JP2012135588A - Radiation image taking system and radiation image taking apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a radiation image taking system which promptly displays a preview image on a screen of a console, and can restore an image data completely so that an image data before compression and an image data after restoration may agree together on the console.SOLUTION: The radiation image taking system 50 includes: a radiation image taking apparatus 1 which reads out an image data D after shooting; and a console 58 which makes a display 58a display a preview image based on the image data D, wherein when the radiation image taking apparatus 1 compresses the image data for a preview image and sends them, the console 58 stretches the image data for a preview image and displays the preview image at the display 58a, and when the radiation image taking apparatus 1 compresses the image data D to form a final radiation image by a lossless compression method and sends them, the console 58 stretches the image data D losslessly compressed to form the radiation image.

Description

  The present invention relates to a radiographic image capturing system and a radiographic image capturing device, and more particularly to a radiographic image capturing system for compressing and transmitting image data from a radiographic image capturing device to a console and a radiographic image capturing device used therefor.

  A so-called direct type radiographic imaging device that generates electric charges by a detection element in accordance with the dose of irradiated radiation such as X-rays and converts it into an electrical signal, or other radiation such as visible light with a scintillator or the like. Various so-called indirect radiographic imaging devices have been developed that convert charges to electromagnetic waves after being converted into electrical signals by generating electric charges with photoelectric conversion elements such as photodiodes in accordance with the energy of the converted and irradiated electromagnetic waves. Yes.

  In the present invention, the detection element in the direct type radiographic imaging apparatus and the photoelectric conversion element in the indirect type radiographic imaging apparatus are collectively referred to as a radiation detection element.

  This type of radiographic imaging apparatus is known as an FPD (Flat Panel Detector), and conventionally formed integrally with a support base (or a bucky apparatus) (see, for example, Patent Document 1). A portable radiographic imaging device in which an element or the like is housed in a housing has been developed and put into practical use (see, for example, Patent Documents 2 and 3).

  In such a radiographic imaging apparatus, normally, a plurality of radiation detection elements are two-dimensionally (matrix-like) in each region partitioned by a plurality of scanning lines and a plurality of signal lines arranged so as to cross each other. In this case, the number of radiation detection elements (that is, the number of pixels) is usually several million to several tens of millions of pixels or more. Therefore, if the image data read from each radiation detection element is transmitted without being compressed to an external device such as a console, the transmission time becomes very long.

  In addition, when the radiographic image capturing device is a portable radiographic image capturing device with a built-in battery, if the transmission time of the image data becomes long, the power consumed at the time of transmission increases and the battery is consumed. Leads to.

  Therefore, as described in, for example, Patent Document 4 and Patent Document 5, the read image data is usually reversible compression (also referred to as lossless compression) or lossy compression (also referred to as lossy compression). The data is compressed by a data compression method and transmitted to an external device such as a console or a server.

  Then, for example, the radiographic imaging device is used as a medical image imaging device that images a part of a body such as a patient's head, chest, and limbs as a subject and uses the acquired radiographic image as a medical image for diagnosis or the like. In this case, as a data compression method for compressing image data, in general, image data before compression and image data after restoration are not irreversible compression in which a part of information included in the image data is lost by the compression. It is considered that it is preferable to adopt a lossless compression method in which compression is performed so as to completely match.

  As a lossless compression method, as described in Patent Document 6, for example, a method such as Huffman coding, LZ78, or arithmetic coding can be used.

JP-A-9-73144 JP 2006-058124 A JP-A-6-342099 JP 2000-275350 A JP 2005-287927 A JP 2009-172078 A

  By the way, in the radiographic imaging apparatus, as described above, the image data can be immediately transmitted to the console after the image data is read from each radiation detection element. Therefore, based on the transmitted image data, for example, a preview image is displayed on the screen of the console, and a radiographer or the like looks at the preview image to check whether the subject is captured in the image, the position of the subject in the image, etc. It is possible to configure so as to confirm.

  Therefore, compared with the case of CR (Computed Radiography) cassette with a built-in photostimulable phosphor plate, the CR cassette is brought to the image reader after reading and the image data is read. Since the image can be quickly displayed on the console screen, the re-photographing can be performed quickly when re-photographing is necessary.

  However, when the image data is transmitted from the radiographic imaging apparatus to the console, if the image data is reversibly compressed and transmitted as described above, the compression rate is not necessarily high, so it takes time to transmit the compressed image data. In some cases, the preview image cannot always be displayed promptly on the console screen.

  If it takes time until the preview image is displayed in this way, it becomes possible to quickly display the preview image on the screen of the console after the imaging, that is, the characteristics of the radiographic imaging device as described above. Such a feature cannot be effectively realized. If the preview image cannot be displayed promptly, it takes time until the radiologist or the like decides whether or not re-imaging is necessary. Eventually, the time for which the patient as the subject waits becomes longer, and the burden on the patient is increased. Increase.

  However, on the other hand, image data captured using a radiographic image capturing apparatus can accurately diagnose the state of a patient's lesion, etc., by a doctor viewing a radiographic image generated based on the image data. Therefore, there is a restriction that the image data before compression and the image data after restoration must be reversibly compressed so as to completely match and transmitted from the radiographic apparatus to the console.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and can promptly display a preview image on a console screen. Moreover, image data before compression and image data after decompression on the console can be displayed. An object of the present invention is to provide a radiographic image capturing system capable of restoring image data so that the two completely match, and a radiographic image capturing apparatus used therefor.

In order to solve the above problems, the radiographic imaging system and radiographic imaging apparatus of the present invention are:
In a radiographic image capturing system comprising: a radiographic image capturing apparatus that performs image data readout processing after radiographic image capturing; and a console that displays a preview image based on the image data read by the radiographic image capturing apparatus on a display unit;
The radiographic image capturing apparatus includes:
A plurality of scanning lines and a plurality of signal lines arranged so as to intersect with each other; a plurality of radiation detecting elements arranged in a two-dimensional manner in each region partitioned by the plurality of scanning lines and the plurality of signal lines; A detector comprising:
Scan driving means for applying an on voltage or an off voltage to each of the scanning lines;
A readout circuit that reads out charges from the radiation detection elements through the signal lines, converts the charges into electrical signals for each of the radiation detection elements, and outputs them as the image data;
A communication means for transmitting data to the console;
Control means for transmitting the image data to the console via the communication means;
With
The control means of the radiographic image capturing apparatus includes:
When transmitting the image data for the preview image, the image data for the preview image is compressed by a lossy compression method, and the compressed image data is transmitted.
When all the image data is transmitted to generate a final radiographic image by the console, the image data is compressed by a lossless compression method, and the compressed image data is transmitted. Has been
The console is
When the image data for the irreversibly compressed preview image is transmitted from the radiographic imaging device, the compressed image data for the preview image is expanded, and the display unit is expanded based on the expanded data. Displaying the preview image;
When the reversibly compressed image data is transmitted from the radiographic imaging device, the compressed image data is decompressed, the original image data is restored, and the original image data is restored based on the restored image data. A radiation image is generated.

