JPH05183816A - X-ray radiography apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable recording the radiograph of an object to be tested obtained by a X-ray radiography apparatus incorporating a high definition TV camera having more than 1,000 scanning lines in a VTR for household use having many advantages as a moving image recorder (simplicity, inexpensive, etc.). CONSTITUTION:In a X-ray radiography apparatus picking up the output optical image of a X-ray detector 4 by a high definition TV camera 5 having more than 1,000 sanning lines, a TV signal conversion circuit 8 converting the high definition TV signal which have more than 1,000 scanning lines and outputted from the high definition TV camera into a TV signal capable of recording by a VTR for household use 9 (normally, the TV signal of a NTSC system which is a standard TV signal having 525 scanning lines) is provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an X-ray fluoroscopic imaging apparatus for irradiating a subject with X-rays for fluoroscopy and radiography, and particularly to a high-definition television camera and a high-definition television monitor having 1000 or more scanning lines. The present invention relates to an improvement of an X-ray fluoroscopic imaging apparatus for improving the quality of displayed images.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 6, an X-ray fluoroscopic apparatus irradiates an object 3 on a table 2 with X-rays from an X-ray tube 1 and transmits the transmitted X-rays with an image intensifier ( (Hereinafter, abbreviated as II) 4, the light is converted into visible light, the output optical image of II 4 is captured by the television camera 5, and displayed on the television monitor 7 of the operation unit 6.

The television camera 5 used here is
Previously, it was a scanning line system of a standard television signal of 525 scanning lines, that is, a standard television signal of 525 scanning lines used in a home television receiver. However, due to the subsequent demand for higher resolution of II4 and higher image quality from doctors, X-ray technologists, etc.
More than 00 high-definition television cameras (high-resolution television cameras) have come into use.

By combining this high-definition television camera with a corresponding high-definition television monitor, a high-quality fluoroscopic image can be obtained and diagnostic ability can be significantly increased as compared with the conventional 525 scanning lines. Improved.

On the other hand, conventionally, a perspective image by a standard television signal of 525 scanning lines is recorded as a moving image on a home video tape recorder (so-called home video) so that the flow of barium can be observed after an actual inspection. It has been used for diagnosis.

A perspective image is recorded on a video tape recorder (hereinafter,
Recording a moving image in (abbreviated as VTR) means that (1) a captured image is a still image and therefore has a small amount of information on the time axis. It is effective for diagnosis, (2) it is desirable to use fluoroscopic images effectively because the subject is exposed even under fluoroscopy, (3) imaging failed due to some trouble, or missed a photo opportunity There are advantages such as being able to use it as a backup for cases.

The use of a home VTR (so-called home video) as a VTR has the advantage that the initial cost and running cost are very low because the cartridge type tape as the recording medium and the VTR for home use are for consumer use. ..

[0008]

However, if the television camera used is a high definition television camera as described above, the conventional home VTR cannot be used. Scan line 1
Although a VTR capable of recording more than 000 television signals has been put into practical use, it is mainly for broadcasting stations, and the initial cost is about 100 times that for home use, and X-ray fluoroscopy with a high-definition television camera introduced. A moving image of a fluoroscopic image is hardly recorded in the image capturing device. However, the perspective image is VT
As described above, there are many advantages of recording in the R, especially the VTR for home use, and there are still many demands for them.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an X-ray fluoroscopic imaging apparatus capable of recording a fluoroscopic image captured by a high-definition television camera having 1000 scanning lines or more on a home VTR. The purpose is to provide.

[0010]

The above object is to provide a high-definition television camera having 1000 or more scanning lines for capturing an output optical image of an X-ray detector that converts transmitted X-rays of a subject into visible light. In an X-ray fluoroscopic imaging apparatus including a high-definition television monitor displaying an image picked up by a high-definition television camera, a scanning line 1 output from the high-definition television camera
This is achieved by providing a television signal conversion circuit that converts more than 000 high-definition television signals into television signals that can be recorded by a home video tape recorder.

