JP2007306962A - Medical diagnostic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve such a problem that a medical diagnostic apparatus requires many cables comprising signal cables for connecting each unit of the apparatus and power cables for supplying power to each of the units, and the many cables occupy an area of a not negligible size in the room of a hospital or the like where the apparatus is installed, which is giving one of the reasons of increasing work time for installing the apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The power is supplied from a commercial power source through an insulating transformer 10 to the DC stabilized power sources 8 of the respective unit by a power communication line 22, and also power line modems 11 for performing communication between each of the units using the power communication line 22 are provided between the communication control parts 7 of the respective units and the power communication line 22. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a medical diagnostic apparatus such as an X-ray image diagnostic apparatus, a PET apparatus, a CT apparatus, and an MRI apparatus used in a hospital or the like.

  A recent medical image diagnostic apparatus is usually configured as a set of units having independent control units for each function such as a high voltage generation unit, an X-ray tube and detector holding unit, a bed, and an image processing unit. By operating while exchanging necessary information with each other, the entire apparatus performs an organic operation. For this purpose, each unit is connected to another unit that needs to send and receive signals by a cable, and the number of units usually increases rapidly as the number of units increases.

  In addition, each unit also requires a cable for supplying power from a commercial power supply via a transformer, etc., so there are many cables that connect each unit as a whole, such as hospitals where the equipment is installed. The area occupied by these cables in the room is not negligible, and is one of the causes of increasing the working time when installing the apparatus. In order to solve these problems, the number of signal cables can be reduced by connecting each unit by a system such as a LAN (local area network) in which a plurality of personal computers (hereinafter referred to as PCs) are connected using a hub. A device that reduces the number of devices has been put into practical use. A configuration example of such an apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is an illustration of a circulatory X-ray diagnostic apparatus, with a communication line 23 that is a signal cable for transmitting and receiving signals between the units and a power line 24 that is a power cable for supplying power to each unit. is there. X-ray high-voltage device 51 that supplies power to an X-ray tube (not shown) drawn as a unit, an X-ray holding device 52 that holds an X-ray tube and an X-ray detector (not shown) facing each other, a subject A bed 53 on which (not shown) is placed, a proximity control console 54 for operating the X-ray high-voltage device 51, the X-ray holding device 52, the bed 53, etc. in the examination room, and a remote control console 55 also operating in the operation room The image processing device 56 for processing the image signal obtained from the X-ray detector operates organically as a whole while exchanging signals with each other, but under the control of these units such as an X-ray tube and an X-ray detector. Those that operate at are not shown because they are not particularly relevant in this explanation.

  In each of the X-ray high voltage device 51, the X-ray holding device 52, the bed 53, the proximity control console 54, and the remote control console 55, which are units of the cardiovascular X-ray diagnostic apparatus, an X-ray constituted by, for example, a microcomputer or the like. The high voltage control unit 1A, the holding device control unit 2A, the bed control unit 3A, the proximity control unit 4A, and the remote control unit 5A control the respective operations. The processing unit 6A controls operations mainly including image processing. And each said control part and a process part are connected to the communication line connection part 9 incorporated in the bed 53 via the communication control part 7 in each unit. The communication line connection unit 9 has a function equivalent to that of a hub in a LAN system that allows a plurality of PCs to connect to each other and transmit / receive information to / from each other. The communication control unit 7 controls transmission / reception between units and a communication line. 23 has a function of controlling the usage right.

Thereby, each unit can transmit / receive information to / from each other as necessary under the control of the respective control unit or processing unit. In this example, the communication line connection unit 9 is built in the bed 53. However, the communication line connection unit 9 is not particularly limited to the bed 53, and may be built in any unit from the X-ray high voltage apparatus 51 to the image processing apparatus 56. According to the above method, this method can reduce the number of cables as compared with the conventional method in which each unit is connected to each other by a signal cable. However, for the operation of each unit, in addition to the communication line 23, the circulator X A power line 24 for supplying power from a commercial power supply to the DC stabilized power supply 8 of each unit is required via an insulating transformer 10 that is a part of the line diagnostic apparatus. As for the CT apparatus, in order to reduce the number of slip rings and contact brushes used in the scanning gantry, an apparatus that combines a power supply line and a communication line has been devised (see, for example, Patent Document 1). .
JP 2001-29341 A

  As described above, in the medical diagnostic apparatus, a signal cable for connecting each unit of the apparatus and a power cable for supplying power to each unit are necessary. However, the number of these cables is still large even by the method described above. The area occupied by these cables in a room of a hospital or the like where the apparatus is installed cannot be ignored, and is one of the causes of increasing the working time when the apparatus is installed. An object of the present invention is to reduce the area occupied by the cables by reducing the number of these cables, and to shorten the work time when installing the apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, the medical diagnosis apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention is a medical diagnostic apparatus comprising a plurality of units, wherein each unit supplies power supplied from outside to the inside, and other units. A communication control unit that controls communication with the communication control unit, and a signal modulated in accordance with a transmission signal input from the communication control unit is superimposed on the power supply voltage and output, and a signal superimposed on the power supply voltage is extracted. An insulation transformer that insulates and outputs power supplied from the outside, an insulation transformer, a power input unit of each unit, and a power line It consists of a power line configured to serve as a communication line by connecting a modem, wherein each unit operates while communicating with each other via the power line, Edge supplying medical diagnostic device commercial power is insulated to external noise and the device superimposition communication does not affect both the device and the external from the device and the outside by the transformer.