Moreover, the radiographic imaging system and radiographic imaging device of the present invention are:
In a radiographic image capturing system comprising: a radiographic image capturing apparatus that performs image data readout processing after radiographic image capturing; and a console that displays a preview image based on the image data read by the radiographic image capturing apparatus on a display unit;
The radiographic image capturing apparatus includes:
A plurality of scanning lines and a plurality of signal lines arranged so as to intersect with each other; a plurality of radiation detecting elements arranged in a two-dimensional manner in each region partitioned by the plurality of scanning lines and the plurality of signal lines; A detector comprising:
Scan driving means for applying an on voltage or an off voltage to each of the scanning lines;
A readout circuit that reads out charges from the radiation detection elements through the signal lines, converts the charges into electrical signals for each of the radiation detection elements, and outputs them as the image data;
A communication means for transmitting data to the console;
Control means for transmitting the image data to the console via the communication means;
With
The control means of the radiographic image capturing apparatus includes:
When transmitting the image data for the preview image, the preview data is newly created by lowering the gradation of the image data for the preview image, the created preview data is transmitted,
When transmitting the image data to generate a final radiation image in the console, the console is configured to transmit necessary information regarding the restoration of the image data,
The console is
When the preview data is transmitted from the radiographic imaging device, the preview image is displayed on the display unit based on the preview data,
When necessary information relating to the restoration of the image data is transmitted from the radiographic imaging device, the original image data is restored based on the preview data and the necessary information, and the restored image The radiographic image is generated based on data.

  According to the radiation image capturing system and the radiation image capturing apparatus of the system as in the present invention, when transmitting image data for a preview image when transmitting data from the radiation image capturing apparatus to the console, If the image data is transmitted in a irreversible compression or gradation-reduced state, and the data for the finally generated radiation image is transmitted, it is read from each radiation detection element of the radiation imaging apparatus. Data for restoring each image data is transmitted so as to completely match each original image data that has been output.

  As described above, in the radiographic image capturing system and radiographic image capturing apparatus of the system of the present invention, when transmitting data from the radiographic image capturing apparatus to the console, the image data for the preview image is transmitted, and finally In the case of transmitting the data for the radiation image generated at the same time, the processing method for the data is switched and transmitted.

  Therefore, when transmitting image data for a preview image, it becomes possible to reduce the amount of data to be transmitted by irreversible compression or lowering the gradation, and transmission of data from the radiographic apparatus to the console Time can be shortened.

  Therefore, it is possible to display a preview image on the display section of the console in a very short time after transmission of data from the radiographic imaging apparatus to the console is started. It is possible to quickly confirm the position of the subject in the image and quickly determine whether or not re-shooting is necessary. In addition, it is possible to shorten the time for the patient who is the subject to wait, thereby reducing the burden on the patient.

  On the other hand, when transmitting the data for the final radiographic image, based on the data transmitted from the radiographic image capturing device, the source read from each radiation detection element of the radiographic image capturing device on the console. Each image data can be restored so as to completely match each image data.

  Therefore, based on each restored image data, it is possible to generate a radiographic image in a state where there is no deterioration in image quality based on the compression process. This makes it possible to accurately diagnose the state of the lesion.

It is an external appearance perspective view of the radiographic imaging device concerning each embodiment. It is the external appearance perspective view which looked at the radiographic imaging apparatus of FIG. 1 from the other side. It is sectional drawing which follows the XX line in FIG. It is a top view which shows the structure of the board | substrate of a radiographic imaging apparatus. It is an enlarged view which shows the structure of the radiation detection element, TFT, etc. which were formed in the small area | region on the board | substrate of FIG. It is a side view explaining the board | substrate with which a flexible circuit board, a PCB board | substrate, etc. were attached. It is a block diagram showing the equivalent circuit of a radiographic imaging apparatus. It is a block diagram showing the equivalent circuit about 1 pixel which comprises a detection part. 6 is a timing chart showing charge reset switches, pulse signals, and TFT on / off timings in image data read processing. It is a figure explaining the state where the image data read from the radiation detection element at the same time by each readout IC is rearranged after being stored in the buffer memory and transmitted to the storage means. It is a figure which shows the structure of the radiographic imaging system which concerns on each embodiment. It is an external appearance perspective view showing the state to which the connector of FPD cassette and the connector of the Bucky device were connected. It is a figure explaining the Bucky apparatus provided with the connector inside the cassette holding | maintenance part. It is a figure showing the method of extracting thinning-out data from image data. It is a figure showing another method of extracting thinning-out data from image data. It is a figure showing the example of the thinning data extracted from image data. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining that, for example, preview data is newly created by cutting out upper bits having a set bit length from image data having a predetermined bit length in the second embodiment.

  Embodiments of a radiographic image capturing system and a radiographic image capturing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  In the following description, a so-called indirect radiation image capturing apparatus that includes a scintillator or the like and converts an emitted radiation into an electromagnetic wave having another wavelength such as visible light to obtain an electric signal will be described. The present invention can also be applied to a so-called direct type radiographic imaging apparatus that directly detects radiation with a radiation detection element without using a scintillator or the like.

  In addition, although the case where the radiographic image capturing apparatus is so-called portable will be described, the so-called dedicated machine type radiographic image capturing apparatus formed integrally with the support base or the like and the radiographic image capturing system using the same, The present invention is applied.

[Common configuration in each embodiment]
Hereinafter, configurations common to the radiographic image capturing system 50 and the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 used therein according to each embodiment to be described later of the present invention will be described.

[Radiation imaging equipment]
First, the radiographic imaging apparatus 1 used for the radiographic imaging system 50 according to each embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the radiographic image capturing apparatus, and FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the radiographic image capturing apparatus viewed from the opposite side. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 includes a housing 2 in which a sensor panel SP including a scintillator 3 and a substrate 4 is accommodated.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a hollow rectangular tube-shaped housing body 2 </ b> A having a radiation incident surface R in the housing 2 is formed of a material such as a carbon plate or plastic that transmits radiation. The housing 2 is formed by closing the openings on both sides of the housing main body 2A with the lid members 2B and 2C. Instead of forming the casing 2 as such a so-called monocoque type, for example, a so-called lunch box type formed of a front plate and a back plate can be used.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the lid member 2 </ b> B on one side of the housing 2 is provided with a power switch 37, a changeover switch 38, a connector 39, an LED that displays a battery state, an activation state of the radiographic imaging apparatus 1, and the like. A configured indicator 40 or the like is arranged. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, an antenna device 41 that transmits image data D and the like to a console 58 (see FIG. 11) to be described later in a wireless manner is provided, for example, on the lid member 2 </ b> C on the opposite side of the housing 2. Yes.

  In the present embodiment, the radiographic imaging device 1 can transmit image data D and the like to the console 58 wirelessly via the antenna device 41, but the connector 39 and a bucky device 51 to be described later. A connector 51b or the like (see FIGS. 12 and 13 described later) is connected to communicate with the console 58 in a wired manner. That is, in the present embodiment, the antenna device 41 functions as a communication unit when transmitting data in a wireless manner, and the connector 39 functions as a communication portion when transmitting data in a wired manner.

  In the example shown in FIG. 2, the antenna device 41 is provided by being embedded in the lid member 2C on the opposite side of the housing 2 or the like, but the installation position of the antenna device 41 is limited to the lid member 2C. It is possible to install the antenna device 41 at an arbitrary position of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1. Further, the number of antenna devices 41 to be installed is not limited to one, and a plurality of antenna devices can be provided.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a base 31 is disposed inside the housing 2 via a lead thin plate (not shown) on the lower side of the substrate 4, and an electronic component 32 is disposed on the base 31. The PCB substrate 33, the buffer member 34, and the like are attached. Further, a glass substrate 35 for protecting the substrate 4 and the radiation incident surface R of the scintillator 3 is disposed. In addition, a cushioning material 36 is provided between the sensor panel SP and the side surface of the housing 2 to prevent them from colliding with each other.

