JP2010158454A - Radiation image generation system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a radiation image generation system, avoiding radio interference in communication and smoothly performing communication between an FPD and a console in a configuration using a radio access point. <P>SOLUTION: This radiation image generation system includes a relay device having a first radio communication section and a second radio communication section which are respectively configured to communicate in different radio communication systems, which is provided corresponding to a photographing room. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a radiographic image generation system, and more particularly to a radiographic image generation system using a portable radiographic image detection apparatus that performs wireless communication.

  In recent years, a digital radiation imaging apparatus has been used as a method for irradiating a subject with radiation and detecting radiation transmitted through the subject to obtain a radiation image. As such a radiation imaging apparatus, there is a so-called FPD (Flat Panel Detector).

  The FPD is a two-dimensional array of a plurality of detection elements on a substrate. A radiation that passes through a subject is irradiated on a phosphor (scintillator), and a visible light that emits light according to the amount of irradiated radiation. Radiation image data is obtained by converting light into electric charge by a detection element, accumulating it in a capacitor, and reading out the electric charge accumulated in the capacitor.

  The radiographic image data obtained by imaging confirms whether or not imaging is normally performed by using a console such as a control unit. In recent years, FPDs have been reduced in size and weight due to improvements in semiconductor technology. In order to take advantage of such FPD features, radiographic data must be transferred from the FPD to the console using a wireless communication system. Is required.

  In the X-ray digital imaging system disclosed in Patent Document 1, a wireless access point is provided between an imaging room that performs imaging with an FPD and an operation room in which a console is installed, and the FPD and the console are connected by the wireless access point. Relaying communication between Further, both the optical communication method and the radio wave communication method are used as wireless communication methods, and communication is performed using both methods in combination.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-13310 (pages 9 to 10, FIG. 8)

  In hospitals that have multiple radiographing rooms and use multiple FPDs at the same time, wireless communication may occur at the same time between the FPD, wireless access point, and console terminals. There is a risk of doing.

  In order to prevent radio wave interference, there is a method of performing wireless communication using different channels using a plurality of channels (frequency bands). In the X-ray digital imaging system described in Patent Document 1, a radio frequency switching unit is provided, and when wireless communication is performed by a radio wave communication method, a channel to be used is selected by performing a frequency search.

  By using a plurality of channels in this way, it is possible to avoid radio waves from interfering even when communicating simultaneously. However, the number of channels is limited. For example, when communicating via a wireless LAN, the number of channels that can be used simultaneously without interference is 3 to 4, and there is a problem of channel depletion in hospitals with a plurality of radiographing rooms. It will be.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a radiological image generation system capable of avoiding radio wave interference during communication and smoothly performing communication between an FPD and a console in a configuration using a wireless access point. Objective.

  The above object is achieved by the invention described below.

1. A radiographic image generation apparatus having a wireless communication unit that performs radiographing based on radiation from a radiation irradiation apparatus provided in the radiographing room and acquires radiographic image data;
A control unit having a communication unit for receiving radiation image data from the radiation image generation device, and processing the received radiation image data;
An access point that performs wireless communication by relaying communication of the control device;
A first wireless communication unit provided corresponding to a radiographing room, relaying communication between the radiation image generation device and the control device, and wirelessly communicating with a wireless communication unit of the radiation image generation device; and the control A second wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication with the communication unit of the device via the access point;
In a radiation image generation system comprising:
The wireless communication between the wireless communication unit of the radiation image generating device and the first wireless communication unit is a first wireless communication method,
A radiographic image characterized in that a wireless communication method between the second wireless communication unit of the relay device and the wireless communication unit of the control device is a second wireless communication method different from the first wireless communication method. Generation system.

2. A radiographic image generation apparatus having a wireless communication unit that performs radiographing based on radiation from a radiation irradiation apparatus provided in the radiographing room and acquires radiographic image data;
A control unit that has a wireless communication unit that receives radiation image data from the radiation image generation device, and that processes the received radiation image data;
A first wireless communication unit provided corresponding to a radiographing room, relaying communication between the radiation image generation device and the control device, and wirelessly communicating with a wireless communication unit of the radiation image generation device; and the control A second wireless communication unit that wirelessly communicates with the wireless communication unit of the device;
In a radiation image generation system comprising:
The wireless communication between the wireless communication unit of the radiation image generating device and the first wireless communication unit is a first wireless communication method,
A radiographic image characterized in that a wireless communication method between the second wireless communication unit of the relay device and the wireless communication unit of the control device is a second wireless communication method different from the first wireless communication method. Generation system.