  According to the present invention, since the number of cables required for the entire apparatus can be reduced by using both the communication line and the power line that connect each component of the apparatus, the area occupied by the cable in the place where the apparatus is installed can be reduced. At the same time, the installation time of the apparatus can be shortened.

  FIG. 1 shows an X-ray high voltage apparatus 1, an X-ray holding apparatus 2, a bed 3, a proximity control console 4, a remote unit, which are units of the apparatus, in order to explain an embodiment of the present invention using a cardiovascular X-ray diagnostic apparatus. It is the figure drawn centering on the control console 5, the image processing apparatus 6, and the electric power communication line 22 which connects them. 1 that are the same as those in FIG. 2 are the same as those in FIG. In FIG. 1, each unit operates organically as a whole while exchanging signals with each other via the power communication line 22, but operates under the control of these units such as an X-ray tube and an X-ray detector. Since this is not particularly relevant in this explanation, it is not shown in FIG. 1 as in FIG.

  In FIG. 1, for example, an X-ray high voltage control unit 1A configured by a microcomputer, a holding device control unit 2A, a bed control unit 3A, a proximity control unit 4A, a remote control unit 5A, and an image configured by, for example, a PC The processing unit 6A controls operations of the X-ray high voltage device 1, the X-ray holding device 2, the bed 3, the proximity control console 4, the remote control console 5, and the image processing device 6 which are units of the X-ray diagnostic apparatus for circulatory organs. At the same time, when it is necessary to exchange information between units, the communication control unit 7 and the power line modem 11 exchange information. At this time, the communication control unit 7 outputs a transmission signal to the power line modem 11 under the control of each control unit or processing unit, and outputs a reception signal received from the power line modem 11 to each control unit or processing unit. The right of use related to communication of the power communication line 22 is controlled. On the other hand, the power line modem 11 has a higher frequency carrier wave than the commercial power generated in the power line modem 11 due to the AC voltage supplied in parallel with the DC stabilized power supply 8 by the power communication line 22 via the insulation transformer 10 from the commercial power supply. By superimposing a communication signal modulated in accordance with a transmission signal input from the communication control unit 7, the signal is output to another unit via the power communication line 22, and the high frequency signal output from the other unit is also output. The communication signal is extracted from the AC voltage on which the communication signal is superimposed and demodulated, and the reception signal obtained by demodulation is output to the communication control unit 7.

  By configuring the medical diagnostic apparatus as described above, for example, a common wiring can be used for supplying power to each unit constituting the apparatus and for communication between the units. Therefore, the number of cables used for the wiring can be greatly increased. Can be reduced. As a result, the area occupied by the cable at the place where the apparatus is installed can be reduced, and the installation time of the apparatus can be shortened.

  In the above embodiment, the cardiovascular X-ray diagnostic apparatus has been described. However, the present invention is composed of a plurality of units each having a control function and operating organically by exchanging information with each other. Applicable to all medical diagnostic devices.

  The present invention relates to a medical diagnostic apparatus such as an X-ray image diagnostic apparatus, a PET apparatus, a CT apparatus, and an MRI apparatus used in a hospital or the like.

It is a figure for demonstrating the X-ray-image diagnostic apparatus of this invention using the wiring common to electric power and communication. It is a figure for demonstrating the relationship between the power line and communication line in the conventional X-ray image diagnostic apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

1: X-ray high voltage device 1A: X-ray high voltage control unit 2: X-ray holding device 2A: holding device control unit 3: bed 3A: bed control unit 4: proximity control console 4A: proximity control unit 5: remote control console 5A: Remote control unit 6: Image processing device 6A: Image processing unit 7: Communication control unit 8: DC stabilized power supply 9: Communication line connection unit 10: Insulation transformer 11: Power line modem 22: Power communication line 23: Communication line 24 : Power line 51: X-ray high voltage device 52: X-ray holding device 53: Bed 54: Proximity control console 55: Remote control console 56: Image processing device

Claims (1)

In the medical diagnostic apparatus composed of a plurality of units, each unit includes a power input unit that supplies power supplied from outside, a communication control unit that controls communication with other units, and the communication control unit. A signal modulated corresponding to an input transmission signal is superimposed on the power supply voltage and output, and a received signal obtained by extracting and demodulating the signal superimposed on the power supply voltage is output to the communication control unit Insulating transformer comprising a power line modem and insulating and outputting power supplied from the outside, and connecting the insulating transformer, the power input unit of each unit and the power line modem, and serving as a communication line A medical diagnostic apparatus, wherein each unit operates while communicating with each other via the power line.

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