JPS6347750A - Radiographic image information recording and reproducing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically sort and extract recording sheets in accordance with respective photographing devices by providing the titled system with plural trays and distributing and carrying the recording sheets to the trays. CONSTITUTION:When the transmission of an image signal from the image information processing circuit 28 of any one of readers 20, 20', 20'', e.g., a 1st reader 20, to a frame memory 102 is started, a signal indicating the device number of a photographing device stored in a memory of the 1st reader 20 is outputted from the memory 22 to a CPU 101. The CPU 101 outputs a control signal S2 to a pulse motor 135 in accordance with a previously determined combination. Since the pulse motor 135 moves a carrying roller 134 to the upper part of a prescribed tray in accordance with the control signal S2, a recording sheet 3 is sorted and stored in each tray 131, 132 or 133 by the carrying roller 134 in accordance with the photographing device photographing the reproduced image information. Thereby the recording sheets properly sorted in accordance with the photographing devices can be automatically obtained by extracting respective trays from the sheet storing part as they are.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of the Invention) The present invention stores and records image information on a stimulable phosphor sheet,
This stimulable phosphor sheet is irradiated with excitation light to generate stimulated luminescent light, which is photoelectrically detected to read the above image information, and the read image information is recorded as a visible image. Regarding the radiation image information recording and reproducing system that reproduces on a sheet, in particular, in the image reproducing device that performs the reproduction, recording sheets on which image information has been reproduced as visible images are distributed to a plurality of trays and carried in, and the recording sheets are The present invention relates to a radiation image information recording and reproducing system that is capable of classifying and retrieving radiation image information.

(Technical Background and Prior Art of the Invention) When a certain type of phosphor is irradiated with radiation (X-rays, α-rays, β-rays, γ-rays, ultraviolet rays, electron beams, etc.), part of this radiation energy is absorbed into the phosphor. It is known that when this phosphor is irradiated with excitation light such as visible light, the phosphor exhibits stimulated luminescence depending on the accumulated energy. called a fluorescent phosphor.

Using this stimulable phosphor, radiation image information of a subject such as a human body is recorded on a stimulable phosphor sheet, and this stimulable phosphor sheet is scanned with excitation light such as a laser beam to produce stimulated luminescence. Generate light, photoelectrically read the resulting stimulated luminescent light to obtain an image signal, and based on this image signal, a radiation image of the subject is displayed as a visible image on a recording material such as a photographic light-sensitive material or a display device such as a CRT. The present applicant has already proposed a radiographic image information recording and reproducing system that reproduces the information as follows. (JP-A-55-12429, JP-A-56-11395, etc.) This method has the practical advantage of being able to record images over an extremely wide radiation exposure range compared to conventional radiographic systems using silver halide photography. have. That is,
For stimulable phosphors, it is recognized that the amount of emitted light that is stimulated and emitted by excitation after accumulation is proportional to the amount of radiation exposure over an extremely wide range. Even if the amount of stimulated luminescence light emitted from the stimulable phosphor sheet varies considerably, the reading gain is set to an appropriate value, the charge conversion means reads the amount, and converts it into an electrical signal. By outputting a visible image to a recording material such as a photographic light-sensitive material or a display device such as a CRT, a radiation image that is not affected by fluctuations in radiation exposure can be obtained.

In addition, according to this system, radiation image information stored and recorded on a stimulable phosphor sheet is converted into an electrical signal, then subjected to appropriate signal processing, and this electrical signal is used to produce recording materials such as photographic light-sensitive materials, CRTs, etc. By outputting a visible image on the display device, it is possible to obtain a very large effect of being able to obtain a radiographic image that is suitable for observation and interpretation (appropriate for diagnosis).

In the above system, the stimulable phosphor sheet records image information (R shadow) in an eye-shaped device, and then is sent to a reading device, where the sheet is scanned with excitation light to obtain image information. is read. The read image information is recorded on the recording sheet by scanning the recording sheet with recording light modulated based on the image information, and then subjected to development processing and reproduced.
Used for various diagnoses. Recording and development of the image information are performed in an image recording section and a developing section, respectively, and the image recording section and developing section may be integrated into one image reproducing device. Further, this image reproducing device may reproduce image information captured by a plurality of the image transporting devices via the reading device.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, when a single image reproducing device reproduces image information taken by a plurality of photographing devices as described above, the reproduction is completed in the image reproducing device and the image information is taken out. The number of recording sheets to be recorded is extremely large. In addition, image information is reproduced as appropriate each time a stimulable phosphor sheet that has been photographed in each head-shaped device is read by a reading device, so that multiple records are taken out from the image reproducing device after the reproduction is completed. The sheet becomes a state in which various recorded contents are mixed together. Therefore, when a plurality of recording sheets obtained as described above are used for diagnosis, it is necessary to classify the recording sheets by type in advance, which is extremely troublesome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a radiation image information recording and reproducing system that can classify recording sheets to some extent in advance before taking them out from an image reproducing apparatus.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The radiation image information recording and reproducing system of the present invention includes an image recording section and a developing section, is connected to a reading device, and reproduces image information recorded with a plurality of imaging devices. The image playback device
It is equipped with a plurality of trays, and the recording sheets that have been developed in the image reproducing device are sorted and carried into one of the plurality of trays. This is characterized in that the processing is carried out depending on which of the plurality of photographing devices is the photographing device that photographed the reproduced image information.

The image reproducing device provided in this system is equipped with an image recording section that records image information as described above, and a developing section that develops the image information recorded on the recording sheet. The developing section and the developing section may be integrated into the same unit, or if the configuration is such that the recording sheet carried out from the image recording section is directly carried into the developing section, the sheet conveying means etc. They may be separate entities via. Further, the stimulable phosphor sheet on which image information is recorded by the plurality of photographing devices may be read by one reading device, or may be distributed to a plurality of reading devices and read, These multiple reading devices may be connected to one image reproducing device.

(Function) As described above, if a plurality of trays are provided in the image reproducing device and the recording sheets are sorted and loaded into each tray according to the imaging device, the recording sheets stored in the trays can be taken out. , it is possible to automatically obtain recording sheets classified according to the photographing device that recorded the image information. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to classify the recording sheets taken out from the image reproducing device according to the photographing device prior to diagnosis, etc., and it is possible to eliminate the need for classification work.

Furthermore, even if it is necessary to classify the recording sheets in more detail, the effort required for the classification can be reduced.

(Example) The radiation image information recording and reproducing system of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of a radiation image information recording and reproducing system of the present invention.

First, image information is recorded (photographed) on the stimulable phosphor sheet 1 in a photographing device, and in this system, as an example, from the first photographing device 10 to the
10 to 9 are provided, and each of the imaging devices 10 to 1 has a radiation source 10A to 1 such as an X-ray source, respectively.
9A1 and one controller 108-193. Further, the first photographing device 10 and the second photographing device 11 form the first R photographing room 31, the third photographing device 12 and the fourth photographing device 13 form the second photographing chamber 32, and the fifth photographing device 14 forms the third photographing room 31. The room 33 is connected to the fourth imaging chamber 34 by the sixth imaging device 15, the fifth Ill shadow room 35 by the seventh Ili1 shadow device 16, the sixth imaging room 36 by the tenth dark shadow device 19, and the ninth R shadow device 18. A seventh photographing room 37 is constituted by the tenth shadow device 19. First photographing device 10
To explain the recording of image information using as an example, the sheet 1 is placed in the first imaging device 10 at a position facing the radiation source 10A with the subject 2 in between, and in this state, the radiation source 10A is activated. The transmitted radiation image of the subject 2 is projected onto the sheet 1, and the radiation image information of the subject 2 is stored and recorded on the sheet 1. When performing imaging, the sheets 1 may be stored one by one in a cassette that transmits radiation and has light-blocking properties, or in the case of continuous imaging, multiple sheets may be stored in a sheet supply magazine. Alternatively, the sheets may be taken out one by one from this magazine and used for photographing. After the photographing is completed, the sheet 1 is taken out from the β-image device 10 and loaded into the reading device, and the image information is read. The sheets that have been taken out from the supply magazine and have been shaped are stored in sheet storage magazines that are carried in sequentially after the completion of imaging, and are then loaded into the reading device.

In this system, as an example, the first reading device 20,
Image information is read using three reading devices consisting of a second reading device 20' and a third reading device 20''. are similar, and the configuration will be described below by taking the first reading device 20 as an example.
The sheet 1 photographed by the photographing devices 10 to 19 of the table may be read by any of the three reading devices 20.20' and 20''. Also, each of the reading devices 20.20'.

20'' is provided with panels 21, 21' and 21'', respectively, and when loading a sheet from which release has been completed into each reading device, the sheet is photographed from this panel. The device number (for example, number 1 for the first imaging device) is input.

These panels 21.21'.

The number of the 8 shooting positions entered from 21'' is displayed on each reading device 20.
, 20', 20'', respectively.
2°21' and 22'.

A reading device 20 scans the sheet 1 with excitation light 2 such as a laser beam.
4A, and the stimulated luminescent light emitted from the sheet 1 by the scanning is photoelectrically read by a photoelectric reading means 25 having a photodetector such as a photomultiplier to produce an electrical image for outputting a visible image. It is used to obtain signals. 24 in the diagram
23 is an excitation light source, 23 is a light deflector such as a galvanometer mirror, and 26 is a light guide 25a of a photoelectric reading means that directs the stimulated luminescence light emitted from the sheet 1 (the light guide 25a totally reflects the stimulated luminescence light and converts it into a photo). This is a reflecting mirror that reflects the light toward a photodetector 25b such as a multiplier. After the sheet 1 loaded in the reading device 20 is taken out from the above-mentioned cassette or magazine, it is transported in the direction of the arrow by the sheet transport means 27, and the entire surface of the sheet is 2 Dimensionally scanning produces stimulated luminescence light, which is detected by the photodetector 25b via the guide 25a. In the photodetector 25b, the stimulated luminescent light is converted into an electrical signal, and the obtained electrical signal is sent to the image information processing circuit 28 for image processing, and then sent to an image reproducing device to be described later. The sheet that has been read is taken out from the reading device 20 and sent to an erasing device (not shown), where it is irradiated with erasing light to emit residual radiation energy from the sheet and become ready for imaging again.

The three reading devices 20.20', 20'' are all connected to the image recirculation device fi 100, and the image information read by each reading device 20.20', 20'' as described above is The image is reproduced on a recording sheet 3 such as photosensitive film in the image reproduction device 100. Therefore, all the image information photographed by the ten photographing devices 10 to 19 J3 is reproduced by the image reproduction device 100. This image reproducing device 100 is provided with a CPU (central processing unit) 101.
Under the control of three reading devices 20, 20'.

20'' is sequentially reproduced.The image reproducing apparatus 100 also includes recording sheets 3 that are conveyed one by one by a sheet conveying means 111.
An image recording unit 110 records image information by scanning recording light 113Δ modulated by a modulator 112 and then deflected by an optical deflector 114, and a recording sheet carried out from the image recording unit 110. A developing section 120 that performs development of a plurality of recording sheets 3, and a tray storage section 130 that removably holds three trays 131, 132, and 133 that can store a plurality of recording sheets 3 are provided.

The electrical signal (image signal) based on the image information output from the image information processing circuit 28 of the first reading device 20 is stored in the first frame memory 102 in the image reproducing device 100 and transferred to the second reading device 20. ' image information processing circuit 28
The image signal output from ' is sent to the second frame memory 1
03, the image signals outputted from the image information processing circuit 28'' of the third reading device 20'' are respectively stored in the third frame memory 104. When an image signal is stored in one of the three frame memories, that frame memory outputs the signal to the CPU as shown by the solid line in the figure. Further, the frame memory 102. 103. 104 is selectively connected to the modulator 112 of the image recording section 110 by a switch 105, and this modulator is driven based on the stored image signal. Said C
PU101 is one of three frame memories
When a signal indicating that an image signal is stored in the frame memory is received, a control signal S1 is issued to the switch 105, and the switch 105 connects the frame memory in which the image signal is stored and the modulator 112. control to take the desired position.

As described above, under the control of the CPU 101, three frame memories 102. 103. 104 as modulator 11
If the image recording unit 110 is selectively connected to the three reading devices 20 and 20',
.

20'' can be sequentially reproduced. If the light source 113 of the recording light 113A is a semiconductor laser capable of analog direct modulation,
The modulator 112 may be eliminated and the semiconductor laser drive circuit and each frame memory may be selectively connected.

The recording sheet 3 on which image information has been recorded in the image recording section 110 is sent to the developing section 120 and subjected to development processing. The developing section 120 consists of a developing zone 121, a fixing zone 122, a washing zone 123, and a drying zone 124, and the recording sheet 3 is sent to each zone in order and developed.
It is carried out from the developing section 120.

The tray storage section 130 is arranged adjacent to the developing section 120, and the recording sheet 3 carried out from the developing section 120 is stored in the developing section 120.
There are three trays 131. in this tray storage section 130.
132. The images are taken separately and transported to one of the 133. Further, the distribution of the recording sheets is performed depending on which photographing device is used for the image information reproduced on the recording sheets. - For example, among the three trays, the first tray 131 is the one for the first to fourth imaging devices 10 to 1.
The second tray 132 is used to store the recording sheet 3 in which the image information photographed in No. 3 is reproduced. It stores recording sheets 3 in which image information photographed by the 10 photographing devices 17 to 19 is reproduced. Further, in order to carry predetermined recording sheets into these trays 131, 132, and 133, a carry-in roller 134 is provided above the trays and is movable in the six directions of arrows. The carry-in roller 134 is first located at the position shown by the solid line in the figure, and after receiving the recording sheet 3 carried out from the developing section 120, moves in the six directions of arrows, stops on a predetermined tray, and then moves to a predetermined tray. The recording sheet 3 is carried inside. Further, the movement of the carry-in roller 134 is controlled by a pulse motor 135 driven based on instructions from the CPU 101.

That is, when transmission of an image signal from one of the reading bags @20, 20', 20'', for example, the m-image information processing circuit 28 of the first reading device 20 to the frame memory 102 is started, the first A signal indicating the number of the photographing device stored in the memory 22 in the reading device 20 is sent to the CPU.
Output to ioi. CPLllol receives this signal and outputs a control signal S2 to the pulse motor 135 according to the above-determined combination. Since the pulse motor 135 moves the carry-in roller 134 above a predetermined tray in accordance with this control signal S2, the record sheet 3 is moved by the carry-in roller 134 according to the photographing device that photographed the reproduced image information. They are classified and stored in each tray 131, 132, 133. Note that the combination of the photographing device and the tray may be arbitrarily set other than the one described above, and when each photographing device is incorporated in the shade room as in this embodiment, the combinations of the first to third trays may be set as desired. 31 to 33 until shooting is the first tray 131,
4th. The fifth shadow room 34.35 is the second tray 132, the sixth tray 34. Each head-shaped chamber and each tray may be made to correspond to each other, such as the seventh imaging space 37 and 38 to the third tray 133. Furthermore, the number of trays for each imaging device is not limited to three; it is also possible to provide the same number of trays as imaging devices and have a one-to-one correspondence between the imaging devices and the trays, or The number of trays may be increased so that one shadow device corresponds to a plurality of trays. It is not necessarily necessary to provide a plurality of reading devices, and a plurality of photographing devices may all be connected to one reading device. In either case, by simply removing each tray from the sheet storage section, you can automatically obtain recording sheets that are appropriately classified according to the imaging device, allowing you to connect multiple imaging devices to a single image playback device. However, there is no need to manually classify the recording sheets according to the dark shadow device when they are used for diagnosis or the like.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the same parts as those in the embodiment described above are denoted by the same numbers, and the explanation thereof will be omitted. In the second embodiment, the number of the photographing device is input not when reading the image information but when photographing the image information.

The stimulable phosphor sheet is usually provided with a bar code on its back surface, and in this embodiment, each of the photographing devices 10 to 19
The controllers 10B to 19G are equipped with a function to read this barcode.

Further, the first to fifth photographing devices 10 to 14 are a first reading device 20.
The sixth and seventh photographing devices 15 and 16 are the second reading device 20.
', the eighth to tenth imaging devices 17 to 19 are connected to the third reading device 20'', and each reading device 20.20'
.

20'' reads only the sheet that has been photographed by the photographing device connected to it.

In each of the photographing devices 10 to 19, the controllers 10B to 1
9B reads the barcode on the sheet, and the read barcode is sent to the reading device 20.20', 20'' memory 22.22 to which each photographing device is connected.
', 22''. Also sent to controllers 108~
19B is the barcode of the sheet to be photographed,
It also outputs the number of the attached S shadow equipment,
Each memory 22, 22', 22'' stores a bar code and a photographing device number as a set.

The sheet photographed by each of the photographing devices 10 to 19 is transferred to the reading devices 20 and 20 connected to the respective photographing devices.
', 20'' and reading is performed.

Each reading device 20.20', 20'' is provided with barcode reading means 29.29', 29'',
When the sheet 1 is loaded into the reading device, its barcode is read, and the read barcode is sent to the memory 22.22', 22'' in the reading device.The barcode is sent to the memory 22. The number of the photographing device that photographed the sheet to be read is extracted from 22' and 22'', and a signal indicating this number is sent to CPLllol in the image reproducing apparatus 100. C.P.
U 1 (H has three trays as an example 131゜1
32, 133 and the respective photographing devices 11 to 20 are registered in advance, and the CPU 101 sends a signal S2 to the pulse motor 135 in accordance with the input number of the photographing device, and the recording sheet on which the image information is reproduced. The images are sorted into predetermined trays according to the photographing device and delivered.