  3. The radiation image generation system according to 1 or 2, wherein the first wireless communication method is WUSB communication, and the second wireless communication method is wireless LAN communication.

  4). The antennas of the first wireless communication unit are provided inside a photographing room, and the antennas of the second wireless communication unit are provided outside the photographing room. The radiographic image generation system in any one.

  5. 5. The radiographic image generation system according to 4, wherein the first wireless communication unit includes a plurality of antennas.

  In a configuration using a wireless access point, by providing a relay device having a first wireless communication unit and a second wireless communication unit communicating with different wireless communication methods corresponding to the photographing room, radio wave interference during communication can be reduced. It is possible to provide a radiological image generation system that can avoid communication and perform communication between the FPD and the console smoothly.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the radiographic image generation system in 1st Embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a part of a radiological image generation system arranged inside an imaging room 100. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a main part configuration of a console 7. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of FPD6. It is a perspective view of FPD6. It is a figure which shows the principal part structure of the relay apparatus 5, a wireless access point, and FPD6. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the radiographic image generation system in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the radiographic image generation system in 3rd Embodiment.

  The radiation image generation system will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a radiographic image generation system according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a part of the radiographic image generation system disposed inside the imaging room 100. .

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the radiation image generation system receives radiation image data from a radiation image generation device 6 (hereinafter referred to as FPD 6) that acquires radiation image data by imaging and the FPD 6, and receives the image data. The console 7 executes various processes such as image processing and display processing. Communication between the FPD 6 and the console 7 is performed by wireless communication, and the wireless communication is performed via the relay device 5, the wireless access point 8, and the communication network N. The communication network N may be a communication line dedicated to the system, but is preferably an existing line such as Ethernet (registered trademark) because the degree of freedom of the system configuration becomes low. The console 7 described above functions as a “control terminal” in the present invention.

  The two shooting rooms 100a and 100b shown in FIG. 1 have the same configuration, and are hereinafter simply referred to as the shooting room 100. Each photographing room 100 is shielded with heavy metal such as lead so that the irradiated radiation does not leak outside. The radio communication antenna a <b> 1 of the relay device 5 is provided in each radiography room 100 so that terminals inside the radiography room 100 can communicate with external terminals because radio waves are blocked by the shield. The FPD 6 is a portable device and can be used in any photographing room 100. Even when the imaging room 100 is straddled, (1) the roaming function or (2) the RFID tag built in the FPD 6 is read by a tag reader provided at the entrance of the imaging room 100, etc. It is possible to continue communication with the external console 7 via the relay device 5 provided in the shooting room 100 of the moving destination. Details regarding the wireless communication will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a radiation irradiation device 3 and a photographing operation device 4 are installed inside the photographing room 100.

  The radiation irradiating apparatus 3 includes a radiation irradiating unit 30 that irradiates radiation, a mounting unit 31 that mounts the FPD 6, and an (upward) imaging table 33. The radiation irradiating device 3 is controlled by the imaging operation device 4 so as to perform radiation imaging on the subject P lying on the imaging table 33 under predetermined imaging conditions. Note that the FPD 6 is attached to the attachment portion 31 during photographing. In addition, the synchronization of the imaging timing between the radiation irradiation device 3 and the FPD 6 at the time of imaging is performed by wired communication via a connector provided in the mounting portion 31, but a radio communication device is provided in the imaging operation device 4. You may make it synchronize with FPD6 by radio | wireless communication.

[Console 7]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the console 7 functioning as a “control device”. As shown in FIG. 3, the console 7 includes a control unit 74, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 75, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 76, a display unit 77, an input operation unit 78, a communication unit 79, a storage unit 70, and the like. Each part is connected by a bus 71.