[0011]

The television signal conversion circuit converts a high-definition television signal having 1000 or more scanning lines output from the high-definition television camera into a television signal recordable by a home VTR. As a result, it becomes possible to record a perspective image captured by a high-definition television camera on a home VTR.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an X-ray fluoroscopic imaging apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 to 7
Are the same as in FIG. Reference numeral 8 denotes a television signal capable of recording a high-definition television signal having 1000 or more scanning lines output from the high-definition television camera 5 with a home VTR (so-called home video) 9 (normally a standard television signal having 525 scanning lines). Is a television signal conversion circuit for converting into an NTSC system television signal).

In the illustrated apparatus of the present invention, a scanning line 1000
The output TV signals of the high-definition TV camera 5 or more are input to the TV signal conversion circuit 8. The television signal conversion circuit 8 converts the input high-definition television signal of 1000 or more scanning lines into a television signal recordable by the home VTR 9. Therefore, if the output terminal of the television signal conversion circuit 8 is connected to the television signal input terminal of the home VTR 9 (the video input terminal in the case of recording only a fluoroscopic image without recording audio), the home VTR 9 is connected. The fluoroscopic image is recorded (moving image recording) on the loaded cartridge type tape.

An example of a method of converting a high-definition television signal having 1000 or more scanning lines into a television signal which can be recorded by the home VTR 9 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Here, description will be made assuming that the number of effective scanning lines of the television signal to the home VTR 9 is 512 and the number of scanning lines of the high definition television signal is 1024.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 21 schematically shows the structure of a high-definition image (data), and 22 a standard television image. The numeral attached to the symbol l in the drawing indicates the image (data). A position in scan line units or image data at that position is shown.

In the case of a moving image, the interlaced scanning method is often adopted, so the interlaced scanning method is also used here. Therefore, in the high-definition image 21, the image portion (data) of the odd-numbered line in the first field scan is
The image portion (data) of the even-numbered line will be read in the subsequent field scan.

The scanning lines are from 1 to 1 for the high-definition image 21.
024, standard television images 22 from 1 to 512.
Therefore, 1 of high-definition images (hereinafter referred to as 1K images)
The image part of the line is used as the image part of the first line of the standard television image (hereinafter referred to as 0.5K image), and then
Using the image part of the 5th line of the 1K image as the image part of the 3rd line of the 0.5K image, and arranging in the same manner below, an image (data) of 256 lines of the 0.5K image on the odd number scanning field side is obtained. Be done. Similarly, on the even-numbered scan field side, data of 2, 6, 10, ... And 256 lines are obtained.

However, since the 1K image side and the 0.5K image side both have 30 images / second (60 fields / second), the speed of each scan is different, and the 1K image side has two 0.5K image sides.
The scanning speed is doubled. Therefore, continuously
In order to display a moving image on the 1K image side on the 0.5K image side, it is necessary to correct the time axis. That is, the scanning line direction (vertical direction)
It is necessary to correct the time axis and the horizontal time axis. By correcting the time axis using two memories (first and second memories each capable of storing image data for one scanning line), a smooth and continuous 1K image to 0.5K image can be obtained. Conversion is possible.

This will be described with reference to FIG. An example of image conversion of a 1K image television signal (high-definition television signal) of an odd-numbered scan field will be described. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 31 indicates the image data contents of the odd-numbered scan field of the 1K image television signal, which is shown expanded on the time axis, 3
2 is a horizontal sync signal accompanying the TV signal of 1K image, 33 is
It is a horizontal synchronizing signal that accompanies a television signal of 0.5K image. Three
Reference numerals 4 and 35 are the read / write contents of the first and second memories for time axis correction, and these first and second memories are alternately switched and used to continuously output the image data. 36 is the final output content, that is, 0.
This is the content of the image data of the odd-numbered scan field of the 5K image television signal.

As can be seen from this figure, first, the image data 11 of the 1st line of the 1K image is written in the first memory (301). Next, it is synchronized with the horizontal sync signal 33 on the 0.5K image side and read at timing 302 (30
3). Meanwhile, the image data l5 is written in the second memory (304). Then, the image data at the timing 302
When the reading of l1 is completed (305), the timing 304
The image data l5 written in is read (306). Thereafter, by repeating this, the final output (0.5K image) 36 is obtained. Similar image conversion processing may be performed for even-numbered scan fields.

