JPH0675163B2 - Radiation image information recording / reading device - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention stores and records radiation image information on a stimulable phosphor sheet, and then irradiates it with excitation light to stimulate irradiation according to the image information stored and recorded. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a radiation image information recording / reading device that detects emitted light and reads image information and converts it into an electric signal, and more particularly to a radiation image information recording / reading device that can downsize the entire device.

(Prior Art) When a certain kind of phosphor is irradiated with radiation (X-ray, α-ray, β-ray, γ-ray, electron beam, ultraviolet ray, etc.), a part of this radiation energy is accumulated in the phosphor, It is known that when a phosphor is irradiated with excitation light such as visible light, the phosphor exhibits stimulated emission depending on the stored energy, and a phosphor having such a property is a stimulable phosphor (luminescent material). Exhaustible phosphor).

Using this stimulable phosphor, radiation image information of a subject such as a human body is once recorded on a stimulable phosphor sheet, and this stimulable phosphor sheet is irradiated with excitation light such as laser light to stimulate emission. Generates light, photoelectrically reads the obtained stimulated emission light with a photodetector to obtain an image signal, and based on this image signal, a radiation image of the subject on a recording material such as a photographic photosensitive material or a display device such as a CRT. The present applicant has already proposed a radiation image information recording / reproducing system that outputs a visible image. (JP-A-55-12429, JP-A-56-11395, etc.) This system is practical in that it can record an image over an extremely wide radiation exposure area as compared with a conventional radiographic system using silver salt photography. Have advantages. That is, in the stimulable phosphor, it has been recognized that the amount of emitted light stimulated by excitation after storage is proportional to the radiation exposure amount over a very wide range,
Therefore, even if the radiation exposure amount fluctuates considerably due to various photographing conditions, the amount of stimulated emission light emitted from the stimulable phosphor sheet is read by the photoelectric conversion means by setting the reading gain to an appropriate value. A radiation image that is not affected by fluctuations in radiation exposure is obtained by converting it into an electrical signal and using this electrical signal to output a radiation image as a visible image on a recording material such as a photographic photosensitive material or a display device such as a CRT. be able to.

In the above-mentioned radiation image information recording / reproducing system, the stimulable phosphor sheet does not finally record image information, but temporarily carries image information in order to give an image to the final recording medium as described above. Therefore, this stimulable phosphor sheet may be used repeatedly, and if it is used repeatedly, it is extremely economical.

Therefore, the applicant of the present invention has proposed to a radiation image information recording / reading apparatus that realizes efficient circulating reuse of the stimulable phosphor (for example, JP-A-58-200269).

The above-mentioned apparatus includes a support, a recording body comprising a stimulable phosphor layer fixed on the support and capable of storing and recording a radiation image, and the recording body by irradiating the recording body with radiation through a subject. An image recording unit for accumulating and recording a radiation transmission image of a subject, an excitation light source for emitting excitation light for scanning the recording body on which the radiation image is accumulatively recorded, and a recording medium scanned by the excitation light. An image reading section having photoelectric reading means for reading stimulated emission light to obtain an image signal, and the support and the image reading section are relatively repeatedly moved to read the recording body on the support. And a means for cyclically moving the recording medium after the image is read by the image reading unit, and discharging the residual radiation energy on the recording medium before the image is recorded on the recording medium. Built an erasing unit to one unit,
The recording medium is adapted to be efficiently recycled and reused.

By the way, the radiation image information recording / reading device is used very suitably mainly for medical diagnosis.
In recent years, there is an increasing demand for making the entire device as small as possible. That is, if the device is large,
The device can only be installed and used in the central part of a relatively large hospital, but if the device is downsized, it can be installed and used in each diagnostic room by a medical practitioner, etc. Will spread greatly.