Note that the barcode on the sheet is read as described above, and the read barcode is stored in the memory 22 along with the number of the photographing device.
22', 22'', instead of adding a function to the controllers 10B to 19B to output the output to the imaging devices 10 to 19, as shown by the broken line in FIG.
Terminal parts 100 to 19C are provided separately from 193,
These terminal sections 10C to 19G read barcodes, and terminal sections 10C to 19C are used to read barcodes.
Input the number of the scanner and read the barcode and the above number from the terminal to the memory 22, 22', 2 of each reader.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, a signal indicating the barcode and the number of the imaging device is directly inputted from each @ shadow device to the reading device, and compared with the barcode read by the reading device. By doing this, the number of the photographing device is retrieved, so the reading device that performs the reading is determined for each photographing device, but the information stored in the memories 22, 22' and 22'' of each reading device is shared. By making it possible to do this, any reading device can read the sheet photographed by each photographing device. In this way, even if a failure occurs in the excitation light scanning system or sheet conveyance system of a certain reading device, if the memory is insufficient, the other reading device will be able to read the sheet using the other reading device. be able to.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the third embodiment, the first to tenth shadowing devices 10
All the bar codes and photographing device numbers output from the controllers 1013 to 19B of 19 are once sent to the data controller 40 and stored in the data controller 40. Sheet 1, which has been photographed, is sent to the reading device 20.20'
, 20'' for reading, and at that time, the bar code reading means 29.
29' and 29'' read the barcode of the sheet. In this embodiment, the sheet photographed by each photographing device may be read by any reading device.

The reading means 29, 29', 29'' output the read barcode to the data controller 40, and the data controller 40 retrieves the number of the photographing device corresponding to the barcode and reads the sheet. Memory 22.22' in the reading device.

22''.Memory 22.22', 22''
The number of the photographing device input to
The CPU 101 outputs the recording sheet to the tray 131 according to the number of the photographing device based on the correspondence relationship registered in advance. 132. A signal S2 is output to cause the camera to separately take pictures and carry them into any one of 133. According to this embodiment, the data controller 40 is provided,
Since the barcode of each sheet and the number of the photographing device are once input into the data controller 40, the sheet that has been photographed can always be read by any reading device regardless of the number of the photographing device. It is convenient because it can be done.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the radiation image information recording and reproducing system of the present invention, the image reproducing device is provided with a plurality of trays, and recording sheets are stored in the trays corresponding to the plurality of imaging devices. By sorting and transporting the recording sheets, it is possible to automatically classify and take out the recording sheets according to each photographing device. Therefore, image information recorded by multiple imaging devices can be combined into one
Even if the number and types of reproduced images that are obtained increase by performing reproduction using one image reproduction apparatus, it is possible to prevent the work of sorting the recording sheets from becoming complicated after the reproduction is completed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of a radiation image information recording and reproducing system of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are schematic diagrams showing other examples of the configuration of the system of the present invention. 1...Stormable phosphor sheet 3...Recording sheet 10...1st color imaging device 11...2nd R imaging device 12...3rd imaging device 13...4th imaging device 14. ...5th @ shadow device 15...6th shadow device 16...7th imaging device 17...8th imaging device 18...9th imaging device 19...10th imaging device 20. ...First reading device 20'...Second reading device 20''...Third reading device 100...Image reproduction device

Claims (1)

[Claims] A photographing device irradiates a stimulable phosphor sheet with radiation having image information to accumulate and record the image information on the sheet, and then a reading device scans the sheet with excitation light to produce stimulated luminescence light. is generated, the stimulated luminescence light is read photoelectrically, and the read image information is
In a radiation image information recording and reproducing system in which an image reproducing apparatus scans a recording sheet with a recording light modulated based on the image information to perform recording and then develop and reproduce the image, the image reproducing apparatus comprises through which the image information photographed by the plurality of photographing devices is reproduced, and the recording sheet is provided with a plurality of trays, and the recording sheet after the development is sorted and carried into any one of the plurality of trays, A radiographic image information recording and reproducing system characterized in that the recording sheets are distributed according to which imaging device recorded the reproduced image information on the recording sheets.