JP2016016192A - X-ray CT apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an X-ray CT apparatus capable of properly controlling the rotation of a rotary disk during contrast examination.SOLUTION: The X-ray CT apparatus according to the present invention comprises: an X-ray source for projecting X rays onto a subject; an X-ray detector for detecting the X rays transmitted through the subject; and a rotary disk having the X-ray source and the X-ray detector mounted thereon and rotating about the subject. The X-ray CT apparatus further comprises: a monitoring unit for monitoring the state of a contrast agent injection device which injects a contrast agent or physiological saline into the subject; and a control unit for controlling the rotation of the rotary disk in response to the state of the contrast agent injection device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an X-ray CT (Computed Tomography) apparatus, and to a technique for controlling a rotating disk during a contrast examination.

  The X-ray CT apparatus is an apparatus that reconstructs a tomographic image based on projection data from various angles acquired by irradiating X-rays from around the subject and displays the tomographic image. Projection data from various angles is obtained by rotating a rotating disk equipped with an X-ray source that irradiates the subject with X-rays and an X-ray detector that detects X-rays transmitted through the subject around the subject. Obtained by X-ray irradiation and detection. The image displayed by the X-ray CT apparatus describes the shape of an organ in the subject and is used for diagnostic imaging.

  For a medical facility that uses an X-ray CT apparatus, improvement of inspection throughput is important in managing the facility. In order to improve the inspection throughput, it is effective to reduce the time required for the main scan and the preparation time for the main scan, which is a time required for other than the main scan. For example, in Patent Document 1, in order to reduce the waiting time for the start of the main scan, the rotation of the rotating disk is started immediately after the end of scanogram imaging, and the waiting time until the rotating disk reaches a desired rotation speed is It is disclosed that the time for setting scanning conditions is applied.

JP 2010-124924

  However, depending on the inspection method, it is not always appropriate to start the rotation of the rotating disk immediately after scanning the scanogram. For example, in contrast-enhanced CT examinations, in order to obtain a tomographic image suitable for diagnosis, the main scan is performed while injecting contrast medium into the subject. If necessary, rotating the rotating disk unnecessarily wears the rotating bearing of the rotating disk.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an X-ray CT apparatus capable of appropriately controlling the rotation of a rotating disk during a contrast examination.

  To achieve the above object, the present invention monitors the state of a contrast medium injection device, which is a device for injecting a contrast medium into a subject, and starts or stops the rotation of a rotating disk according to the state of the contrast medium injection device. It is characterized by that.

  Specifically, the present invention includes an X-ray source that irradiates a subject with X-rays, an X-ray detector that detects X-rays transmitted through the subject, the X-ray source, and the X-ray detector. An X-ray CT apparatus that includes a rotating disk that is mounted and rotates around the subject, the monitoring unit monitoring the state of the contrast agent injecting device that injects the contrast agent into the subject, and the contrast agent injecting device And a control unit for controlling the rotation of the rotating disk according to the state.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an X-ray CT apparatus capable of appropriately controlling the rotation of a rotating disk during a contrast examination.

The figure which shows the whole structure of the X-ray CT apparatus of this invention The figure which shows the principal part of 1st embodiment The figure which shows the flow of a process of 1st embodiment. The figure which shows the principal part of 2nd embodiment. The figure which shows the flow of a process of 2nd embodiment. Diagram showing an example of a status code Diagram showing an example of screen display

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an X-ray CT apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description and the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the constituent elements having the same functional configuration, and redundant description is omitted.

[First embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the X-ray CT apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, the X-ray CT apparatus 1 includes a scan gantry unit 100 and an operation unit 120. A contrast medium injection device 2 is connected to the X-ray CT apparatus 1.

  The scan gantry unit 100 includes an X-ray tube device 101, a rotating disk 102, a collimator 103, an X-ray detector 106, a data collection device 107, a bed device 105, a gantry control device 108, and a bed control device 109. And an X-ray control device 110.

  The X-ray tube apparatus 101 is an X-ray source that irradiates a subject placed on the bed apparatus 105 with X-rays. The collimator 103 is a device that limits the radiation range of X-rays emitted from the X-ray tube device 101. The rotating disk 102 includes an opening 104 into which the subject placed on the bed apparatus 105 enters, and is equipped with an X-ray tube device 101 and an X-ray detector 106, and rotates around the subject. .

