertical direction, and is rotatably provided around its axis as shown by arrows A and B.
A slider 10 is provided on the axis of the support 9 so as to be movable in the vertical direction along the axial direction, and can be moved in the vertical direction as shown by arrows C and D by manual operation.

At the front end of the slider 10, parallel link arms 14a and 14b are provided. The parallel link arms 14a and 14b serve as X-ray tube supports which can be displaced in the horizontal and vertical directions. The parallel link arms 14a and 14b are disposed in parallel at the front end of the slider 10 obliquely upward. The base end is rotatably fixed to the shaft. A support block 15 is connected to the distal ends of the parallel link arms 14a and 14b and is rotatably fixed to the front end of the slider 10, the parallel link arms 14a and 14b, and the support block 15. These constitute the x-ray tube support 16 of the pantograph system.

The support block 15 is provided with a support arm 17 extending in the horizontal direction.
The wire tube 18 is connected downward. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 19 denotes an X-ray aperture for narrowing down the X-rays emitted from the X-ray tube 18, and reference numeral 20 denotes an operation handle operated when displacing the X-ray tube 18 in a horizontal direction or a vertical direction. Is shown. Therefore, the X-ray tube 18 can be arbitrarily displaced in the horizontal or vertical direction by grasping the operation handle 20 and moving the X-ray tube 18 in the horizontal or vertical direction.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 21 denotes a subject bed on which a subject 22 is to be placed.
Reference numeral 23 denotes a cassette loaded with a film for X-ray imaging of the imaging site of the subject 22. Also,
Reference numeral 24 indicates the focal position of the X-ray tube 18, and reference numeral L indicates the distance between the focal point 24 and the subject 22.

Here, in the present invention, the X-ray tube 1 is used.
The distance L between the focal point 24 and the subject 22 is preset to a predetermined value, and the inclination angle θ of the parallel link arms 14a and 14b is detected when the X-ray tube 18 is displaced in the horizontal direction. There is provided a means for displacing the X-ray tube support 16 in the vertical direction to correct the distance L between the X-ray tube focal point 24 and the subject 22 to the preset value.

The following are specific examples of the correction means. That is, the operating device 7 on the upper surface of the housing 6 is provided with a focus / subject distance setting device 25 for setting a distance L between the focal point 24 and the subject 22. A focus / subject distance display 26 for displaying the distance L set by the distance setting device 25 is provided. At the base end of the parallel link arm 14a or 14b, there is provided an angle detector 27 for detecting the inclination angle θ of the parallel link arm 14a, 14b. Further, a rack 11 is provided on one side of the support 9 on the axis, and a pinion 12 which meshes with the rack 11 is provided on a part of the inside of the slider 10, and an electric motor 13 for rotating the pinion 12 is provided. Have been. The rack 11, the pinion 12, and the electric motor 13 constitute an electric drive mechanism for moving the slider 10 up and down as indicated by arrows C and D.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 28 denotes an automatic correction switch for switching whether or not to automatically correct the distance L between the X-ray tube focal point 24 and the subject 22.

Next, the operation of the medical X-ray apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. First,
In FIG. 1, an operator operates a traveling handle 8 of the mobile trolley 3.
Is pressed to move the entire apparatus to the subject bed 21 on which the subject 22 is placed. Next, the subject 22
In order to perform X-ray imaging on the imaging part, the operator grips the operating handle 20 of the X-ray tube 18 and moves it in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction, thereby aligning the X-ray tube 18 with the imaging part of the subject 22. Then, under the control operation of the X-ray controller 5, X-rays are emitted from the X-ray tube 18 to the subject 22, and an image is taken on an X-ray film in the cassette 23.

