WO2016152841A1

WO2016152841A1 - Chemical solution injection device

Info

Publication number: WO2016152841A1
Application number: PCT/JP2016/058950
Authority: WO
Inventors: 朝之座間味; 栄光 ▲浜▼; 昌幸傳法; 根本　茂
Original assignee: 株式会社根本杏林堂
Priority date: 2015-03-24
Filing date: 2016-03-22
Publication date: 2016-09-29
Also published as: JPWO2016152841A1

Abstract

The purpose of the present invention is to enable the injection amount of a contrast agent to be changed in accordance with the setting of the emission intensity of electromagnetic waves emitted from an electromagnetic wave emitter of a fluoroscopic imaging device, and to enable the contrast agent to reach a target site even if a small injection amount is used. A chemical solution injection device of the present invention is provided with the following: two piston driving mechanisms 140 for operating the piston of a syringe; a data input interface (input unit 156, RFID module 166) which receives input of data; and an injection control unit 150 which calculates the injection amount and injection speed of a contrast agent and a physiological saline solution by using data received via the data input interface, and which controls the operation of the piston driving mechanisms 140 in accordance with the calculation results. In a case where a value which is lower than a specified value is set as the value of a tube voltage imparted to a fluoroscopic imaging device, the injection control unit 150 calculates the injection amount and the injection speed of the contrast agent and physiological saline solution so that the contrast agent is diluted by the physiological saline solution.

Description

Chemical injection device

The present invention relates to a chemical liquid injector that injects a contrast medium into a subject in order to obtain a good contrast effect when a fluoroscopic image of the subject is captured by an image diagnostic apparatus.

Examples of medical image diagnostic apparatuses include CT apparatus, MRI apparatus, PET apparatus, angio apparatus, MRA apparatus, and ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus. When using these devices, in order to enhance the contrast effect, a chemical solution such as a contrast medium or physiological saline is often injected into the subject. The contrast agent contains a contrast enhancing agent.

Usually, these chemical solutions are used by being filled in a syringe, and a chemical solution injection device is generally used to inject the chemical solution filled in the syringe. The syringe has a cylinder and a piston. The chemical injection device has a cylinder holding mechanism that holds the cylinder and a piston drive mechanism that moves the piston, and moves the piston forward by operating the piston drive mechanism while the cylinder is held by the cylinder holding mechanism. By this, the chemical | medical solution with which the syringe is filled can be inject | poured into a test subject.

When injecting a chemical solution, injection conditions for the chemical solution are set so that a fluoroscopic image optimal for image diagnosis can be obtained. For example, in CT image capturing, the contrast agent injection amount is set so that the CT value proportional to the concentration of the contrast agent in blood remains at least a certain value during the imaging period.

There is a proportional relationship between the CT value and the contrast agent injection amount, and between the CT value and the contrast agent injection rate. The CT value also has a correlation with the irradiation intensity of the electromagnetic wave from the fluoroscopic imaging device, specifically, the tube voltage that is a voltage applied to the X-ray tube of the CT device, and the lower the tube voltage, The obtained CT value is high. Therefore, an optimal CT value can be obtained with a smaller amount of contrast agent by lowering the set value of the tube voltage. Using this relationship, Patent Document 1 describes that the tube voltage of the CT apparatus is taken into account for calculating the injection amount of the contrast agent, and the tube voltage is stepped in accordance with the purpose of imaging, the symptom of the subject, and the like. It can be changed automatically.

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 5416761

As described above, capturing a fluoroscopic image with a lower tube voltage enables imaging with a smaller amount of contrast agent, and as a result, reduces the physical burden on the subject. The contrast agent is usually injected into the blood vessel via a needle punctured into the blood vessel of the subject, and reaches the target site (imaging site) on the blood flow of the subject. However, even when the tube voltage is set to a low value and the amount of contrast medium injected is reduced, it is desirable not to change the injection time, so the injection speed is lowered. If the injection volume and injection speed are too low, the contrast medium bolus will not be maintained in the contrast medium until the contrast medium reaches the target site and will diffuse into the blood. CT values could not be obtained.

Such a phenomenon can occur in the following situations, for example. When capturing a CT image of the heart, the contrast agent is injected from the ulnar cutaneous vein of the arm and flows to the superior vena cava, for example. The superior vena cava merges with the inferior vena cava just before reaching the right ventricle of the heart. At this time, if the injection amount of the contrast medium is too small or the injection speed is too low, it becomes difficult for the contrast medium to flow into the blood by losing the blood that joins from the inferior vena cava or the blood flow of the superior vena cava itself. It diffuses and the bolus property cannot be maintained.

As described above, in order to solve the above-described problems that may occur when a small amount of contrast medium is injected, after the contrast medium is injected, a physiological saline solution having a minimum effect is injected. Thus, it is made difficult to diffuse the contrast medium into the blood by boosting at a speed equivalent to that of the contrast medium.

According to the present invention, the contrast enhancement agent amount of the contrast agent can be changed according to the irradiation intensity of the electromagnetic wave in the fluoroscopic imaging apparatus, and the contrast agent can reach the target site even with the changed contrast enhancement agent amount. The purpose is to.

According to one aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, there is provided a chemical liquid injector for injecting a contrast medium prior to image capture when an image is captured using a fluoroscopic imaging apparatus having an electromagnetic wave irradiator. And
An injection head to which a plurality of syringes are detachably mounted, the plurality of syringes including a contrast medium syringe and a physiological saline syringe, for operating a piston of the contrast medium syringe An injection head comprising: a first piston drive mechanism; and a second piston drive mechanism for operating a piston of the physiological saline syringe;
At least one data input interface for accepting data input;
Using the data input via the data input interface, the injection amount and injection speed of the contrast medium and the physiological saline are obtained, and the first piston drive mechanism and the injection speed are determined according to the obtained injection amount and injection speed. An injection control unit for controlling the operation of the second piston drive mechanism,
The injection control unit includes:
The injection amount and injection speed of the contrast agent in the case of injecting only the contrast agent were obtained, and when the irradiation intensity value of the electromagnetic wave in the electromagnetic wave irradiator of the fluoroscopic imaging device was different from the specific irradiation intensity value at the time of imaging, it was obtained A medical solution configured to reduce the injection amount and injection speed of the contrast agent at a predetermined ratio determined according to the irradiation intensity value, and obtain the reduced amount as the injection amount and injection speed of the physiological saline. An infusion device is provided. The injection control unit may operate the first piston driving mechanism and the second piston driving mechanism at the same time according to the obtained injection amount and injection speed, and the injection control unit may further operate the first piston driving mechanism. After the mechanism and the second piston drive mechanism are operated simultaneously, the second piston drive is performed so that the physiological saline is injected at the injection speed determined as the contrast medium injection speed when only the contrast medium is injected. The mechanism may be operated.

The present invention also provides a fluoroscopic imaging system, the system comprising:
A fluoroscopic imaging device having an electromagnetic wave irradiator;
A plurality of syringes including a contrast agent syringe and a saline syringe;
An injection head to which a plurality of syringes are detachably mounted, the first piston driving mechanism for operating the piston of the contrast medium syringe, and the piston of the physiological saline syringe An injection head comprising: a second piston drive mechanism;
At least one data input interface for accepting data input;
Using the data input via the data input interface, the injection amount and injection speed of the contrast medium and the physiological saline are obtained, and the first piston drive mechanism and the injection speed are determined according to the obtained injection amount and injection speed. An injection control unit for controlling the operation of the second piston drive mechanism,
The injection control unit includes:
The injection amount and the injection speed of the contrast agent in the case of injecting only the contrast agent are obtained, and the setting value for the irradiation intensity of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the electromagnetic wave irradiator of the fluoroscopic imaging device at the time of imaging is different from the specific setting value In this case, the obtained contrast medium injection amount and injection rate are reduced at a predetermined ratio determined in accordance with the set value, and the reduced amount is obtained as the physiological saline injection amount and injection rate. Has been.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, when imaging an image using a fluoroscopic imaging device having an electromagnetic wave irradiator, for injecting at least a contrast agent and a physiological saline prior to imaging the image. A plurality of syringes including a contrast medium syringe and a saline syringe; and a first piston drive mechanism for operating a piston of the contrast medium syringe; and the physiological saline Of a chemical injection device comprising: a second piston driving mechanism for operating a piston of a syringe for injection; and an injection control unit for controlling operations of the first piston driving mechanism and the second piston driving mechanism A control method,
The injection control unit obtaining an injection amount and an injection speed of the contrast agent when injecting only the contrast agent using predetermined data; and
When the setting value for the irradiation intensity of the electromagnetic wave irradiated from the electromagnetic wave irradiator of the fluoroscopic imaging device is different from the specific setting value when the injection control unit is imaging, the obtained injection amount and the injection speed of the contrast agent, The amount is reduced at a predetermined ratio determined according to the set value, and the reduced amount is obtained as an injection amount and an injection speed of the physiological saline,
There is provided a method for controlling a chemical liquid injector.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, when imaging an image using a fluoroscopic imaging device having an electromagnetic wave irradiator, for injecting at least a contrast agent and a physiological saline prior to imaging the image. A plurality of syringes including a contrast medium syringe and a saline syringe; and a first piston drive mechanism for operating a piston of the contrast medium syringe; and the physiological saline A second piston drive mechanism for operating a piston of a syringe for use with a chemical injection device comprising:
Obtaining an injection amount and an injection speed of the contrast agent when injecting only the contrast agent using predetermined data; and
When the set value for the irradiation intensity of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the electromagnetic wave irradiator of the fluoroscopic imaging device at the time of imaging is different from the specific set value, the determined contrast medium injection amount and injection speed are determined according to the set value. Reducing the amount at a predetermined rate, and determining the reduced amount as the amount and rate of injection of the physiological saline; and
Is provided with a computer program for causing a chemical injection device to execute.

In the present invention, the “fluoroscopic imaging device” refers to a device that captures a fluoroscopic image using irradiation of electromagnetic waves, such as a CT device, an angio device, or an MRI device, and the “fluoroscopic imaging device” radiates electromagnetic waves. It has an electromagnetic wave irradiator. The CT apparatus and the angio apparatus have an X-ray tube as an “electromagnetic wave irradiator”, and the MRI apparatus has a high frequency high frequency pulse transmitter that irradiates a high frequency pulse as an “electromagnetic wave irradiator”.