Therefore, the present applicant has previously held the stimulable phosphor sheet so as to face the radiation source, and read and erase the image of the stimulable phosphor sheet by integrally integrating the image reading means and the erasing means. We proposed a device that moves the unit back and forth, reads the stimulable phosphor sheet that has been photographed in the forward pass, and erases it in the return pass (Japanese Patent Application Nos. 62-5871 and 62-21957). According to such an apparatus, since the erasing means moves while erasing the stimulable phosphor sheet, the erasing means which has been required to have a size equal to or larger than one stimulable phosphor sheet in the past is sufficient. Since the reading / erasing unit is compact, the entire apparatus can be downsized.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above-mentioned device, the reading and erasing unit performs reading on the outward path and erases on the returning path, so that the stimulable phosphor sheet that has been photographed is The reading / erasing unit needs to be reciprocally moved until the next photographing is possible, which is disadvantageous in that processing takes time.

Therefore, the present invention can downsize the device by moving the reading / erasing unit with respect to the stimulable phosphor sheet to perform reading and erasing, and reduce the time required for reading and erasing the stimulable phosphor sheet. It is an object of the present invention to provide a radiation image information recording / reading device that can be used.

(Means for Solving Problems) In the radiation image information recording / reading apparatus of the present invention, the reading / erasing unit capable of reciprocating with respect to the stimulable phosphor sheet is an image including excitation light irradiation means and photoelectric reading means. Two erasing units provided on both sides of the reading unit and the image reading unit in a direction perpendicular to the irradiation direction of the excitation light are integrally unitized, and light is shielded between the image reading unit and the erasing unit. The reading and erasing unit reads the image information by the image reading means on the outward path and erases the image information by one of the erasing means located on the upstream side of the image reading means on the outward path, and the image is read by the image reading means on the returning path. In addition to reading information, erasing is performed by the other erasing means located on the upstream side of the image reading means on the return path. Is shall.

The image reading unit is preferably as compact as possible in view of downsizing the reading / erasing unit and downsizing the entire apparatus. For example, a long photomultiplier described later is suitable as the photoelectric reading unit. Also, the irradiation of the excitation light is not limited to the scanning of the excitation light as described above, the excitation light is linearly irradiated, and the stimulated emission light emitted from this irradiation position is read by the line sensor. May be used. This method is particularly preferable for downsizing the image reading means.

(Operation) According to the present device, the erasing means is held by holding the stimulable phosphor sheet at the photographing position and reciprocally moving the reading / erasing unit with respect to the stimulable phosphor sheet to perform reading and erasing. In addition to downsizing and making the entire apparatus compact, by providing the erasing means on both sides of the image reading means, reading and erasing can be performed in the forward and backward paths of the reading and erasing unit, respectively, and the accumulative fluorescent light is accumulated. The reading and erasing speed of the body sheet can be increased to about twice as high as that in the case of using one erasing means.

Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 (a) and 1 (b) are side views showing an outline of a radiation image information recording / reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This apparatus comprises an apparatus main body 1 and a radiation source 12 such as an X-ray source arranged above the imaging table 11 which is the upper surface of the apparatus main body 1, and below the imaging table 11 inside the apparatus main body. The stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is fixedly held by a holding means (not shown). The stimulable phosphor sheet 2 comprises a substrate 2A and a stimulable phosphor layer 2B formed on the substrate 2A.
No. 11 has radiation transparency. In this apparatus, the radiation source 12 and the imaging stand 11 are used to record an image.
10 are configured.

A housing 3 is provided between the photographing table 11 and the stimulable phosphor sheet 2.
An image reading means 40 including an excitation light irradiation means 20 and a line sensor 30 which is a photoelectric reading means, and two erasing means 60,
A reading / erasing unit 4 in which 70 is stored is provided. The reading / erasing unit 4 has a storage property from a right end position (first position) shown by a solid line in FIG. 1A to a left end position (second position) shown by a solid line in FIG. 1B. The phosphor sheet 2 can be moved back and forth while facing the phosphor sheet 2. In this embodiment, the moving path in the direction of arrow A from the first position to the second position is the forward path, and the moving path in the direction of arrow A'from the second position to the first position is the return path. Further, the unit moving means 50 for reciprocating the reading / erasing unit 4 is
As an example, as shown in FIG. 2, two rails 51 extending in the moving direction of the unit and a side surface of the housing 3 are mounted and driven by a motor 52 to run on the rails in the two directions described above. It consists of four wheels 53.

