JP2006115918A - Radiation detection system and radiation detector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To previously prevent the running-out of the power of a battery during detecting radiation. <P>SOLUTION: This radiation detection system is provided with a radiation detector 10 detecting the radiation and a console 3 capable of communicating with the radiation detector 10. The radiation detector 10 is provided with a detector body receiving the supply of the power and detecting the radiation dose, the battery 19 as power supply, and a control part 25 detecting the residual charging amount of the battery 19. The console 3 is provided with a control part 35 storing the residual charge amount of the battery 19 necessary for the detecting operation of the detector body as a rated value, determining whether the residual charging amount of the battery 19 detected by the control part 25 is less than the rated value or not based on the detection result of a detecting part and the rated value stored by a storage part, and displaying the determination result on a display 32. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a radiation detection system and a radiation detector that are applied when radiographing a subject.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the field of radiography for medical diagnosis, there is widely known a radiography system that obtains a radiographic image of a subject by irradiating the subject with radiation and detecting the intensity distribution of the radiation transmitted through the subject. It has been. In recent radiography systems, a so-called “Flat Panel Detector” radiation detector, which is a thin flat plate with a number of photoelectric conversion elements arranged in a matrix, has been developed and used. A radiation image of a subject can be easily and quickly obtained by photoelectrically converting the transmitted radiation into an electrical signal and subjecting the electrical signal after the photoelectric conversion to image processing.

  The radiation detector is roughly classified into a “stationary type” that is installed at a predetermined position as a part of the system and a “portable type (cassette type)” that is portable. In both stationary and cassette type radiation detectors, a storage battery (battery) is usually built in when the detector itself is driven. An example of such a radiation detector is disclosed in Patent Document 1.

The radiation detector (radiation detector cassette 40) described in Patent Document 1 is a portable cassette type radiation detector. This radiation detector has a built-in battery (power supply 44) for driving a photoelectric conversion element (solid state light detection element 31) and the like, and can supply power without being connected to an external signal processing device or a power supply by a cable. Therefore, it has a configuration in which the degree of freedom of the radiation imaging location is increased (see paragraph numbers 0033 to 0038).
JP-A-7-140255

However, in the radiation detector described in Patent Document 1, even if it is portable, when charging a battery, it must be charged in a state where it is installed in a cradle. Therefore, the detector itself is used during the charging period. It is not possible. In addition, since the radiation detector described in Patent Document 1 does not have a configuration that can detect the remaining charge of the battery, there is a possibility that the battery may be out of charge during the detection of radiation. Has a problem in that radiation imaging of the subject must be performed again.
An object of the present invention is to provide a radiation detection system that can prevent the battery from being out of charge during the detection of radiation.

In order to solve the above problems, a radiation detection system according to claim 1 is provided.
A radiation detector for detecting radiation;
A console capable of communicating with the radiation detector,
The radiation detector is
A detector body that receives radiation to detect radiation dose;
A battery as a power source;
A detection unit for detecting the remaining charge of the battery;
Have
The console is
A storage unit that stores a remaining charge amount of the battery required for a detection operation of the detector body as a specified value;
A determination unit that determines whether or not a remaining charge amount of the battery detected by the detection unit is less than the specified value from a detection result of the detection unit and the specified value stored in the storage unit;
A notification unit for reporting the determination result of the determination unit;
A control unit that causes the notification unit to notify the determination result of the determination unit;
It is characterized by having.

The invention described in claim 2
The radiation detection system according to claim 1.
When the determination unit determines that the remaining charge of the battery detected by the detection unit is less than the specified value, the control unit causes the notification unit to notify the determination result of the determination unit. It is said.

The invention according to claim 3
The radiation detection system according to claim 1 or 2,
When the determination unit determines that the remaining charge of the battery detected by the detection unit is less than the specified value, the control unit prohibits the detection operation of the detector body.

The invention according to claim 4
A detector body that receives radiation to detect radiation dose;
A battery as a power source;
A detection unit for detecting the remaining charge of the battery;
A storage unit that stores a remaining charge amount of the battery required for a detection operation of the detector body as a specified value;
A determination unit that determines whether or not a remaining charge amount of the battery detected by the detection unit is less than the specified value from a detection result of the detection unit and the specified value stored in the storage unit;
A notification unit for reporting the determination result of the determination unit;
When the determination unit determines that the remaining charge of the battery detected by the detection unit is less than the specified value, the notification unit is notified that the remaining charge of the battery is less than the specified value. A control unit;
It is characterized by having.

