JPS5988729A - Device for recording radiant ray picture - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a small-sized inexpensive radiant ray picture recording device, by incorporating a luminescent body for erasing noise in a radiant ray picture recording section. CONSTITUTION:To a desired part of a device section 1, a douser 20 which is used for preventing a light containing a radiant ray and a light of an excitation light wavelength range from striking a phospher sheet 2 is installed. Moreover, a luminescent body 21 for erasing noise is installed in a radiant ray picture recording section 10 and the luminescent body 21 is fitted to a luminescent body scanning arm 22 and moved in parallel along a phospher sheet 2 held by holding rollers 13 and 14 in the radiant ray picture recording section 10. A tungsten lamp or fluorescent lamp is used as the luminescent body 21 for erasing noise.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a radiation image recording device in a radiation imaging system, and more specifically, a radiation image is recorded on the sheet using a stimulable phosphor (hereinafter simply referred to as phosphor), and then In a radiation imaging system that reads out and reproduces this radiation image by irradiating it with excitation light and records it as an image on a recording material, the noise of the phosphor sheet that is used repeatedly is effectively erased and the radiation image is reproduced. The present invention relates to a radiation image recording device that enables recording.

Conventionally, so-called radiography using silver salt has been used to obtain radiographic images, but in recent years, due to problems such as depletion of silver resources on a global scale, it has become necessary to image radiographic images without using m-salt. A method has become desirable.

As an alternative to radiography using silver salts described above, the radiation transmitted through the object is absorbed by a phosphor, which is then excited with a certain type of energy so that the phosphor accumulates. A method has been considered in which the radiation energy is emitted as fluorescent light, and this fluorescent light is detected and imaged. As a specific method, for example, British Patent No. 1
, No. 462,769, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 51-29889,
U.S. Patent No. 3,859゜527, Japanese Patent Publication No. 1983-121
Technical disclosures have been made in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 44 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 55-1.2429. The final image thus obtained may be reproduced as a hard copy or reproduced on a CRT;
It is economical to use the phosphor sheet used in this radiation imaging system repeatedly.

By the way, if a phosphor sheet is irradiated with excitation light of sufficient intensity during readout, all of the radiation energy accumulated as an image should be emitted as fluorescence, but in reality, only the excitation light irradiated during readout is emitted. In this case, the light is not completely emitted and remains as an afterimage in the phosphor sheet. Therefore, when the phosphor sheet is used repeatedly, the afterimage from the previous time becomes noise in the next photographed image.

Furthermore, since radioactive isotopes such as "Ra" and "K" exist in the phosphor, the phosphor sheet accumulates radiation energy over time due to the radiation emitted from these radioisotopes. .

Additionally, environmental radiation such as cosmic rays and X-rays from other X-ray sources can also accumulate radioactive energy. The radiation energy accumulated over time (hereinafter referred to as fog) also becomes noise in the next photographed image.

Therefore, if the phosphor sheet is to be used repeatedly, it is necessary to erase the afterimage and fog before photographing.

A method for preventing noise caused by afterimages and noise caused by fogging is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-11392.
As proposed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-1.16300, etc., before recording a radiation image on a phosphor sheet, light of a wavelength including light in the excitation light wavelength region of the phosphor sheet is used. There is a method in which the phosphor sheet is excited by the phosphor sheet to fully release the accumulated radiation energy.

Furthermore, 1 (Relatedly, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 119340/1983 proposes a radiation image recording section Wt equipped with a noise erasing source irradiation means to prevent noise caused by fog. In the proposed device, the noise-eliminating light irradiation means is installed between the sheet supply section that stores the phosphor sheet and the radiographic image recording position, which makes the sheet supply means complicated and the device section The phosphor sheet has the disadvantage of being large in size. In addition, in order to provide the 4" i-element sheet with a uniform amount of light and a sufficient amount of light to eliminate noise, the phosphor sheet must be moved at a constant speed and while maintaining its flatness. This complicates the sheet feeding means and increases the size of the apparatus.

The present invention aims to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks and provide a compact and inexpensive radiation image recording device that does not require the use of complicated sheet feeding means. A sheet supply mounting section in which a sheet supply body containing a luminescent sheet is removably attached or a sheet supply section containing the fluorescent sheet; a sheet supply means for supplying the body sheet to the radiation image recording section, a sheet holding means for holding the phosphor sheet in the radiation image recording section, and a sheet holding means for holding the phosphor sheet in the radiation image recording section; A radiation image comprising: a sheet feeding means for feeding to a take-out sheet receiving section or a radiation image reading and reproducing device; and a irradiation means for eliminating noise from the stimulable phosphor sheet provided in the radiation image recording section. This is achieved by the recording device 6.