When the subject 13 is placed on the image capturing base 11 of the image recording means 10 in the read / erase unit 4 or in the first position, the radiation source 12 is activated and the transmitted radiation image of the subject 13 is accumulated fluorescence. The radiation image information of the subject projected on the body sheet 2 is accumulated and recorded in the phosphor layer 2B of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2. When the above shooting is completed, the unit 4
The image reading means 40 including the excitation light irradiating means 20 and the line sensor 30 reads the image information stored and recorded in the stimulable phosphor sheet 2. This reading is started from the position where the reading / erasing unit 4 slightly moves from the first position in the direction of the arrow A and the excitation light can enter the end of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2.

The excitation light irradiating means 20 in the present device irradiates the stimulable phosphor sheet 1 with the excitation light in a line shape substantially orthogonal to the moving direction of the stimulable phosphor sheet. Provided on the excitation light emission surface of the LED array 21 and the LED array 21 that is continuous in the width direction of the body sheet,
It comprises a cylindrical lens 22 which focuses the excitation light only in the moving direction of the reading / erasing unit 4. This LED
The array 21 emits light in the excitation and growth region of the phosphor layer of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2, and thus this light (excitation light)
The stimulated emission light corresponding to the accumulated radiation energy level (that is, carrying accumulated radiation image information) is emitted from the portion of the stimulable phosphor sheet which has been irradiated with. The stimulated emission light is detected by the line sensor 30 arranged at a position where the irradiation position of the stimulated emission light is expected. As shown in FIG. 3, the line sensor 30 includes a light receiving element array 32 in which pixels are divided into a support 31 extending in the width direction of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2.
Is fixed. Further, on the light receiving element array 32, there is arranged a filter 33 which transmits the stimulated emission light emitted from the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 and absorbs the excitation light reflected on the stimulable phosphor sheet 2. The stimulated emission light is received by the light receiving element array 32 of the line sensor 30 via the filter 33. Further, in the present apparatus, the line sensor 30 is disposed slightly apart from the stimulable phosphor sheet 2, so that the line sensor 30 is provided between the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 and the line sensor 30 as shown in FIG. A microlens array 35 in which a plurality of microlenses are integrally connected is provided corresponding to each of the light receiving elements of 30, and the stimulated emission light emitted from the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is efficiently applied to the line sensor 30. It is designed to be incident.

The light-receiving element array 32 has a large number of fixed photoelectric conversion elements 32a which are arranged in the width direction of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 and each of which corresponds to one pixel. It is received by 32a at the same time. Each element received 3
2a generates a photo carrier and temporarily stores a signal obtained by the photo carrier. The accumulated signals are sequentially read by the scanning circuit 34, and the reading of information from one linear irradiation unit (corresponding to a scanning line) is completed.

Next, the unit 4 is conveyed by the unit moving means 50 to the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 in the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 1 by one scanning line, and the above reading steps are repeated. By repeating this step for the entire surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2, the radiation image information recorded on the entire surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is read.

Next, the scanning circuit 34 following the line sensor 30 will be described. FIG. 4 is an equivalent circuit of a line sensor and a scanning circuit using a photoconductor. The signal due to the photocarrier generated by the photostimulable luminescent light hitting the solid-state photoelectric conversion element 32a using the photoconductor is the capacitor Ci in the photoconductor 32a.
It is stored in (i = 1,2, ... n). The accumulated photocarrier signals are sequentially read by sequentially opening and closing the switch unit 34A controlled by the shift register 34B, whereby a time-series image signal can be obtained.
The image signal is then amplified by the amplifier 35 and its output terminal
It is output from 36. If this image signal is used, for example, CR
The radiation image can be displayed on T, or a hard copy of the radiation image can be obtained by a scanning recording device or the like. The switch unit 34A and the shift register 3
The MOS part consisting of 4 may be replaced with a CCD.