  The X-ray detector 106 is a device that measures the spatial distribution of transmitted X-rays by detecting X-rays that are disposed opposite to the X-ray tube device 101 and transmitted through the subject. 102 is one-dimensionally arranged in the rotation direction of 102, or a large number of detection elements are two-dimensionally arranged in the rotation direction of the rotating disk 102 and the rotation axis direction.

  The data collection device 107 is a device that collects the X-ray dose detected by the X-ray detector 106 as digital data. The gantry control device 108 is a device that controls the rotation and inclination of the rotary disk 102. The bed control device 109 is a device that controls the vertical and horizontal movements of the bed device 105. Note that the respective directions of up, down, front, back, left, and right are the directions shown in FIG. 1, and are also referred to as Y direction, Z direction, and X direction in the following description. The X-ray control device 110 is a device that controls electric power input to the X-ray tube device 101.

  The operation unit 120 includes an input device 121, an image processing device 122, a display device 125, a storage device 123, and a system control device 124. The input device 121 is a device for inputting a subject's name, examination date and time, imaging conditions, and the like. Specifically, the input device 121 is a keyboard, a pointing device, a touch panel, or the like.

  The image processing apparatus 122 is an apparatus that reconstructs a CT image by performing arithmetic processing on measurement data transmitted from the data collection apparatus 107. The display device 125 is a device that displays a CT image or the like created by the image processing device 122, and is specifically a CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube), a liquid crystal display, or the like.

  The storage device 123 is a device that stores data collected by the data collection device 107, image data of a CT image created by the image processing device 122, and the like, specifically, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or the like. The system control device 124 is a device that controls these devices, the gantry control device 108, the bed control device 109, and the X-ray control device 110. Further, the system control device 124 may execute a process flow described later.

  The X-ray tube device 101 is controlled by the X-ray controller 110 controlling the power input to the X-ray tube device 101 based on the imaging conditions input from the input device 121, particularly the X-ray tube voltage and X-ray tube current. Irradiates the subject with X-rays according to imaging conditions. The X-ray detector 106 detects X-rays irradiated from the X-ray tube apparatus 101 and transmitted through the subject with a large number of X-ray detection elements, and measures the distribution of transmitted X-rays. The rotating disk 102 is controlled by the gantry control device 108, and rotates based on the imaging conditions input from the input device 121, particularly the rotation speed. The couch device 105 is controlled by the couch control device 109 and operates based on the imaging conditions input from the input device 121, particularly the helical pitch.

  By repeating the X-ray irradiation from the X-ray tube device 101 and the measurement of the transmitted X-ray distribution by the X-ray detector 106 along with the rotation of the rotating disk 102, projection data from various angles is acquired. The projection data is associated with a view representing each angle, a channel (ch) number and a column number that are detection element numbers of the X-ray detector 106. The acquired projection data from various angles is transmitted to the image processing device 122. The image processing device 122 reconstructs the CT image by performing back projection processing on the transmitted projection data from various angles. The CT image obtained by the reconstruction is displayed on the display device 125.

  The contrast medium injection device 2 is a device that injects a contrast medium or physiological saline into a subject, and is used during a contrast CT examination. The contrast medium injection device 2 is provided with an injector including a cylinder for filling a contrast medium and physiological saline, and a piston for pushing out the liquid in the cylinder. The contrast medium injection device 2 further includes a condition setting unit for setting injection conditions such as the injection volume and injection speed (injection pressure) of the contrast medium and physiological saline, and a head unit that operates the piston according to the injection conditions. It is done. The head unit operates the piston using power such as air pressure, hydraulic pressure, or a motor.

  When the cylinder is filled with contrast medium or physiological saline and the setting of the injection conditions by the condition setting unit is completed, the contrast medium injection device 2 is ready for injection. That is, as soon as an injection start instruction signal is received, injection of contrast medium or physiological saline can be started. In addition, in a state where preparation for injection is completed, when an interruption signal is received due to the necessity of changing the setting of injection conditions, the injection preparation state is entered. It should be noted that if an abnormality occurs in the contrast medium injection device 2 for some reason, an abnormal state occurs.

  The main part of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Note that these main parts may be configured by dedicated hardware, or may be configured by software that operates on the system control device 124. Here, the case where it comprises with software is demonstrated.