  The scintillator 3 is provided at a position on the substrate 4 that faces a detection unit P described later. As the scintillator 3, for example, a scintillator 3 that has a phosphor as a main component and converts it into an electromagnetic wave having a wavelength of 300 to 800 nm, that is, an electromagnetic wave centered on visible light when it receives incident radiation, is used.

  The substrate 4 is made of a glass substrate, and as shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of scanning lines 5 and a plurality of signal lines 6 cross each other on the surface 4 a of the substrate 4 facing the scintillator 3. It is arranged to do. In each small region r defined by the plurality of scanning lines 5 and the plurality of signal lines 6 on the surface 4 a of the substrate 4, radiation detection elements 7 are respectively provided.

  Thus, the entire region r in which a plurality of radiation detection elements 7 arranged in a two-dimensional manner are provided in each small region r partitioned by the scanning line 5 and the signal line 6, that is, shown by a one-dot chain line in FIG. The region is a detection unit P.

  In each of the following embodiments, a photodiode is used as the radiation detection element 7, but, for example, a phototransistor or the like can also be used. As shown in FIG. 5 which is an enlarged view of FIG. 4, each radiation detection element 7 is connected to a source electrode 8s of a TFT 8 which is a switch means. The drain electrode 8 d of the TFT 8 is connected to the signal line 6.

  When radiation is incident on the radiation detection element 7 from the radiation incident surface R of the housing 2 of the radiographic imaging apparatus 1 and an electromagnetic wave such as visible light converted from the radiation is irradiated by the scintillator 3, charge ( That is, an electron-hole pair) is generated. In this way, the radiation detecting element 7 converts the irradiated radiation (that is, the electromagnetic wave irradiated from the scintillator 3) into electric charges.

  The TFT 8 is turned on when a turn-on voltage is applied to the gate electrode 8g via the scanning line 5 from the scanning driving means 15 described later, and is accumulated in the radiation detection element 7 via the source electrode 8s and the drain electrode 8d. The charged electric charge is discharged to the signal line 6. The TFT 8 is turned off when an off voltage is applied to the gate electrode 8g via the connected scanning line 5, and the emission of the charge from the radiation detecting element 7 to the signal line 6 is stopped, and the radiation detecting element The electric charge is accumulated in 7.

  As shown in FIG. 5, one bias line 9 is connected to a plurality of radiation detection elements 7 arranged in a row, and each bias line 9 is connected to a signal line 6 as shown in FIG. They are arranged in parallel. Further, each bias line 9 is bound to the connection 10 at a position outside the detection portion P of the substrate 4.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the connection lines 10 of the scanning lines 5, the signal lines 6, and the bias lines 9 are respectively connected to input / output terminals (also referred to as pads) 11 provided near the edge of the substrate 4. It is connected.

  As shown in FIG. 6, each input / output terminal 11 is a flexible circuit board (also referred to as “Chip On Film”) in which a chip such as a gate IC 15c constituting a gate driver 15b of a scanning drive unit 15 described later is incorporated on a film. ) 12 are connected via an anisotropic conductive adhesive material 13 such as an anisotropic conductive adhesive film or an anisotropic conductive paste.

  The flexible circuit board 12 is routed to the back surface 4b side of the substrate 4 and is connected to the PCB substrate 33 described above on the back surface 4b side. In this way, the sensor panel SP of the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 is formed. In FIG. 6, illustration of the electronic component 32 and the like is omitted.

  Here, the circuit configuration of the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 will be described. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an equivalent circuit of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1, and FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an equivalent circuit for one pixel constituting the detection unit P.

  As described above, each radiation detection element 7 of the detection unit P of the substrate 4 has the bias line 9 connected to the second electrode 7b, and each bias line 9 is bound to the connection 10 to the bias power source 14. It is connected. The bias power supply 14 applies a bias voltage to the second electrode 7 b of each radiation detection element 7 via the connection 10 and each bias line 9. The bias power supply 14 is connected to a control means 22 described later, and the control means 22 controls the bias voltage applied to each radiation detection element 7 from the bias power supply 14.

  As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, in the radiographic imaging device 1, the bias power supply 14 supplies the first electrode of the radiation detection element 7 as a bias voltage via the bias line 9 to the second electrode 7 b of the radiation detection element 7. A voltage lower than the voltage applied to the 7a side (that is, a so-called reverse bias voltage) is applied.

  The scanning drive means 15 is a power supply circuit 15a that supplies an on-voltage and an off-voltage to the gate driver 15b via the wiring 15d, and a voltage applied to each line L1 to Lx of the scanning line 5 between the on-voltage and the off-voltage. A gate driver 15b that switches between the on state and the off state of each TFT 8 is provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, each signal line 6 is connected to each readout circuit 17 formed in the readout IC 16, and for example, 128 readout circuits, 256 readout circuits 17, etc. Built in the IC 16, a plurality of readout ICs 16 are arranged in parallel on each signal line 6 to constitute a readout unit.

  The readout circuit 17 includes an amplification circuit 18 and a correlated double sampling circuit 19. An analog multiplexer 21 and an A / D converter 20 are further provided in the reading IC 16. 7 and 8, the correlated double sampling circuit 19 is represented as CDS. In FIG. 8, the analog multiplexer 21 is omitted.

In the example shown in FIG. 8 and the like, the amplifier circuit 18 includes an operational amplifier 18a, a capacitor 18b and a charge reset switch 18c connected in parallel to the operational amplifier 18a, and a power supply unit 18d that supplies power to the operational amplifier 18a and the like. It is composed of a charge amplifier circuit. The signal line 6 is connected to the inverting input terminal on the input side of the operational amplifier 18 a of the amplifier circuit 18, and the reference potential V ₀ is applied to the non-inverting input terminal on the input side of the amplifier circuit 18. . Note that the reference potential V ₀ is set to an appropriate value, and, for example, 0 [V] is applied.

  The charge reset switch 18 c of the amplifier circuit 18 is connected to the control means 22, and is turned on / off by the control means 22. Further, a switch 18e that opens and closes in conjunction with the charge reset switch 18c is provided between the operational amplifier 18a and the correlated double sampling circuit 19, and the switch 18e is turned on / off by the charge reset switch 18c. It is designed to be turned off / on in conjunction with

  In the radiographic imaging device 1, the charge reset switch 18 c of the amplifier circuit 18 is in an OFF state as shown in FIG. 9 in the process of reading the image data D from each radiation detection element 7 after irradiation with radiation. Then, electric charges are emitted from the radiation detecting elements 7 to the signal lines 6 through the TFTs 8 that are turned on.

  Then, the charge discharged to the signal line 6 is accumulated in the capacitor 18b of the amplifier circuit 18, and the amplifier circuit 18 outputs a voltage value corresponding to the amount of charge accumulated in the capacitor 18b from the output side of the operational amplifier 18a. The charge flowing out from each radiation detection element 7 is converted into a charge voltage by the amplifier circuit 18.