By the way, two erasing means 60, 70 are provided on both sides of the image reading means 20, as described above, and at the same time as the reading and erasing unit 4 moves in the direction of the arrow A to read the image information, The erasing means 60 on the upstream side in the moving direction of the unit on the outward path is turned on, and the portions of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 that have been read are sequentially erased. At that time, the erasing means 70 is turned off. The erasing means 60 is, for example, an erasing light source 61 such as a fluorescent lamp extending in the width direction of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 and an erasing light source.
A reflection plate 62 for reflecting upward light of light emitted from 61 toward the surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet is provided. Further, the reflecting plate 62 also functions as a light shielding unit that shields the image reading unit 40 from erasing light. The erasing light source 61 moves as the unit 4 moves in the direction of arrow A,
The stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is irradiated with the erasing light immediately after the image information is read by the image reading means 40, and the entire surface thereof is irradiated with the erasing light as the erasing means 60 moves. The erasing light source 61 mainly emits light in the excitation wavelength region of the stimulable phosphor sheet, and the radiant energy remaining in the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 after the image is read is stored in the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 as described above. It is emitted from the sheet by being irradiated with different light. Read / erase unit 4 is the first
When the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is moved to the second position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2B, the erasing is completed over the entire stimulable phosphor sheet, and the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is newly photographed by the image recording means. It becomes possible.

When a new image is taken by the image recording means 10 in the state where the reading / erasing unit 4 is arranged at the second position as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the reading / erasing unit 4 is moved by the unit moving means 50. It is moved to the first position in the direction of arrow A ', and image information is read by the image reading means 40 in the unit. The reading of the image information is performed in the same manner except that the reading in the forward path and the front-back direction in reading are reversed. When it is not desired that the reproduced images finally obtained in the forward and reverse directions are in opposite directions, the order of outputting the image signals obtained from the image reading means 40 is the same as that in the case of performing the forward reading. It is sufficient to reverse the case of reading on the return path.

In addition, in the return path, the above-mentioned reading is performed, and in the return path, the erasing means 70 on the upstream side of the image reading means 40 erases. The structure of the erasing means 70 is exactly the same as the structure of the erasing means 60. The erasing means 70 is an image reading section
When the unit 4 returns to the first position again, it moves in the direction of arrow A'integrated with 40 and erases the part of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 that has been read. The entire body sheet 2 is erased, and a new image can be taken.

As described above, according to the present apparatus, by providing the two erasing means in the reading and erasing unit, reading and erasing can be performed on the forward path and the backward path, respectively, and two images can be read and read during the reciprocating movement of the unit. Since subsequent erasing can be performed, it is possible to quickly process a plurality of images. Further, since the erasing means of this apparatus is housed in the reading and erasing unit and can be moved, a small size is sufficient, and even if two such erasing means are provided in the unit, the unit is not so large. It does not increase in size.

In the apparatus of the above embodiment, the erasing means 70 is used on the outward path.
However, on the return path, the erasing means 60 need to be turned off, but the erasing light is shielded below each erasing light source, and the erasing light source is retracted from below the erasing light source only during erasing. By providing a moving shutter for exposure, both erasing light sources can be turned on at all times.

As the excitation light irradiating means, in addition to the LED array as described above, the one using the fluorescent light condensing sheet disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 62-21957 previously filed by the present applicant is used. You may use. FIG. 5 shows an example of an apparatus using a fluorescent light condensing sheet as the excitation light irradiation means.

In the present embodiment, the reading and erasing unit 4 includes a casing 3 ', which is arranged below the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 and which houses the excitation light irradiation means 120 and the two erasing means 60, 70, and inside the casing 3'. Of the exciting light irradiating means 120 and a line sensor 30 provided at a position where they can face each other with the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 interposed therebetween. The line sensor 30 has a supporting means 3A as shown in FIG.
It is fixed to the housing 3 and is movable together with the housing 3. Further, the unit moving means 150 in the present embodiment
Is a screw rod 15 extending in the direction of movement of the unit.
1, unit support that fits into this screw rod 151
152, a gear 153 pivotally supported by a screw rod, this gear
The gear 154 meshes with the gear 153, and the motor 155 that rotates the gear 154 in the forward and reverse directions.
The unit support portion 152 is moved by rotating the screw rod 151 via the unit 4 '.
It is designed to move back and forth. Further, in this case, the substrate 2A of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 needs to be transparent.

