KR101659178B1 - X-ray photographing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, the image capturing unit is raised or lowered by the lifting and lowering operation unit, and the subject receiving unit is moved in the opposite direction corresponding to the moving amount of the image capturing unit, and the head of the subject is divided and photographed with the same geometry And an X-ray imaging apparatus capable of generating a combined image.
An X-ray imaging apparatus of the present invention comprises: an image capturing unit including an X-ray source for irradiating an X-ray and an X-ray sensor for irradiating the head of the examinee with an X-ray source; An up / down operation part for performing the divided photographing through the image photographing part according to the upward / downward movement of the image photographing part; And a subject receiving unit which is moved corresponding to a moving amount of the image capturing unit in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the image capturing unit and fixes and supports the head of the subject receiving unit.

Description

[0001] X-RAY PHOTOGRAPHING APPARATUS [0002]

The present invention relates to an X-ray imaging apparatus, and more particularly, to an X-ray imaging apparatus in which an image capturing unit is raised or lowered by an elevating and lowering operation unit and a subject receiving unit is moved in a direction opposite to the moving amount of the image capturing unit, And an X-ray imaging apparatus capable of generating a combined image by separately photographing a head of a subject by the same geometry without rearrangement.

An X-ray imaging apparatus capable of examining the shape of the inside of a human body or an object using such a characteristic has a non-destructive property for medical or industrial purposes It is widely used for inspection.

An imaging region of an object that can be photographed by the X-ray imaging apparatus at one time can be defined as a part of the object depending on the imaging accuracy or the target resolution.

Accordingly, there is an image stitching technique for combining a plurality of photographed images to acquire a wider area or a higher resolution image.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 1, an image stitching technique is also applied to a dental X-ray imaging apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 1 (a), a conventional dental X-ray imaging apparatus to which an image stitching technique is applied will be described. The X-ray source irradiates an X- And then moves the X-ray sensor upward, irradiates the X-ray from the X-ray source to acquire the second image through the X-ray sensor, and acquires the acquired first image and the X- 2 images are combined to generate one image.

However, in the conventional dental X-ray imaging apparatus as described above, since only the X-ray sensor moves upward to acquire a plurality of images in a state where the position of the X-ray source is fixed, (Geometry) is different from the conventional method.

That is, in the first image, the X-ray source irradiates the X-ray in a direction perpendicular to the X-ray sensor, and the second image is complex in the image reconstruction as the X-ray source irradiates the X-ray in the oblique direction to the X- There was a difficult problem.

Further, in order to move the X-ray sensor up and down, a sliding drive unit for moving the X-ray sensor in the up and down direction must be provided in the gantry, so that the apparatus is complicated and the manufacturing cost is increased.

Published Japanese Patent Application No. 10-2014-0047059 (published on April 21, 2014)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention to solve the above problems is to provide a method and an apparatus for moving up and down an image capturing unit by moving up and down a moving image capturing unit, And an X-ray photographing apparatus capable of generating a combined image by separately photographing a head portion of the examinee with the same geometry without rearrangement.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an X-ray imaging apparatus including an X-ray source for irradiating an X-ray source, and an X-ray sensor for irradiating the X- A photographing unit; An up / down operation part for performing the divided photographing through the image photographing part according to the upward / downward movement of the image photographing part; And a subject receiving unit which is moved corresponding to a moving amount of the image capturing unit in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the image capturing unit and fixes and supports the head of the subject receiving unit.

The apparatus may further include an image processing unit for combining the divided photographed images in the image photographing unit to generate combined images.

Preferably, the ascending / descending operation unit may be configured to move the image capturing unit upward or downward such that a part of the image captured by the image capturing unit is superimposed.

Preferably, the ascending / descending operation unit moves the image capturing unit in a plurality of steps, and the examinee fixing unit is moved in a downward direction corresponding to the step-up amount of the image capturing unit.

Preferably, the ascending / descending operation unit moves the image capturing unit in a plurality of steps, and the examinee fixing unit is configured to be moved upward in accordance with the step-down amount of the image capturing unit.

Preferably, the movement of the image capturing unit and the movement of the examinee fixing unit may be simultaneously performed at the same moving amount and speed.