  The correlated double sampling circuit (CDS) 19 provided on the output side of the amplifier circuit 18 is a time point when the pulse signal Sp1 (see FIG. 9) is transmitted from the control means 22 before the electric charge flows out from each radiation detection element 7. The voltage value Vin output from the amplifier circuit 18 is held, and after the charge flowing out from each radiation detection element 7 is accumulated in the capacitor 18b of the amplifier circuit 18 as described above, the pulse signal Sp2 is transmitted from the control means 22 Then, the voltage value Vfi output from the amplifier circuit 18 at that time is held.

  The correlated double sampling circuit 19 calculates the voltage value difference Vfi−Vin at the time when the voltage value Vfi is held, and outputs the calculated difference Vfi−Vin to the downstream side as the analog value image data D. It has become. Then, the image data D of each radiation detection element 7 output from the correlated double sampling circuit 19 is sequentially transmitted to the A / D converter 20 via the analog multiplexer 21, and is sequentially converted into a digital value by the A / D converter 20. Are converted into image data D, output to the storage means 23 and sequentially stored.

  Note that when the image data D is read from each radiation detection element 7, the image data D is read from each radiation detection element 7 as described above. L1 to Lx are performed while being sequentially switched.

  If the readout IC 16 is configured to process, for example, 128 signal lines 6 with one readout IC 16 as described above, one readout is performed each time an on-voltage is applied to the scanning line 5. From the IC 16, 128 pieces of image data D corresponding to each signal line 6 are sequentially output.

  If the total number of signal lines 6 is 2048, for example, 2048/128 = 16 readout ICs 16 are arranged in parallel to form a readout unit. In such a case, 16 pieces of image data D are output in parallel from each readout IC 16. Hereinafter, the case of such a configuration will be specifically described, but the present invention is not limited to this case.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 10, when the on-voltage is applied to the line L <b> 1 of the scanning line 5, for example, in the reading process of the image data D, each radiation connected to the line L <b> 1 of the scanning line 5. Image data D is simultaneously read from the detection elements (1, 1) to (1,2048) and sent in parallel to the reading ICs 16.

  Then, each read circuit 17 of each read IC 16 (not shown in FIG. 10; see FIG. 7 etc.) performs charge voltage conversion and the like, and each 128 pieces of image data D transmitted in parallel are stored in each read IC 16. Are sequentially transferred to the A / D converter 20 by the analog multiplexers 21 (see FIG. 7), and the digitized image data D is temporarily transferred from the A / D converter 20 to the buffer memory 42 as shown in FIG. Has been accumulating.

  That is, when the image data D corresponding to each radiation detection element (x, y) is expressed as D (x, y), first, from each readout IC 16, D (1, 1), D (1, 129), D The image data D (1, 257),..., D (1, 1921) are output and stored in the buffer memory 42. Subsequently, each image data D of D (1, 2), D (1, 130), D (1, 258),..., D (1, 1922) is output and stored in the buffer memory.

  Then, the image data D (1, 1) to D (1, 2048) from the radiation detection elements (1, 1) to (1, 2048) connected to the line L1 of the scanning line 5 are stored in the buffer memory 42. Are stored, the image data D are rearranged in the order of image data D (1,1), D (1,2), D (1,3), D (1,4),. 23 are sequentially transmitted and stored.

  In addition, the reading process of each image data D (1,1) to D (1,2048) from each radiation detection element (1,1) to (1,2048) connected to the line L1 of the scanning line 5 is completed. Then, the line of the scanning line 5 to which the ON voltage is applied is subsequently switched to L2. Similarly, the image data D (2,1) to D (2,2048) are transmitted to the buffer memory 42 for each readout IC 16 and rearranged, and then sequentially transmitted to the storage means 23 and stored. The

  In this way, the reading process and the storing process in the storage unit 23 are sequentially repeated for each of the lines L1 to Lx of the scanning line 5, and the reading process of the image data D from all the radiation detection elements 7 is performed. To be done.

  The rearrangement process of the image data D is normally performed by converting the image data D into D (1,1), D (1,2), regardless of the external device that transmits the image data D. , D (1,3), D (1,4),... Can be handled. Therefore, the image data D is generally used at the stage of storing the image data D in the storage means 23. It is a process for rearranging and saving in the above order.

  Accordingly, when the order of transmitting the image data D from the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 to the external apparatus can be determined in advance, the image data D can be rearranged according to the determination. It is.

  In addition, instead of configuring the rearrangement of the image data D as described above when the image data D is stored in the storage unit 23, the image data D is read when the image data D is read from the storage unit 23. It is also possible to configure so that D is rearranged.

  The control means 22 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), an input / output interface connected to the bus, an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or the like (not shown). It is configured. It is also possible to configure the control means 22 with a dedicated control circuit.

  Then, the control means 22 controls the operation of the scanning drive means 15 and the readout circuit 17 to perform the readout process of the image data D from each radiation detection element 7, the reset process of each radiation detection element 7, etc. The operation of each member of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 is controlled. Further, as shown in FIG. 7 and the like, the control means 22 is connected to a storage means 23 composed of a DRAM (Dynamic RAM) or the like.

  The control unit 22 is connected to the antenna device 41 as the communication unit described above and the connector 39 (not shown in FIG. 7), and further includes the detection unit P, the scanning drive unit 15, the readout circuit 17, and the storage unit. 23, a battery 24 for supplying electric power to each member such as a bias power source 14 is connected. Further, a connection terminal 25 for charging the battery 24 by supplying power to the battery 24 from a charging device (not shown) is attached to the battery 24.

  Note that processing and the like unique to the present invention in the control means 22 will be described after the radiation image capturing system 50 is described.

[Radiation imaging system]
Next, the radiographic image capturing system 50 according to each embodiment will be described. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a radiographic imaging system according to each embodiment.

  A bucky device 51 is installed in the radiographing room R1, and the radiographic imaging device 1 is loaded into a cassette holding portion (also referred to as a cassette holder) 51a of the bucky device 51.

  FIG. 11 shows a case where a bucky device 51A for standing position shooting and a bucky device 51B for standing position shooting are installed as the bucky device 51. For example, a bucky device for standing position shooting is shown. Only 51A or only the bucky device 51B for lying position photography may be provided.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the FPD cassette 1 is connected to the cassette holding part 51a of the Bucky device 51 in a state where the connector 51b provided at the tip of the cable extending from the Bucky device 51 is connected to the connector 39 of the FPD cassette 1. It can also be configured to load.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 13, for example, a connector 51b to be connected to the connector 39 (see FIG. 1) of the loaded FPD cassette 1 is provided inside the cassette holding portion 51a of the bucky device 51, and the FPD cassette 1 It is also possible to configure so that the connector 39 of the FPD cassette 1 and the connector 51b of the bucky device 51 are automatically connected.

  In such a configuration, the connector 39 of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 functions as a communication unit, and data and the like are transmitted from the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 to the console 58 via the connected connector 39 and the connector 51b in a wired manner. Become so. Moreover, it is also possible to supply the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 from an external power source (not shown) via the connector 51b.

  Furthermore, when the radiographic imaging device 1 is portable, as shown in FIG. 11, the radiographic imaging device 1 is not loaded into the bucky device 51, for example, on the bucky device 51B for lying position imaging. It is also possible to carry out imaging by placing radiation on a bed (not shown) or irradiating radiation in a state where the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 is applied to the body of a patient as a subject.

  In this case, data and the like are transmitted from the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 to the console 58 in a wireless manner via an antenna apparatus 41 as a communication means.