The fluorescent light condensing sheet is a sheet-shaped molded product containing a phosphor, and when the surface thereof is irradiated with light, the phosphor excites the phosphor inside the fluorescent light condensing sheet to generate fluorescence. , This fluorescence repeats total reflection inside and advances to the end face side. Therefore, the excitation light irradiation means in this device
As shown in FIG. 6, 120 is an elongated fluorescent lamp 121, a fluorescent light condensing sheet 122 formed so as to surround the entire circumference of this fluorescent lamp 121, and provided on one end surface of this fluorescent light condensing sheet. It is composed of a cylindrical lens 123, the fluorescent lamp 121 is turned on at the time of irradiating the excitation light, and the fluorescence emitted from the fluorescent lamp 121 causes fluorescence in the fluorescent condensing sheet 122, and the fluorescence is emitted from the cylindrical lens 123. The fluorescent light-condensing sheet is emitted from one end surface of the fluorescent light-collecting sheet via the light source and the fluorescent light is used as linear excitation light. As the fluorescent light condensing sheet, one that emits fluorescence in the excitation wavelength region of the stimulable phosphor sheet by light emitted from the fluorescent lamp may be selected and used. It is also possible to use a sodium lamp, a mercury lamp, an electroluminescent panel or the like instead of the fluorescent lamp. In this embodiment, the excitation light irradiating means 120 excites the lower surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 with the excitation light, and the line sensor 30 emits the stimulated emission light emitted from the upper surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet by this excitation light. To be detected. In addition, the erasing means 60 and 70 can be used to erase the phosphor layer
On the other hand, it is performed from the lower surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet through the transparent substrate 2A of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2.

Further, the image reading means of the apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the one comprising the above-mentioned excitation light linear irradiation means and the line sensor, and the storage is relatively sub-scanned by the movement of the unit. The exciting fluorescent light may be scanned in the main direction to generate stimulated emission light, and the stimulated emission light may be detected. Next, an apparatus using a method of scanning excitation light will be described with reference to FIG. 7 and the subsequent drawings.

The image reading unit 240 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes two erasing units 6.
Together with 0 and 70, they are housed in a housing 3 ″ that can be moved below the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 by a unit moving means 50 similar to the device shown in FIG.
Excitation light irradiation means 220 in 240 is an excitation light source 221, such as a semiconductor laser, excitation light 221A emitted from this excitation light source.
Condensing lens 222 provided on the upper optical path, the condensing lens 2
A rotating polygon mirror 223, which is an optical deflector for deflecting the excitation light 221A passing through 22 in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 7 to perform main scanning on the stimulable phosphor sheet 2, and a mirror for changing the optical path of the excitation light. 224a, 224b, 224c, and excitation light 221A is repeatedly main-scanned on the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 by this excitation light irradiation means. On the other hand, along with this, the unit 4 ″ is conveyed at a constant speed in the arrow direction by the unit moving means 150, so that the scanning position of the excitation light 221A moves in the arrow direction and the sub-scan is performed, and the stimulable phosphor is formed. Excitation light 221A is applied to substantially the entire surface of the sheet 2. The stimulated emission light emitted from the excitation light irradiation portion of the stimulable phosphor sheet 2 is detected by the photoelectric reading unit 230 described below.

The photoelectric reading means in the present apparatus is a long photomultiplier tube (photomultiplier 231 and this photomultiplier 2 that extends over the length of the main scanning line in the main scanning direction.
A filter 232 provided on the light-receiving surface of 31 for selectively transmitting only stimulated emission light and cutting off the excitation light reflected on the sheet surface from entering the photomultiplier, and the photomultiplier via this filter 232. It comprises an optical guide 233 which is attached to the incident end face of 231 and which transmits the stimulated emission light to the photomultiplier 231 satisfactorily. Of these, the photomultiplier 231 is shown as an example in FIG. As shown in b), it has an electrode structure called a Venetian blind type. A mirror 234 is arranged at a position facing the photoelectric reading unit across the scanning line so that the stimulated emission light emitted to the mirror 234 side can be efficiently reflected toward the light receiving surface of the light collector. It has become. Above photo multiplier
231 is a body 231A has a cylindrical shape, the photocathode 231b is provided along the body 231A facing the light receiving surface 231a, a plurality of dynodes 231c below the photocathode 231b insulating member 231d. They are overlapped with each other and fixed by a pin 231e to form a multiplication unit 231f. This dynode 231c has a number of U-shaped notches on each conductive plate,
It is formed on a folded blind. Below the multiplying part 231f, a shield electrode is provided via an insulating member 231d.
231g is fixed with pin 231e, and the anode is inside the shield electrode 231g.
231h is provided. Each of these electrodes is
Each terminal of the terminal group 231i provided at the end on the 1A side is electrically connected in a one-to-one correspondence.