In the present invention, the light intensity and irradiation time of the light irradiation power source for noise cancellation can be arbitrarily selected as long as the above-mentioned irradiation radius can be obtained.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below using the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of a first embodiment of the present invention. At the upper right of the main device section 1, there is provided a supply magazine mounting section 4 in which a supply magazine 3 capable of storing a large number of phosphor sheets 2 is removably installed. A receiving magazine mounting section 6 is provided in which a receiving magazine 5 for receiving the completed phosphor sheet 2 is removably attached.

Near the opening 70 of the supply magazine 3 mounted on the supply magazine mounting section 4, a take-out arm 8 is provided for taking out the phosphor sheets 2 one by one by vacuum suction.

A take-out arm 8 is provided diagonally below the supply magazine mounting section 4.
a sheet supplying roller 9 that receives one phosphor sheet 2 taken out by and moves it toward the radiation image recording section 10; and a supply guide 11 that guides the phosphor sheet 2Y to the sheet supplying roller 9. is provided.

The radiation image recording unit 10 includes a feeding roller 12 that transports the phosphor sheet 2 to a recording position within the radiation image recording unit 10.
and holding rollers 13 and 14 that hold the phosphor sheet 2 at a recording position within the radiation image recording section 10 are provided.

A sheet receiving roller 16 and a receiving guide 17 are disposed diagonally above the receiving magazine mounting section 6 for moving the phosphor sheet 2 carried out from the radiation image recording section IO to the receiving magazine opening 15. It is provided.

The phosphor sheet 2 conveyed by vacuum suction is stored in the receiving magazine 5 near the receiving magazine opening 15 which is the opening of the receiving magazine 5 attached to the receiving magazine mounting part 6. A storage arm 18 is provided for storage.

The radiation image recording unit 10 is provided with a radiation transmitting window 19 made of a material that transmits radiation emitted from the radiation source but blocks light including light in the excitation light wavelength range of the phosphor. The radiation emitted from the radiation source 36 is transmitted through the radiation transmitting window 19 and absorbed by the phosphor sheet 2 held by the holding rollers 13 and 14.

In addition, shielding plates are provided at required portions of the device section 1 to prevent light including radiation and light in the excitation light wavelength range from hitting the phosphor sheet 2.

Further, a noise-eliminating light emitter 21 according to the present invention is provided in the radiation image recording section 10. The light emitter 21 is attached to the light emitter scanning arm 4 and moves in parallel within the radiation image recording section 10 along the phosphor sheet 2 held by holding rollers 13 and 14.

The noise-eliminating light emitter 21 includes a tungsten lamp.
, fluorescent pairs, sodium lamps, xenon lamps, iodine lamps, lasers, etc. are often used, but are not limited to these. In addition, the supply roller 9 and the receiving roller 16
The conveyance rollers such as the feed roller 12 and the like can be replaced by a belt, chain, or the like that can convey the phosphor sheet 2 at a constant speed. Further, the take-out arm 8 may be any means that can take out the phosphor sheet 2 one by one from the supply magazine 3. The same applies to the storage arm 18. Furthermore, the illuminant scanning arm 4 is connected to the illuminant 21.
Any means may be used as long as it can scan the light along the phosphor sheet 2 at a constant speed.

In the first embodiment having the above structure, a plurality of phosphor sheets 2 stored in the supply magazine 3 are vacuum-adsorbed by the supply arm 8 and taken out one by one. The taken out phosphor sheet 2 is sent to the radiation image recording section 10 by the supply roller 9 and the feeding roller 12, and the phosphor sheet 2 is transferred into the radiation image recording section 10 by the holding rollers 13 and 1.4. Record of 9- held in position.

In synchronization with the completion of holding the phosphor sheet 2 at the recording position, the light emitter 21 emits light, and the light emitter scanning arm n scans parallel to the phosphor sheet 2 at a constant speed. The amount of light irradiated on the phosphor sheet 2 at this time is 2000 lx seconds to 100,000 seconds!
X seconds, and is controlled by the light intensity of the light emitter 2 and the scanning speed of the scanning arm 4 to which the light emitter 21 is attached so that the above amount of light irradiation can be ensured.

After the noise prevention light is irradiated, a radiation image is recorded by radiation from the radiation source 36. The phosphor sheet that has finished recording the radiation image is taken out from the radiation image recording unit 10 by the feeding roller 12, and is stored in the receiving magazine 5 by the receiving roller 16 and the storage arm 18. Ru.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic structure of a second embodiment of the present invention. Compared to the first embodiment shown in FIG.
1 is fixed, there is a condensing lens in front of it, a scanning mirror is attached to the scanning arm B, and the light parallelized by the condensing lens B is reflected by the scanning mirror,
It is designed to be applied onto the phosphor sheet 2 held at the recording position, and other than this, it is the same as the 8g1 embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic structure of a third embodiment of the present invention. Compared to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the receiving magazine mounting part 6, the storing arm 18, the sheet receiving roller 16, and the receiving guide plate 17 are omitted, and after recording the radiographic image, The difference is that a feeding roller 5 for feeding out the phosphor sheet 2 by the radiation image reading and reproducing device is newly provided. As in the first embodiment, the phosphor sheet 2
After noise prevention light is irradiated at the recording position, a radiation image is recorded by radiation from the radiation source 36.