In the present invention, a “contrast agent” is administered to a subject when the fluoroscopic image of the subject is captured using a fluoroscopic imaging device in order to capture the image by giving contrast or emphasizing a specific tissue. Refers to chemicals and contains “contrast enhancer”. Examples of the “contrast enhancer” include iodine (used when imaging an image using a CT apparatus and angio apparatus), gadolinium (used when imaging an image using an MRI apparatus), barium, carbonic acid. Gas etc. are mentioned.

According to the present invention, even when the setting value for the irradiation intensity of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the electromagnetic wave irradiator of the fluoroscopic imaging device is changed, the injection amount of the contrast agent is automatically set according to the changed setting value. The contrast agent thus reduced can be appropriately injected into the subject so that a good imaging result by the fluoroscopic imaging apparatus can be obtained. In addition, since the amount of contrast medium injected is reduced by diluting the contrast medium with physiological saline, the bolus of the drug solution due to the reduction of the contrast medium can be kept good.

1 is a layout diagram of a fluoroscopic imaging system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is a front view of the console shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of the injection head shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the attachment procedure of the syringe to the injection | pouring head shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the attachment procedure of the syringe to the injection | pouring head shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the main functions of the control system in the fluoroscopic imaging system shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the positional relationship of a RFID tag and the antenna of a RFID module in the state in which the cylinder was normally mounted | worn with the cylinder holding mechanism. It is a figure which shows one form of the extension tube connected to a syringe. It is a figure which shows an example of a setting screen. It is a figure which shows an example of the setting screen at the time of changing a tube voltage value from the state shown to FIG. 9A. It is a figure which shows an example of the setting screen at the time of changing a tube voltage value further from the state shown to FIG. 9B. It is a figure which shows an example of the mixing ratio setting screen in a mixing injection phase. It is a graph which shows the relationship between an injection | pouring time and an injection | pouring speed | velocity | rate of an example in case the mixing | pouring injection | pouring phase has a some subphase in the injection | pouring mode containing an admixture injection | pouring phase. It is a perspective view which shows one form of the structure of the syringe which can be used by this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the other form of the structure of the syringe which can be used by this invention. It is a figure which shows typically the other form of the extension tube connected to a syringe. It is a perspective view of the mixing device with which the extension tube shown in Drawing 13A is equipped. It is sectional drawing of the mixing tube with which the extension tube shown to FIG. 13A is equipped. It is a perspective view which shows an example of arrangement | positioning of the 2nd display unit with which the fluoroscopic imaging system of this invention can be equipped. It is a perspective view which shows the other example of arrangement | positioning of the 2nd display unit which can be equipped with the fluoroscopic imaging system of this invention. It is a block diagram of the fluoroscopic imaging system by the other form of this invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a fluoroscopic imaging system according to an embodiment of the present invention having a fluoroscopic imaging device 200 and a chemical liquid injector 100. The fluoroscopic imaging device 200 and the chemical liquid injector 100 can be connected to each other so that data can be transmitted and received between them. The connection between the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 and the chemical liquid injector 100 can be a wired connection or a wireless connection.

The fluoroscopic imaging apparatus 200 includes a scanner 201 that executes an imaging operation and an imaging control unit (not shown) that controls the operation of the scanner 201, and a tomographic image of a subject into which a chemical solution is injected by the chemical injection device 100. Can be obtained. The scanner 201 has an electromagnetic wave irradiator 153 (see FIG. 6) that emits an electromagnetic wave, and the electromagnetic wave irradiator 153 can change the setting of the irradiation intensity of the electromagnetic wave. The imaging control unit can include a display device such as a liquid crystal display capable of displaying imaging conditions and acquired tomographic images, and an input device such as a keyboard and / or mouse for inputting imaging conditions and the like. The display device may have a touch screen that also serves as an input device.

The chemical injection device 100 includes, for example, an injection head 110 that is rotatably attached to the upper portion of the stand 121 via a turning arm 122 and various functions for controlling the operation of the chemical injection device 100 as a whole. Console 101. The injection head 110 and the console 101 can be configured as a single housing, but in this embodiment, the injection head 110 and the console 101 are configured as separate units. In this case, the injection head 110 can be arranged in the examination room together with the scanner 201, and the console 101 can be arranged in the operation room together with the imaging control unit of the fluoroscopic imaging apparatus 200. The stand 121 can be a stand with casters to facilitate the movement of the injection head 110.

The console 101 has a built-in AC / DC converter, and power converted from AC to DC is supplied to the console 101. As shown in FIG. 2, the console 101 includes a button group 102 including a stop button 102a for forcibly stopping injection, a home button 102b for displaying a home screen, and a power button 102c for power on / off; The touch panel 103 also serves as an input unit and a display unit.

The injection head 110 can be detachably mounted with two syringes 800 as shown in FIGS. For example, one of the syringes 800 can be a contrast medium syringe and the other can be a physiological saline syringe. Syringe 800 has a cylinder in which a chemical solution is stored and a conduit is formed at the tip, and a piston that is inserted into the cylinder so as to be capable of moving forward and backward. The injection head 110 operates in the axial direction of the syringe 800 for operating (for example, pushing into the cylinder) the cylinder holding mechanism 111 that holds the cylinder and the piston of the syringe 800 that holds the cylinder in the cylinder holding mechanism 111. Two linear motion units to be moved are provided.

The linear motion unit includes a rod 113 that is moved forward and backward by an appropriate rotational motion conversion mechanism such as a lead screw mechanism or a rack and pinion mechanism that converts the rotational motion of the motor into a linear motion, and a presser 112 that is fixed to the tip of the rod 113. And having. In the present invention, a mechanism having these motor, rotational motion converting mechanism, and linear motion unit (including the rod 113 and the presser 112 and moving linearly) for moving the piston forward and backward is referred to as a piston drive mechanism. In this embodiment, the injection head 110 includes two piston drive mechanisms.

In the present specification, the cylinder holding mechanism and the piston driving mechanism for the contrast agent syringe are referred to as a first cylinder holding mechanism and a first piston driving mechanism, respectively. The piston drive mechanism is also referred to as a second cylinder holding mechanism and a second piston drive mechanism, respectively. In the illustrated example, one contrast medium cylinder holding mechanism and one piston drive mechanism are arranged, but a plurality of contrast medium cylinder holding mechanisms and piston drive mechanisms may be provided. Similarly, there may be a plurality of physiological saline cylinder holding mechanisms and piston drive mechanisms.

A direct current motor can be used as a motor serving as a drive source of the piston drive mechanism, and a direct current brushless motor can be preferably used among them. Since a brushless motor does not have a brush, it is excellent in silence and durability. In addition, brushless motors can rotate at higher speeds. Therefore, if the external gear ratio is increased to reduce the torque applied to the motor, the current required for injecting the chemical solution at a desired injection pressure is higher than that of the brush motor. Can be made smaller. Or an ultrasonic motor can also be used as a drive source of a piston drive mechanism.

The injection head 110 is entirely covered with a synthetic resin casing 115 except for a part of the piston drive mechanism (for example, the presser 112). Several operation buttons 116 are arranged on the upper surface of the housing 115 so that the piston drive mechanism can be operated by a user operation.

For example, in this embodiment, the injection head 110 includes, as the operation buttons 116, a check button 116a that is operated to make an injection possible state, a start button 116b that is operated when injection is started, and a presser 112 at an arbitrary distance. The forward button 116c that is operated only when moving forward (for example, at a speed of 1.5 ml / sec), when accelerating the moving speed of the presser 112 (for example, adding 8 ml / sec to the current speed. Both buttons can be operated.) When the acceleration button 116d and the presser 112 are moved backward by an arbitrary distance (for example, at a speed of 1.5 ml / sec), the backward button 116e and the presser 112 are moved back to the initialization position. Auto-return button 116f that is operated when the operation is stopped manually Others may include a root switch 116h which is operated when advancing / retracting stop button 116 g, the 116h and repressor at a low speed (e.g., 0.7 ml / sec) which is operated to interrupt. In this embodiment, two forward buttons 116c, two acceleration buttons 116d, one reverse button 116e, and two auto return buttons 116f are provided so that each piston drive mechanism can be operated independently.

Note that the initialization position, which is the retracted end that is retracted by the operation of the auto return button 116f, is the size of the syringe 800 when the syringe holding mechanism 111 is configured so that the syringe 800 of various sizes can be mounted as described below. It may be set at a different position for each and / or for each kind of chemical liquid filled. Further, when the syringe 800 is configured to be attached via the adapter 600, an initialization position may be set for each type of the adapter 600. The initialization position may be arbitrarily set by the operator according to the type of syringe 800 and / or the type of adapter 600, or may be automatically set by a fluoroscopic imaging system.

When the initialization position can be set by the fluoroscopic imaging system, for example, as will be described in detail later, if the type of the syringe 800 can be specified using RFID technology, the initialization position is based on the result. Can be set. Further, if the injection head has an appropriate adapter sensor (not shown) capable of detecting the type of adapter 600, the initialization position can be set based on the detection result by the adapter sensor.

Similarly to the initialization position, the most advanced position of the presser 112 may also be set to a position that is different for each size of the syringe 800 and / or for each type of medicinal liquid that is filled, and for each type of the adapter 600. The setting of the most advanced position of the presser 112 may be set arbitrarily by the operator as in the initialization position, or the syringe 800 attached using the RFID technology or an appropriate detection sensor. In addition, the type of the adapter 600 and the like can be specified, and the fluoroscopic imaging system can be automatically set according to the specified type of the syringe 800 and / or the adapter 600.

The cylinder holding mechanism 111 is configured such that the syringe 800 is attached via the adapter 600. There are various sizes of syringes 800 depending on the volume of chemicals that can be filled. The adapter 600 is prepared for each size of the syringe 800. As shown in FIG. 4, the adapter 600 is configured so as to hold a cylinder flange 801 formed at the end of the cylinder of the syringe 800 to be fitted. It is detachably attached to the cylinder holding mechanism 111 of the head 110. In this embodiment, the syringe 800 is configured to be attached via the adapter 600, but the syringe 800 may be directly attached to the injection head 110 without the adapter 600 being interposed.

The syringe 800 can be attached to the injection head 110 by, for example, attaching the adapter 600 to the cylinder holding mechanism 111 of the injection head 110 and then holding the cylinder flange 801 of the syringe 800 on the adapter 600. The adapter 600 has a groove for receiving the cylinder flange 801, and the syringe 800 is held by the adapter 600 when the cylinder flange 801 is inserted into the groove. Further, after the cylinder flange 801 is inserted into the groove of the adapter 600, it may have a lock mechanism that locks the cylinder by rotating the syringe 800 around the axis by a predetermined angle (for example, 90 degrees). Thus, by preparing the adapter 600 according to the size of the syringe 800, the syringe 800 of various sizes can be attached to the injection head 110.