The invention described in claim 5
The radiation detector according to claim 4.
When the determination unit determines that the remaining charge of the battery detected by the detection unit is less than the specified value, the control unit prohibits the detection operation of the detector body.

  In the first and second aspects of the invention, the determination result as to whether or not the remaining charge of the battery is less than the specified value is notified by the notification unit, so that the photographer can easily determine whether or not the battery is charged. It is possible to prevent radiation detection from being performed even though the remaining charge of the battery is not sufficient. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the battery from being out of charge during the detection of radiation.

  In the invention according to claim 3, when it is determined that the remaining charge of the battery is less than the specified value, the detection operation of the detector main body is prohibited, so that the remaining charge of the battery is not sufficient. Regardless of this, it is possible to reliably prevent radiation detection, and it is possible to reliably prevent the battery from being out of charge during radiation detection.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the scope of the invention is not limited to the illustrated examples.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a radiation detection system 1 according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the radiation detection system 1 includes an imaging device 2 that performs radiography of a subject M, and a console 3 that generates radiation images of the subject M by irradiating the subject M with radiation.

  The imaging device 2 is installed and used in a medical facility such as a clinic or a hospital. The imaging apparatus 2 has a radiation source 4 and emits radiation when a tube voltage is applied to the radiation source 4. A diaphragm device 5 for adjusting the radiation field is provided at the radiation outlet of the radiation source 4 so as to be freely opened and closed. A bed 6 on which the subject M is placed is provided below the radiation source 4 and in the radiation irradiation range. The bed 6 is provided with a radiation detector 10 that detects the amount of radiation transmitted through the subject M. The radiation detector 10 is a portable cassette type radiation detector that is detachably disposed on the bed 6.

  The console 3 is a general-purpose computer and has a built-in control device 30 (see FIG. 3) that generates a radiographic image of the subject M based on the detection result of the radiation detector 10. In addition, the console 3 communicates with the imaging device 2. A connector 31 (see FIG. 3) for performing radiography, a display 32 for displaying a radiation image of the subject M, a keyboard / mouse 33 for inputting imaging information regarding the subject M and the radiation detector 10 to the control device 30, and the like. is doing.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the radiation detector 10.
As shown in FIG. 2, the radiation detector 10 has a thin and rectangular parallelepiped casing 11, and a part of the top plate of the casing 11 is a grid 12 that absorbs and removes radiation scattering components. . A handle 13 is disposed on the side of the housing 11 so that the radiation detector 10 can be easily carried.

Inside the housing 11 is housed a detector main body 100 that receives radiation and detects the radiation dose. The detector main body 100 has a square scintillator 14 that emits fluorescence with an intensity corresponding to the intensity of radiation. The scintillator 14 is made of a phosphor such as GOS (Gd ₂ O ₂ S: Tb) or CsI. A flat fluorescence detection panel 15 for detecting fluorescence is disposed below or below the scintillator 14.

  In the fluorescence detection panel 15, a large number of photoelectric conversion elements that receive fluorescence and accumulate charges corresponding to the amount of received light are arranged in a matrix (lattice). On the side of the fluorescence detection panel 15, a scanning driver 16 that sends a pulse to each photoelectric conversion element to scan and drive each photoelectric conversion element, and a signal driver 17 that reads out the amount of charge accumulated in each photoelectric conversion element, Is arranged. As described above, the detector main body 100 includes the scintillator 14, the fluorescence detection panel 15, the scanning driver, and the signal driver.

  Inside the housing 11, a control device 18 for controlling operations of the scanning driver 16, the signal driver 17, and other members, and a battery 19 serving as a power supply source are arranged. The battery 19 is detachably arranged with respect to the housing 11 and can be easily replaced with another battery 19 when charging.

  The radiation detector 10 is provided with a connector 20 for communicating with the console 3, a display panel 21 for displaying whether or not the radiation detector 10 can be operated with characters, symbols, and the like.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the radiation detection system 1.
As shown in FIG. 3, in the radiation detector 10, the control device 18 includes a control unit 25 including a general-purpose CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. ing. The control unit 25 expands the processing program recorded in the ROM to the RAM, and executes the processing program by the CPU.