  The radiographing room R1 is provided with a relay (also referred to as a base station) 54 for relaying at least the transmission of the image data D from the radiographic imaging device 1 to the console 58. The repeater 54 also includes a wireless antenna (also referred to as an access point or the like) for transmitting / receiving data, signals, and the like when the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 transmits / receives data, signals, etc. via the antenna device 41 in a wireless manner. .) 53 is provided.

  Further, the relay 54 is connected to the radiation generator 55 and the console 58, and a signal for LAN communication transmitted from the console 58 or the like to the radiation generator 55 is transmitted to the relay 54 for the radiation generator 55. A converter (not shown) that converts the signal into a signal or the like and the reverse conversion is incorporated.

  The radiation generating device 55 is provided with at least one radiation source 52 for irradiating the radiation image capturing device 1 mounted on the bucky device 51 via a subject (not shown). Then, by moving the position of the radiation source 52 or changing the irradiation direction of the radiation, it is possible to irradiate both the standing-up imaging device 51A and the lying-up imaging device 51B. It has become.

  As described above, when the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 is not loaded into the bucky apparatus 51, that is, when it is used alone, a portable radiation source (not shown) for irradiating the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 with radiation is used as an imaging room. It is also possible to configure so as to prepare for R1.

  The front room (also referred to as an operation room or the like) R2 is provided with an operation console 57 of the radiation generating device 55. The operation console 57 is operated by an operator such as a radiation engineer to operate the radiation generating device 55. An exposure switch 56 is provided for instructing the start of radiation irradiation. An operator such as a radiologist operates the exposure switch 56 so that radiation is emitted from the radiation source 52.

  In addition to this, the radiation generating device 55 moves the radiation source 52 to a predetermined position so that the radiation image capturing device 1 loaded in the designated bucky device 51 can be appropriately irradiated with radiation. The radiation direction is adjusted, a diaphragm or a collimator (not shown) is adjusted so that the radiation is irradiated in a predetermined region of the radiographic imaging apparatus 1, or an appropriate dose of radiation is irradiated. Various controls such as adjusting the radiation source 52 are performed on the radiation source 52.

  As shown in FIG. 11, a console 58 formed of a computer having a CPU and the like is provided outside the photographing room R1 and the front room R2. Note that the console 58 can be configured as a dedicated machine instead of a general-purpose computer. Further, the console 58 may be configured to be provided in the front chamber R2 or the like, and the installation location of the console 58 is appropriately determined.

  The console 58 is provided with a display unit 58a configured with a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), or the like, and a storage means 59 configured with an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or the like. Is connected or built in.

  As will be described later, the console 58 displays a preview image on the display unit 58a based on the image data for the preview image transmitted from the radiation image capturing apparatus 1, or has been transmitted from the radiation image capturing apparatus 1. A radiographic image is generated based on the image data D or the like, and this point will be described collectively below.

[Basic configuration in the present invention]
In the radiographic image capturing system 50 configured as described above, in the present invention, basically, when image data for a preview image is transmitted from the radiographic image capturing device 1, the radiographic image capturing device 1 uses the image for the preview image. The image data is irreversibly processed and transmitted to the console 58 in a state where the data amount is reduced.

  The console 58 displays the preview image on the display unit 58a based on the image data for the preview image with the reduced data amount.

  This is because, as described above, the preview image may be any image that can be checked by the radiologist or the like to see if the subject is photographed in the image and the position of the subject in the image. This is because the image data for the preview image does not have to be completely coincident with the image data D read from each radiation detection element 7 of the radiation image capturing apparatus 1.

  As described above, in the present invention, regarding the display of the preview image, the amount of data to be transmitted is reduced compared to accurately reproducing the image data D read from each radiation detection element 7 of the radiation image capturing apparatus 1. Thus, the transmission time of data from the radiographic imaging apparatus 1 to the console 58 is shortened, and the preview image is displayed on the display unit 58a of the console 58 more quickly.

  However, regarding the finally generated radiographic image, the radiographic image data D is data that completely coincides with the image data D read from each radiation detection element 7 of the radiographic imaging device 1. Is required.

  Therefore, in the present invention, the radiographic image capturing device 1 performs processing when transmitting image data for a preview image to the console 58, and when transmitting data for a finally generated radiographic image. The processing is switched, and the image data D and the like are transmitted in a state suitable for each purpose in each case described above.

  In each of the following embodiments, the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 uses each radiation detection element designated in advance from each image data D read from each radiation detection element 7 as image data for a preview image. 7 image data D is extracted to generate thinned data Dt.

  This is a process for promptly displaying a preview image on the display unit 58a of the console 58 by reducing the amount of data transmitted from the radiographic imaging apparatus 1 to the console 58 for the preview image. . However, it is also possible to configure so that all the image data D read from each radiation detection element 7 is used as the image data for the preview image without creating the thinning data Dt. Applies.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 14, the thinning data Dt is 1 for every 3 × 3 pixels or 4 × 4 pixels when the image data D is arranged corresponding to the radiation detection elements 7 arranged in a two-dimensional manner. The image data D may be created by extracting pixels, and each radiation detection element connected to each line L1, L4, L7,... Of the scanning line 5 as shown in FIG. As in the case of the image data D from 7, the image data D from each radiation detection element 7 connected to each line Ln at every predetermined interval of the scanning line 5 can be extracted and created. is there.

  Hereinafter, specific configurations and the like for realizing the above object will be described with some embodiments.

[First Embodiment]
First, processing in the radiographic imaging apparatus 1 and the console 58 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. The operation of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 and the radiographic image capturing system 50 according to the present embodiment will also be described.

  As described above, the control unit 22 of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 selects each image data of each radiation detection element 7 designated in advance from the image data D of each radiation detection element 7 stored in the storage unit 23. D is extracted, and thinned data Dt is created as image data for the preview image.

  In this embodiment, the control means 22 is irreversible with respect to the thinned data Dt (see FIG. 16) extracted from the image data D of each radiation detection element 7 as shown in FIG. Compression processing is performed by a compression data compression method.

  As a lossy compression method, a known method such as JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), or GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) can be employed.

  The control means 22 transmits the compressed thinned data Dt to the console 58. In the present embodiment, as described above, the compressed thinning data Dt is transmitted via the antenna device 41 (see FIGS. 2 and 7) and the connector 39 (see FIGS. 1 and 12) as communication means. Then, it is transmitted to the console 58 via the repeater 54 (see FIG. 11) in the photographing room R1.

  When the image data for the irreversibly compressed preview image, that is, the irreversibly compressed thinned data Dt is transmitted from the radiation image capturing apparatus 1, the console 58 expands and expands the compressed thinned data Dt. A preview image is displayed on the display unit 58a based on the data.

  With this configuration, data compressed by the lossy compression method as described above usually has a higher compression ratio Rc than data compressed by the lossless compression method, and thus the data amount is small. Therefore, the transmission time of the compressed preview image data (ie, thinned data Dt) from the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 to the console 58 is shorter than that in the case of lossless compression.

  Therefore, it is possible to display the preview image on the display unit 58a of the console 58 in a very short time after the transmission of the compressed preview image image data from the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 to the console 58 is started. It is possible for radiologists to see the preview image and quickly check whether the subject is captured in the image and the position of the subject in the image, so that it is possible to quickly determine the necessity of re-imaging. It becomes.