Preferably, the ascending / descending operation portion includes a first ascending / descending unit provided with a first driving means for moving the image capturing portion up or down, and the examinee fixing portion is configured to detect an amount of movement And a second lifting unit provided with second driving means for moving the lifting and lowering operation unit in a direction opposite to the lifting and lowering operation unit, wherein the moving speed and the moving amount of the lifting and lowering operating unit and the moving speed and the moving amount of the subject accommodating unit are the same The first driving means and the second driving means may be operated in conjunction with each other.

Preferably, the first up / down unit includes: the first driving means; A worm gear provided on a driving shaft of the first driving means; A worm wheel gear meshed with the worm gear; A vertical screw axially coupled to a rotating shaft of the worm wheel gear; And an up / down member screwed to the vertical screw and being lifted / lowered in accordance with forward and reverse rotation of the vertical screw, and having the image capturing unit.

Preferably, the second ascending / descending unit comprises: the second driving means; A moving screw rotating normally or reversely by the second driving means; A moving block screwed to the moving screw and moving up and down according to forward and reverse rotation of the moving screw; A vertical rod integrally provided in the moving block; And a bib frame provided at an end of the water receiving rod.

Preferably, the ascending / descending operation portion further comprises a drive amount measurement sensor for measuring a drive amount of the first drive means, and the receiver fixation portion includes a first drive means Based on the driving amount of the motor.

According to the present invention as described above, the image capturing unit is moved up or down by the elevating and lowering operation unit, and the subject receiving unit is moved in the opposite direction corresponding to the moving amount of the image capturing unit, There is an advantage that a combined image can be generated by taking a photograph of the head partly.

1 is a view for explaining a stitching technique applied to a conventional dental X-ray imaging apparatus.
2 and 3 are views for explaining the operation of the X-ray imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 4 and 5 are views for explaining the operation of the subject receiving portion of the X-ray imaging apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
6 and 7 are views for explaining the operation of the lifting / lowering operation part of the X-ray imaging apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention may be embodied in many other forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention are to be considered in all respects as merely illustrative and not restrictive.

The terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms.

The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as a first component.

And / or < / RTI > includes any combination of a plurality of related listed items or any of a plurality of related listed items.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, .

On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between.

The terminology used in this application is used only to describe a specific embodiment and is not intended to limit the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

In the present application, the terms "comprises", "having", "having", and the like are intended to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, components, Steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations of elements, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs.

Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries are to be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the contextual meaning of the related art and are to be interpreted as either ideal or overly formal in the sense of the present application Do not.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and a duplicate description thereof will be omitted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The dental X-ray photographing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an image photographing unit 100, an up / down operation unit 200, a subject accommodating unit 300, and an image processing unit 400.

First, the image capturing unit 100 will be described.

The image capturing unit 100 includes an X-ray source 110 for irradiating X-rays and an X-ray sensor 120 for irradiating X-rays from the X- .

2, the image capturing unit 100 includes a gantry G facing the X-ray source 110 and the X-ray sensor 120, a gantry G, Shaped upper body B1 and a horizontal frame 100a provided below the upper body B1 to be rotatable.

The image capturing unit 100 is provided at an upper end of an up-and-down member 215 configured to be able to move up and down from the 'B' -shaped lower body B2, Down operation. That is, the upper body B1, the horizontal frame 100a, and the ascending / descending member 215 are integrally raised and lowered together.

Next, the up / down operation part 200 will be described.

The lifting and lowering operation part 200 includes an upper body B1 having a horizontal frame 100a integrally fixed and a gantry G rotatably mounted on the upper body B1, And the X-ray sensor 120, which is provided to face the gantry G as the X-ray source 100 is moved up or down in a plurality of steps, The image capturing unit 100 may be moved up or down in a plurality of steps so that some areas of the image captured by the image capturing unit 100 may be overlapped with each other so that the image capturing unit 100 can be coupled through the stitching technique.

Specifically, the up / down operation unit 200 may be configured to move the image capturing unit 100 upward or downward in a plurality of steps. In each step, the image capturing unit 100 may be moved So that a plurality of images can be acquired.

Specifically, the ascending / descending operation unit 200 includes a first ascending / descending unit 210 for ascending or descending the image capturing unit 100.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the first driving unit 211, the second driving unit 211, the first driving unit 211, the second driving unit 211, A worm gear 212 provided on a driving shaft of the first driving means 211, a worm wheel gear 213 meshing with the worm gear 212, a vertical screw 214 axially coupled to a rotating shaft of the worm wheel gear 213, And a lifting member 215 screwed to the vertical screw 214 and lifted and lowered in accordance with forward and reverse rotation of the vertical screw 214 and equipped with the image pickup unit 100.

The lifting and lowering member 215 is provided with a nut block 215a screwed to the vertical screw 214. The lifting and lowering member 215 is connected to the outside of the ' And can be moved up and down inside the column 200a.

Therefore, when the worm gear 212 rotates in the forward and reverse directions by the first driving means 211, the worm wheel gear 213 rotates in the forward and reverse directions. As the worm wheel gear 213 rotates in the forward and reverse directions, The vertical screw 214 rotates in the forward and reverse directions and the up and down member 215 moves upward or downward as the vertical screw 214 rotates in the forward and reverse directions.

The up / down operation unit 200 may further include a drive amount measurement sensor 211s for measuring a drive amount of the first drive unit 211, An encoder, a hall sensor, or the like.

The height of the image capturing unit 100 can be adjusted in a plurality of steps by the operation of the up / down operation unit 200 as described above.

Next, the subject examinee fixing unit 300 will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the examinee's body fixing part 300 is a part for fixing and supporting the head of the examinee's A, and as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, The moving block 313 and the vertical bar 314 can move relative to the horizontal frame 100a upward or downward and move in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the image capturing unit 100 In accordance with the amount of movement of the image capturing unit 100. That is, the upper body B1, in which the horizontal frame 100a is integrally fixed, and the gantry G, which is rotatably provided to the upper body B1, move in the opposite direction to the direction in which the bib frame 315 ) And byte 316 are relative movements. It is possible to relatively move upward or downward with respect to the horizontal frame 100a by the operation of the moving block 313 and the vertical bar 314 and to move the image capturing unit 100 in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the image capturing unit 100. [ Is moved in accordance with the amount of movement of the part (100). That is, the upper body B1, in which the horizontal frame 100a is integrally fixed, and the gantry G, which is rotatably provided to the upper body B1, move in the opposite direction to the direction in which the bib frame 315 ) And byte 316 are relative movements.

The subject receiving unit 300 may be configured to move down according to the step-up amount of the image capturing unit 100 or to move up according to the step-down amount of the image capturing unit 100, The movement of the photographing unit 100 and the movement of the examinee fixing unit 300 are simultaneously performed at the same moving amount and speed.

Specifically, the subject receiving and fixing unit 300 includes a second ascending / descending unit 310 for moving the moving object 100 in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the image capturing unit 100, do.

4 and 5, the second ascending / descending unit 310 includes a moving screw 312 rotated in the forward and reverse directions by the second driving unit 311 and the second driving unit 311, A moving block 313 screwed to the moving screw 312 and raised and lowered according to forward and reverse rotation of the moving screw 312, a vertical rod 314 integrally provided in the moving block 313, And a bib frame 315 provided at an end of the bib 315.

The second driving means 311 may be configured to be directly connected to the moving screw 312 through a coupling or the like, or may be configured to be interlocked with a pulley and a belt as shown in the figure.

The bib 316 is provided with a bite 316 through which the oral cavity of the examinee A is inserted and the bore 316 of the bore 316 is inserted into the bite frame 315, The mouth of the examinee can be fixed with the mouth.

The second driving means 311 operates in conjunction with the first driving means 211. Specifically, the moving speed and the moving amount of the lifting and lowering operation portion 200, the moving speed of the subject accommodating portion 300, The first drive means 211 and the second drive means 311 operate in conjunction with each other so that the movement amounts are equal.

For example, the second driving means 311 can operate in conjunction with the driving amount sensor 211s that measures the driving amount of the first driving means 211 based on the driving amount sensed by the driving amount measuring sensor 211s.

Next, the image processing unit 400 will be described.

The image processing unit 400 is a unit that combines the images photographed by the image capturing unit 100 to generate a combined image. The image processing unit 400 synthesizes or splices a plurality of divided images based on overlapping regions to form a single image Respectively.

The operation of the dental X-ray imaging apparatus including the image capturing unit 100, the lifting and lowering operation unit 200, the examinee fixing unit 300, and the image processing unit 400 will be described.

2, in a state in which the examinee A has been aligned by aligning the bite 316 of the examinee fixation unit 300 with the examinee's mouth to fix the head of the examinee A, The X-ray source 110 of the unit 100 irradiates the X-ray to detect the X-ray passing through the head of the examinee A through the X-ray sensor 120 to acquire the first image.

