JP2006292462A - Computer tomographic photography system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a radiation tomographic photographing system, capable of accurately calculating the pixel equivalent length of a tomographic image, and capable of accurately recognizing the actual dimensions of the respective parts of the subject on the tomographic image. <P>SOLUTION: A moving stage 4 loaded with the subject W to move the subject W on the plane crossing the rotational axis R of a turntable 3 at a right angle is provided on the turntable 3 and an arithmetic means 13, which is constituted so as to calculate the pixel equal quantity length of the tomographic image from the respective position data on the screen of the tomographic image, respectively reconstituted by subjecting the subject W to CT photographing, respectively before and after the subject W is moved by known distance by the moving stage 4 and the known distance, is provided to cause sharp enhancement of the calculation accuracy, as compared with conventional systems for calculating the pixel equal quantity length of the tomographic image that use SOD and SID. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an industrial radiation tomography apparatus using, for example, X-rays.

  In general, a radiation tomography apparatus such as an industrial X-ray CT apparatus employs a configuration in which a rotation table for rotating a subject is disposed between a radiation source and a radiation detector. The rotation center axis of the rotary table is orthogonal to the optical axis of radiation, and the subject is rotated about the rotation center axis. In this configuration, a tomographic image of a subject along a plane orthogonal to the rotation axis is obtained by reconstruction calculation using radiation transmission data that is captured each time the subject is rotated by a small rotation angle by a rotary table while irradiating radiation. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

In such a tomography apparatus, conventionally, the relationship between the dimension on the tomographic image and the actual dimension of the subject, that is, the pixel equivalent length, is the distance (SOD) from the radiation source to the subject and from the radiation source to the radiation detector. It is calculated from the ratio to the distance (SID). Here, as for SOD and SID, position information in the radiation optical axis direction of the rotary table and position information in the same direction of the radiation detector are detected by information from each driving motor or an encoder.
JP 2001-201465 A

  By the way, the position of the radiation source, that is, the focal position of the radiation output from the radiation generator is generally present inside the radiation generator, and it is difficult to know the exact position. Therefore, the above SOD and SID are Strictly not accurate. Therefore, the pixel equivalent length required in the conventional radiation tomography apparatus always includes a certain amount of error. This is an impediment to accurately knowing the size of a specific part of the internal structure of the subject from the tomographic image of the subject, for example.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and radiation tomography that can accurately determine the pixel equivalent length of a tomographic image and can accurately know the actual dimensions of each part of the subject on the tomographic image. Providing a device is an issue.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a radiation tomography apparatus according to the present invention includes a radiation source and a radiation detector that are disposed opposite to each other, and is disposed between the radiation source and the radiation detector. Using a rotation table that rotates around a rotation axis along a direction orthogonal to the optical axis direction, and using the radiation transmission data of the subject captured at every predetermined rotation angle while rotating the subject by the rotation table, In a radiation tomography apparatus comprising a reconstruction calculation means for reconstructing a tomographic image of a subject along a plane orthogonal to the rotation axis, a subject is mounted on the rotary table and is on a plane orthogonal to the rotation axis And moving around the rotation axis before and after moving the subject by a known distance by the moving stage. It is characterized by comprising calculation means for calculating a pixel equivalent length from each positional information on each tomographic image reconstructed and calculated by using radiation transmission data and the known distance. 1).

  Here, in the present invention, it is preferable that the position information of each tomographic image is a calculation result of the barycentric coordinates of each tomographic image on the image (claim 2).

  The present invention uses a radiation transmission data obtained by arranging a moving stage on a rotary table, moving a subject by a known distance on the rotary table by the moving stage, and rotating around the same rotation axis before and after that. The object is to solve the problem by calculating the pixel equivalent length from the moving distance on the screen of each tomographic image reconstructed and the above-mentioned known distance.