FIG. 9 shows an electric circuit 235 for driving the photomultiplier 231 to take out a photoelectric output, and parts corresponding to the respective parts of the photomultiplier 231 are denoted by the same reference numerals. A negative high voltage applying terminal 235a is provided on the photocathode 231b.
A negative high voltage is applied via the. Further, the negative high voltage applied to the negative high voltage applying terminal 235a is the bleeder resistance group 23
It is applied to the dynodes 231c divided by 5b. Further, the shield electrode 231g is grounded, the anode 231h is grounded via the resistor 235c, and the amplifier 235d.
Is input to one of the terminals. The other terminal of the amplifier 235d is grounded, and the image information photoelectrically converted is taken out as an electric signal from the output terminal 235e. The shield electrode 231g is not always necessary and may not be provided. The long photomultiplier is not necessarily limited to the Venetian blind type, but may be a multiplying section made of other types of electrodes known in the art such as a box type, or a multiplication made by combining a plurality of types of electrodes. It can be created by extending a photomultiplier with a section.

As described in detail above, according to the radiation image information recording / reading apparatus of the present invention, the stimulable phosphor sheet is fixed, and the reading / erasing unit is reciprocated with respect to the stimulable phosphor sheet. By reading and erasing, the erasing means can be miniaturized to downsize the entire apparatus, and by providing two erasing means in the unit, reading and erasing can be performed in parallel on the forward and backward paths of the unit. The processing of a plurality of images can be performed quickly.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 (a) and 1 (b) are side views of a radiation image information recording / reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a reading / erasing unit and its moving means in the apparatus, and FIG. Is a schematic perspective view of the line sensor, FIG. 4 is a scanning circuit diagram used in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, FIGS. 5 and 7 are side views of the apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8A and 8B are perspective views of a Venetian blind type photomultiplier and a cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I of FIG. 9, and FIG. 9 is the above photo. It is a drive circuit diagram of a multiplier. 2 ... Accumulative phosphor sheet 3, 3 ', 3 "... Casing 4, 4', 4" ... Read / erase unit 10 ... Image recording means 20, 120, 220 ... Excitation light irradiation means 30 ... Line sensor 40, 140, 240 Image reading unit 50, 150 Unit moving unit 60, 70 Erasing unit 231 Photo multiplier

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A stimulable phosphor sheet, image recording means for accumulating and recording a radiation image of a subject on the sheet by irradiating the sheet with radiation, and exciting light to the stimulable phosphor sheet. An image reading unit including an excitation light irradiation unit that irradiates in a fixed direction, and a photoelectric reading unit that photoelectrically reads the stimulated emission light emitted from the sheet by this excitation light irradiation and outputs an image signal,
And two erasing means, which are provided on both sides of the image reading means in a direction perpendicular to the irradiation direction of the excitation light, and perform erasing for releasing the radiation energy remaining in the stimulable phosphor sheet after the reading is integrated. Read / erase unit in which light-shielding means is provided between the image reading means and the erasing means, and a unit for reciprocating the read / erase unit in a direction substantially perpendicular to the irradiation direction of the excitation light. A moving means, wherein the stimulable phosphor sheet is held at a photographing position facing the image recording means, and the reading / erasing unit is reciprocally moved so as to face the stimulable phosphor sheet held at the photographing position. The image information is read by the image reading means on the outward path, and is located on the upstream side of the image reading means on the outward path. One of the erasing means performs erasing, the image reading means causes the image reading means to read the image information on the return path, and the other erasing means located upstream of the image reading means performs the erasing on the return path. Radiation image information recording / reading device. 2. A line sensor in which the exciting light irradiating means irradiates the stimulable phosphor sheet linearly with the exciting light, and the photoelectric reading means is a line sensor arranged along the exciting light irradiation position. The radiation image information recording / reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the radiation image information recording / reading apparatus is provided.