KR101836839B1 - X-ray Imaging Apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is an x-ray image photographing apparatus which eliminates the burden on a subject and a photographing step that occur in the process of aligning the position and posture of the examinee, and reduces the possibility of alignment errors. An x-ray image photographing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: an optical camera for photographing at least one side of a face portion of a subject before fixation of a position and an attitude of a subject; A display unit for displaying a horizontal guide line or a vertical guide line together with a real-time image photographed by the optical camera; And an attitude adjusting unit that adjusts the position or attitude of the subject by adjusting the position of the subject while supporting at least one of the head and the face portion of the subject.

Description

X-ray Imaging Apparatus

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to an X-ray imaging apparatus, and more particularly, to an X-ray imaging apparatus that provides an X-ray CT image or a panorama image using a head portion including a subject's teeth and a jaw joint as main subjects.

In the medical field, an X-ray imaging apparatus refers to a device that transmits a predetermined amount of X-rays to a body part to be imaged, detects X-rays transmitted through the X-ray sensor, and forms an X-ray image based on the sensed electrical signals. The X-rays are attenuated and transmitted at different attenuation rates depending on the material on the traveling path, and when they reach the X-ray sensor, they are converted into electrical signals by photoelectric effect. The X-ray photographing apparatus provides information about the inside of the object to be photographed as an X-ray image by using an electrical signal reflecting the cumulative attenuation amount along the X-ray path.

In the field of dentistry, the CT image can accurately and clearly display a tomographic image according to a user's desired position and direction, as well as a three-dimensional x-ray image of the dentition, jaw joint or head portion of the patient's main body of interest It is used in fields requiring high precision such as implant treatment. In addition, the panoramic image showing the image layer corresponding to the arch of the arch has long been a standard image for diagnosis.

The X-ray imaging apparatus reconstructs the X-ray images taken at various angles of the object to provide a three-dimensional image, a tomographic image, or a panoramic image of the object to be imaged. For this purpose, an X-ray imaging apparatus includes an X-ray generator, an X-ray sensor disposed opposite to the X-ray generator and a X-ray generator, a rotation support for supporting and rotating the X-ray sensor, And an image reconstruction unit for implementing a panoramic image.

When taking a panoramic image or CT image by using a dental x-ray image capturing apparatus, it is necessary to align the head of the subject with the correct position and direction with respect to the image capturing apparatus. The image layer or the field of view (FOV) of the photographing apparatus must coincide with the position of the region of interest to be seen by the body of the actual subject so that an accurate image can be obtained. When a CT image is photographed by a dental X-ray imaging apparatus, various regions to be photographed having different positions and sizes are provided according to selection. The selected region to be photographed covers the intended region of the body of the actual subject It is also necessary to confirm whether it is possible.

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate arranging the position and posture of the subject in the conventional X-ray image photographing apparatus. In the conventional photographing apparatus, horizontal and vertical reference lines for aligning the position and posture of the examinee have been projected onto the face of the subject with a laser beam. This is to allow the photographing step to correct the position and posture of the subject by moving the subject's body while viewing the vertical and horizontal baselines projected on the face of the subject. However, there are some problems with this method. The first is that there is a risk that the laser beam is projected on the eyes of the subject and the eyes are damaged. Second, the physical contact between the imaging step and the subject increases, which can be a burden to both sides. Third, if any one of the plurality of laser beam modules is turned against the photographing apparatus main body, the result of photographing is greatly influenced, and it is difficult to identify and calibrate the cause thereof.

Disclosure of the Invention The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to eliminate the risk of visual impairment by minimizing or minimizing the number of laser beams projected on the face of a subject and eliminating or minimizing physical contact between the imaging step and the subject Ray image capturing device, which reduces the possibility of occurrence of an imaging error due to a misalignment of an alignment reference line.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an X-ray imaging apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a rotation support member rotating about a rotation axis; A photographing unit including a generator and a sensor unit disposed opposite to both sides of the rotation support; An optical camera for photographing at least one side of a face portion of the subject at a position relatively fixed with respect to the photographing portion; A display unit for displaying a horizontal guide line or a vertical guide line together with the image photographed by the optical camera; And an attitude adjusting unit that adjusts the position or attitude of the subject by adjusting the position of the subject while supporting at least one of the head and the face portion of the subject.

The posture adjusting unit may include a chin rest whose height is adjusted by an external input while supporting the chin of the examinee from below. The posture adjusting unit may further include a head rest which adjusts the position of the head portion to the left and right by an external input while supporting the head portion of the examinee.

The display unit may display a photographing target area guide image showing the position and size of the photographing target area on the image photographed by the optical camera in accordance with the photographing target area selection in the CT image photographing mode.

The x-ray image photographing apparatus may further include a photographing unit case surrounding the operating range of the photographing unit, and the optical camera may be fixedly installed to photograph the side of the face of the examinee in the photographing unit case.

The x-ray image photographing apparatus may further include an optical camera fixed to photograph the front face of the examinee's face at a position relatively fixed with respect to the posture adjusting unit. At this time, the display unit may display the horizontal guideline on the image of the face side of the subject, and display the vertical guideline on the image of the front face of the subject.

The X-ray imaging apparatus to which the configuration according to the present invention is applied minimizes the risk of visual impairment by minimizing or minimizing the number of laser beams projected on the face of the subject and eliminating or minimizing the physical contact between the imaging step and the subject And it is possible to reduce the possibility of occurrence of an imaging error as the alignment reference line is distorted.

FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of an X-ray imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows an appearance of an X-ray imaging apparatus according to the embodiment of FIG.
FIG. 3 shows an example of a display device screen by a display unit in an X-ray imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 shows an example of a display device screen by a display unit in an X-ray imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 shows a state in which the posture of the subject is adjusted using the display unit and the posture adjusting unit in the X-ray image photographing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 shows an example of a display device screen by a display unit in an X-ray imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate arranging the position and posture of the subject in the conventional X-ray image photographing apparatus.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The same reference numerals are used to designate the same or similar components, and a description of components having the same reference numerals as those described in the drawings may be omitted from the description of other drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of an X-ray imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows an appearance of an X-ray imaging apparatus according to the embodiment of FIG.

The X-ray imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a base frame 28 supported on a floor, a lift unit 10 installed to be movable up and down with a part of the base frame 28 being overlapped with the base frame 28, (40) extending from the upper part (10) to the upper side of the subject seat. A head rest 11 and a chin rest 22 for fixing and supporting the subject's head are disposed under the photographing case 40 and are supported by the chin support 21. The chin support part 21 is installed at a part of the handle frame 20 and a vertical column part 27 is provided at another part of the handle frame 20 and the vertical column part 27 is connected to the base frame 28 to the handle frame base 26 fixed thereto. The handle frame 20 is installed to be movable up and down with respect to the handle frame base 26.

First, when the photographing part case 40 is viewed, the photographing part 13 is installed in the photographing part case 40. The photographing part 13 includes a rotation support part supported on the upper part of the photographing part case 40, and a sensor part and a generator part arranged on both sides of the rotation support part. The photographing part case (40) forms an outer appearance surrounding the outside of the rotation range of the photographing part (13). Further, the inner side surface 42 of the rotation range of the photographing unit 13 is also surrounded to prevent the components of the photographing unit 13 rotating to the examinee from being seen. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent anxiety or reflex movement of the subject according to the operation of the photographing unit 13, and as a result, motion artifacts in the X-ray image can be prevented.

The X-ray imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment may further include a plurality of 3D image cameras 41 for photographing the outside of the subject's face in the lower portion of the photographing case 40 and the upper portion of the handle frame 20. Accordingly, it is possible to combine the facial images acquired by using the plurality of 3D image cameras 41 on the reconstructed three-dimensional x-ray image through the X-ray CT imaging.

Meanwhile, the X-ray imaging apparatus according to the present invention includes an optical camera for photographing the face portion of the subject at least on one side thereof before fixing the position and posture of the examinee. In this embodiment, The first optical camera 43H is fixedly installed so that the face of the examinee can be photographed from the side. At this time, the head and the face of the examinee may be supported by the headrest 11 and the chin rest 22 before the posture is fixed, but may not be fixed. The first optical camera 43H is fixed so that the position relative to the photographing unit 13 and the photographing direction are not changed.

In addition, a second optical camera (43V) is provided at one portion of the handle frame (20), which is fixedly mounted so that the face of the subject can be photographed from the front. The second optical camera 43V may be installed at a relatively fixed position with respect to the jaw rest 22 and the chin rest supporting portion 21. [ Meanwhile, the present embodiment includes a chair as shown in the figure. The height of the handle frame 20 can be adjusted so that the subject can sit comfortably with the bite block 23 in the mouth while holding the jaw against the chin rest 22 when the examinee sits on the chair, The height of the photographing portion case 40 can be adjusted by moving the elevating portion 10 up and down.

The chin rest 22 serves not only to support the position and the posture of the head and the face of the subject to be fixed together with the headrest 11 but also to serve as an attitude adjusting unit for adjusting the posture of the examinee can do. For example, when the chin rest 22 is moved up and down, the posture of the examinee sitting on the unit chair can be adjusted in the same direction as the nodding of the head. When the headrest 11 is moved to the left and right, Can be adjusted in the same direction as the waving.

A display device 44 may be provided on one side of the handle frame 20 so that the photographing step can be viewed in the process of preparing photographing, such as aligning the position and posture of the subject. The image captured by the first optical camera 43H and the second optical camera 43V may be displayed on the display device 44 in real time. At this time, the display unit of the X-ray imaging apparatus according to the present invention can display a horizontal guide line and a vertical guide line on the screen of the display device 44 at the same time as the above- The horizontal guide line and the vertical guide line are virtual lines that are displayed only on the screen, and are provided so as to check whether the head and the face of the examinee are correctly aligned. The display unit may include not only the display device 44 but also an image processing unit for providing the display device 44 with image data obtained by superimposing the horizontal or vertical guide line on the face image photographed using the video signal captured by the optical camera, . Here, the image processing unit may be a separate arithmetic unit, but may be a combination of an image of the 3D image camera 41 mounted on the X-ray imaging apparatus or an arithmetic unit for processing the reconstructed panoramic image or CT image after X- have. Meanwhile, the display device 44 is disposed in a part of the main body of the X-ray imaging apparatus in the case of this embodiment, but may be configured as a separate monitor form separate from the main body.

The height of the handle frame 20 and the photographing unit case 40 can be automatically adjusted in association with each other. As an example of such a configuration, a displacement measuring device 261 may be provided in the handle frame base 26 to measure the height variation of the handle frame 20 in accordance with the vertical movement of the vertical column 27 . The displacement meter 261 may be a potentiometer. The displacement meter 261 is connected to the controller 60 and the controller 60 is connected to the actuator 61 for moving the elevator unit 10 up and down. The actuator 61 can adjust the height of the elevator 10 through a drive shaft 621 and a drive guide 621 that is guided by the drive shaft 62 and receives a force to move up and down. The driving guide 621 is fixed to the elevating portion 10.

As the height of the handle frame 20 and the photographing portion case 40 are interlocked with each other by the above-described configuration, the photographing step adjusts the position and posture of the examinee so that the height of the chin rest 22, When the height of the handle frame 20 is determined, the photographing unit case 40 is positioned at a predetermined relative height with respect to the handle frame 20, and photographing of the photographing unit 13 can proceed at that height.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a display device screen by a display unit in an X-ray imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

At least one horizontal guideline 441 is displayed on the screen 44A of the display device together with the image of the face side of the subject photographed by the above-described first optical camera 43H, as shown in the figure. For example, when photographing a panoramic image, the Frankfort plane passing through the fundus of the subject and the ear canal should be positioned in a horizontal plane as illustrated graphically in the left part of the screen 44A. Since the plurality of horizontal guide lines 441 are displayed on the screen 44A of the display device according to the present embodiment in such a manner as to overlap with the side image of the examinee's face, the photographing step can detect the Frankfurt side from the face of the examinee, It is easily ascertained whether or not it is in parallel with the posture 441 and the posture of the examinee can be adjusted. In addition, one or more vertical guide lines 442 may be additionally displayed on the portion of the screen 44A corresponding to the canine portion of the subject.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a display device screen by a display unit in an X-ray imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As another example, the display unit displays the image HF of the second optical camera, which photographs the face of the examinee from the front, and the image HS of the first optical camera, which photographs the side of the subject, on the screen 44B of the display device . At this time, the first and second vertical guide lines 442C and 442K are superimposed and displayed on the front image, and one or more horizontal guide lines 441 are superimposed on the side image as in the case of FIG. 3 have.

The photographing step is performed by using the first vertical guide line 442C corresponding to the center line of the face and the second vertical guide line 442K corresponding to the toe portion while viewing the front image on the screen 44B, Can be aligned vertically by adjusting the tilt of the left and right of the display panel. It is needless to say that the Frankfurt side of the examinee can be horizontally aligned with respect to the horizontal guide line 441 as described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which the posture of the subject is adjusted using the display unit and the posture adjusting unit in the X-ray image photographing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The screen shown in this figure shows a horizontal guide line along with the image of the side of the subject's face. The examinee is in a state in which the chin rests on the chin rests 22 and the bite block 23 is held in the mouth. When the input step of the apparatus is operated while the photographing step is viewed on this screen, the chin rest 22 can be moved up and down as shown by a side arrow A22. As a result, the head of the examinee rotates in the direction of nod And can be adjusted as an arc arrow AH.

Although not shown, when the chin rest 22 is moved from side to side as viewed from the front by the operation of the input unit of the apparatus or when the headrest described above can be moved left and right, the subject's head is adjusted in a direction So that the posture can be aligned.

The input unit of the apparatus may be provided in various ways such as an input button, a touch interface, and a voice recognition. However, the external input by the photographing step is not limited to the above-mentioned method but includes a method of moving the position manually or semiautomatically by applying a force to a handle frame, a chin rest, a head rest or the like. Even in the case of manual or semi-automatic input, unnecessary physical contact with the subject can be avoided.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a display device screen by a display unit in an X-ray imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

According to the present embodiment, in the CT image capture mode, the display 44C displays an image HF of the second optical camera, which captures the face of the subject in front, as in the screen 44B of FIG. 4 described above, The image HS of one optical camera can be simultaneously displayed and the vertical guide line 442 and the horizontal guide line 441 can be displayed. On the other hand, on the one side of the screen 44C, a menu for selecting the size of the region to be photographed is displayed as shown on the left in the drawing, and when any one of the photographing steps is selected, To the image (HS, HF) photographed by the first and second optical cameras. Thereby, the photographing step can confirm whether or not the selected region to be photographed can cover the region of interest to be photographed on the face of the subject. In this case, the vertical guide line 442 and the horizontal guide line 441 may be displayed at positions corresponding to the boundaries of various shooting target areas.

The technical idea of the present invention can be understood more clearly through the embodiments described above. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

10:
11: headrest 13: photographing part
20: handle frame 22: chin rest
23: Byte block 28: Base frame
40: photographing part case 41: 3D image camera
43H: first optical camera 43V: second optical camera
44: display device 441: horizontal guideline
442: Vertical guideline 445: Image of the area to be photographed

Claims (7)

A rotary support rotating about a rotation axis;
A photographing unit including a generator and a sensor unit disposed opposite to both sides of the rotation support;
A photographing unit case surrounding the top of the rotation support and the outside of the rotation range of the photographing unit;
A first optical camera provided so as to photograph a side surface of a subject in the photographing unit case;
An attitude adjusting unit which adjusts the position or posture of the subject by adjusting the position of the subject while supporting at least one part of the head and the face of the examinee;
A handle frame provided to support the posture adjusting unit and vertically move up and down;
A second optical camera installed to photograph the front face of the examinee's face in one side of the handle frame; And
A display unit for displaying a horizontal guide line together with the image photographed by the first optical camera and displaying a vertical guide line together with the image photographed by the second optical camera; Lt; / RTI >
Wherein the photographing unit case is automatically adjusted in height so as to be positioned at a predetermined relative height set in association with vertical elevation of the handle frame,
X-ray imaging device. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the posture adjusting section includes a chin rest whose height is adjusted by an external input while supporting the chin of the subject from below. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the posture adjusting section further comprises a head rest which adjusts the position of the head portion to the left and right by an external input while supporting the head portion of the examinee. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the display unit displays a photographing target area guide image representing the position and size of the photographing target area on the image photographed by the optical camera in accordance with the selection of the photographing target area in the CT image photographing mode. delete delete delete

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