JPH01256937A - Breast x-ray photographic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform locational operation easily and speedily so as to cause a specified photographing part of each breast to be entered within the X-ray irradiation range by installing a mobile means, parallelly moving a support arm to either side of at least longitudinal or crosswise directions with a support shaft as the center, in an interval between this support shaft and the support arm, independent of a photographic base. CONSTITUTION:If a support arm 3 is operated in the longitudinal direction, a shaft 9 attached to a coupling member 7 is pulled out of a hollow part of a support shaft 1, so that the support arm 3 comes to shift in the longitudinal direction on a photographing base 2 by rolling motion of a rail 4 inserted in a groove 3a at an end face of the photographing base 3 side, and if the support arm 3 is operated in both directions, a projection 3b of the support arm 3 being engaged with an engaging groove 7a of the coupling member 7 is slidden along a guide rail 8, whereby the support arm 3 moves in both directions on the photographing base 2 along the rail 4 inserted into the groove 3a at the end face of the photographing base 2 side. With the support arm 3 moved in longitudinal or both directions properly, one relative position of at least either of an X-ray tube, a spot photographing cone 5 and a pressure plate 6 is variable to the photographing base 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention compresses the breast of a subject placed on an imaging table using a compression plate that is movable in the vertical direction, and also performs X-ray imaging. The present invention relates to a mammography apparatus in which an X-ray irradiation field is positioned at a specific imaging region of the breast using a cone, and the breast is imaged using X-rays irradiated from an X-ray source.

(Prior Art) In a conventional mammography X-ray apparatus of this type, an imaging stand and a support arm for placing the subject's breast are attached to a support shaft that is vertically movable and rotatably supported by a stand. A film cassette is stored in the stand, and an X-ray tube is provided on the support arm facing the film cassette, and a spot imaging cone is provided at the X-ray irradiation port for positioning the X-ray irradiation field to a specific imaging region of the breast. is provided, and a compression plate that compresses the breast placed on the imaging table is supported so as to be movable up and down. In this case, the support arm is fixed so that its relative position with respect to the photographing table does not change. In other words, the relative positions of the X-ray tube, imaging spot cone, and compression plate in the parallel direction with respect to the imaging table are always unchanged.

Therefore, in a mammography apparatus having such a configuration, it is impossible to move the X-ray irradiation field on the imaging table in order to introduce and position a specific part of the breast into the X-ray irradiation field during spot imaging. Therefore, it is necessary to rely on a method in which the subject's right eye and other subjects move their bodies.

(Problem 8 to be solved by the invention) However, in the case where the X-ray irradiation field is positioned by moving the body of the subject, including the right eye, the examiner (operator) has to instruct the subject in the direction of movement of the body. Since instructions must be given and the examinee must move their body according to the instructions, delicate positioning requires a great deal of effort from both the examiner and the examiner, and a large amount of positioning is required. The problem is that it takes time.

The present invention provides a breast that can be easily and quickly positioned so that a specific part of the breast to be imaged falls within the X-ray irradiation field without placing any burden on the subject when performing X-ray photography. The purpose is to provide an X-ray imaging device.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, the present invention includes a support shaft that is supported by a stand so as to be vertically movable and rotatable, and a support shaft that is attached to the support shaft. An X-ray detection means is set, and an imaging table on which the subject's breast is placed is provided, and an X-ray source is provided at a position that is attached to the support shaft and faces the detection means, and irradiates the X-ray irradiation port. In a mammography apparatus, the mammography apparatus includes a support arm provided with an X-ray imaging cone that defines a field, and a compression plate that is supported by the support arm in a vertically movable manner and compresses the breast placed on the imaging table. , a moving means is provided between the support shaft and the support arm to move the support arm in parallel at least in the front-rear direction or the left-right direction about the support shaft, independently of the photographing table. be.

(Function) Therefore, in a mammography X-ray imaging apparatus having such a configuration, the support arm is made independent of the imaging table by the moving means provided between the support shaft and the support arm, and is moved parallel to the imaging table. Since it is movable in either the front-back direction or the left-right direction, during X-ray imaging, it is possible to position a specific region of the breast to be imaged within the X-ray irradiation field by simply operating the support arm alone.

(Example) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 show an example of the configuration of a mammography apparatus according to the present invention, with FIG. 1 being a side view and FIG. 2 being a plan view. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a support shaft that is supported by a stand (not shown) so as to be able to move up and down and rotate, and this support shaft 1 has a hollow portion of an appropriate length in the axial direction from its end surface. There is. Reference numeral 2 denotes a photographing table which is integrally attached to the support shaft 1 and on which the breast of the subject is placed.The photographing table 2 houses a film cassette (not shown).