  The display unit 77 includes, for example, a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and the like, and according to instructions of a display signal sent from the control unit 74, the patient list, various messages and images, Various screens are displayed.

  The input operation unit 78 includes, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and outputs a key press signal pressed by the keyboard and an operation signal from the mouse to the control unit 74 as input signals. The input operation unit 78 outputs position information input by touching a transparent sheet panel covering the display screen of the display unit 77 with a finger or a dedicated stylus pen to the control unit 74 as an input signal. You may be comprised with the touch panel.

  The storage unit 70 stores characteristic information of the FPD 6. Here, the characteristic information includes characteristics of an FPD imaging element and a scintillator panel described later. The image processing unit 72 uses the characteristic information of the FPD 6 stored in the storage unit 70 for the radiation image data acquired from the FPD 6 to perform gain correction or offset correction of the radiation image data, correction of defective pixels, and the like. Image processing can be performed. If the characteristic information of each FPD 6 is different in a system using a plurality of FPDs 6, each FPD 6 is managed with an identification ID, and the characteristic information is stored in the storage unit 70 in association with the identification ID. Image processing may be performed on the image data based on the characteristic information.

  The communication unit 79 communicates with each device connected to the network N. The communication unit 79 communicates various information with the FPD 6 through an access point 8 connected to the network N by a wireless communication method such as a wireless LAN.

  The control unit 74 is configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or the like, and is configured to read a predetermined program stored in the ROM 76, develop it in a work area of the RAM 75, and execute various processes according to the program.

[FPD6]
The FPD 6 as a radiation image generating device will be described based on FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a main part of the FPD 6, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the FPD 6.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the control system of the FPD 6 includes a control unit 64, a RAM 65, a ROM 66, an imaging panel 62, a storage unit 60, a power supply unit 67, a wireless communication unit 69, and the like. .

  The control unit 64 is composed of, for example, a CPU or the like, reads a control program stored in the ROM 66, develops it in a work area formed in the RAM 65, and controls each unit of the FPD 6 according to the control program. The ROM 66 is configured by a nonvolatile semiconductor memory or the like, and stores a control program executed by the control unit 64, various programs, an identification ID of the FPD 6, and the like. The RAM 65 forms a work area for temporarily storing various programs that can be executed by the control unit 64 read from the ROM 66, input or output data, parameters, and the like in various processes controlled by the control unit 64. .

  The storage unit 60 includes, for example, a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory or a RAM, and can store radiation image data corresponding to a plurality of imagings acquired by reading an electrical signal accumulated in the imaging panel 62. It has become.

  The wireless communication unit 69 will be described later. The power supply unit 67 as a battery supplies power to a plurality of drive units (the control unit 64, the imaging panel 62, the storage unit 60, and the like) constituting the FPD 6. The power supply unit 67 is configured by, for example, a spare battery and a rechargeable battery, and the rechargeable battery can be charged by connecting the connector 605 to a cradle (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 5, the FPD 6 includes a housing 601 that protects the inside, and is configured to be portable as a cassette type. By making it portable and optimizing the size according to the standard, it can be loaded into an imaging device such as a Bucky stand constructed with an existing CR system (CR: Computed Radiography). This has the advantage that the CR system can be gradually replaced.

  An imaging panel 62 that converts irradiated radiation into an electrical signal is formed in layers inside the housing 601 shown in FIG. A light emitting layer 63 that emits light according to the intensity of the incident radiation is provided on the radiation irradiation side of the imaging panel 62.

  The light emitting layer 63 is generally called a scintillator layer. For example, a phosphor is a main component, and based on incident radiation, an electromagnetic wave having a wavelength of 300 nm to 800 nm, that is, an ultraviolet ray to an infrared ray centered on visible light. Outputs electromagnetic waves (light) over light.

  The electromagnetic wave (light) output from the light emitting layer is converted into electric energy and accumulated on the surface opposite to the surface on which the radiation of the light emitting layer is irradiated, and an image signal based on the accumulated electric energy is stored. An imaging panel 62 in which photoelectric conversion units that perform output are arranged in a matrix is formed. Note that a signal output from one photoelectric conversion unit is a signal corresponding to one pixel serving as a minimum unit constituting the radiation image data. The imaging panel 62 also includes a scanning drive circuit 609 that reads the stored electrical energy, and a signal selection circuit 608 that outputs the stored electrical energy as an image signal.

[Relay device 5]
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the main configuration of the relay device 5, the wireless access point, and the FPD 6. The relay device 5 includes a first wireless communication unit 591 and a second wireless communication unit 592. These communication units are controlled by a communication control unit 594.

  The first wireless communication unit 591 performs wireless communication with the FPD 6 by the “first wireless communication method” via the antenna a 1 provided in the photographing room 100 and the built-in antenna a 10 of the FPD 6.

  The second wireless communication unit 592 performs wireless communication with the access point 8 by the “second wireless communication method” via the antenna a <b> 2 and the antenna a <b> 20 provided in the photographing room 100.

  The access point 8 includes a wireless communication unit 891 and a wired communication unit 890, which are controlled by the communication control unit 84. The access point 8 has a function of relaying wireless communication from the relay device 5 to a terminal such as a console 7 connected to the network N.

  As the “first wireless communication system”, for example, UWB (Ultra Wide Band) is used. In addition, it is particularly preferable to use WUSB (Wireless USB) among UWB.

  UWB (WUSB) can communicate at high speed, but has a characteristic that the output of radio waves is small. In addition, since the frequency of the radio wave is relatively high, straightness is strong. Therefore, there is a disadvantage in that attenuation due to an obstacle between communication terminals is large. However, as shown in FIG. 2 and the like, communication by the first wireless communication method is performed between the FPD 6 present in the photographing room 100 and the relay device 5 provided in the photographing room 100. . For this reason, since the distance between the two is relatively close to several meters to several tens of meters, communication can be performed without any problem even with the above-described characteristics. The characteristic that UWB has a weak radio wave output can be said to be a preferable characteristic when the subject P considers the influence on a medical device such as a pacemaker.

  Further, since the FPD 6 is portable, the power supply is mainly performed by the internal power supply unit 67. Considering the capacity of the power supply unit 67, it is required that the power consumption is small. In this respect, UWB (or WUSB) is preferable.

  As another example of the first wireless communication system, there is optical wireless communication (for example, IrDA) using infrared light, visible light, or the like (laser or the like). Further, wireless communication may be performed by acoustic communication using sound waves or ultrasonic waves.

  As the “second wireless communication method”, for example, a wireless LAN (for example, a communication method compliant with IEEE802.11a / b / g) is used. The second wireless communication unit 592 and the wireless communication unit 891 communicate with each other by the wireless LAN method, and the wired communication unit 890 converts the protocol to the Ethernet (registered trademark) method and relays the data to the communication network N. .

  The effect of differentiating the “first wireless communication system” and the “second wireless communication system” will be described.

  Since each shooting room 100 is shielded as described above, when the FPD 6 inside the shooting room 100 communicates directly with an external terminal, the shield serves as a shield, so that the radio wave condition is Deteriorate. In particular, when the FPDs 6 in different photographing rooms 100 communicate directly with each other, the attenuation of the radio wave is large because the shield passes twice. As a result, the FPDs 6 tend to have a so-called hidden terminal relationship in which the existence of other terminals cannot be recognized. If communication is performed in such a state, retransmissions are required due to frequent collisions, so that the communication speed decreases.

  The problem of the hidden terminal can be solved by providing a device that relays communication between the inside and outside terminals of the photographing room 100 by the relay device 5 or the like. However, in such a case, the relay device 5 needs to perform wireless communication simultaneously with the inner and outer terminals. Furthermore, if both wireless communication systems are used in a common system without making them different, it is necessary to perform both wireless communications on different channels in order to avoid interference, and as a result, two channels are consumed simultaneously. End up. In this case, exhaustion of the number of channels becomes a problem in the entire hospital provided with a plurality of imaging rooms 100.

  By differentiating the “first wireless communication system” and the “second wireless communication system” as in the first embodiment, the problem of the hidden terminal as described above and the problem of the depletion of the number of channels are obviated. Can be prevented.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a radiation image generation system according to the second embodiment. A console 7b functioning as a control terminal shown in the figure is a portable terminal such as a notebook personal computer. The communication unit 79 of the console 7b can communicate by a wireless communication method. In the embodiment shown in the figure, no access point is provided. The rest of the configuration is the same as that shown in FIGS.

