JP2006081694A - Radiographic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a radiographic apparatus capable of carrying out position adjustment automatically to achieve a preferable SID (source image distance) when performing oblique incidence radiography, or the like, at an arbitrary photographing angle. <P>SOLUTION: A vertical supporting device 13 suspended from a ceiling rail 14 can move parallel to the ceiling face in right and left and backward and forward directions and is stretchable in the downward direction. An X-ray tube device 11 is attached to the lower end of the supporting device rotatably (swingably). By such a configuration, the X-ray tube device 11 is supported by the supporting device so that the X-ray tube device can take any positions/angles freely in the four-axis directions. A drive mechanism comprising a motor, a clutch, a braking device and a position/angle detector is mounted in each of the four-axis directions. When an angle for oblique incidence radiography is determined, a controller housed within the vertical supporting device 13 calculates the transfer amount necessary for a preferable SID. Each of the motors, or the like, is controlled on the basis of the calculation result, and the X-ray tube device is moved automatically. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an X-ray imaging apparatus used for medical diagnosis and the like, and more particularly to an X-ray imaging apparatus capable of adjusting an X-ray imaging position and angle with respect to a subject.

  In general X-ray imaging apparatuses that hold an X-ray generator (X-ray tube apparatus) with an overhead traveling suspension system or the like, it is usually possible to freely move and rotate in order to freely adjust the imaging position and angle with respect to the subject. The X-ray generator is held. The operator releases the brake and sets it in a state where it can move and rotate freely. Then, the operator operates the operating handle to move and rotate the X-ray generator, and activates the brake when the desired position and angle are achieved. The X-ray imaging is performed with this state fixed.

  However, according to such manual operation, when X-ray imaging is performed from the front of the subject, the operation is easy and the entire examination time can be shortened. However, oblique imaging for irradiating X-rays from an oblique direction of the subject is possible. In this case, if the SID (distance from the X-ray focal point to the X-ray image receiving means such as the X-ray film) is set to a predetermined value, the operation is difficult, and it takes time to adjust and set the position and angle. The SID is usually determined for each facility such as a hospital, and since there is a strong demand for X-ray imaging with this predetermined SID, this is a big problem.

In Patent Document 1 below, a technique related to positioning of an X-ray tube apparatus for setting an X-ray irradiation range to a region of interest of a subject can be seen, but SID adjustment is difficult in the case of oblique imaging. There is no mention of this problem.
JP 2003-116845 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide an X-ray imaging apparatus that facilitates SID adjustment in the case of oblique imaging.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the X-ray imaging apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention, an X-ray generating means, an X-ray receiving means, and the X-ray generating means for determining an X-ray irradiation position and angle. Holding means for freely moving and rotating, brake means for stopping and fixing the movement and rotation of the holding means, brake releasing means for releasing the brake to move and rotate, Driving means for forcibly moving and rotating the X-ray generation means released from the brake and held in a movable and rotatable state by the holding means; detection means for detecting the position and angle of the X-ray generation means; The distance and movement of the X-ray generation means according to the detection output of the position and angle of the X-ray generation means when X-ray imaging is performed under the determined SID The direction is calculated, which is characterized that the basis by controlling the drive means and control means for moving the X-ray generating means which is provided.

  According to the X-ray imaging apparatus of the first aspect, if the brake is released, the X-ray generation means can be freely moved and rotated, so that the position and angle of the X-ray generation means can be manually operated. Can be determined. When oblique imaging is performed with the determined SID, if the angle is determined, the control means calculates the moving distance and moving direction of the X-ray generating means based on the detection output of the position and angle of the X-ray generating means, Since the X-ray generation means can be moved by controlling the driving means in accordance with the calculation result, the position of the X-ray generation means can be automatically determined so as to be the SID. For this reason, when obliquely photographing with a determined SID, adjustment and setting of the position / angle of the X-ray generation means becomes extremely easy, the time required for the work is shortened, and the inspection efficiency is improved.

  Next, an X-ray imaging apparatus embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 schematically shows an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, an X-ray collimator 12 and an operation handle 17 for focusing X-rays are attached to an X-ray tube device 11 and held by a suspension holding device 13. The suspension holding device 13 is suspended on the ceiling rail 14 and is freely movable in the left and right and front and rear directions (the right and left direction in the figure and the direction perpendicular to the paper surface) along the ceiling surface as indicated by arrows. Yes. Further, the suspension holding device 13 can be expanded and contracted in the vertical direction (vertical direction in the figure) as indicated by an arrow, and the X-ray tube device 11 can be moved to a free position in the vertical direction. The X-ray tube device 11 and the X-ray collimator 12 are attached so as to be rotatable (oscillated) around the X-ray focal point as indicated by an arrow at the lower end of the suspension holding device 13.

  X-rays generated from the X-ray tube device 11 are irradiated toward the subject 21 on the examination table 15 through the X-ray collimator 12. A bucky portion 16 containing an X-ray film is disposed on the back of the subject 21 so that X-rays transmitted through the subject 21 are incident on the X-ray film in the bucky portion 16. Instead of the bucky unit 16 containing the X-ray film, a flat panel X-ray detector in which a large number of semiconductor X-ray detection elements are arranged in a plane, or an X in which an image intensifier and an X-ray TV camera are combined. A line image receiving device can also be arranged.

  In the X-ray imaging apparatus of this embodiment, the X-ray tube apparatus 11 is held so as to be freely movable and rotatable in the four axial directions of right and left, front and rear, up and down, and rotational direction. Free positioning and angle setting can be performed with respect to the image receiving unit (bucket unit 16). That is, the operator basically determines the position and angle by holding the operation handle 17 of the X-ray tube apparatus 11 and moving it freely in the four axis directions.