  In the present embodiment, a monitoring unit 20 that monitors the state of the contrast medium injection device 2 is provided. The monitoring unit 20 monitors the state of the contrast medium injection device 2 and outputs a control signal to the gantry control device 108 according to the state of the contrast medium injection device 2. That is, it is determined whether or not to output a signal instructing the rotation start of the rotating disk 102 depending on whether or not the preparation for injection of the contrast medium injection device 2 has been completed.

  The flow of processing in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

(Step 301)
The system control device 124 determines whether or not the scan condition setting has been completed. If the setting of the scanning condition is completed, the process proceeds to step 302, and if not completed, this step is repeated. The setting of the scan condition includes input of information regarding the subject, selection of the imaging protocol, setting of the injection condition in the contrast medium injection device 2, and the like.

(Step 302)
The monitoring unit 20 acquires the state information of the contrast medium injection device 2, and determines whether or not the contrast medium injection device 2 has completed preparation for injection based on the acquired state information. If the injection preparation is complete, the process proceeds to step 303, and if the injection preparation is not complete, this step is repeated. When the preparation for injection is not completed, information such as whether the injection preparation is in progress or an abnormal state may be acquired.

(Step 303)
The monitoring unit 20 outputs a signal instructing the rotation start of the rotating disk 102 to the gantry control unit 108 to start the rotation of the rotating disk 102. The gantry control unit 108 measures the rotational speed of the rotating disk 102, and notifies the system controller 124 that the main scan is ready when the rotating disk 102 reaches a desired rotational speed. In addition, after the rotating disk 102 starts to rotate, when the transition to the state of preparation for injection is made due to the necessity of changing the setting of the injection condition, the rotation may be stopped immediately by an instruction from the monitoring unit 20. .

(Step 304)
The system control device 124 displays, for example, on the display device 125 in order to notify the operator that the main scan is ready. When the X-ray CT apparatus 1 is instructed to start a main scan in a state where the main scan is ready, the main scan is executed.

  When the X-ray CT apparatus 1 executes the above processing flow, the rotation of the rotating disk 102 can be appropriately controlled during the contrast examination. Since the rotation of the rotating disk 102 is controlled at an appropriate timing, the rotating bearing of the rotating disk does not need to be worn unnecessarily.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, it has been described that it is determined whether or not to start the rotation of the rotating disk 102 depending on whether or not the preparation for injection is completed.

  Unlike the first embodiment, the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the rotation of the rotating disk 102 is started after waiting for a predetermined waiting time even if the preparation for injection is not completed. The configuration is the same as in the first embodiment. A description of the same configuration is omitted.

  The main part of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Note that these main parts may be configured by dedicated hardware, or may be configured by software that operates on the system control device 124. Here, the case where it comprises with software is demonstrated.

  In the present embodiment, in addition to the monitoring unit 20 that monitors the state of the contrast medium injection device 2, a waiting time calculation unit 40 is provided. Since the monitoring unit 20 is the same as that of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  The waiting time calculation unit 40 calculates the waiting time based on the time until the preparation for injection of the contrast medium injection device 2 is completed, and waits for the calculated waiting time to elapse before sending a control signal to the gantry control device 108. Output. That is, even if the preparation for injection is not completed, if the waiting time can be calculated rather than just waiting until the preparation for injection is completed, the rotation of the rotating disk 102 is appropriately adjusted according to the calculated waiting time. Control at appropriate timing.

  A processing flow in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the same steps as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

(Step 301)
This is the same as the first embodiment.

(Step 502)
The monitoring unit 20 acquires the state information of the contrast medium injection device 2, and determines whether or not the contrast medium injection device 2 has completed preparation for injection based on the acquired state information. If the injection preparation is complete, the process proceeds to step 303, and if the injection preparation is not complete, the process proceeds to step 503. If the preparation for injection is not completed, information indicating whether the preparation is in preparation for injection or an abnormal state is acquired.

(Step 503)
The waiting time calculation unit 40 determines whether the waiting time can be calculated. If the calculation is possible, the process proceeds to step 504. If the calculation is impossible, the process returns to step 502. Whether or not the waiting time can be calculated is determined based on whether or not the time required until the preparation for injection of the contrast medium injection device 2 is completed has been acquired. That is, it is determined that the calculation is possible when the contrast medium injection device 2 is in preparation for injection and the time until preparation is completed is determined, otherwise, for example, when the contrast medium injection device 2 is in an abnormal state It is determined that the calculation is impossible.