Next, in order to perform X-ray imaging on another imaging part of the subject 22, the X-ray tube 18 is appropriately moved in the horizontal direction, and imaging is performed while maintaining the same distance L between the focal point and the subject. First, the apparatus is switched to the correction mode by operating the automatic correction switch 28 shown in FIG. 1 (step S1 in FIG. 2). At this time, the angle detector 27 detects the inclination angle θ of the parallel link arms 14a and 14b (step S).
2). As a result, the current distance L between the X-ray tube focal point 24 and the subject 22 is calculated from the tilt angle θ, and the distance L
Is preset to a predetermined value, and enters an automatic correction mode.

Next, the X-ray tube 18 is appropriately displaced in the horizontal direction so as to match with another imaging part of the subject 22 (step S3). At this time, the parallel link arms 14a, 14
The X-ray tube 18 is vertically displaced from the mechanism b. At this time, the inclination angle θ of the parallel link arms 14a and 14b is detected by the angle detector 27, and the X-ray tube support 16 is displaced in the vertical direction by an amount corresponding to the angle change with respect to the preset time (step S4).

That is, the electric motor 13 of the electric drive mechanism of the slider 10 rotates by an amount to cancel the amount of vertical displacement caused by the change of the tilt angle θ, and the X-ray tube is engaged by the pinion 12 and the rack 11 meshing. The entire support 16 is displaced in the vertical direction, and the distance L between the X-ray tube focal point 24 and the subject 22 is corrected so as to match the preset state. Thereby, the parallel link arms 14a, 14
b, the distance L between the focal point 24 of the X-ray tube 18 and the subject 22 can be kept constant.

Thereafter, the automatic correction switch 28 is operated to switch to the manual mode (step S5). If necessary, the automatic correction switch 28 may be operated again to switch to the correction mode (step S6).

In FIG. 1, if the distance measuring device 29 (for example, an ultrasonic distance meter) for measuring the distance L between the focal point and the subject is provided in a part of the X-ray tube 18, the operating device 7 is used.
By setting the focal / subject distance L to a predetermined value by the upper focal / subject distance setting device 25, the distance L
Can be set automatically. It is also possible to provide an electric motor that makes the inclination angle θ of the parallel link arms 14a and 14b variable, and to perform an operation of changing the inclination angle using an operation switch or the like on the operation device 7. In this case, the X-ray tube 18
Can be made variable in the horizontal direction.

If the automatic correction switch 28 is not set to the correction mode, the change in the distance L between the focal point and the subject due to the horizontal displacement of the X-ray tube 18 is performed by manually operating the slider 10 as in the past. It can be adjusted by moving it up and down. Therefore, the electric drive mechanism of the slider 10 can be moved in the up-down direction by the manual operation.

[0023]

The present invention has been configured as described above.
The distance between the focus of the X-ray tube and the subject is preset to a predetermined value, and when the X-ray tube is displaced in the horizontal direction, the inclination angle of the parallel link arm is detected and the X-ray tube support section is detected. Is displaced in the vertical direction, and a means for correcting the distance between the X-ray tube focal point and the subject so as to match the preset value is provided, so that the parallel link arm can displace the horizontal and vertical directions. The distance between the focus of the X-ray tube and the subject can be kept constant even when the X-ray tube support is provided. Therefore, the X-ray irradiation on the subject can be always focused, and the imaging operation is simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a medical X-ray apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of the medical X-ray apparatus according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 3 moving trolley 9 support 10 slider 11 rack 12 pinion 13 electric motor 14a, 14b parallel link arm 15 support block 16 X-ray tube support 18 X-ray tube 22 subject 24 focal point 27 angle detector 28 automatic correction switch 29 distance measurement vessel

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An X-ray tube support provided movably in a vertical direction along a support member provided on a base and displaceable in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction by a parallel link arm. An X-ray tube supported by a section, wherein a distance between a focus of the X-ray tube and a subject is preset to a predetermined value, and the X-ray tube is moved in a horizontal direction. Means for detecting the inclination angle of the parallel link arm when displaced, displacing the X-ray tube support in the vertical direction, and correcting the distance between the X-ray tube focal point and the subject so as to match the preset value. A medical X-ray apparatus characterized by comprising: