JPS6314815Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] This invention relates to an improvement of a dental X-ray irradiation device.

In a dental X-ray irradiation device, a cylindrical irradiation barrel with an open front, generally called a dental cone, is used to irradiate the affected area with only the main radiation cone of the X-rays emitted from the focal point of the X-ray tube. Using such an irradiation tube, position the direction and distance of the irradiation tube so that the effective irradiation field of the X-rays reliably matches the X-ray film (dental film) placed in the patient's oral cavity. It requires a high degree of experience and skill. If irradiation is performed while this positioning is inaccurate, there will be a misalignment between the X-ray film and the irradiation field, making it impossible to obtain the necessary photograph of the area to be imaged.
Therefore, reshoots are often required. In order to solve these drawbacks, a visible optical system has recently been installed inside this irradiation tube that is coaxial with the X-ray irradiation axis, and this visible optical system is used to display the X-ray irradiation position of the subject in a visible optical manner. An irradiation device with a water vapor was devised and came into use. However, although the device of this invention allows the above-mentioned positioning to be performed easily and accurately, the visible optical mechanism must be evacuated from the X-ray irradiation area during X-ray photography.
This addition of the evacuation and insertion functions has the disadvantage of complicating the structure.

This idea was made in view of the above-mentioned current situation, and in order to eliminate the drawback of conventional dental cones that required considerable skill and effort to accurately position the irradiation direction, Its effective irradiation field can be displayed as a line light image created by a visible light irradiation ring, which not only makes the positioning operation more accurate compared to the above-mentioned spot display type device, but also speeds up the protective measures. The device does not have a movable mechanism and has a simple structure, providing a robust irradiation tube and improving the efficiency of diagnosis. In other words, it is a cylindrical light-conducting structure, and its cylindrical shape absorbs the irradiated X-rays.
The shape is similar to the conical shape near the source,
It is characterized in that an irradiation tube in which a visible light source is arranged facing the rear end cylindrical surface is provided near the X-ray emission port,
The X-ray irradiation surface is confirmed by the cylindrical ring-shaped light image that is emitted from the front end cylindrical surface of the irradiation tube with its conical inclination angle, passes through space, and irradiates the irradiated object. This is related to a dental X-ray irradiation device.

Embodiments of this invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the dental irradiation device according to this invention as a movable type, in which 1 is a cart and 2 is a main pillar of the device, supporting a controller 3 and a flexible arm 4. Reference numeral 5 denotes an X-ray generator, which includes a main transformer, a wire heating transformer, and an X-ray tube, and is movably suspended at the tip of a flexible arm as shown in the figure. An irradiation tube 6 of this invention is attached to the X-ray emission port of the X-ray generator 5, which regulates the irradiation direction and irradiation field of the X-rays. In order to accurately orient this irradiation tube 6 to the imaged area of the subject's teeth, the irradiation tube 6 of this invention is equipped with a visible optical system, which will be described later. , an irradiation field is created using a visible light image of a rectangular or rectangular ring. Therefore, it is only necessary to move the arm 4 and the X-ray generator 5 to properly adjust the direction of the irradiation tube 6 so that the visible light irradiation field is aligned with the region to be imaged. In this method, for example, a ring-shaped visible light irradiates the area to be imaged, and in order to clearly indicate to the operator that the entire area within this ring becomes the X-ray irradiation field, the width of the irradiation field is regulated by the irradiation tube. This can be easily done by adjusting the irradiation direction, that is, the position on the irradiation axis. Furthermore, if the ring is distorted depending on the shape of the area to be imaged and the distortion indicates an area that does not need to be imaged, it can be easily protected with protective clothing or the like. After the above operations are completed, the visible optical system is turned off and X-rays are irradiated and photographed.

Details of the irradiation barrel 6, which is a feature of this invention, will be explained with reference to embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 to 6.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the irradiation tube taken along the plane of the X-ray irradiation axis A, and FIG. 3 is a side view (right half) viewed from the - direction of FIG. 2. 7 connects the irradiation tube to the radiation port 5A (also shown as a one-dot chain line) of the X-ray generator 5 (one-dot chain line)
This is a fastening part that is attached to the holder, and is made of an electrically insulating material. Reference numeral 8 is an irradiation barrel cover that is engaged with 7 above, but may be omitted. 9 is the main body of the visible optical system of this invention, which is connected to 7 above, and the light source bulb 10 is connected to the third
As shown in the figure, for example, six (the more, the better) are built in on the circumference. Further, the light conductive structure 11 is supported such that one end surface of the light conductive structure 11 is located close to the tip 10A of the light bulb 10 and on the optical axis thereof. The light bulb 10 is controlled to blink manually or automatically outside the irradiation barrel 6 by means of electrodes 12 and 13 provided on the fastening part 7 and a power cord 14. The main body 9 also serves as an X-ray shielding tube, and has an X-ray control hole 9H drilled in the center to irradiate X-rays X (three-dot chain line) from the X-ray source Xs in a conical shape as shown in the figure. ing. However, this X-ray radiation tube is irradiation tube 6.
It may be provided at the radiation port 5A of the X-ray generator. The light-conducting structure (hereinafter referred to as a light guide) 11 is made of a highly transmissive member formed into a conical opening like 11A on the irradiated object side along the conical radiation angle θ of the X-rays. . A light guide having an open end shaped like an X-ray radiation shape (conical or pyramidal) is a feature of the irradiation tube of this embodiment. Furthermore, there are various methods to increase the light conduction efficiency of this light guide, but the one shown in Figure 2 is a molded product of high-purity methacrylic resin with excellent light transmittance and comparable to optical glass, and the thickness is, for example, 2.
mm, and a vapor-deposited film of, for example, aluminum is formed on the inner and outer walls. A partially enlarged view of this is shown in FIG. Reference numeral 11 is the above-mentioned transparent core material having a high refractive index made of the methacrylic resin, and 15 and 16 are the sheath materials having a low refractive index on the inner and outer walls thereof, such as the above-mentioned aluminum vapor deposited film. The incident light beam L travels while being totally reflected at the interface between the core material and the sheath material, which have different refractive indexes, as shown in the figure, and is emitted from the end surface 11B. That is, it has the same function as the glass fiber of fiber optic elements, which is generally widely used as an optical fiber. The emitted visible light L (see FIG. 2) is imaged on the irradiated surface close to the irradiation tube 6 as a ring-shaped light image showing the outside of the X-ray radiation range X (three-dot chain line). It is obvious that the X-ray irradiation field can be narrowed down the closer the irradiation tube 6 is placed. Next, a method for making the visible light emitted from the light guide 11 clearer will be described with reference to FIG. 11A is the light guide opening described in FIG. 2, and a hood 17 is provided on the light guide end face 11B, sandwiching the inner and outer walls of the light guide as shown in the figure. This is to prevent the radiation light L from the light guide tip surface 11A from spreading, and to eliminate interference fringes that occur when the radiation light L hits the irradiated object. By creating a dark black rough surface on the inner surface of the hood 17, finishing processing of the light guide end surface 11B is facilitated, and the light beams hitting the rough surface are scattered and only the straight light L' from the light guide end surface 11B is irradiated. It becomes wet. With the irradiation tube 6 of this invention equipped with this hood 17, the visible light ring etc. become clearer,
Positioning operations can be performed more quickly.