  Communication between the relay device 5 and the console 7 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is performed via the access point 8 (and the wired network N) in a so-called infrastructure mode. On the other hand, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the relay device 5 (second wireless communication unit 592) and the console 7 b can directly communicate with each other without using the access point 8 by a so-called ad hoc mode. In addition, it is good also as a form which makes the 1st and 2nd embodiment be mixed and used by using the console 7b in 1st Embodiment.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a third embodiment will be described. In the third embodiment, the first communication unit has a plurality of antennas.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a radiation image generation system according to another embodiment. The configuration of the main body other than the configuration shown in the figure is the same as that shown in FIGS.

  In FIG. 8, the relay device 5 provided corresponding to the photographing room 100a is the same as the relay device 5 shown in FIG. 1, but the relay device 5 provided corresponding to the photographing room 100b and the photographing room 100c is The first wireless communication unit 591 includes antennas a11 and a12. The antenna a11 performs wireless communication with the FPD 6 existing inside the photographing room 100b and the FPD 6 existing inside the photographing room 100c by the antenna a12. By doing in this way, since the communication from the FPDs 6 in the plurality of photographing rooms can be relayed by the single relay device 5 in the wireless communication of the plurality of photographing rooms 100, the number of the relay devices 5 can be reduced. There is a merit that you can.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Radiation irradiation apparatus 30 Radiation irradiation part 31 Mounting part 33 Imaging stand 4 Imaging operation apparatus 5 Relay apparatus 591 1st wireless communication part 592 2nd wireless communication part 594 Communication control part a1 Antenna a2 Antenna 6 FPD (Radiation image generation apparatus) )
69 wireless communication unit a10 built-in antenna 7, 7b console 8 access point 890 wired communication unit 891 wireless communication unit 84 communication control unit a20 antenna N network

Claims (5)

A radiographic image generation apparatus having a wireless communication unit that performs radiographing based on radiation from a radiation irradiation apparatus provided in the radiographing room and acquires radiographic image data;
A control unit having a communication unit for receiving radiation image data from the radiation image generation device, and processing the received radiation image data;
An access point that performs wireless communication by relaying communication of the control device;
A first wireless communication unit provided corresponding to a radiographing room, relaying communication between the radiation image generation device and the control device, and wirelessly communicating with a wireless communication unit of the radiation image generation device; and the control A second wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication with the communication unit of the device via the access point;
In a radiation image generation system comprising:
The wireless communication between the wireless communication unit of the radiation image generating device and the first wireless communication unit is a first wireless communication method,
A radiographic image characterized in that a wireless communication method between the second wireless communication unit of the relay device and the wireless communication unit of the control device is a second wireless communication method different from the first wireless communication method. Generation system. A radiographic image generation apparatus having a wireless communication unit that performs radiographing based on radiation from a radiation irradiation apparatus provided in the radiographing room and acquires radiographic image data;
A control unit that has a wireless communication unit that receives radiation image data from the radiation image generation device, and that processes the received radiation image data;
A first wireless communication unit provided corresponding to a radiographing room, relaying communication between the radiation image generation device and the control device, and wirelessly communicating with a wireless communication unit of the radiation image generation device; and the control A second wireless communication unit that wirelessly communicates with the wireless communication unit of the device;
In a radiation image generation system comprising:
The wireless communication between the wireless communication unit of the radiation image generating device and the first wireless communication unit is a first wireless communication method,
A radiographic image characterized in that a wireless communication method between the second wireless communication unit of the relay device and the wireless communication unit of the control device is a second wireless communication method different from the first wireless communication method. Generation system.   The radiation image generating system according to claim 1, wherein the first wireless communication method is WUSB communication, and the second wireless communication method is wireless LAN communication.   The antenna of the first wireless communication unit is provided inside a photographing room, and the antenna of the second wireless communication unit is provided outside the photographing room. A radiation image generation system according to any one of the above.   The radiographic image generation system according to claim 4, wherein the first wireless communication unit includes a plurality of antennas.

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