  In other words, the moving stage arranged on the rotary table is configured so that the subject can be moved by a known distance with respect to the rotary axis, and the positions of the radiation source, rotary axis (rotary table) and radiation detector are fixed and moved. Only the subject is moved by the stage, and the subject is rotated around the rotation axis before and after the movement to collect the radiation transmission data. Then, when each tomographic image is reconstructed using each of these radiation transmission data groups, each tomographic image is moved by an amount corresponding to a known distance on the screen. By calculating the moving distance (number of pixels) of the tomographic image on the screen from the position information of each tomographic image and comparing the calculated result with the known actual moving distance of the subject by the moving stage, the pixel equivalent length is calculated. Can be calculated. By using a high-precision moving stage, it is possible to move the subject with an error of the order of several μm, so the calculated pixel equivalent length is a value obtained from the conventional SOD and SID. In comparison, it is extremely accurate.

  In the invention according to claim 1, the subject used for calculating the pixel equivalent length may be an actual sample itself for observing a tomographic image, or a suitably selected phantom. May be.

  Further, in the present invention, the position information of each tomographic image may be, for example, edge information at a specific position on the tomographic image, etc. Then, there is an advantage that position information with high accuracy is always obtained without being affected by a change in the output of the radiation source with time and a set value of a threshold value in binarization.

  In addition, in the invention according to claim 2, as a target for obtaining the center of gravity, in addition to the tomographic image of the entire subject, a solder that hardly transmits radiation in relation to a specific part on the tomographic image of the object, for example, another part. The center of gravity may be obtained for a bump or the like, or conversely, a hollow portion through which radiation is easily transmitted in relation to other parts.

  According to the present invention, the radiation stage is obtained by moving the subject by a known distance on a plane orthogonal to the rotation axis by the moving stage provided on the rotary table, and rotating the subject around the rotation axis before and after the movement. By constructing tomographic images before and after movement by reconstructing the data, the pixel equivalent length is calculated from the positional information of each tomographic image and the known moving distance of the subject by the moving stage. Compared with the case where calculation is performed using conventional SOD or SID in which an error exists, the calculation accuracy can be greatly improved.

  Further, as in the invention according to claim 2, by setting the position information of each tomographic image as the position of the center of gravity of each tomographic image, it is possible to set the threshold value for binarization and output fluctuation of the radiation source. The resulting error is unlikely to occur, the position information of each tomographic image can always be obtained accurately, and as a result, a highly accurate pixel equivalent length can be calculated.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an X-ray CT apparatus, and is a diagram illustrating a schematic diagram showing a mechanical configuration and a block diagram showing a system configuration.

  An X-ray detector 2 is disposed opposite to the X-ray generator 1, and a rotary table 3 is disposed therebetween. The turntable 3 rotates around a rotation axis R along the z-axis direction orthogonal to the X-ray optical axis L (x-axis direction) from the X-ray generator 1. A movable stage 4 that is movable in at least one axial direction on an xy plane orthogonal to the rotational axis R is mounted on the rotary table 3, and the subject W is placed on the movable stage 4. Thus, rotation about the rotation axis R is given by driving the rotary table 3.

  The rotary table 3 is driven and controlled by a drive signal supplied from a table drive circuit 11, and the moving stage 4 is driven and controlled by a drive signal supplied from a stage drive circuit 12. The table driving circuit 11 and the stage driving circuit 12 are placed under the control of the personal computer 13.

  The personal computer 13 is connected with a tomogram reconstruction calculation device 14 and is also connected with an operation unit 15 such as a mouse, a keyboard, or a joystick, and a display 16 for displaying a tomogram or the like. . When performing CT imaging, the rotary table 3 is controlled under the control of the personal computer 13 while irradiating X-rays from the X-ray generator 1 with the subject W placed on the moving stage 4 on the rotary table 3. Are rotated by minute angles, and X-ray transmission data from the X-ray detector 2 is taken into the tomographic image reconstruction calculation device 14 at each rotation angle. In the tomogram reconstruction calculation device 14, the tomogram of the subject W along the slice plane set through the operation unit 15 is constructed by reconstructing the acquired X-ray transmission data by a known method.

The personal computer 13 is installed with a program for calculating the pixel equivalent length by the following method.
That is, in this program, first, the position where the subject W enters the field of view of the X-ray detector 2 as schematically shown in FIGS. The CT image is preferably obtained by positioning at the position (A) near the edge of the field of view and rotating the rotary table 3. Next, as shown in (B), the moving stage 4 is moved from P1 to P2 by a known distance within a range in which the subject W does not deviate from the field of view of the X-ray detector 2. Here, the larger the movement amount, the more accurate the calculation result of the pixel equivalent length described later. In this state, the rotary table 3 is rotated and CT imaging is performed. The movement distance (P2-P1) is stored in the computer 13. During this time, the positional relationship of the rotation axis R of the X-ray generator 1, the X-ray detector 2, and the rotary table 3 is unchanged.