  In the lossy compression as described above, it is known that the higher the compression ratio Rc, the worse the image quality of the preview image displayed on the display unit 58a of the console 58. For example, the preview image is displayed on the display unit. When displaying a small image on 58a, that is, when the display size of the preview image is small, even if the image quality of the preview image is somewhat deteriorated, the preview image is in a state sufficient for the radiologist or the like to perform the above confirmation and determination. May be displayed.

  Further, when the resolution of the preview image displayed on the display unit 58a of the console 58 is not so high from the beginning, the radiographer or the like performs the above confirmation and determination even if the image quality of the preview image is somewhat deteriorated. In some cases, the preview image can be displayed in a sufficient state.

  Therefore, the compression rate Rc when irreversibly compressing the image data for the preview image is varied according to the display size and resolution of the preview image displayed on the display unit 58a of the console 58, or both. It is also possible to configure as described above.

  In this case, if the console 58 that receives the image data for the compressed preview image transmitted from the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 and displays the preview image is determined in advance, the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 has It is possible to input and set the compression rate Rc corresponding to the display size and resolution of the preview image in advance.

  Further, the display size and resolution information of the preview image, or information on the compression rate Rc set in accordance with the information is notified from the console 58 to the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 in advance. The control means 22 of the image capturing apparatus 1 sets the compression rate Rc in a variable manner according to the notified display size and resolution information, or changes the compression rate Rc based on the notified information on the compression rate Rc. It can be configured to be set.

  With this configuration, the image data for the preview image that is irreversibly compressed at a compression rate Rc that matches the display size and resolution of the preview image displayed on the display unit 58a of the console 58 is transmitted, and the console It is possible to display a preview image in a state sufficient for the radiological engineer or the like to perform the above confirmation and determination on the display unit 58a of 58.

  Further, when the display size of the preview image displayed on the display unit 58a is small or the resolution is low, the image data for the preview image can be compressed at a higher compression ratio Rc, and the radiographic image capturing apparatus The amount of data transmitted from 1 to the console 58 can be reduced, the data transmission time can be shortened, and the preview image can be displayed more quickly.

  On the other hand, when the radiographic imaging device 1 completes the compression and transmission of the image data for the preview image (decimation data Dt), the console 58 then transmits each image data D to generate a final radiographic image. It is supposed to be.

  If each image data D is transmitted without being compressed, the transmission time becomes longer. In this case as well, each image data D is compressed and transmitted to the console 58. However, at that time, the image data for the radiographic image is displayed on the display unit 58a of the console 58 like the above-described preview image, regardless of the display size or the like when the radiographic image data is displayed. It is necessary that each image data D read out from is completely restored.

  Therefore, the control means 22 of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 uses a method of reversibly compressing each image data D read from each radiation detection element 7 of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 as final radiographic image data D. It is designed to be compressed. As the lossless compression method, as described above, for example, a known method such as Huffman coding, LZ78, or arithmetic coding can be employed.

  The console 58 is compressed when image data for the reversibly compressed radiographic image (that is, for example, a Huffman code when using the Huffman encoding method) is transmitted from the radiographic imaging device 1. The original image data D is restored by expanding the image data for the radiation image.

  Then, the console 58 performs predetermined image processing such as offset correction, gain correction processing, logarithmic conversion processing, normalization processing, gradation processing, and the like on each restored image data D to obtain a final radiation image. It is designed to generate.

  As described above, according to the radiographic image capturing system 50 and the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, when data is transmitted from the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 to the console 58, image data for a preview image is transmitted. In this case, the image data for the preview image is irreversibly compressed and transmitted, and when the data for the finally generated radiation image is transmitted, the image data D of each radiation detection element 7 is reversibly compressed. The transmission data compression method is switched to be transmitted.

  For this reason, when transmitting image data for a preview image, the image data is transmitted with lossy compression, so that the amount of data can be reduced by a high compression rate Rc, and compression from the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 to the console 58 is possible. The transmission time of the image data for the preview image thus made can be shortened.

  Therefore, it is possible to display the preview image on the display unit 58a of the console 58 in a very short time after the transmission of the compressed preview image image data from the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 to the console 58 is started. Thus, it becomes possible for a radiologist or the like to see the preview image and quickly check the position of the subject in the image and quickly determine whether or not re-imaging is necessary. In addition, it is possible to shorten the time for the patient who is the subject to wait, thereby reducing the burden on the patient.

  On the other hand, when transmitting the final radiation image data, each image data D read from each radiation detection element 7 is reversibly compressed and transmitted, so that the transmitted data is decompressed by the console 58. Thus, each image data D can be restored so as to completely match each original image data D read from each radiation detection element 7 of the radiation image capturing apparatus 1.

  Therefore, based on each restored image data D, it is possible to generate a radiographic image in a state where there is no deterioration in image quality based on compression processing. Therefore, it is possible for the doctor to accurately diagnose the state of the lesioned part of the patient by looking at the generated radiographic image.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment described above, a case has been described in which image data for preview image is transmitted to the console 58 by performing lossy compression on the data to reduce the data amount. As a technique for reducing the data amount of the image data for the preview image to be transmitted, instead of using the lossy compression method, for example, the data amount can also be reduced by lowering the gradation of the image data for the preview image. Can do.

  In the second embodiment, a case where the data amount is reduced by lowering the gradation of the image data for the preview image will be described. The operation of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 and the radiographic image capturing system 50 according to the present embodiment will also be described.

  In the second embodiment, the case where the image data for the preview image is the thinned data Dt will be described, but all the image data read from each radiation detection element 7 without creating the thinned data Dt. It is also possible to configure D as image data for a preview image, and the present invention is also applied to this case.

  In the present embodiment, the control means 22 of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 first performs a process of lowering the gradation of the thinned data Dt on the created thinned data Dt (see, for example, FIG. 16).

  In this case, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17, the control unit 22 uses, for example, 14 bits from the thinned data Dt (or image data D; the same applies hereinafter) represented by a predetermined bit length such as 16 bits. The upper bits of the set bit length are cut out and the preview data Dhigh is newly created to lower the gradation of the image data for the preview image. The remaining lower bits Dlow are stored in a memory such as the storage means 23 (see FIG. 7 and the like).

  The control means 22 performs this processing for each thinned data Dt, and transmits the preview data Dhigh to the console 58 via the antenna device 41 and the connector 39 every time the preview data Dhigh, which is the extracted upper bit, is created. It is supposed to be. Each time the remaining lower bit Dlow is generated, the lower bit Dlow is stored in the memory.

  The created preview data Dhigh can be configured to be further subjected to reversible compression processing and transmitted.

  When the preview data Dhigh is transmitted from the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1, the console 58 displays a preview image on the display unit 58a based on the preview data Dhigh. If the preview data Dhigh is reversibly compressed, it is expanded and a preview image is displayed on the display unit 58a based on the expanded data.

  With such a configuration, the amount of data of the data whose gradation is lowered and the bit length is shortened is naturally smaller than that of the original thinned data Dt and the original image data D. Therefore, the transmission time of the preview data Dhigh from the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 to the console 58 is shorter than the transmission time when transmitting the original thinned data Dt and the like.

  Therefore, a preview image can be displayed on the display unit 58a of the console 58 in a very short time after the transmission of the preview data Dhigh from the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 to the console 58, and a radiographer or the like. However, by looking at the preview image, it is possible to quickly check whether the subject is captured in the image, the position of the subject in the image, etc., and quickly determine whether or not re-shooting is necessary.

  In this case, the bit length of the upper bits cut out from the thinned data Dt or the like, that is, the bit length of the preview data Dhigh can be set in advance.