  The control unit 25 is connected to the scanning driver 16, the signal driver 17, the battery 19, the connector 20, the display panel 21, and the like. The control unit 25 includes the scanning driver 16, the signal driver 17, the battery 19, and the connector 20. The components are controlled based on the operating conditions of the members such as the display panel 21. In particular, in the radiation detector 10, the control unit 25 distributes the power stored in the battery 19 to each member such as the scanning driver 16, the signal driver 17, and the display panel 21.

  On the other hand, in the console 3, the control device 18 of the control device 30 has a control unit 35 composed of a general-purpose CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory) and the like. . The control unit 35 develops the processing program recorded in the ROM on the RAM, and executes the processing program by the CPU. The control unit 35 is connected to each member such as the connector 31, the display 32, and the keyboard / mouse 33. The control unit 35 is based on the operating status of each member such as the connector 31, the display 32, and the keyboard / mouse 33. Each configuration is controlled.

In the radiation detection system 1 described above, the connector 20 of the radiation detector 10 and the connector 31 of the console 3 are connected by a member such as a cable, and the radiation detector 10 and the console 3 are connected through the connectors 20 and 31. Can communicate with each other.
The communication between the radiation detector 10 and the console 3 may be wired as described above, but may be well-known wireless or well-known wired or wireless via a network. In particular, when communication via a network is applied, the connection from the console 3 and the radiation detector 10 to the network is preferably realized by a wireless local area network (LAN), for example.

  Next, the operation / action of the radiation detection system 1 will be described.

  When radiation imaging of the subject M by the imaging device 2 is started in a state where the radiation detector 10 of the imaging device 2 and the console 3 are communicable with each other, the imaging device 2 is placed on the subject M lying on the bed 6. On the other hand, radiation is emitted from the radiation source 4 through the diaphragm device 5, and the radiation transmitted through the subject M enters the radiation detector 10. When the radiation enters the radiation detector 10, the scattered component is absorbed and removed by the grid 12 of the radiation detector 10 and enters the scintillator 14, and the scintillator 14 emits fluorescence with an intensity corresponding to the intensity of the radiation. .

  When the scintillator 14 emits fluorescence, each photoelectric conversion element of the fluorescence detection panel 15 receives the fluorescence emitted by the scintillator 14 and accumulates charges corresponding to the amount of received light. When each photoelectric conversion element accumulates electric charge, the control unit 25 of the control device 18 appropriately distributes the electric power stored in the battery 19 to the scan driver 16 and the signal driver 17, and the scan driver 16 pulses each photoelectric conversion element. , And the signal driver 17 reads the amount of charge accumulated in each photoelectric conversion element.

  When the signal driver 17 reads the charge amount, the signal driver 17 converts the read charge amount into an electric signal and outputs the electric signal as “image information” of the subject M to the control unit 25 of the control device 18. The control unit 25 of the control device 18 transmits the image information from the connector 20 to the console 3. The console 3 receives the image information at the connector 31, and the control unit 35 of the control device 30 performs image processing on the received image information to generate a radiation image, and the display 32 uses the radiation image as a radiation image of the subject M. indicate.

  Here, in the radiation detection system 1, the following communication is performed between the console 3 and the radiation detector 10 during the period when the radiation imaging operation of the subject M as described above is performed. ing.

  That is, in the radiation detector 10, the control unit 25 of the control device 18 serves as a detection unit to constantly monitor and detect the remaining charge of the battery 19, and “charge information” regarding the remaining charge of the battery 19 is displayed from the connector 20 to the console. Always send to 3. The console 3 receives the charging information at the connector 31, and the control unit 35 recognizes the remaining charge of the battery 19 from the charging information.

  The control unit 35 of the console 3 serves as a storage unit and stores in advance the charge amount of the battery 19 necessary for the radiation dose detection operation of the detector body 100 as a “specified value”. Is recognized, it is determined whether or not the remaining charge of the recognized battery 19 is less than a specified value, and the determination result is displayed on the display 32 as a notification unit (notify in the form of display). .

  That is, if the control unit 35 of the console 3 determines that the remaining charge of the battery 19 is less than the specified value, the radiation detector 10 has insufficient charge remaining in the battery 19 to detect the next radiation. It is determined that the operation (the radiation detection operation performed next to the current radiation detection operation, the same shall apply hereinafter) is impossible, and a “prohibition signal” is set to prohibit the next radiation detection operation in the detector body 100. The data is transmitted from the connector 31 to the radiation detector 10.