The syringe 800 may be a prefilled type syringe provided from a pharmaceutical manufacturer in a state where the chemical solution is filled, or may be a field-filled type syringe filled with a chemical solution at a medical site.

When injecting a drug solution to a subject and capturing an image, the scanner 201 and the injection head 110 in the above-described configuration are installed in an examination room, and the imaging control unit of the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 and the console 101 of the drug solution injection apparatus 100 are connected to the examination room. Is installed in an operation room separated by walls. Therefore, when performing transmission and reception of signals and data between the console 101 and the injection head 110 by cable communication using a cable, a cable passage is formed in the wall separating the examination room and the operation room, and the cable is passed through this passage. Be drawn around. Signals and data can be transmitted and received between the console 101 and the injection head 110 by wireless communication. In this case, it is not necessary to form a cable passage on the wall. For wireless communication, for example, the console 101 and the injection head 110 can each include a wireless communication unit (not shown).

Hereinafter, the flow of data and the like in the above-described fluoroscopic imaging system will be described with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG. FIG. 6 shows only main functions of the control system in the fluoroscopic imaging system of the present embodiment, and the present invention is not limited to this.

The imaging control unit 152 can be incorporated in, for example, the imaging control unit of the fluoroscopic imaging device 200, and is configured to generally control operations of the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 such as a scanner 201 and a display device of the imaging control unit. . The imaging control unit 152 can be configured as a so-called microcomputer, and can have an interface with a CPU, ROM, RAM, and other devices. A computer program for controlling the fluoroscopic imaging apparatus 200 is installed in the ROM. The CPU controls the operation of each part of the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 by executing various functions corresponding to the computer program. In addition, the imaging control unit 152 can receive data and signals from the injection control unit 150, and uses the data and signals received from the injection control unit 150 for controlling the operation of each unit of the fluoroscopic imaging device 200. You can also.

The electromagnetic wave irradiator 153 is an apparatus provided in the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 (see FIG. 1), and is configured to irradiate an electromagnetic wave with an intensity corresponding to the applied voltage value when a voltage is applied. ing. A fluoroscopic image of the subject can be taken by performing a predetermined process on a signal obtained by irradiating the subject with electromagnetic waves.

The injection control unit 150 can be incorporated into the console 101, for example, and is configured to generally control the operations of the console 101 and the injection head 110. More specifically, the injection control unit 150 controls the screen and data displayed on the display unit 154 in accordance with the input of data and information from the input unit 156 and the input of data and information from the RFID module 166. Alternatively, the injection speed of the chemical solution can be obtained using data input from the input unit 156, or the operation of the piston drive mechanism 140 can be controlled according to the obtained injection speed.

The injection control unit 150 can be configured as a so-called microcomputer, and can have an interface with a CPU, ROM, RAM, and other devices. A computer program for controlling the chemical liquid injector 100 is mounted on the ROM. The CPU controls the operation of each part of the chemical solution injector 100 by executing various functions corresponding to the computer program. Moreover, the injection | pouring control part 150 has the time measuring function using the clock which CPU has, for example, can count the present time and the elapsed time after starting injection | pouring. The injection control unit 150 can also receive data and signals from the imaging control unit 152, and can use the data and signals received from the imaging control unit 152 to control the operation of each unit of the injection imaging apparatus 100. it can.

The display unit 154 can be the touch panel 103 of the console 101. The input unit 156 is a data input interface configured to accept a data input operation by an operator among the data input interfaces in the present invention. The input unit 156 can include the touch panel 103, the button group 102 of the console 101, and the button group 116 of the injection head 110. The touch panel 103 is generally a display that functions as the display unit 154, a touch screen that functions as an input unit, and a control circuit thereof.

As the display, any display including a liquid crystal display and an organic EL display can be used. As the touch screen, any touch screen such as a capacitance type and a pressure-sensitive type can be used. The control circuit of the touch panel 103 displays a predetermined screen and data based on the signal transmitted from the injection control unit 150 on the display, and a signal generated from the touch screen when an operator or the like touches the touch screen. Is transmitted to the injection control unit 150.

The RFID module 166 has an RFID control circuit 164 and an antenna 165. In this embodiment, the RFID tag 802 that is a data carrier is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder of the syringe 800 (see FIG. 4), and the RFID module 166 uses the antenna 165 to transmit information recorded on the RFID tag 802 to the RFID tag. The information read out from 802 is transmitted to the injection control unit 150. The RFID module 166 may further have a function of writing information transmitted from the injection control circuit 150 to the RFID tag 802. The RFID control circuit 164 controls information transmission / reception operations by the RFID module 166. That is, the RFID module 166 functions as a reader that reads information from the RFID tag 802 or a reader / writer that further writes information to the RFID tag 802.

The fluoroscopic imaging system can further include a memory card reader / writer 158 connected to the injection control unit 152 so as to be able to transmit and receive data. The memory card reader / writer 158 can be built in, for example, the console 101 shown in FIG. 2. In this case, a memory card slot 104 is provided in the housing of the console 101 as shown in FIG. Of course, the fluoroscopic imaging system may include the memory card reader / writer 158 as an independent unit.

The memory card reader / writer 158 writes data to a memory card (not shown) and reads data recorded on the memory card. For example, the injection protocol can be recorded as data in a memory card, and the recorded injection protocol can be read out via the memory card reader / writer 158 and transmitted to the injection controller 150, and vice versa. The injection protocol set in the injection control unit 150 can be written to the memory card via the memory card reader / writer 158. By doing so, for example, an injection protocol set in a certain chemical solution injection device can be transmitted to another chemical solution injection device via the memory card.

Thus, when data is transmitted via a memory card, it is preferable to prevent unauthorized transmission / reception of data by setting a password or the like. In addition, the control program of the chemical solution injection device is recorded on the memory card, and the control program is installed in the injection control unit 150 via the memory card reader / writer 158, or the installed control program is updated. You can also.

The memory card may be any memory card such as a CF memory card or an SD memory card, and the memory card reader / writer 158 can use any device suitable for reading and writing of the memory card. Here, it has been described that both data writing and data reading are performed for data exchange between the memory card and the injection control unit 150, but either data writing or data reading is performed. A memory card reader or memory card writer that performs only one may be connected to the injection control unit 150.

As described above, the RFID module 166 receives data input from the RFID tag 802. In this sense, the RFID module 166, together with the input unit 156, constitutes a data input interface in the present invention.

Information recorded on the RFID tag 802 includes information on the chemical solution filled in the syringe 800, for example, the manufacturer, the type of the chemical solution, the product name, the product number, and the contained components (particularly, when the chemical solution is a contrast agent, the contrast medium In addition to the iodine content per unit dosage), filling amount, lot number, expiry date, etc., information on the syringe, for example, a unique identification number such as manufacturer, product name, product number, allowable pressure value, syringe capacity, Examples include piston stroke, required dimensions of each part, and lot number. At least a part of these pieces of information can be transmitted to the fluoroscopic imaging apparatus 200.

Although the RFID control circuit 164 can be installed at an arbitrary position, the antenna 165 is preferably installed at a position facing the RFID tag 802 in a state where the syringe 800 is normally held by the cylinder holding mechanism 111. .

Particularly in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the RFID tag 802 has a shape having a longitudinal direction, and is pasted with its longitudinal direction coinciding with the circumferential direction of the syringe 800. The syringe 800 is normally held by being inserted into the cylinder holding mechanism 111, or after being inserted, the syringe 800 is normally held by rotating the syringe 800 in a specific direction, and the syringe 800 is normally held. In this state, the RFID tag 802 is designed to face downward.

The antenna 165 of the RFID module 166 has an FPC (flexible printed circuit board) on which a predetermined pattern (for example, one or a plurality of loop patterns) made of a conductor is formed. As shown in FIG. The syringe 800 is bent and arranged in a circular arc shape so as to be concentric with the syringe 800 at a position facing the RFID tag 802 of the syringe 800 in which the cylinder is normally held by the holding mechanism. Thus, the detection range of the RFID tag 802 attached on the curved surface is expanded.

In this embodiment, the antenna 165 has an area larger than that of the RFID tag 802 so that the RFID tag 802 can reliably face the antenna 165 even if there is a variation in the attachment position of the RFID tag 802. ing. Therefore, the size of the antenna 165 is preferably designed in consideration of variations in the position where the RFID tag 802 is attached to the syringe 800.

On the other hand, by bending the antenna 165 in a circular arc shape, as the radius of curvature of the antenna 165 becomes smaller and the length in the circumferential direction of the antenna 165 becomes longer, radio waves for communication are more likely to interfere and communication sensitivity is lowered. Tend to. Therefore, in order to suppress radio wave interference, the antenna 165 preferably includes a ferrite sheet 165a on the surface opposite to the surface facing the RFID tag 802 of the FPC.

The output of the RFID module 166 can be set to 200 mW, for example. With such a weak output, it is possible to read data from the RFID tag 802 in a state where the syringe 800 is mounted in a normal position where the RFID tag 802 faces the antenna 165, and the syringe 800 is normal. If it is not attached to the position, it can be prevented from reading. Thereby, when data is not read from the RFID tag 802, the injection control unit 150 warns the operator by displaying on the display unit 154 that the syringe 800 may not be properly mounted. Can be urged.

Next, the operation of the above-described fluoroscopic imaging system and the like will be described in detail mainly with respect to the operation of the chemical solution injector 100, taking as an example the case where the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 is an X-ray CT apparatus.

First, the chemical solution injection device 100 and the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 are turned on, and the chemical solution injection device 100 and the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 are activated. Next, the syringe 800 filled with the chemical solution is attached to the injection head 110 in a predetermined procedure. When the syringe 800 is attached, data / information regarding the syringe 800 and the chemical solution recorded in the RFID tag 802 by the RFID module 166 is read out. Here, two syringes 800, specifically, a contrast agent syringe filled with a contrast agent and a saline syringe filled with a saline solution will be described as being attached to the injection head 110. . In this specification, when distinguishing the code | symbol of a syringe with the kind of chemical | medical solution with which it fills, about the syringe with which the contrast agent was filled, the subscript C is attached | subjected and it describes with the syringe 800C, and the physiological saline is filled. About the syringe which is attached, the subscript P is attached | subjected and it may describe with the syringe 800P.

When the syringe 800C filled with the contrast medium and the syringe 800P filled with physiological saline are completely attached to the injection head 110, the operator installs the extension tube 400 as shown in FIG. 8 as an example. Connect to 800C, 800P. The extension tube 400 has three tubes connected via T-shaped connectors.

Connection connectors

401 and 402 are attached to the ends of the tubes connected to the

syringes

800C and 800P, and another form of connection connector 403 is attached to the end of the tube toward the subject. Each of the

connection connectors

401 and 402 may have a cylindrical portion with a thread portion formed at the tip, and may be connected to a conduit portion provided at the tip of the

syringes

800C and 800P by a luer lock method. Of these

connection connectors

401 and 402, at least the connection connector 402 connected to the physiological saline syringe 800P has a function as a one-way valve, for example, as described in International Publication WO2012 / 060365. It may be anything. An indwelling needle or a catheter (not shown) is connected to the connection connector 403. By using such an extension tube 400, the contrast medium and physiological saline can be injected into the subject simultaneously or separately.

When the contrast medium syringe 800 is attached, at least the iodine content data per contrast medium unit amount is read from the RFID tag 802 and temporarily stored in the memory within the injection control unit 150. The injection control unit 150 displays at least a part of the data / information read from the RFID tag 802 on the display unit 154, or moves the presser 112 to the standby position. The standby position is an arbitrary position between the position where the presser 112 abuts the end of the piston of the syringe 800 and the end position. For the movement to the standby position, the injection control unit 150 obtains the end position of the piston based on the information read from the RFID tag 802, and the distance from the initial position, which is the end position of the movable range of the presser 112, to the end position of the piston. And the piston driving mechanism 140 is operated so that the presser 112 moves forward by the distance and an arbitrary offset value determined in advance. Thereby, the presser 112 is moved to the standby position of the piston.

In addition, the injection control unit 150 creates an injection protocol using the injection speed, the injection amount, the injection time, and the like as parameters based on the data / information acquired from the RFID tag 802 and the data input from the touch panel 103. The created injection protocol is stored in the memory of the injection control unit 150 as control data at the time of drug injection, and the injection control unit 150 controls the operation of the piston drive mechanism 140 according to this control data at the time of drug injection operation. . Further, the created injection protocol can be displayed on the touch panel 103 in a graphic or numerical data format. The operator can arbitrarily change the displayed injection protocol. When the operator presses the check button 116a of the injection head 110, preparation for injection is completed.

The injection protocol indicates what kind of chemical solution is injected under what conditions (amount, speed, time, etc.). Moreover, when inject | pouring a multiple types of chemical | medical solution, ie, a contrast agent and physiological saline, those injection | pouring order and each injection | pouring conditions are also contained in an injection | pouring protocol.

FIG. 9A shows an example of an injection condition setting screen displayed on the display unit 154 (for example, the touch panel 103). Various data / information including an imaging region icon 301 and an injection graph thumbnail 302 are displayed on the setting screen 300 illustrated in FIG. 9A. In addition, the display of “A” and “B” on the setting screen 300 means a contrast medium and physiological saline, respectively.

The imaging part icon 301 is used for display and input of an imaging part, and is displayed as an illustration of a human body image obtained by dividing a supine person into, for example, a head, a chest, an abdomen, and a leg. When the operator taps one of these sections, the tapped section is selected as an imaging region. Alternatively, when a section is tapped, the names or images of one or more organs included in the section are further displayed (for example, “Heart” and “Lung” when the section is “Chest”) and displayed. The imaging region may be selected by tapping any of the organs. The display of the selected imaging part is changed so that it can be visually distinguished from other parts. FIG. 9A shows a state where the abdomen, in particular, the liver is selected as the imaging region.

In the illustrated example, the imaging region icon 301 is an image that illustrates the state of a person who is supine viewed from the side, but may be an image that represents a state of the person who is supine viewed from above. In addition, the orientation of the human body image on the screen may be portrait or landscape. Furthermore, the imaging part icon 301 does not need to be an image imitating a human body, and an arbitrary part such as an imaging part represented only by an image representing an organ, an imaging part represented only by characters, and a combination thereof. It may be.

The weight icon 305 is used for displaying and inputting the weight of the subject. For example, when the operator taps the weight icon 305, a numeric keypad is displayed in the vicinity of the weight icon 305, and when the displayed numeric keypad is tapped, or when the weight icon 305 is tapped, the weight icon 305 is displayed. The subject's weight can be input by displaying an increase / decrease icon for increasing / decreasing the numerical value one by one and tapping the increase / decrease icon.

The injection time icon 307 is used for display and input of the contrast agent injection time, and the iodine amount icon 308 is used for display and input of the required iodine amount per body weight of the subject. The injection time is often the same as the imaging time by the fluoroscopic imaging device. The operation for inputting the injection time and the amount of iodine can be the same as in the case of the weight icon 305. Note that default values of the subject's weight, injection time, and iodine amount are stored in the memory of the injection control unit 150, and the default values may be displayed on the respective icons in the initial setting. Alternatively, at least one of these data may be transmitted from an external unit of the chemical solution injector 100 to the injection controller 150, and the transmitted data may be displayed as a corresponding icon and used for setting injection conditions. . Examples of the external unit include a fluoroscopic imaging device 200, RIS, PACKS, and HIS described later.

The pressure limit icon 309 is used for displaying and inputting the pressure limit value of the syringe 800 attached. When the pressure limit value is recorded in the RFID tag 802, the data read by the RFID module 166 is displayed on the pressure limit icon 309. The pressure limit icon 309 allows the operator to input numerical values in the same manner as the weight icon 305, and when these data are not recorded in the RFID tag 802 or a syringe that does not have the RFID tag 802 When is attached, the operator can input respective numerical values in the same manner as in the case of the weight icon 305. The syringe volume icon 110 displays the remaining volume of the drug solution in the syringe 800 calculated by the injection controller 150 (see FIG. 6) corresponding to the position of the presser 112 (see FIG. 3).

In the contrast agent icon 311, a name or the like recorded on the RFID tag 802 of the contrast agent filled in the attached syringe 800 is displayed. The timing icon 312 is an icon for causing the chemical injection device to execute test injection. As will be described later, the test injection is an injection of a contrast agent that is performed to determine the imaging start timing of the tomographic image by the fluoroscopic imaging apparatus 200. When the operator taps the timing icon 312, the injection control unit 150 displays a test injection setting screen on the display unit 154. The operator performs a predetermined setting for the test injection according to the displayed screen, and after the setting, performs a predetermined operation for starting the test injection, so that the injection control unit 150 operates the chemical injection device according to the setting. And thereby a test injection is performed.

The route icon 313 is an icon operated when causing the chemical injection device to execute a route test. The route test is a test for confirming whether or not a drug solution distribution path from the syringe 800 to the subject is normally secured. In general, in a route test, while injecting physiological saline into a subject, a pressure acting on a syringe filled with the physiological saline is detected, and the detected pressure is within a predetermined range. If it is, it is determined that the chemical solution distribution channel is normally secured. On the other hand, when the pressure is lower than the predetermined range, liquid leakage or the like in the chemical liquid flow path is considered, and conversely, when the pressure is high, the chemical liquid flow path is clogged.

The tube voltage icon 306 is used to input a tube voltage value applied to the X-ray tube (electromagnetic wave irradiator) of the fluoroscopic imaging apparatus. The irradiation intensity of X-rays irradiated from the X-ray tube changes according to the setting of the tube voltage value. That is, it can be said that the tube voltage value is a set value for the X-ray irradiation intensity. The tube voltage value setting itself is performed on the fluoroscopic imaging device side, and the tube voltage value is input here by setting the tube voltage value set on the fluoroscopic imaging device side according to the injection conditions of the contrast medium and physiological saline. This is for use in calculation. The tube voltage value is used when the injection protocol is changed in consideration of the tube voltage when imaging with a tube voltage lower than usual. Therefore, normally, the tube voltage icon 306 is not displayed. For example, the characters “LOW kV” are displayed, and the tube voltage icon 306 is displayed by tapping the portion of the characters “LOW kV”. can do.

When the fluoroscopic imaging device is configured to be able to change the setting of the tube voltage value, it is usually configured to select one from a plurality of tube voltage values. Therefore, it is preferable that a value selected from a plurality of tube voltage values is input to the tube voltage icon 306 accordingly. In this case, for example, when the tube voltage value is selected from three values of 120 kV, 100 kV, and 80 kV, the tube voltage icon 306 displays 120 kV, which is the highest value among the three values, as a default value. You can make it. The reason for changing the tube voltage value is that imaging is usually performed with a smaller radiation exposure amount in consideration of the symptoms of the subject.

The display of the tube voltage icon 306 is switched in descending order so that the displayed tube voltage value is 100 kV or 80 kV each time the operator taps the tube voltage value icon 306, and the smallest value is displayed. Sometimes when the tube voltage icon 306 is tapped, the largest value can be displayed. In this way, a tube voltage value can be input by a simple operation of the tube voltage icon 306.

Next, an example in which an injection protocol setting procedure using the setting screen 300 described above is selected from 120 kV, 100 kV, and 80 kV as a tube voltage value will be described.

The injection control unit 150 displays the name of the contrast agent, the amount of iodine required per subject's body weight, the pressure limit value of the syringe 800, the remaining capacity of the drug solution in each syringe 800, the subject's weight, and the injection time of the contrast agent. , The contrast medium icon 311, the iodine amount icon 308, the pressure limit icon 309, the syringe volume icon 310, the weight icon 305, and the injection time icon 307, respectively. Here, the name of the contrast agent and the pressure limit value of the syringe 800 are data read from the RFID tag 802 of each syringe 800 and temporarily stored in the memory of the injection control unit 150. The body weight of the subject, the amount of iodine required per body weight of the subject, and the contrast agent injection time are default values stored in advance in the memory of the injection control unit 150, and these values are manipulated as necessary. Can be changed arbitrarily. Although not displayed on the setting screen 300, the memory of the injection control unit 150 also stores iodine content data per unit amount of contrast medium read from the RFID tag 802. At this stage, the tube voltage icon 306 is not displayed.

The injection control unit 150 calculates the injection amount L (mL) and the injection speed S (mL / sec) of the contrast agent using these data stored in the memory. The contrast medium injection amount L (mL) is the weight of the subject W (kg), the amount of iodine per kg of the subject I (mgI / kg), and the iodine content per unit amount of contrast medium C (mgI / kg). mL), when the contrast agent injection time is T (sec),

The contrast medium injection rate S (mL / sec) is given by
S (mL / sec) = L (mL) / T (sec) (2)
Given in.