In each of the first and second memories, the data read time is twice as long as the write time.
This is because the time axis correction in the horizontal direction is performed, so by setting the clock for writing (A / D conversion) and the clock for reading (D / A conversion) to 1: 2, it becomes easy. You can do it.

FIG. 4 shows a concrete example of a circuit (television signal conversion circuit 8) for performing the above-mentioned image conversion. In FIG.
Reference numeral 41 is an A / D converter, and 42 and 43 are 1 of standard television signals (here, NTSC system television signals).
A line memory (corresponding to the first and second memories) having a capacity for scanning lines, 44 is a D / A conversion / horizontal synchronization signal adding circuit. Further, 45 is a write controller, 46
Is a read controller, 47 is a clock generator,
Reference numeral 48 is a horizontal synchronizing signal generator, 49 is a 1/2 frequency divider, and 50 is a horizontal synchronizing signal separator.

First, the 1K image television signal (1K image video signal) is digitized by the A / D converter 41 and written in the line memory 42 or 43. Then, it is read out, converted into a video signal by the D / A conversion / horizontal synchronization signal adding circuit 44, and output. At this time, the line memory 4
Write controller 45 controls writing of 2, 43 and read controller 46 controls reading. Here, in order to perform horizontal time axis correction, the clock output from the clock generator 47 is directly input to the A / D converter 41 and the write controller 45.
On the other hand, the same clock is fed to the read controller 46, a horizontal sync signal generator 48 for creating a horizontal sync signal for a standard video signal, and a 1/1/2 frequency divider 49 to the D / A conversion / horizontal sync signal adding circuit 44. Divide by 2 and give.

The write controller 45 has a 1K
The horizontal sync signal obtained by the horizontal sync signal separator 50 for extracting the horizontal sync signal from the image television signal is input. Further, since it is necessary to synchronize the 1K image television signal and the 0.5K image television signal, the horizontal synchronization signal separator 50
The output of is also input to the horizontal synchronizing signal generator 48.

D / A conversion / horizontal synchronization signal adding circuit 44
Not only performs D / A conversion but also converts the horizontal synchronizing signal from the horizontal synchronizing signal generator 48 into the line memory 42.
Alternatively, the output data of 43 is superimposed on the D / A signal and output. The conversion processing shown in FIG. 3 can be easily performed by the television signal conversion circuit 8 as described above.

As shown in FIG. 5, the conversion memory 51 is provided in the preceding stage of the D / A conversion / horizontal synchronization signal adding circuit 44.
It is also possible to provide the input device 52 and the input device 52, and to set the look-up table in the conversion memory 51 by the input device 52 to adjust the window level of the image display.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, a television signal (usually scanning line 525) capable of recording a high-definition television signal of 1000 scanning lines or more output from a high-definition television camera by a home VTR. N, which is the standard television signal of a book
Since a television signal conversion circuit for converting into a TSC system television signal) is provided, the fluoroscopic image captured by the high-definition television camera has many advantages as a moving image recording device (simple,
There is an effect that it can be recorded on a home-use VTR having a low cost. In particular, while seeing through an image on a high-definition television monitor, a moving image can be recorded on a home video tape recorder at the same time, which is useful for backing up captured images and reconfirming diagnosis.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of a method of converting a high-definition television signal into a television signal that can be recorded by a home VTR.

FIG. 3 is a time chart for explaining an example of a method of converting a high-definition television signal into a television signal which can be recorded by a home VTR.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a specific example of a television signal conversion circuit in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a main part of another example of the above conversion circuit.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 X-ray tube 2 Table 3 Subject 4 Image intensifier (I.I.) 5 TV camera 6 Operation part 7 TV monitor 8 TV signal conversion circuit 9 Home video tape recorder

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An X which converts transmitted X-rays of a subject into visible light.
An X-ray fluoroscopic imaging apparatus including a high-definition television camera with 1000 or more scanning lines for capturing an output optical image of a line detector, and a high-definition television monitor for displaying an image captured by the high-definition television camera. An X-ray fluoroscope, comprising a television signal conversion circuit for converting a high-definition television signal having 1000 or more scanning lines output from the high-definition television camera into a television signal recordable by a home video tape recorder. Imaging device.