3 is an inverted-shaped support arm installed on the photographing stand 2;
This support arm 3 has two grooves 3 extending in the left-right direction (in the direction of the drawing paper) formed on the end surface on the photographing table 2 side.
A removable rail 4 is inserted into a, so that it can be moved back and forth, left and right, independently of the photographing stand 2. Further, an X-ray tube (not shown) is provided on the hand support arm 2 in correspondence with a film cassette on the photographing table 2 side, and a spot photographing cone 5 for defining an irradiation field is attached to the X-ray irradiation port of the tube. Further, a compression plate 6 for compressing the breast placed on the imaging table 2 is attached to a predetermined attachment portion on the inner wall side of the support arm 2 so as to be movable in the vertical direction. On the other hand, 7 is a coupling member for coupling the support arm 3 to the support shaft 1, - this coupling member 7 has a hook-like shape provided on the back surface of the support arm 3 in an engagement groove 7a formed on one surface thereof. inserting and engaging the protruding piece 3b with the guide rail 8,
In addition, by loosely inserting the shaft 9 attached to the center of the other surface into the hollow part of the support shaft 1, the support arm 3 can be moved to the photographing table 2.
It is coupled to the support shaft 1 so as to be movable back and forth and left and right independently.

In the mammography apparatus having such a configuration, when the support arm 3 is operated in the front-back direction, the shaft 9 attached to the coupling member 7 is inserted into and removed from the hollow part of the support shaft 1. 3 is moved back and forth on the photographing table 2 by the transfer of the rail 4 inserted into the groove 3a on the end face of the photographing table 2, and when the support arm 3 is operated in the left and right direction, the connecting member 7 is moved. Since the protrusion 3b of the support arm 3 that is engaged with the engagement groove 7a slides along the guide rail 8,
The support arm 3 moves in the left-right direction on the photographing table 2 along the rail 4 inserted into the groove 3a in the end surface on the photographing table 2 side.

Therefore, when performing spot imaging, by placing the subject's breast on the imaging table 2 and moving the support arm 3 appropriately in the front-rear direction or left-right direction, the X-ray tube and the spot Photography cone 5. The relative position of at least one of the compression plates 6 is variable, and the X-ray irradiation field for a specific imaging region of the breast on the imaging table 2 can be set by the operator's operation. This results in
The examinee does not need to move his or her body when positioning the irradiation field during spot imaging, which reduces the burden on the examinee.On the other hand, the examiner can control the X-ray irradiation field by himself. Since the position can be freely set, the labor required for the operation can be reduced and the time for positioning can also be significantly shortened.

In the above embodiment, the hook-shaped protrusion formed on the back surface of the support arm 3 is engaged with the engagement groove of the coupling member 7, and the pad attached to the coupling member 7 is further inserted into the hollow part of the support shaft 1. Although the configuration is such that the support arm 3 is loosely inserted, the present invention is not limited to this, and the support arm 3 may be independently moved back and forth and left and right with respect to the imaging platform 2 using other moving means. Furthermore, although spot imaging has been described in the above embodiments, X-ray imaging other than spot imaging can also be carried out in the same manner as described above.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, when performing X-ray photography, a specific part of the breast to be imaged can be placed within the X-ray irradiation field without placing any burden on the subject. It is possible to provide a mammography X-ray apparatus that can perform positioning operations easily and quickly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 show an embodiment of a mammography X-ray imaging apparatus according to the present invention, with FIG. 1 being a side view and FIG. 2 being a plan view. 1...Support shaft, 2...Photography stand, 3...
...Support arm, 4...Rail, 5...
... Cone for spot photography, 6... Compression plate,
7...Connection member, 8...Guide rail, 9...Shaft. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] a support shaft supported on a stand so that it can move up and down and rotate;
An imaging table is attached to the support shaft and has an X-ray detection means set thereon, on which the breast of the subject is placed; an X-ray source is provided at a position that is attached to the support shaft and faces the detection means; X to define the irradiation field at the X-ray irradiation port
In the mammography apparatus, the mammography apparatus includes a support arm provided with a radiography cone, and a compression plate that is vertically movably supported by the support arm and compresses the breast placed on the radiography table. The breast is characterized in that a moving means is provided between the support shaft and the support arm to independently move the support arm in parallel at least in either the front-rear direction or the left-right direction about the support shaft. X-ray photography equipment.