  For example, a state code as shown in FIG. 6 may be assigned to each state of the contrast medium injection device 2. In FIG. 6, code 0 indicates a state where preparation for injection is completed, code 1 indicates a state where preparation for injection is in progress, code 2 indicates an abnormal state, and code 3 indicates a state where no connection is established. The unconnected state is a state in which communication cannot be performed between the X-ray CT apparatus 1 and the contrast medium injecting apparatus 2, and when there is an abnormality in the communication apparatus or when the X-ray CT apparatus 1 is connected. It is in a state of refusing. By assigning such a status code in advance, the determination in this step or step 502 is quickly executed.

(Step 504)
The waiting time calculating unit 40 calculates a waiting time and waits for the calculated waiting time to elapse. When the calculated waiting time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step 303. For example, the following equation is used to calculate the waiting time.

{formula}
(Waiting time) = (injection preparation time)-(rotation preparation time)
Here, the injection preparation time is the time required until the injection preparation of the contrast medium injection device 2 is completed, and the rotation preparation time is the time from when the rotating disk 102 starts to rotate until a predetermined rotation speed is reached. It's time. If the waiting time calculated by {expression} is 0 or less, the process immediately proceeds to step 303.

  Note that while waiting for the calculated waiting time to elapse, the time until the rotating disk 102 starts to rotate may be displayed on a screen as shown in FIG. 7, for example. Such a display can notify the operator of the state of the X-ray CT apparatus. Moreover, you may display the state of a rotary disk and a contrast agent injection apparatus with the display of waiting time. When displaying the state of the contrast medium injection device, the state code shown in FIG. 6 may be used.

(Step 303)
This is the same as the first embodiment.

(Step 304)
This is the same as the first embodiment.

  When the X-ray CT apparatus 1 executes the above processing flow, the rotation of the rotating disk 102 can be appropriately controlled during the contrast examination. Since the rotation of the rotating disk 102 is controlled at an appropriate timing, the rotating bearing of the rotating disk does not need to be worn unnecessarily.

  In particular, according to the present embodiment, even if the injection preparation of the contrast medium injection device 2 is not completed, the rotating disk 102 starts to rotate at an appropriate timing according to the time required for the injection preparation, so the extra time The throughput of contrast CT can be improved without waiting.

  Although two embodiments have been described above, the X-ray CT apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the gist of the invention.

  1 X-ray CT device, 2 Contrast agent injection device, 100 scan gantry unit, 101 X-ray tube, 102 rotating disk, 103 collimator, 104 opening, 105 bed, 106 X-ray detector, 107 data acquisition device, 108 gantry control Equipment, 109 bed control device, 110 X-ray control device, 120 console, 121 input device, 122 image processing device, 123 storage device, 124 system control device, 125 display device, 20 monitoring unit, 40 waiting time calculation unit

Claims (4)

An X-ray source for irradiating the subject with X-rays, an X-ray detector for detecting X-rays transmitted through the subject, the X-ray source and the X-ray detector are mounted, and the periphery of the subject is An X-ray CT apparatus comprising a rotating disk that rotates,
A monitoring unit for monitoring the state of a contrast medium injection device for injecting a contrast medium or physiological saline into a subject;
A control unit for controlling the rotation of the rotating disk according to the state of the contrast medium injection device;
An X-ray CT apparatus comprising: The X-ray CT apparatus according to claim 1,
The X-ray CT apparatus, wherein the control unit starts rotation of the rotating disk when the contrast medium injecting apparatus is ready to inject contrast medium or saline. The X-ray CT apparatus according to claim 2,
A waiting time calculating unit that calculates a waiting time based on a time until the preparation for injection is completed when the injection preparation of the contrast medium injection device is not completed;
The X-ray CT apparatus, wherein the control unit starts rotation of the rotating disk when the waiting time elapses. The X-ray CT apparatus according to claim 1,
An X-ray CT apparatus further comprising a display unit that displays information on a state of the contrast medium injection device acquired by monitoring by the monitoring unit.

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