  In addition to transmitting the prohibition signal, the control unit 35 of the console 3 indicates that the remaining charge of the battery 19 is less than the specified value, and that the next radiation detection operation in the detector body 100 is impossible. The display 32 displays that the battery 19 of the radiation detector 10 should be charged.

  The “specified value” to be compared with the remaining charge of the battery 19 is a value specified in advance before the start of the current radiation detection operation by the radiation detector 10, and as described above, the control of the console 3. Stored in the unit 35 in advance. The specified value may be appropriately changed by an input operation of the keyboard / mouse 33 of the console 3 by the photographer.

  When a prohibition signal is transmitted from the console 3, the radiation detector 10 receives the prohibition signal at the connector 20, and the control unit 25 supplies power to the scanning driver 16 and the signal driver 17 related to the current radiation detection operation. Only the power distribution process is continued, and thereafter, the control unit 25 becomes in a state where it cannot execute the power distribution process to the scanning driver 16, the signal driver 17 and the like related to the next radiation detection operation. As a result, the detector main body 100 performs only the current radiation detection operation, and after that, the next radiation detection operation is disabled.

  Further, based on the received prohibition signal, the control unit 25 of the radiation detector 10 indicates that the remaining charge of the battery 19 is less than the specified value and that the next radiation detection operation in the detector body 100 is not possible. And the fact that the battery 19 of the radiation detector 10 should be charged is displayed on the display panel 21 serving as a notification unit.

  When the display 32 of the console 3 and the display panel 21 of the radiation detector 10 indicate that the battery 19 should be charged, the photographer is informed that the battery 19 has no remaining charge necessary for the next radiation imaging. It is possible to recognize that it is necessary to replace the battery 19 with another battery 19 when the current radiation imaging is completed.

  On the other hand, when the control unit 35 of the console 3 recognizes the remaining charge of the battery 19 and determines that the remaining charge of the battery 19 is equal to or greater than a specified value, the control unit 35 A “permission signal” indicating that 100 radiation detection operations are permitted is transmitted from the connector 31 to the radiation detector 10.

  In addition to transmitting the allowance signal, the control unit 35 of the console 3 indicates that the remaining charge of the battery 19 is equal to or more than a specified value, and that the next radiation detection operation in the detector body 100 is possible. A message indicating that charging of the battery 19 is unnecessary is displayed on the display 32.

  When the tolerance signal is transmitted from the console 3, the radiation detector 10 receives the tolerance signal at the connector 20, and the control unit 25 relates to the next radiation detection operation in addition to the current radiation detection operation. The state in which the power distribution processing to the scanning driver 16, the signal driver 17 and the like can be executed is maintained. As a result, the detector main body 100 maintains a state in which the next radiation detection operation can be performed in addition to the current radiation detection operation.

  Further, the control unit 25 of the radiation detector 10 indicates that the remaining charge amount of the battery 19 is equal to or more than a specified value based on the received allowable signal and that the next radiation detection operation in the detector body 100 is possible. And the display panel 21 displays that the battery 19 is not required to be charged.

  When the display 32 of the console 3 and the display panel 21 of the radiation detector 10 indicate that charging of the battery 19 is unnecessary, the photographer has sufficient charge remaining in the battery 19 for the next radiation imaging. It can be determined that there is no need to replace the battery 19 with another battery 19 even when the current radiation imaging is completed.

  In the radiation detection system 1 described above, if the remaining charge of the battery 19 of the radiation detector 10 becomes less than a specified value during radiography of the subject M, the battery is passed through the display panel 21 of the radiation detector 10 and the display 32 of the console 3. Since the user is notified that the battery 19 should be charged, the photographer can easily determine the charging time of the battery 19 from the notification, and the radiation detection is performed even though the remaining charge of the battery 19 is not sufficient. Can be prevented in advance. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the battery 19 from being out of charge during detection of radiation by the radiation detector 10.