  Similarly to the case of the first embodiment, the upper bit, that is, the preview data Dhigh is extracted from the thinned data Dt or the like according to the display size and resolution of the preview image displayed on the display unit 58a of the console 58. It is also possible to make the bit length variable.

  And when comprised in this way, the bit length according to the display size and resolution of a preview image is previously input and set to the radiographic imaging device 1, or those information and those are given to them from the console 58. It is possible to configure the radiographic imaging apparatus 1 to notify the information of the bit length set accordingly.

  On the other hand, also in the present embodiment, when the radiographic imaging device 1 completes the transmission of the preview data Dhigh, the console 58 then transmits each image data D to generate a final radiographic image. It has become.

  However, unlike the case of the first embodiment, in the case of this embodiment, irreversible compression processing or conversion is performed on the upper bits that are the preview data Dhigh transmitted from the radiographic imaging apparatus 1 to the console 58. No processing has been done. Therefore, the preview data Dhigh maintains the form of the upper bits of the original thinned data Dt.

  Therefore, if only the remaining lower bits Dlow (see FIG. 17) are transmitted from the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1, the console 58 performs a process opposite to the clipping process shown in FIG. The original thinned-out data Dt can be restored by combining the upper bits that are the data Dhigh and the remaining lower bits Dlow.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, when the control unit 22 of the radiographic imaging apparatus 1 completes the transmission of the preview data Dhigh, the console 58 then restores the original thinned data Dt to generate a final radiographic image. Each of the remaining lower bits Dlow necessary for the transmission is transmitted to the console 58.

  Then, when the remaining low-order bit Dlow is transmitted from the radiographic imaging apparatus 1, the console 58 performs a process reverse to the clipping process shown in FIG. The high-order bit which is Dhigh and the remaining low-order bits Dlow are combined to restore the original thinned data Dt.

  And if comprised in this way, since only the remaining low-order Dlow with a short bit length should just be transmitted, when transmitting each image data D in order to produce | generate a final radiographic image with the console 58, it is 16 bits, for example Compared with the case where the thinned data Dt having a bit length of 1 is transmitted again, the data transmission time can be shortened.

  In this case, if the gradation of the preview data Dhigh (that is, the upper bits) subjected to gradation conversion as described above is too low, the radiologist or the like cannot see the preview image and perform the above confirmation and determination. Therefore, in order to prevent the gradation of the gradation-converted preview data Dhigh from dropping too much, the bit length of the lower bit Dlow is usually set to a short bit length such as 2 bits as described above. The

  For this reason, when the lower bit Dlow is transmitted, the amount of data of the lower bit Dlow is already sufficiently small, so even if the lower bit Dlow is not reversibly compressed and transmitted, the data transmission time is sufficiently shortened. For this reason, it is not always necessary to configure the lower bit Dlow to be losslessly compressed.

  On the other hand, as described above, when the thinned data Dt is used as the image data for the preview image, the image data D other than the thinned data Dt (that is, FIG. It is necessary to transmit the image data D) not hatched in FIG. 15 from the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 to the console 58.

  Therefore, the control unit 22 of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 performs compression processing on the image data D other than the thinned data D by a lossless compression method and transmits the compressed data to the console 58. As a reversible compression method, a known method as described above can be employed.

  When the console 58 receives image data D other than the reversibly compressed thinned data D from the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1, the console 58 decompresses the image data D to restore the original image data D. ing.

  Then, the console 58 combines the original thinned data Dt restored by combining the upper bits and the remaining lower bits Dlow which are the preview data Dhigh with the image data D other than the restored thinned data Dt. All the image data D is restored, and the restored image data D is subjected to predetermined image processing such as offset correction, gain correction processing, logarithmic conversion processing, normalization processing, gradation processing, etc., and the final radiation An image is generated.

  As described above, according to the radiographic image capturing system 50 and the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, when data is transmitted from the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 to the console 58, image data for a preview image is transmitted. In this case, the gradation of the image data for the preview image is lowered and the preview data Dhigh is newly created and transmitted. When the data for the finally generated radiation image is transmitted, the image data D (or Necessary information on the thinned data Dt) (that is, the lower bit Dlow in the above configuration example) is transmitted, and the processing method of the data to be transmitted is switched.

  Therefore, as in the case of the first embodiment, when the image data for the preview image is transmitted, the preview data Dhigh with a reduced gradation is transmitted. Therefore, the data amount can be reduced by reducing the gradation. And the transmission time of the preview data Dhigh from the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 to the console 58 can be shortened.

  Therefore, a preview image can be displayed on the display unit 58a of the console 58 in a very short time after the transmission of the preview data Dhigh from the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 to the console 58, and a radiographer or the like. However, by looking at the preview image, it is possible to quickly confirm the position of the subject in the image and quickly determine whether or not re-shooting is necessary. In addition, it is possible to shorten the time for the patient who is the subject to wait, thereby reducing the burden on the patient.

  On the other hand, when transmitting final radiation image data, since the lower bit Dlow, which is necessary information regarding each image data D read from each radiation detection element 7, is transmitted, the console 58 The transmitted data is decompressed by the console 58 and each image data D is restored so as to completely match each original image data D read from each radiation detection element 7 of the radiation image capturing apparatus 1. Is possible.

  Therefore, it is possible to restore the original image data D by combining the preview data Dhigh and the lower bit Dlow. Then, based on each restored image data D, it is possible to generate a radiation image in a state where there is no deterioration in image quality due to lowering of gradation. Therefore, it is possible for the doctor to accurately diagnose the state of the lesioned part of the patient by looking at the generated radiographic image.

  15 and 16 described above, the image data D from each radiation detection element 7 connected to each of the lines L1, L4, L7,... Of the scanning line 5 is extracted to generate thinned data Dt. Explained.

  However, instead of such a configuration, for example, among the signal lines 6 (not shown in FIG. 15) (extending in the vertical direction in the figure), every few signal lines 6 are designated and designated. It is also possible to extract the image data D from each radiation detection element 7 connected to each signal line 6 and create the thinned data Dt.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Radiographic imaging apparatus 5 Scanning line 6 Signal line 7 Radiation detection element 15 Scanning drive means 17 Reading circuit 22 Control means 39 Connector (communication means)
41 Antenna device (communication means)
50 Radiation Imaging System 58 Console 58a Display D Image Data Dhigh Upper Bit, Preview Data Dlow Lower Bit (Necessary Information for Image Data Restoration)
Dt thinning data P detection part r area Rc compression rate

Claims (15)