The above is an explanation of the irradiation tube that creates a ring-shaped visible light image, but this invention is not limited to a conical X-ray radiation shape, and the X-ray radiation tube or X-ray plate When the line restriction hole is square or rectangular, the radial shape is pyramidal. The irradiation tube in this case will be explained with reference to FIG. The figure shows irradiation tube 6
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the light guide 11' cut at a rectangular tube portion (a portion without cone-shaped expansion) on the light source side and viewed from the side of the irradiated object. 9' is a visible optical system main body corresponding to 9 in FIG. The optical body 11' is supported at its center as in FIG. However, this figure omits the above-mentioned X-ray shield plate and the like. This optical guide 11' is a so-called sheet-like fiber optical element (optical fiber) in which glass fibers 18, a portion of which is shown on the left shoulder of the figure, are arranged in a row and molded into a sheet of about 2 mm from glass or synthetic resin. This one
The glass fiber 8 consists of a cylindrical core glass of a transparent material having a high refractive index surrounded concentrically by a sheath glass having a low refractive index, and is used as the light conducting element described in FIG. be. By using this, there is no need to provide a hood or the like as in the above-mentioned embodiments, and the irradiation tube can display, for example, a rectangular irradiation field with uniform brightness. Furthermore, the glass fibers shown in 18 are not limited to thick fibers arranged in a row as shown in the figure, but thin fibers of a minimum diameter of about 6μ can be bundled into a honeycomb shape and formed into a sheet shape as shown in 11'. becomes excellent. In addition, 18 is not a glass fiber, but an optical fiber with a minimum diameter of about 0.1 mm, which has a core material of the cheaper methacrylic resin mentioned above and a special transparent fluororesin sheath material, in the same way as the glass fiber in 15 above. This makes it possible to make a high-performance, inexpensive irradiation tube. Another feature of this square or rectangular irradiation tube is that a commercially available light bulb with a long linear filament for a visible light source can be attached to each side of the light guide 11' with the filaments parallel to each other. The point is that the uniformity of illuminance can be further improved. In the case of the rectangular or rectangular irradiation tube 6, the irradiation field can be easily determined by providing a 180° or 360° rotatable mechanism at the joint with the X-ray generator 5.

Although the configurations and operations of several embodiments of the irradiation barrel of this invention have been described above, it goes without saying that this invention is not limited to the illustrated example. Since this invention is constructed as described above, it is difficult to position the X-ray film to ensure that the effective field of X-rays emitted by the irradiation tube of the conventional dental X-ray irradiation device matches the X-ray film, and it often requires re-imaging. By using a photoconductor or optical fiber having a shape approximating the X-ray emission cone (cone or pyramid shape) in the irradiation tube, the effective irradiation field of the X-rays can be transformed into a circle of visible light. By displaying images in a ring, square, or rectangular shape, compared to spot display systems that have already been devised, there is no need for a mechanism to move the visible optical system, making positioning operations and protective measures faster. Moreover, we have provided a convenient device that can be used accurately.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the dental X-ray irradiation device of this invention, and Figures 2 to 6 are diagrams showing the structure of the irradiation tube, which is the main part of this invention. The longitudinal cross-section of the shaped irradiation tube, Figure 3 is - of Figure 2.
4 is a partially enlarged view of the light guide, FIG. 5 is a partial view of a modified embodiment of FIG. It is an example figure. 5...X-ray generator, 5A...X-ray emission port, 6...
...Irradiation tube, A...X-ray radiation axis, X-X...X-ray cone-shaped radiation area (cone or pyramid shape), Xs...X-ray source, 9H...X-ray restriction hole, 9,9 '...Visible optical system main body of irradiation tube, 10...Visible light source, 11,1
1'... Cone-shaped and pyramid-shaped light-conducting light bodies, 1
1A... Conical or pyramidal opening approximating the X-ray emission shape of the light conducting structure, 11B... Visible light emitting end face of the light conducting structure, θ... Conical inclination angle, L... Cylindrical (ring, square) or rectangular) visible light.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A cylindrical light-conducting structure, the cylindrical shape of which is similar to the conical shape near the X-ray source of irradiated X-rays, and a visible light source disposed opposite the rear end cylindrical surface. A cylindrical ring formed by irradiating an X-ray tube near the irradiation port, and emitting radiation from the front end cylindrical surface of the irradiation tube at a conical angle of inclination, passing through space and irradiating the irradiated object. A dental X-ray irradiation device that allows confirmation of the X-ray irradiation surface using a light image.