  Using the two sets of X-ray transmission data obtained by CT imaging as described above, tomographic images W1 and W2 on the same slice plane of the subject W are reproduced as shown in FIGS. 3 (A) and 3 (B). Constitute. Next, for each of these tomographic images W1, W2, centroids G1, G2 are obtained by a known method. The positions of the tomographic images W1 and W2 on the screen have moved by an amount corresponding to the moving distance of the moving stage 4 from P1 to P2, and accordingly, these tomographic images W1 are shown in FIG. , W2 are virtually combined on one screen, the number N of pixels between the centroids G1, G2 of the tomographic images W1, W2 corresponds to the actual size (P2-P1). The personal computer 13 calculates the actual size per pixel, that is, the pixel equivalent length by dividing the previously stored distance (P2-P1) by the number N of pixels between the centroids G1 and G2, and displays Displayed on the device 16.

  The pixel equivalent length calculated as described above is the conventional method for obtaining the pixel equivalent length from the SOD and SID that originally contain an error because the position of the X-ray focal point is not exactly known. In comparison, the error includes only an error caused by an error of the moving distance by the moving stage 4. By using a high-accuracy moving stage 4, the error is about several μm, and the moving distance ( By making P2-P1) as large as possible, the pixel equivalent length calculated by the embodiment of the present invention becomes very accurate.

  In the above embodiment, the position information is obtained from the center of gravity of the entire tomographic image of the subject W. However, the position information may be obtained from the center of gravity of a characteristic part in the tomographic image of the subject. Furthermore, without using the center of gravity for the position information of the tomographic image, for example, the position information of the edge of one end of the tomographic image can be used as the position information of the tomographic image. However, when the position information is based on the center of gravity of the tomographic image, accurate position information can always be obtained without being affected by fluctuations in X-ray intensity, threshold setting values for binarization, and the like.

In the configuration diagram of the embodiment of the present invention, a schematic diagram showing a mechanical configuration and a block diagram showing a system configuration are shown together. It is explanatory drawing of the procedure which calculates | requires pixel equivalent length by embodiment of this invention, (A) is a top view of the movement stage 4 showing the state before a movement, (B) is the movement stage 4 showing the state after a movement similarly. FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a procedure for obtaining a pixel equivalent length according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (A) is a tomogram reconstructed based on X-ray transmission data obtained by CT imaging at the position of FIG. (B) is a diagram showing a display example of a tomographic image reconstructed based on X-ray transmission data obtained by CT imaging at the same position in FIG. 2 (B). (C) is a diagram showing a state in which these tomographic images are virtually combined on one screen for explanation.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 X-ray generator 2 X-ray detector 3 Rotary table 4 Moving stage 11 Rotary table drive circuit 12 Moving stage drive circuit 13 Personal computer 14 Tomographic image reconstruction calculation apparatus 15 Operation part 16 Display L X-ray optical axis R Rotary axis W Subject

Claims (2)

Radiation sources and radiation detectors arranged opposite to each other, and arranged between these radiation sources and radiation detectors, rotate around a rotation axis along a direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction of the radiation with respect to the subject. A tomographic image of the subject along the plane orthogonal to the rotation axis is reconstructed using the rotation table to be applied and the radiation transmission data of the subject taken at each predetermined rotation angle while rotating the subject by the rotation table. In the radiation tomography apparatus provided with the reconstruction calculation means to
The rotary table includes a moving stage that mounts a subject and moves it on a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis, and rotates the subject around the rotation axis before and after moving the subject by a known distance by the moving stage. And calculating means for calculating a pixel equivalent length from each position information on each tomographic image reconstructed and calculated using the radiation transmission data acquired in this way and the known distance. A radiation tomography device.   The radiation tomography apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position information of each tomographic image is a calculation result of a barycentric coordinate of each tomographic image on the image.

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