In a radiographic image capturing system comprising: a radiographic image capturing apparatus that performs image data readout processing after radiographic image capturing; and a console that displays a preview image based on the image data read by the radiographic image capturing apparatus on a display unit;
The radiographic image capturing apparatus includes:
A plurality of scanning lines and a plurality of signal lines arranged so as to intersect with each other; a plurality of radiation detecting elements arranged in a two-dimensional manner in each region partitioned by the plurality of scanning lines and the plurality of signal lines; A detector comprising:
Scan driving means for applying an on voltage or an off voltage to each of the scanning lines;
A readout circuit that reads out charges from the radiation detection elements through the signal lines, converts the charges into electrical signals for each of the radiation detection elements, and outputs them as the image data;
A communication means for transmitting data to the console;
Control means for transmitting the image data to the console via the communication means;
With
The control means of the radiographic image capturing apparatus includes:
When transmitting the image data for the preview image, the image data for the preview image is compressed by a lossy compression method, and the compressed image data is transmitted.
When all the image data is transmitted to generate a final radiographic image by the console, the image data is compressed by a lossless compression method, and the compressed image data is transmitted. Has been
The console is
When the image data for the irreversibly compressed preview image is transmitted from the radiographic imaging device, the compressed image data for the preview image is expanded, and the display unit is expanded based on the expanded data. Displaying the preview image;
When the reversibly compressed image data is transmitted from the radiographic imaging device, the compressed image data is decompressed, the original image data is restored, and the original image data is restored based on the restored image data. A radiographic imaging system characterized by generating a radiographic image.   The image data for the preview image is thinned data obtained by extracting the image data of the radiation detection elements designated in advance from the image data read from the radiation detection elements. The radiographic image capturing system according to claim 1.   The control means of the radiographic image capturing apparatus uses the lossy compression method according to at least one of display size or resolution of the preview image displayed on the display unit of the console. The radiographic image capturing system according to claim 1, wherein a compression rate when performing data compression processing is varied. In a radiographic image capturing system comprising: a radiographic image capturing apparatus that performs image data readout processing after radiographic image capturing; and a console that displays a preview image based on the image data read by the radiographic image capturing apparatus on a display unit;
The radiographic image capturing apparatus includes:
A plurality of scanning lines and a plurality of signal lines arranged so as to intersect with each other; a plurality of radiation detecting elements arranged in a two-dimensional manner in each region partitioned by the plurality of scanning lines and the plurality of signal lines; A detector comprising:
Scan driving means for applying an on voltage or an off voltage to each of the scanning lines;
A readout circuit that reads out charges from the radiation detection elements through the signal lines, converts the charges into electrical signals for each of the radiation detection elements, and outputs them as the image data;
A communication means for transmitting data to the console;
Control means for transmitting the image data to the console via the communication means;
With
The control means of the radiographic image capturing apparatus includes:
When transmitting the image data for the preview image, the preview data is newly created by lowering the gradation of the image data for the preview image, the created preview data is transmitted,
When transmitting the image data to generate a final radiation image in the console, the console is configured to transmit necessary information regarding the restoration of the image data,
The console is
When the preview data is transmitted from the radiographic imaging device, the preview image is displayed on the display unit based on the preview data,
When necessary information relating to the restoration of the image data is transmitted from the radiographic imaging device, the original image data is restored based on the preview data and the necessary information, and the restored image A radiographic imaging system, wherein the radiographic image is generated based on data. The control means of the radiographic image capturing apparatus includes:
When transmitting the image data for the preview image, the preview data is updated by cutting out the upper bits of the set bit length from the image data for the preview image represented by a predetermined bit length. Create and send to
When transmitting the image data in order to generate a final radiographic image on the console, as the necessary information regarding the restoration of the image data, the lower-order of the remaining predetermined bit length of the image data for the preview image Configured to send bits,
The console is
When the preview data is transmitted from the radiographic imaging device, the preview image is displayed on the display unit based on the preview data,
When the remaining lower bits are transmitted from the radiographic imaging device, the upper bit that is the preview data and the remaining lower bits are combined to restore the original image data and restore The radiographic image capturing system according to claim 4, wherein the radiographic image is generated based on the image data. The image data for the preview image is thinned data obtained by extracting the image data of the radiation detection elements designated in advance from the image data read from the radiation detection elements.
When transmitting the image data other than the thinned data in order to generate a final radiographic image on the console, the control means of the radiographic imaging device uses a reversible compression method so that the data other than the thinned data is transmitted. The image data is compressed and transmitted,
When the image data other than the compressed thinned data is transmitted from the radiographic imaging apparatus, the console expands the image data other than the thinned data and the image other than the original thinned data. 6. The radiographic imaging system according to claim 4, wherein data is restored.   The control means of the radiographic imaging device cuts out the upper bits from the image data for the preview image according to at least one of the display size or resolution of the preview image displayed on the display unit of the console The radiographic imaging system according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the bit length at the time is variable.   Information on at least one of the display size or resolution of the preview image, or information on the compression rate set according to at least one of the display size or resolution of the preview image is sent from the console to the radiographic image capturing apparatus. The radiographic imaging system according to claim 3 or 7, wherein notification is made in advance. A plurality of scanning lines and a plurality of signal lines arranged so as to intersect with each other; a plurality of radiation detecting elements arranged in a two-dimensional manner in each region partitioned by the plurality of scanning lines and the plurality of signal lines; A detector comprising:
Scan driving means for applying an on voltage or an off voltage to each of the scanning lines;
A readout circuit that reads out charges from the radiation detection elements through the signal lines, converts the charges into electrical signals for each of the radiation detection elements, and outputs them as the image data;
A communication means for sending data to the console;
Control means for transmitting the image data to the console via the communication means;
With
The control means includes
When transmitting the image data for the preview image, the image data for the preview image is compressed by a lossy compression method, and the compressed image data is transmitted.
When all the image data is transmitted to generate a final radiographic image by the console, the image data is compressed by a lossless compression method, and the compressed image data is transmitted. The radiographic imaging device characterized by being made.   The image data for the preview image is thinned data obtained by extracting the image data of the radiation detection elements designated in advance from the image data read from the radiation detection elements. The radiographic imaging device according to claim 9.   The control unit is configured to perform compression processing of the image data for the preview image by a lossy compression method according to at least one of a display size or resolution of the preview image displayed on the display unit of the console. The radiographic image capturing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the compression rate is variable. A plurality of scanning lines and a plurality of signal lines arranged so as to intersect with each other; a plurality of radiation detecting elements arranged in a two-dimensional manner in each region partitioned by the plurality of scanning lines and the plurality of signal lines; A detector comprising:
Scan driving means for applying an on voltage or an off voltage to each of the scanning lines;
A readout circuit that reads out charges from the radiation detection elements through the signal lines, converts the charges into electrical signals for each of the radiation detection elements, and outputs them as the image data;
A communication means for sending data to the console;
Control means for transmitting the image data to the console via the communication means;
With
The control means includes
When transmitting the image data for the preview image, the preview data is newly created by lowering the gradation of the image data for the preview image, the created preview data is transmitted,
A radiographic imaging apparatus configured to transmit necessary information relating to restoration of the image data when transmitting the image data to generate a final radiographic image on the console . The control means includes
When transmitting the image data for the preview image, the preview data is updated by cutting out the upper bits of the set bit length from the image data for the preview image represented by a predetermined bit length. Create and send to
When transmitting the image data in order to generate a final radiographic image on the console, as the necessary information regarding the restoration of the image data, the lower-order of the remaining predetermined bit length of the image data for the preview image The radiographic image capturing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the radiographic image capturing apparatus is configured to transmit a bit. The image data for the preview image is thinned data obtained by extracting the image data of the radiation detection elements designated in advance from the image data read from the radiation detection elements.
The control means compresses the image data other than the thinned data by a reversible compression method when transmitting the image data other than the thinned data in order to generate a final radiation image on the console. The radiographic imaging apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the radiographic imaging apparatus is configured to process and transmit the radiographic image capturing apparatus.   The control unit varies the bit length when the upper bits are cut out from the image data for the preview image according to at least one of a display size or resolution of the preview image displayed on the display unit of the console. The radiographic image capturing device according to claim 13 or 14,

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