  Here, in addition to such manual operation, forcible driving, braking, and position / angle detection are performed by a driving mechanism (not shown) provided for each of the four axes. It has become. The control system is as shown in FIG. 2, and the drive mechanisms 41 to 44 for each of the four axis directions are forcibly driven motors 51 to 54, and clutches 61 to transmit or cut off the rotation of the motors. 64, brake devices 71 to 74 and detectors 81 to 84 for detecting positions (or angles), which are connected to the control device 31. The control device 31 is connected to a forced drive switch 32 and brake release switches 91 to 94 for releasing the brakes of the respective axes. The forcible drive switch 32 is for forcibly moving the SID so that it becomes a set value.

  In the case of manual operation, for example, as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 3A, the X-ray tube apparatus 11 is positioned and X-ray imaging is performed with the set SID from the front of the subject 21, and then the direction of arrow A Then, the entire suspension holding device 13 is moved and the X-ray tube device 13 is rotated as indicated by an arrow B to determine the angle of oblique imaging. Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 4 as well, it is confirmed that the forcible drive switch 32 is turned off, and all the brake release switches 91 to 94 are turned on to turn off all the brake devices 71 to 74 on the four axes. After setting the operating state (the state in which the brake is released), the operation handle 17 is operated by hand to perform the above-described movement in the A direction and rotation in the B direction to perform positioning for oblique shooting. At this time, since the forcible drive switch 32 is turned off, the motors 41 to 44 of the respective axes are all stopped and the clutches 61 to 64 are all disconnected. If the control device 31 determines whether each of the brake release switches 91 to 94 is turned on and is turned on, the corresponding one of the brake devices 71 to 74 is released. . Here, since all the brake release switches 91 to 94 are turned on and all the brake devices 71 to 74 are released as described above, manual positioning and angle setting can be manually performed on all four axes. . When such a manual setting is made, all the brake release switches 91 to 94 are turned off, the brake is operated, and the set state is fixed.

  In this way, the setting for the oblique shooting is performed. In this case, since the SID is larger than the previous setting value, the forced drive switch 32 is set to perform the shooting with the same setting SID even in the oblique shooting. It is turned on, and the SID adjustment is performed automatically while maintaining the same oblique shooting angle. When the forcible drive switch 32 is turned on, the control device 31 first calculates the amount of movement in each direction so that the SID becomes a set value. Therefore, the current position and angle information in each axial direction (left / right / front / rear / up / down / rotation direction) is fetched from all the detection signals of the detectors 81 to 84. Information on the set value of the SID is held in a memory or the like inside the control device 31 and the amount of movement in each direction is calculated based on this, the angle information, and the position information.

  Based on the calculation result, the control device 31 moves in the directions of arrows C and D shown in FIG. The control device 31 releases the brake device in each direction and connects the clutch, and then drives the motor in those directions. When the detector output signal confirms that the calculated amount of movement in the directions of arrows C and D has been performed, the motor drive in those directions is stopped and the clutch is disengaged to release the brake device. Operate and fix.

  In this way, the movement is performed automatically so that the SID becomes the set value while maintaining the previously determined oblique shooting angle. If such an automatic movement is not made, the same movement must be done manually, so it will be quite troublesome work including calculation of how much it should be moved, and it will take time. However, the automation as described above reduces the burden of this work, allows setting in a short time, and improves inspection efficiency.

  It is to be noted that the present invention is not limited to these configurations, and the specific structure and the like can be variously configured. For example, the control device 31 can be installed inside the suspension holding device 13, and switches such as the forced drive switch 32 and the brake release switches 91 to 94 can be arranged near the operation handle 17. However, it is not limited to these. Furthermore, although the X-ray tube apparatus 11 is held here by the suspension holding device 13 that moves along the ceiling rail 14, it can also be held by a floor traveling type holding device.

  According to the X-ray imaging apparatus of the present invention, position adjustment is facilitated because position adjustment to achieve a desired SID is automated in oblique insertion imaging with an imaging angle arbitrarily determined. It is possible to reduce the burden on the operator, shorten the work time, and improve the inspection efficiency.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an X-ray imaging apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram which shows the control system of the Example. The schematic diagram which shows the state which moves. The flowchart which shows operation | movement.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 X-ray tube apparatus 12 X-ray collimator 13 Suspension holding apparatus 14 Ceiling rail 15 Inspection stand 16 Bucky part 17 Operation handle 21 Subject 31 Control apparatus 32 Forced drive switch 41-44 Drive mechanism 51-54 Motor 61-64 Clutch 71 -74 Brake device 81-84 Detector 91-94 Brake release switch

Claims (1)

  X-ray generation means, X-ray image receiving means, holding means for holding the X-ray generation means so that the X-ray generation position and angle can be freely moved and rotated, and stopping movement and rotation in the holding means The brake means for releasing the brake, the brake release means for releasing the brake and making it movable and rotatable, and the X-ray generating means for releasing the brake and being held movable and rotatable by the holding means. Driving means for moving and rotating automatically, detection means for detecting the position and angle of the X-ray generation means, and the position of the X-ray generation means when X-ray imaging is performed under a SID where the angle is determined and determined The movement distance and direction of the X-ray generation means are calculated in accordance with the angle detection output, and the driving means is controlled based on the calculated distance and direction of movement to control the X-ray generation means. X-ray imaging device having a unit.

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