  Further, in the radiation detection system 1, when the remaining charge of the battery 19 of the radiation detector 10 becomes less than a specified value during radiography of the subject M, the next radiation detection operation in the detector body 100 is automatically prohibited. From this, it is possible to reliably prevent radiation detection of the subject M even though the remaining charge of the battery 19 is not sufficient, and the battery 19 runs out of charge during detection of the radiation of the subject M. Can be surely prevented.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various improvements and design changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  As one improvement / design change matter, the console 3 and the radiation detector 10 are provided with an electric light, a buzzer or the like as a notification unit, and the console 3 and the radiation detector 10 have the remaining charge of the battery 19 as a specified value. It is good also as a structure which alert | reports the determination result of whether it is less than by light or a sound. For example, when the remaining charge of the battery 19 is less than a specified value, the lamp is turned on or a buzzer is sounded. Conversely, when the remaining charge of the battery 19 is more than a specified value, the lamp is turned off. Or a configuration that does not sound a buzzer.

  As another improvement / design change item, the control unit 25 of the control device 18 does not detect the remaining charge of the battery 19, but the control unit 25 detects the maximum drive voltage of the battery 19 and uses the detection result as the charging information. It is good also as a structure which transmits to the console 3 and the control part 35 of the console 3 becomes a detection part, and detects the charge remaining amount of the battery 19 from the said charging information.

  As other improvements / design changes, the control unit 25 of the radiation detector 10 may be a determination unit to determine whether the remaining charge of the battery 19 is less than a specified value. When it is determined that the remaining charge amount is less than the specified value, only power distribution processing to the scanning driver 16 and the signal driver 17 related to the current radiation detection operation is performed, and the next radiation detection operation is performed. A configuration in which the power distribution processing to the scanning driver 16, the signal driver 17, and the like is not executed may be employed. The “specified value” here is a value specified in advance before the start of the current radiation detection operation by the radiation detector 10, and the control unit 25 of the radiation detector 10 serves as a storage unit and the specified value is set. It shall be stored in advance.

  As other improvements / design changes, two or more radiation detectors 10, 10,... May be communicably connected to the console 3, and when such a configuration is applied, each radiation detector is connected. 10, it is not necessary to manage the charging timing of the battery 19 for each radiation detector 10.

It is drawing which shows schematic structure of a radiation detection system. It is a perspective view which shows schematic structure of a radiation detector. It is a block diagram which shows the circuit structure of a radiation detection system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Radiation detection system 3 Console 30 Control apparatus 32 Display (informing part)
35 Control unit (storage unit, determination unit)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Radiation detector 18 Control apparatus 19 Battery 21 Display panel (notification part)
25 Control unit (detection unit, storage unit, determination unit)
100 detector body

Claims (5)

A radiation detector for detecting radiation;
A console capable of communicating with the radiation detector,
The radiation detector is
A detector body that receives radiation to detect radiation dose;
A battery as a power source;
A detection unit for detecting the remaining charge of the battery;
Have
The console is
A storage unit that stores a remaining charge amount of the battery required for a detection operation of the detector body as a specified value;
A determination unit that determines whether or not a remaining charge amount of the battery detected by the detection unit is less than the specified value from a detection result of the detection unit and the specified value stored in the storage unit;
A notification unit for reporting the determination result of the determination unit;
A control unit that causes the notification unit to notify the determination result of the determination unit;
A radiation detection system. The radiation detection system according to claim 1.
When the determination unit determines that the remaining charge of the battery detected by the detection unit is less than the specified value, the control unit causes the notification unit to notify the determination result of the determination unit. Radiation detection system. The radiation detection system according to claim 1 or 2,
Radiation detection characterized in that the control unit prohibits the detection operation of the detector body when the determination unit determines that the remaining charge of the battery detected by the detection unit is less than the specified value. system. A detector body that receives radiation to detect radiation dose;
A battery as a power source;
A detection unit for detecting the remaining charge of the battery;
A storage unit that stores a remaining charge amount of the battery required for a detection operation of the detector body as a specified value;
A determination unit that determines whether or not a remaining charge amount of the battery detected by the detection unit is less than the specified value from a detection result of the detection unit and the specified value stored in the storage unit;
A notification unit for reporting the determination result of the determination unit;
When the determination unit determines that the remaining charge of the battery detected by the detection unit is less than the specified value, the notification unit is notified that the remaining charge of the battery is less than the specified value. A control unit;
A radiation detector comprising: The radiation detector according to claim 4.
Radiation detection characterized in that the control unit prohibits the detection operation of the detector body when the determination unit determines that the remaining charge of the battery detected by the detection unit is less than the specified value. vessel.

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