For example, when W = 60 (kg), I = 600 (mgI / kg), C = 300 (mgI / mL), and T = 30 (sec), the contrast agent injection amount L = 120 from Equation (1). (ML) is calculated, and the contrast medium injection rate S = 4.0 (mL / sec) is calculated from Equation (2). The injection control unit 150 can display the calculation result on the setting screen 300 as the injection graph thumbnail 302.

In the above formula (1), the contrast medium injection amount L is calculated using the amount of iodine I required per subject's body weight, but depending on the imaging region (for example, the heart, etc.) The injection amount can also be calculated using the iodine amount I ′ (mgI / kg / sec) required per time. In the calculation of the injection amount in this case, the following formula (1 ′) can be used.

As mentioned above, if the amount of contrast medium injected is too small or the contrast medium injection speed is too low, the contrast medium may diffuse into the blood or reach the surroundings until it reaches the target site. The phenomenon of being absorbed by the tissue may occur. Therefore, the lower limit value of the contrast agent injection amount and injection rate is set in advance in the injection control unit 150, and the injection control unit 150 compares these values with the calculated injection amount and injection rate. A warning may be issued when at least one of the injection amount and the injection rate is smaller than a preset value. The lower limit value of the contrast agent injection amount set in the injection control unit 150 can be preferably 30 ml, and more preferably 50 ml. The lower limit value of the contrast agent injection speed set in the injection control unit 150 can be preferably 3 ml / sec, and more preferably 5 ml / sec. These lower limit values may be set for each imaging region, or may be arbitrarily changed by the operator. In addition, the warning may be displayed on the display unit 154 (at least one of them if there is a second display unit as will be described later) with characters or graphics, or a sound generator such as a buzzer or a speaker. And a warning by sound from the sound generator may be used.

In this state, when the operator taps the check icon 314 or operates the check button 116a of the injection head 110, the calculated injection amount and injection speed are temporarily stored in the memory in the injection control unit 150. The infusion protocol is finalized. Thereafter, when the operator operates the start button 116b of the injection head 110, a signal corresponding to the start button 116b is sent to the injection control unit 150. The injection control unit 150 uses this signal as a trigger to read various data stored in the memory. The operation of the piston drive mechanism 140 is controlled so that the piston drive mechanism 140 operates according to the read and determined injection protocol. Thereby, the chemical | medical solution with which the syringe 800 is filled can be inject | poured into a test subject.

Here, depending on the symptom of the subject, imaging may be performed with a lower tube voltage in order to suppress the exposure dose of the subject during imaging. In that case, the injection protocol can be set in consideration of the tube voltage value. The setting of the injection protocol in consideration of the tube voltage can be performed at a stage where all the data necessary for setting the injection protocol are input and the injection protocol has not been determined.

When setting the injection protocol in consideration of the tube voltage, the operator taps the character portion of “LOW kV” displayed on the setting screen 300. Then, a tube voltage icon 306 is displayed below the characters “LOW kV”. In the initial state, the tube voltage icon 306 displays a normal tube voltage value at the time of imaging with the fluoroscopic imaging device to be used, for example, “120 kV”.

In this state, when the operator taps the tube voltage icon 306, the tube voltage value displayed on the tube voltage icon 306 is changed to 100 kV (see FIG. 9B), and further tapped to 80 kV (see FIG. 9C). Each time the tube voltage icon 306 is tapped, the injection controller 150 sets an injection protocol according to this tube voltage value.

When imaging is performed at a tube voltage lower than the normal tube voltage, an injection protocol in which contrast medium and physiological saline are injected at the same time, that is, the amount of contrast medium is reduced, and the amount of the contrast medium is reduced by physiological saline. A diluted dilution injection protocol is set up. In this case, for example, the ratio of the contrast agent is increased as the tube voltage value is lower (in other words, the ratio of the contrast agent is lower). It may be stored in advance or may be calculated by the injection control unit 150. When the injection controller 150 calculates the ratio of the contrast agent and the physiological saline, for example, the ratio of the contrast agent injection amount to the total injection amount of the contrast agent and the physiological saline is changed after the change to the normal tube voltage value. The ratio between the contrast agent and the physiological saline can be calculated so as to be approximately equal to the ratio of the tube voltage value.

Hereinafter, a setting example of the injection protocol when the reduction rate of the contrast medium is predetermined according to the tube voltage value will be described.

For example, it is assumed that the ratio of contrast medium and physiological saline is determined as shown in the following table according to the tube voltage value.

In Table 1, when the tube voltage value was 120 kV, the contrast medium was not diluted with physiological saline, and was calculated by the injection amount L (mL) calculated by the above-described equation (1) and the equation (2). An injection protocol for injecting only the contrast agent at an injection rate S (mL / sec) is obtained.

Here, when the tube voltage value is lower than 120 kV, the calculated contrast agent injection amount and injection rate are reduced by a predetermined ratio determined in advance according to the tube voltage value. Is calculated as the amount of saline injected and the rate of injection.

Specifically, when the tube voltage value is 100 kV, the ratio of contrast medium and physiological saline is set to 8: 2, and the injection controller 150 determines the ratio of contrast medium 0.8 and physiological saline from the table. The ratio 0.2 is read out. The injection amount and injection speed of the contrast agent are calculated by the injection control unit 150 as values obtained by multiplying the injection amount and injection speed of the contrast agent when the contrast agent alone is injected by 0.8 times. Similarly, the injection amount and the injection speed of the physiological saline are calculated as values obtained by multiplying the injection amount and the injection speed of the contrast medium when the contrast medium alone is injected by 0.2 times.

When the tube voltage value is 80 kV, the ratio of the contrast medium and the physiological saline is 6: 4, and the injection control unit 150 determines from the table that the ratio of the contrast medium is 0.6 and the ratio of the physiological saline is 0.4. Respectively. The injection amount and injection speed of the contrast agent are calculated by the injection control unit 150 as values obtained by multiplying the injection amount and injection speed of the contrast agent when the contrast agent alone is injected by 0.6. Similarly, the injection amount and the injection speed of the physiological saline are calculated as values obtained by multiplying the injection amount and the injection speed of the contrast agent when the contrast agent alone is injected by 0.4 times.

Table 1 shows a case where the tube voltage value is changed from 80 kV to 120 kV with a change width of 20 kV, but the range and change width of the tube voltage value vary depending on the manufacturer and / or specification of the fluoroscopic imaging device. According to these, for example, the range of the tube voltage value can be set arbitrarily from 70 kV to 140 kV, or the change width can be set to 5 kV or 10 kV. The range of the tube voltage value and the setting of the change width may be changed by the operator, or a value corresponding to the manufacturer and / or specification of the fluoroscopic imaging device is preset in the memory of the injection control unit 150. It may be automatically changed by the operator specifying the manufacturer and / or specifications.

Further, the ratio between the contrast medium and the physiological saline according to the tube voltage value shown in Table 1 is also arbitrary depending on the manufacturer and / or specification of the fluoroscopic imaging device, as well as the range and change width of the tube voltage value. Can be changed.

For example, when imaging is performed with a low tube voltage value (low dose), the S / N ratio tends to be small and noise tends to increase. In order to reduce this noise, a fluoroscopic imaging apparatus generally performs image processing using a successive approximation method or image processing using a successive approximation method during image reconstruction. This image processing is different for each manufacturer of the fluoroscopic imaging device, and even for the same manufacturer, it may be different for each grade of the fluoroscopic imaging device. The image quality such as the sharpness of the image obtained when the chemical solution is injected under the same injection conditions differs depending on the image processing to be performed.

Therefore, by setting the ratio of contrast medium and physiological saline according to the tube voltage value to a value according to the manufacturer of the fluoroscopic imaging device and / or the specification (particularly the specification of image processing), a better fluoroscopic image Can be obtained.

For this purpose, for example, a table as shown in Table 1 is prepared for each manufacturer and / or specification of the fluoroscopic imaging device in the memory of the injection control unit 150, and the injection control unit 150 is provided by the operator. When a tube voltage lower than normal is selected by tapping the tube voltage icon 306 (see FIG. 9A, etc.), the contrast medium, the physiological saline, The ratio of can be determined. For example, after the low tube voltage value is selected, the injection control unit 150 causes the display unit 154 to display a screen for accepting the input of the manufacturer and / or specification of the fluoroscopic imaging device. The operator can specify the manufacturer and / or specification of the fluoroscopic imaging device. Alternatively, the injection control unit 150 can specify the information by receiving information on the manufacturer and / or specifications from the fluoroscopic imaging device.

9B and 9C, specific numerical values can be displayed on the injection graph thumbnail 302 of the setting screen 300 as the calculation result. The operator confirms the displayed calculation result and taps the check icon 314 or operates the check button 116a of the injection head 110, whereby the injection protocol is set in the injection control unit 150 and the preparation for injection is completed. .

The injection protocol set in the injection control unit 150 may be transmitted to the fluoroscopic imaging apparatus 200. The tube voltage value input to the injection control unit 150 may be input by transmitting the tube voltage value set by the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 from the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 to the injection control unit 150. In this case, the injection control unit 150 calculates the injection amount and the injection speed of the contrast agent according to the tube voltage value transmitted from the fluoroscopic imaging device 200, and further, the injection amount and injection of the physiological saline as necessary. The speed can be calculated.

As described above, when imaging is performed at a lower tube voltage in order to reduce the subject's X-ray exposure, a desired CT value is secured by reducing the amount of contrast medium injected in accordance with the tube voltage value. The physical load on the subject can be reduced. In addition, since the injection volume and injection speed of the entire drug solution including the contrast medium and physiological saline are constant regardless of the tube voltage value, the fluidity of the injected drug solution in the blood vessel of the subject greatly changes. Never do. Therefore, since the injection amount has decreased, it is extremely unlikely that a problem such as the difficulty of reaching the desired site of the chemical solution or the time required to reach it will be possible, and a good image can be taken. . Moreover, since the dilution ratio of the contrast medium with physiological saline is changed according to the imaging conditions such as the tube voltage value, it is not necessary to prepare syringes with various contrast medium concentrations.

In addition, after injecting the contrast medium diluted with physiological saline by driving both the contrast medium and physiological saline piston driving mechanisms as described above, the injection control unit 150 is for the physiological saline. Only the piston drive mechanism may be driven to inject only physiological saline, and the contrast medium may be boosted with physiological saline. At this time, it is preferable that the injection rate of the physiological saline is an injection rate that is equal to the injection rate of the contrast agent obtained when the contrast agent alone is injected.

In addition, when the contrast medium cannot be diluted with physiological saline for some reason, the injection control unit 150 determines the amount of contrast medium calculated by the above-described formula (1), formula (1 ′), etc. The iodine concentration in the calculated contrast agent amount is calculated from the diluted contrast agent amount diluted in step 1) and the iodine content per contrast agent unit amount, and the contrast agent amount and iodine concentration are displayed on the display unit 154, for example. be able to. The operator then fills the empty syringe with the calculated amount of contrast medium mixed with physiological saline so as to obtain the calculated iodine concentration using an arbitrary chemical solution filling device. By using a syringe filled with a contrast agent in this manner and injecting a chemical solution by a chemical solution injection device, it becomes possible to inject a contrast agent according to the tube voltage value.

Further, the contrast medium amount and iodine concentration are transmitted from the injection control unit 150 to the drug solution filling device, and the drug solution filling device fills the syringe with the contrast agent amount and iodine concentration according to the transmitted data. Thus, the contrast agent can be mixed with physiological saline and filled into a syringe. The syringe filled with the contrast medium in the liquid medicine filling apparatus is attached to the liquid medicine injection apparatus, and the contrast medium (diluted contrast medium) in the attached syringe is injected, so that the contrast medium according to the tube voltage value is obtained. Can be injected. In the data transmission from the injection control unit 150 to the chemical solution filling device, when the chemical solution filling device includes a memory card reader, the injection control unit 150 transfers the contrast agent to the memory card via the memory card reader / writer 158 described above. The amount and the iodine concentration are recorded, and the chemical solution filling apparatus can be performed by reading the contrast agent amount and the iodine concentration from the memory card in which these data are recorded. Alternatively, if the injection control unit 150 and the chemical solution injection device are connected via an appropriate network so that data can be transmitted and received, the data can be transmitted via the network.

Furthermore, if the empty syringe filled with the chemical solution by the chemical solution filling apparatus includes an RFID tag, the contrast medium amount and iodine concentration can be recorded as data on the RFID tag. For recording data in the RFID tag, a writer or reader / writer for the RFID tag can be used. The writer or the reader / writer may be included in the chemical liquid filling device, or may be a separate unit from the chemical liquid filling device.

Alternatively, the injection controller 150 calculates the contrast agent amount and the iodine concentration, and then includes the manufacturer and the product name of the commercially available prefilled syringe in the contrast agent such as the iodine content and the iodine concentration per contrast agent unit amount. Refer to the database (or table) associated with the data related to the amount of iodine produced, compare the iodine content per unit amount of contrast agent or the calculated iodine concentration with that of the database (or table), and the values are the same or For example, the display unit 154 can display the manufacturer, product name, capacity, and the like of the closest prefilled syringe or syringes. In this case, the operator can inject by inserting an appropriate prefilled syringe into the chemical liquid injector as necessary with reference to the displayed prefilled syringe. The injection controller 150 may have a database (or table) of prefilled syringes. It may be outside the injection control unit 150.

Further, as the injection mode of the chemical solution by the chemical injection device 100, when the contrast agent is A and the physiological saline is B, the phase (A) in which only the above-described contrast agent is injected, and the physiological saline after the contrast agent injection phase Including an injection phase (A → B), a mixed injection phase (A + B) in which a contrast medium and a physiological saline solution are injected at the same time. Can have modes. In the injection mode shown below, “→” means that the operation before and after the operation is continuously performed, and the injection before and after “→” is in a different phase. In addition, “P” represents an interval operation that moves to the next step after an elapse of a set arbitrary time, and “H” represents a pause operation that does not move to the next step until a predetermined operation is performed. To express.
(1) A
(2) A → B
(3) A → P → A → B
(4) A → (A + B) → B
(5) A → A → B
(6) (A + B)
(7) A → P → A
(8) A → A → A → A → A
(9) A → H → A
(10) B → A → (A + B) → B
(11) (A + B) → B
(12) A → A → A → A → B
(13) A → (A + B)
(14) A → B → P → (A + B) → B
(15) (A + B) → B → P → A → B
Such.

As described above, each injection mode includes an injection mode that includes a mixed injection phase of contrast medium and physiological saline. In the mixed injection phase, the mixing ratio of the contrast medium and physiological saline is arbitrarily set. (Changed). FIG. 10 shows an example of the mixing ratio setting screen in the injection mode including the mixing injection phase. The example shown in FIG. 10 shows the mixing ratio setting screen 350 in the injection mode “(13) A → (A + B)” among the above injection modes. The injection mode is not limited to the above injection modes (1) to (15). Further, for example, after the injection of the physiological saline (B), any one of the above injection modes (1) to (15) can be executed with the interval (P) or the temporary stop (H) interposed therebetween. is there.

The mixing ratio setting screen 350 shown in FIG. 10 can include an injection graph 351, a mixing ratio icon 352, and an injection condition icon 353, and is currently displayed by a predetermined operation by the operator during the injection condition setting operation. It can be displayed on the screen. The injection graph 251 is a graph in which the horizontal axis indicates the injection time and the vertical axis indicates the injection speed. In the illustrated example, the injection of the chemical solution is performed simultaneously with the contrast agent and the physiological saline after the injection of the contrast agent (A). It is schematically shown that it consists of two phases of (A + B) to be injected. In addition, the injection speed and the injection amount of the chemical solution in each phase are represented by numerical values.

The mixing ratio icon 352 displays the mixing ratios of the contrast medium (A) and the physiological saline (B). Each time one of the numerical values is tapped, the numerical value increases by one, and the other numerical value is displayed. Decreases by one. The injection condition icon 353 indicates the injection speed and injection amount of the contrast medium and physiological saline when the contrast medium and physiological saline are injected at the mixing ratio displayed in the mixing ratio icon 352 in the mixed injection phase of this injection mode. Is displayed. The injection control unit 150 controls these displays. The operator checks the numerical value of the mixing ratio displayed on the mixing ratio icon 352 and taps the approval icon 354 if the numerical value is acceptable. The injection control unit 150 receives this approval input operation, and when an input is made, sets the numerical value displayed on the mixing ratio icon 352 as the mixing ratio of the contrast medium and the physiological saline. The mixing ratio setting screen 350 can be turned off by a predetermined operation by the operator. Thereafter, other injection conditions can be set according to a normal injection condition setting procedure.

In the above-described injection phase of only the contrast agent, the contrast agent may be injected at a constant injection rate or may be injected at an injection rate that changes with time. Similarly, in the above-described mixed injection phase, the contrast medium and physiological saline may be injected at a constant injection rate, respectively, or the contrast medium and the physiological saline are each changed over time during the mixed injection phase. It may be injected at a rate. In either case, the change in infusion rate over time can be a linear change in which the infusion rate increases or decreases over time. The linear change rate, ie, the slope in the graph with the horizontal axis as the elapsed time and the vertical axis as the injection speed, may be constant during the injection phase or may change at least once. Good.

When the contrast agent injection rate and physiological saline injection rate are changed over time in the mixed injection phase, the total injection rate of the contrast agent injection rate and physiological saline injection rate is It is preferable that it is constant. Also, the total injection rate is preferably equal to the injection rate in those injection phases if there are other injection phases before and / or after the admixing injection phase.

Thus, by changing the injection speed of the contrast medium over time in the mixed injection phase, the CT value can be increased more effectively and / or the high CT value can be maintained for a relatively long time. it can. Therefore, the injection phase including changing the injection speed of the contrast agent with time is particularly effective in examinations having a relatively long scan time, such as examination of blood vessels including the heart system.

The items described above may be arbitrarily combined. Thus, the blended injection phase can also include multiple sub-phases, such as a sub-phase where the injection rate is constant and a sub-phase where the injection rate changes over time. An example is shown in FIG. 10A. The example shown in FIG. 10A is an example of the injection mode “(11) (A + B) → B” among the above injection modes. In the mixed injection phase, the contrast medium and the physiological saline are injected at a constant rate. A first sub-mode that is injected at a rate and a second sub-phase that is injected at an injection rate at which the contrast agent and saline are each changed over time.

In the first subphase, the contrast agent is injected at a constant injection rate higher than that of physiological saline, and the physiological saline is injected at a constant injection rate lower than that of the contrast agent. In the second sub-phase, after injection in the first sub-phase, the contrast agent increases in injection rate at a constant rate over time, while saline decreases in injection rate at a constant rate over time Then, the contrast agent injection rate becomes zero at the end of the second subphase. Further, during the second sub-phase, the sum of the contrast agent injection rate and the saline injection rate is constant, and the contrast agent injection rate and the saline injection rate in the first sub-phase are Equal to the sum of After the mixed injection phase including the first subphase and the second subphase, only the physiological saline is injected as the next injection phase. In this phase, the saline is injected at a constant injection rate equal to the total injection rate of the contrast agent injection rate and the saline injection rate in the blended injection phase.

By the way, in the mixed injection phase of the contrast medium and physiological saline in the above injection mode, it is assumed that the tube voltage value of the X-ray tube is a normal tube voltage value (120 kV in the above example). However, in order to reduce the radiation exposure dose of the subject, the injection control unit 150 can also obtain an appropriate tube voltage value according to the mixing ratio of the contrast agent and physiological saline. For the tube voltage value corresponding to the mixing ratio, for example, referring to the table shown in Table 1, the tube voltage value corresponding to the mixing ratio that is the same as or closest to the set mixing ratio is obtained as an appropriate tube voltage value. Or by referring to a table in which tube voltage values corresponding to the mixing ratio are determined. Alternatively, when an expression representing the relationship between the mixing ratio and the tube voltage value is given in advance, the tube voltage value corresponding to the mixing ratio may be obtained using the expression.

The obtained tube voltage value may be transmitted from the injection control unit 150 to the imaging control unit 152 as a recommended tube voltage value regardless of the presence or absence of dilution and the presence or absence of mixing. The imaging control unit 152 that has received the recommended tube voltage value can change the tube voltage value of the X-ray tube accordingly. The tube voltage value may be changed by an operator's operation.

When a contrast medium is injected as a drug solution, the contrast effect of the contrast medium varies among subjects. In order to grasp the degree of individual difference in the contrast effect, a test injection in which a chemical solution is injected with an injection amount smaller than the injection amount for the imaging prior to the injection for tomographic image acquisition by the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 And imaging timing is determined based on the result.

In such a case, the injection operation of the chemical solution after the test injection can be started when the injection control unit 150 receives a command transmitted from the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 from the imaging control unit 152. For example, the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 takes a tomographic image displayed on the monitor of the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 with a CCD camera (not shown), monitors the brightness (whiteness) of the tomographic image in the ROI, and the brightness. To start the injection operation when the signal intensity exceeds the predetermined threshold or when the signal strength from the cable connected to the monitor is measured and the measurement result exceeds the predetermined threshold Can be transmitted to the injection control unit 150. In addition, when performing test injection prior to injection for tomographic imaging (main injection), the CT value and TDC (Time Density Curve) at the time of test injection are monitored, and the injection protocol is determined according to the result. Then, an optimal start of imaging suitable for it may be transmitted from the chemical injection device 100 to the fluoroscopic imaging device 200.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the fluoroscopic imaging apparatus 200 is an X-ray CT apparatus has been described as an example. However, in the present invention, as the fluoroscopic imaging apparatus 200, in addition to the X-ray CT apparatus, an angio apparatus, MRI Any fluoroscopic imaging apparatus that uses irradiation of electromagnetic waves to acquire an image, such as an apparatus, an MRA apparatus, a PET apparatus, and an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus may be used. When the fluoroscopic imaging apparatus 200 is an apparatus other than the X-ray CT apparatus, the configuration, screen display, operation procedure, operation, and the like of the chemical solution injection apparatus 100 may be appropriately changed as necessary.

For example, when the fluoroscopic imaging apparatus 200 is an MRI apparatus, the MRI apparatus has a high-frequency pulse transmitter that irradiates a high-frequency pulse as an electromagnetic wave irradiator, and the high-frequency pulse transmitter changes the irradiation intensity of the high-frequency pulse by setting. can do. Usually, the higher the irradiation intensity of the high-frequency pulse, the more the contrast effect by the contrast agent is enhanced. Therefore, the injection control unit 150 determines that the irradiation intensity of the high-frequency pulse set in the electromagnetic wave irradiator is higher than the specific irradiation intensity. In addition, the contrast medium is diluted with physiological saline. The specific procedure of this process can be the same as the procedure described above, except that the relationship between the intensity of electromagnetic wave irradiation intensity set in the electromagnetic wave irradiator is reversed from that in the case of the X-ray CT apparatus.

In the above-described embodiment, the imaging control unit 152 has been incorporated into the imaging control unit, and the injection control unit 150 has been incorporated into the console 101 of the chemical solution injector 100. However, both the imaging control unit 152 and the injection control unit 150 may be incorporated in the imaging control unit, the imaging control unit 152 and the injection control unit 150 may be both incorporated in the console 101, or imaging may be performed. Both the control unit 152 and the injection control unit 150 may be incorporated in a programmable computer device (not shown) different from the imaging control unit and the console 101. By doing so, the console 101 of the chemical injection device 100 or the console of the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 becomes unnecessary, and the entire system can be simplified.

Furthermore, a specific function of the injection control unit 150 can be incorporated in a unit different from the remaining other functions. For example, an injection protocol determination (calculation) function can be incorporated in the imaging control unit of the fluoroscopic imaging apparatus 200, and the remaining other functions can be incorporated in the console 101 of the chemical solution injection apparatus 100. In this case, it is not necessary to input data common to the setting of the imaging condition and the setting of the injection condition to the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 and the chemical solution injection device 100 in duplicate. Data that is insufficient when setting the injection conditions may be input from the imaging control unit, or may be transmitted from the console 101 of the chemical injection device 100 to the imaging control unit.

The function of the imaging control unit 152 and the function of the injection control unit 150 can be realized by using various hardware as required, but the main body is realized by the function of the CPU corresponding to the computer program.

The computer program is at least part of the procedure described above, for example,
Obtaining an injection amount and an injection speed of the contrast agent when injecting only the contrast agent using predetermined data; and
When the set value for the irradiation intensity of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the electromagnetic wave irradiator of the fluoroscopic imaging device at the time of imaging is different from the specific set value, the determined contrast medium injection amount and injection speed are determined according to the set value. Reducing the amount at a predetermined rate, and determining the reduced amount as the amount and rate of injection of the physiological saline; and
Can be implemented as a computer program for causing the fluoroscopic imaging apparatus 200, the chemical liquid injection apparatus 100, or the fluoroscopic imaging system including the fluoroscopic imaging apparatus 200 and the chemical liquid injection apparatus 100 to execute.

Also, in terms of structure, the injection head 110 and the console 101 can be configured integrally. When the console 101 and the injection head 110 are integrally formed, the console 101 is also arranged in the examination room. Therefore, the remote controller 102 (see FIG. 1) can be used to start and stop the injection operation. By using the remote controller 102, the operator can control the start and stop of the injection operation in the operation chamber.

Specifically, the syringe may be as shown in (a) and (b) of FIG. This syringe can be for example 100 ml. This syringe includes a cylinder member 501 and a piston member 502. A cylinder flange 501a formed at the end of the cylinder member 501 has an I-cut contour, and two notches are provided on the outer periphery of the flange 501a. A portion 505 (only one is shown) is formed. The conduit portion 501b at the tip of the cylinder member 501 may be for luer lock connection having two inner and outer cylindrical portions arranged coaxially. As shown in FIG. 11B, a ring-shaped protrusion 501c may be formed on the rear surface of the cylinder flange 501a.

As another example of the syringe, a syringe as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B may be used, and this syringe can be for 200 ml, for example. Similarly to the above syringe, this syringe also includes a cylinder member 501 and a piston member 502, and a cylinder flange 501a formed at the end of the cylinder member 501 may have an I-cut contour. Two notches 505 (only one is shown) are formed on the outer periphery of the cylinder flange 501a. The conduit portion 501b at the tip of the cylinder member 501 may be for luer lock connection having two inner and outer cylindrical portions arranged coaxially. As shown in FIG. 12B, a ring-shaped protrusion 501c and a plurality of ribs 501d extending outward from the protrusion 501c may be formed on the rear surface of the cylinder flange 501a.

In FIG. 12, the cylinder flange 501a is shown with both the notch 505 and the rib 501d formed, but only one of them is formed (for example, the notch 505 is formed). May not be). The rib 501d may have a shape in which only two upper and lower ribs are left out of the plurality of ribs arranged in the vertical direction in the figure, and the other ribs are omitted. Such a rib group may be a syringe formed on only one of the left and right sides of the flange portion.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the adapter to which the syringe having the notch 505 is attached to the cylinder flange 501a has a groove into which the cylinder flange 501a is inserted from above with the cylinder flange 501a inserted. In addition, it is preferable to have a protrusion that engages with the notch 505 in a state rotated 90 degrees around the axis. Thereby, a cylinder is hold | maintained more reliably. Therefore, if a malfunction occurs in the injection pressure control during the injection operation, and the excessive pressure acts on the syringe, the syringe is firmly held, so that the cylinder flange 501a is not easily damaged. In addition, an uneven load due to the syringe being mounted obliquely hardly occurs, and liquid leakage due to a gap between the piston and the cylinder can be prevented.

11 and 12 may also have an RFID tag on the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder, similar to the syringe 800 described above.

The chemical solution injection device may further include a load cell for detecting the injection pressure. The load cell can be provided in the presser 112, for example. As shown in FIG. 3, when a plurality of pressers 112 are included, at least one of them may have a load cell. The injection pressure can also be detected by measuring the motor current. When the load acting on the presser 112 increases, the motor current that is the drive source of the piston drive mechanism 140 increases in accordance with the magnitude of the load. This is used for detecting the injection pressure using the motor current. The detection of the injection pressure may be either one of detection using a load cell and detection using a motor current, or both may be used in combination. When both are used together, the injection pressure is usually detected by the load cell, and the injection pressure can be measured using the measurement result of the motor current only when the load cell fails.

The extension tube is preferably equipped with a mixing device that allows the contrast agent and physiological saline to be mixed well. An example of the extension tube provided with the mixing device will be described with reference to FIGS. 13A, 13B, and 13C.

The extension tube includes a first tube 231a that connects the syringe filled with the contrast medium and the mixing device 241; a second tube 231b that connects the syringe filled with the physiological saline and the mixing device 241; And a third tube 231c connected to a liquid outlet (detailed below) of the mixing device 241 and extending toward the patient. Although not particularly limited, the first and

second tubes

231a and 231b may be connected to the conduit portion of the syringe via the connection connectors 239a and 239b, respectively. Similarly, the third tube 231c may be connected to a catheter or the like via the connection connector 239c.

In addition, priming for the purpose of air bleeding is performed before the chemical solution is injected by the chemical solution injector. There are several methods for this priming, and the extension tube is filled with either a physiological saline solution or a contrast medium. Specific examples include the following:
(A) First, the contrast medium is pushed out from the contrast medium syringe, and the first tube up to the mixing device is filled with the contrast medium. Then, the physiological saline is pushed out from the physiological saline syringe, and the second tube, the mixing device, the third tube, and the catheter are filled with the physiological saline. As a result, the entire circuit is filled with the chemical solution and the air is removed. Other,
(B) First, the contrast agent is pushed out from the contrast agent syringe, and then the physiological solution is pushed out from both syringes after the saline solution is pushed out from the saline syringe.
(C) There is also a method in which the physiological saline is first pushed out from the physiological saline syringe, and then the contrast agent is pushed out from the contrast medium syringe to fill the entire circuit of the chemical with the chemical.

The chemical injection device may have a function for automatically performing the priming operation as described above, and the trigger for starting the priming operation may be an input operation by an operator, for example.

Subsequently, the mixing device 241 will be described in detail. As shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, the mixing device 241 includes a first chamber that is a swirl flow generation chamber 242a that generates a swirl flow, and a second chamber that is a constriction chamber 242b that concentrates the swirl flow in the axial direction. A main body 242 is provided. In this example, the swirl flow generation chamber 242a has a cylindrical inner space, and the constriction chamber 242b has a conical inner space coaxial with the swirl flow generation chamber 242a. The cross-sectional shape in the short direction of the swirl flow generating chamber may be various shapes formed from a circle, an ellipse, or other curves. In addition, the swirl flow generation chamber can be configured to have a narrowed shape that narrows as it approaches the narrowed chamber.

A conduit portion 243a to which the first tube 231a is connected is provided on the upstream side of the main body portion 242 of the mixing device 241, and a conduit portion 243c to which the third tube 231c is connected is provided on the downstream side. . The conduit portion 243b to which the second tube 231b is connected is disposed at a position upstream from the center of the swirl flow generation chamber 242a (details below).

In this example, the contrast agent flows from the conduit portion 243a and the physiological saline flows from the conduit portion 243b, and both drug solutions are mixed in the mixing device. Thereafter, the mixed drug solution of the contrast medium and physiological saline flows out from the conduit portion 243c as a liquid outlet.