3, the first driving unit 211 of the first ascending / descending unit 210 for ascending and descending the image capturing unit 100 is driven to elevate the image capturing unit 100. Then, At the same time, the second driving means 311 of the second ascending / descending unit 310 for ascending and descending the resolver fixing unit 300 is driven to descend the resolver fixing unit 300.

At this time, the elevating and elevating speeds of the image capturing unit 100 and the descending and descending speeds of the subject accommodating unit 300 are made equal. For example, the image capturing unit 100 including the upper body B1 having the horizontal frame 100a integrally fixed and the gantry G rotatably mounted on the upper body B1 can be moved upward The bib frame 315 and the bite 316 of the subject receiving part 300 are moved in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the image pickup part 100 in accordance with the moving amount of the image pickup part 100 Move it 10cm downward.

Therefore, only the photographing height of the gantry G of the image photographing unit 100 is increased while the head height of the examinee A is maintained.

The height of the head of the examinee A is maintained as it is and the height of the gantry G of the image capturing unit 100 is increased so that the X-ray of the gantry G of the gantry G of the image capturing unit 100, The X-ray is irradiated from the source 110 and the X-ray passing through the head of the examinee A is detected through the X-ray sensor 120 to acquire the second image.

Next, the first image and the second image are combined to generate an image.

However, it is also possible to photograph a plurality of images while moving the image capturing unit 100 upward in a plurality of steps through the up / down operation unit 200, It is also possible to combine and generate one image.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many other obvious modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be interpreted by the appended claims to cover many such variations.

100: image capturing unit 110: X-ray source
120: X-ray sensor 200:
210: first up / down unit 211: first drive means
211s: drive amount measuring sensor 212: worm gear
213: worm wheel gear 214: vertical screw
215: ascending / descending member 300:
310: second ascending / descending unit 311: second driving means
312: moving screw 313: moving block
314: vertical bar 315: bib frame
400: image processing unit A:

Claims (10)

An image capturing unit including an X-ray source for irradiating an X-ray and an X-ray sensor for irradiating the X-ray source and detecting an X-ray passing through the head of the examinee;
An up / down operation part for performing the divided photographing through the image photographing part according to the upward / downward movement of the image photographing part; And
And a subject holder which is moved in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the image capturing unit in accordance with the movement amount of the image capturing unit and fixes and supports the head of the subject. The method according to claim 1,
And an image processing unit for combining the divided photographed images in the image photographing unit to generate combined images. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the upward /
Wherein the image capturing unit is configured to move the image capturing unit up or down so that some areas of the image to be divided photographed by the image capturing unit overlap. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the ascending / descending operation unit is configured to move the image capturing unit in a plurality of steps, and the examinee fixing unit is configured to move in a downward direction corresponding to a step-up amount of the image capturing unit. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the ascending / descending operation unit moves the image capturing unit downward in a plurality of steps, and the examinee fixing unit is configured to be moved up in accordance with the step-down amount of the image capturing unit. The method according to claim 4 or 5,
Wherein the movement of the image capturing unit and the movement of the examinee fixing unit are simultaneously performed at the same moving amount and speed. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the ascending / descending operation unit includes a first ascending / descending unit having first driving means for moving the image capturing unit up or down,
Wherein the examinee fixing unit includes a second ascending / descending unit having a second driving unit for moving the moving unit in a direction opposite to the ascending / descending operation unit in accordance with the moving amount of the image photographing unit,
Wherein the first driving means and the second driving means are configured to operate in conjunction with each other so that the moving speed and the moving amount of the ascending / descending operation portion are equal to the moving speed and the moving amount of the subject accommodating portion. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the first up /
The first driving means;
A worm gear provided on a driving shaft of the first driving means;
A worm wheel gear meshed with the worm gear;
A vertical screw axially coupled to a rotating shaft of the worm wheel gear; And
And an elevating and lowering member coupled to the vertical screw to move up and down according to forward and reverse rotation of the vertical screw. 8. The method of claim 7,
The second rising /
The second driving means;
A moving screw rotating normally or reversely by the second driving means;
A moving block screwed to the moving screw and moving up and down according to forward and reverse rotation of the moving screw;
A vertical rod integrally provided in the moving block; And
And a bib frame provided at an end of the vertical bar. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the ascending / descending operation section further comprises a drive amount measurement sensor for measuring a drive amount of the first drive section,
Wherein the examinee fixing unit is configured to operate in an interlocked manner based on a driving amount of the first driving means measured by the driving amount measuring sensor.

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