The phosphor sheet 2 on which recording has been completed is directly sent out by the sending roller 5 to a radiation image reading and reproducing apparatus 26 having reading excitation light irradiation means, emission light detection means, and the like.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic structure of a fourth embodiment of the present invention. Comparing this embodiment with the second embodiment shown in FIG. 17 is omitted, and the radiation image is recorded after the phosphor sheet 2 is irradiated with light for noise prevention at the recording position.

The difference is that the phosphor sheet 2 after recording is directly sent out to the radiation image reading and reproducing device 26 by a newly provided sending out roller 5.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic structure of a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a band-shaped phosphor sheet 2 is used. Inside the main unit u section 1, there is a sheet supply body n having a phosphor sheet 2 wound in a roll at one end thereof.
At the other end, there is a sheet receptacle mounting section I which is removably equipped with a sheet receptacle 29 for winding up the band-shaped fluorescent sheet 2 into a roll after recording a radiographic image. It is provided.

Sheet conveying rollers 31 and 32 for conveying the band-shaped phosphor sheet 2 are provided above the sheet supply body mounting section and the sheet receiving body mounting section. A sheet holding roller 33° for holding the phosphor sheet 2 is provided at the recording position, and a noise erasing light emitter 21 is also provided.

The noise erasing light emitter 21 is attached to the tip of the light emitter scanning arm 22, and emits fluorescent light along the phosphor sheet 2 held at the recording position by sheet holding rollers 33 and 34 within the radiation image recording unit 10. The robot moves in parallel on the body sheet 2.

Further, in the radiation image recording section 10, a radiation source is formed of a material that transmits radiation emitted from the radiation source 36 but blocks light including light in the excitation light wavelength range, corresponding to the recording position of the sheet film 2. A transmission window 19 is provided, and the periphery thereof is provided with a shield plate made of a material that blocks light including radiation and light in the excitation light wavelength range.

In the fifth embodiment having the above-described structure, one end of the phosphor sheet 2 wound around the sheet supply body r is wound around the sheet receiving body side, and the winding shaft on the sheet receiving body side is rotated. The phosphor sheet 2 is pulled out from the sheet supply body n. Thereafter, the noise erasing light emitter 21 is caused to emit light, and the noise is erased by scanning the phosphor sheet 2 held at the recording position by the sheet holding rollers 33 and 34. The radiation transmitting window 19 is then opened by the radiation m source 36.
After the radiographic image has been recorded through the phosphor sheet 2, the phosphor sheet 2 is wound onto a sheet receiver 29.

When photography is completed for all of the phosphor sheets 2,
The sheet is taken out in a state where it is wound up on the sheet receiving body side, or it is rewound into the trough of the sheet supply body and then taken out in a state where it is wound up on the sheet supply body n.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic structure of a sixth embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is compared with the fifth embodiment shown in FIG.
The difference is that the sheet receptacle mounting section 30 is not provided. The phosphor sheet 2 is irradiated with noise prevention light at the recording position, and then the radiation image recording is completed, and the phosphor sheet 2 is directly sent to a radiation image reading and reproducing device.

The radiation image recording apparatus according to the present invention described above in the first to sixth embodiments are all equipped with a noise-eliminating light emitter built into the radiation image recording section, and as a result, the radiation image recording apparatus is It has become possible to manufacture small and inexpensively0

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 6 are schematic structural diagrams showing first to sixth embodiments of the present invention, respectively. 1... Main unit unit 2... Fluorescent sheet 3...
- Supply magazine 4... Supply magazine mounting section 5... Receiving magazine 6... Receiving magazine mounting section 10... Radiation image recording section 19... Radiation transparent window 21... Light emitter n... Light emitter scanning arm Kagome... Condensing lens Sae... Scanning mirror part...
Radiation image reading device 27... Sheet supply body 4... Supply body attachment part addition/
...Sheet receiving body attachment... Seat receiving body attachment part 36... Radiation source agent Umi Kuwabara 15- 61-ku 2-ku 4th ward, 65th ward, 6th figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] A sheet supply mounting section in which a sheet supply body containing a stimulable phosphor sheet for radiographic image recording and reproduction is removably attached, or a sheet supply section containing the stimulable phosphor sheet, and the sheet supply body mounted thereon. or sheet supply means for supplying the stimulable phosphor sheet from the sheet supply section to the radiation image recording section, holding means for holding the stimulable phosphor sheet in the radiation image recording section, and storage after recording the radiation image. a sheet feeding means for taking out the stimulable phosphor sheet from the radiation image recording section and sending it out to a sheet receiving section or a radiation image reading and reproducing device; and a light for erasing noise of the stimulable phosphor sheet provided in the radiation image recording section. A radiation image recording device comprising an irradiation means.