The conduit portion 243a into which a high specific gravity chemical solution flows is provided in the central portion of the upstream side wall surface of the swirl flow generation chamber 242a on the upstream side in the flow direction. The conduit portion 243c serving as the liquid outlet is provided so that the center line of the conduit portion 243c and the center line of the conduit portion 243a coincide, that is, both are coaxial. By arranging each part so as to have a coaxial axis, it is possible to increase the isotropic property of the vortex generated in the mixing device. That is, vortices can be generated uniformly in the space without stagnation, and the mixing efficiency can be improved.

On the other hand, the conduit portion 243b into which the chemical liquid having a small specific gravity flows is arranged on the side surface of the swirl flow generation chamber 242a and extends in the tangential direction of the circumference of the swirl flow generation chamber 242a having a circular cross section. In other words, the conduit portion 243b is provided at a position shifted to the peripheral side from the central axis of the cylindrical space included in the swirl flow generation chamber 242a, and thereby, the chemical liquid having a small specific gravity flowing from the conduit portion 243b. The swirl flow is generated. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 13C, the flow path 241fb is configured to extend in the circumferential tangential direction of the curved inner surface of the swirl flow generation chamber 242a, and thus flows from this flow path. The chemical becomes a swirl flow. Further, as is clear from the drawing, the constriction chamber 242b has an inclined inner surface that swells toward the downstream side in the flow direction, so that the generated swirling flow is concentrated in the direction of the central axis of the vortex. Become.

Also, the conduit portion 243a into which the contrast agent flows is in communication with the swirling flow generation chamber 242a through the flow path 241fa. Thereby, the chemical liquid having a large specific gravity can be introduced into the swirling flow generating chamber in a direction parallel to the central axis of the swirling flow of the chemical liquid having a small specific gravity. That is, the chemical liquid having a large specific gravity is introduced in a direction parallel to the central axis of the cylindrical space included in the swirl flow generation chamber. Further, the conduit part into which the physiological saline flows is in communication with the swirl flow generation chamber via the flow path 241fb. For example, the inner diameter of the flow path 241fb may be smaller than the inner diameter of the flow path 241fa into which the contrast agent flows. According to such a configuration, when a chemical solution is injected at a predetermined pressure, the flow rate of the chemical solution having a small specific gravity flowing from the flow path 241fb having a relatively small cross-sectional area becomes faster than the flow rate of the chemical solution having a large specific gravity. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a decrease in the mixing efficiency between the chemical solutions due to the attenuation of the inertial force of the swirling flow and the accompanying lack of swirling strength, which can occur when the flow rate of the chemical solution having a small specific gravity is low.

In the mixing device 241 configured as described above, for example, when a contrast medium and physiological saline are flowed into the device, the contrast medium that has flowed into the swirl flow generation chamber from the flow path 241fa flows toward the downstream side in the axial direction. Become. On the other hand, the physiological saline flowing into the swirl flow generation chamber from the flow path 241fb becomes a swirl flow swirling along the curved inner surface of the same chamber, and the swirl flow of the physiological saline is guided to the stenosis chamber and swirls. Concentrate in the direction of the central axis of the flow. Such a vortex is known as a Rankine vortex, and the inertial force of the swirling flow can be concentrated in the vicinity of the rotation axis of the vortex.

And when performing the simultaneous injection of two chemicals with an extension tube having such a mixing device 241, both chemicals will be mixed well. That is, in this example, it is possible to obtain a diluted contrast agent in which the contrast agent and physiological saline are well mixed, and as a result, there is no unevenness in the concentration of the contrast agent. Therefore, an excellent contrast effect can be expected.

The fluoroscopic imaging system can include a second display unit A151 as shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B separately from the display unit 154 (the touch panel 103 provided in the console 101). Usually, the injection head 110 is arranged in the examination room together with the fluoroscopic imaging apparatus 200, and the console 101 is often arranged in an operation room adjacent to the examination room. Various settings relating to the injection of the chemical solution are performed by the operator appropriately operating the console 101 disposed in the operation chamber. In the preparation stage of the injection, the injection needle is inserted into the subject or the catheter is inserted, The operator performs various operations in the examination room for air removal and operation check of the injection head 110. In this preparation stage, the second display unit A151 is preferably disposed in the examination room so that the operator can check the injection conditions without moving to the operation room.

The second display unit A151 displays various data relating to the injection of the chemical solution, for example, the imaging target site, the subject's weight, the injection rate of the chemical solution, the injection amount of the chemical solution, the type of the chemical solution to be injected, the injection protocol of the chemical solution, etc. can do. These display formats may be arbitrary and may be displayed on the same screen as the touch panel 103 provided in the console 101 or may be displayed on a different screen. Also, the injection condition setting screen described with reference to FIGS. 9A to 9C can be displayed. At the same time, when the operation of the piston pressing portion is stopped in the preparation operation and the injection operation, a message or an icon can be displayed.

The second display unit A151 is preferably a touch panel. The second display unit A151 is used as a touch panel so that data input for setting injection conditions and the like, and operation of starting and stopping the operation of the injection head 110 can be performed from the second display unit A151. When the injection condition is changed or the injection is stopped in the stage and the initial stage of the injection, the operator can change the injection condition on the spot without returning to the operation room. When changing the injection conditions or stopping the injection, for example, when the subject's physical condition is not good and it is judged that the injection conditions should be relaxed rather than the normal injection conditions, For example, when leakage occurs. Even when the second display unit A151 is not a touch panel, if the second display unit A151 is provided with an appropriate operation switch, the injection condition is set and / or changed by operating the operation switch. be able to.

The second display unit A151 is preferably arranged in the vicinity of the injection head 110, particularly in the examination room. For example, the second display unit A151 can be provided integrally with the injection head 110 or provided on a member that supports the injection head. Referring to FIG. 14A, an example of the second display unit A151 provided integrally with the injection head 110 is shown. On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 14B, the injection head 110 and the second display unit A151 are supported by the head support structure A158. The head support structure A158 may be a part of a known movable stand or a part of an articulated support arm assembly fixed to the ceiling. As shown in FIG. 14B, the support arm assembly 160 can include, for example, a base portion 161 fixed to the ceiling and an articulated arm portion 163 extending from the base portion 161. In the example shown in FIG. 14B, the second display unit A151 is attached to an intermediate portion of the arm portion 163 that extends in the vertical direction and to which the injection head 110 is attached at the lower end portion.

The second display unit A151 is connected to the head support structure A158 via the coupling mechanism A155. Although not particularly limited, the second display unit A151 may be positioned above the injection head 110 at a distance from the injection head 110. For example, the coupling mechanism A155 may hold the injection head 110 so that the injection head 110 can rotate around the vertical axis and / or the horizontal axis. The connection between the second display unit A151 and the injection head 110 and / or the console 101 may be a wired connection via a cable or a wireless connection.

According to the configuration as described above, the orientation of the second display unit A151 can be adjusted in a wide range in the vertical and horizontal directions regardless of the orientation of the injection head 110, so that the operator can adjust the second display unit A151. Will be easier to see. In addition, by disposing the second display unit A151 at a distance from the injection head 110, the second display unit A151 is disposed at an optimum position where the influence of noise on the injection head 110 and other devices is difficult. Can do. Furthermore, by making the second display unit A151 wirelessly connected, noise propagation through the cable can be prevented.

As shown in FIG. 15, the fluoroscopic imaging system, in addition to the chemical solution injection device 100 and the fluoroscopic imaging device 200, a heater 900 that warms the syringe 800 before use to a predetermined temperature, and a used and discarded unit. A disposal box 910 for storing the syringe 800 to be stored may be further included. The warmer 900 and the disposal box 910 may be devices independent of the chemical solution injection device 100 and the fluoroscopic imaging device 200, or may be connected to at least one of them via a network so that data communication is possible. . The heater 900 and the disposal box 910 may also be independent from each other or may be connected via a network so that data communication is possible. Each of the heater 900 and the disposal box 910 can include reader /

writers

902 and 912 for reading information recorded in the RFID tag 802 and writing information to the RFID tag 802. Information indicating that the RFID tag 802 of the syringe 800 is heated by the reader / writer 902 is recorded in the syringe 800 by being heated by the heater 900. In addition, when the used syringe 800 is stored in the disposal box 910, information indicating that the syringe 800 is discarded is recorded in the RFID tag 802 by 912.

The fluoroscopic imaging system may further include a chemical filling device 920. The chemical liquid filling device 920 is an apparatus that is equipped with an empty syringe that is not filled with a chemical liquid and that can be filled with the chemical liquid. The chemical solution filling device 920 may also be an independent device from the chemical solution injection device 100, the fluoroscopic imaging device 200, the warmer 900, and the disposal box 910, or connected to at least one of these devices via a network so that data communication is possible. May be. To the empty syringe, a chemical liquid container 930 such as a bag and a bottle containing a chemical liquid is connected so as to be in fluid communication with a tube or the like in a state where the piston is at the most advanced position. After the empty syringe and the chemical solution container 930 are connected, the empty syringe can be filled with the chemical solution by retracting the piston by the chemical solution filling device 920. It is preferable that an RFID tag as a data carrier is attached to the empty syringe. In the following description, the empty syringe is described as being the syringe 800 before being filled with the chemical solution to which the RFID tag 802 is attached.

The chemical solution container 930 is also equipped with an RFID tag 932 as a data carrier. The RFID tag 932 relates to a chemical solution such as the type, content, pharmaceutical manufacturer, product number, viscosity, expiration date, iodine content per unit contrast agent amount when the chemical solution is a contrast agent. Information is recorded as data. The chemical filling device 920 includes a reader 922 a that can read data from the RFID tag 932 and a writer 922 b that can write data to the RFID tag 802 attached to the syringe 800.

In the configuration as described above, when the chemical solution is filled into the syringe 800 from the chemical solution container 930 using the chemical solution filling device 920, the data recorded in the RFID tag 932 attached to the chemical solution container 930 is read by the reader 922a. The chemical liquid filling device 920 includes a storage device such as a memory, and the read data is temporarily stored in the storage device. Next, the operator sets a filling amount in the chemical liquid filling device 920 and operates the chemical liquid filling device 920.

Thus, the syringe 800 is filled with the set amount of the chemical solution. The filling amount can be set according to a predetermined operation procedure of the chemical liquid filling device 920. After filling the chemical solution, the writer 922b writes the filling amount and filling date / time of the chemical solution in the RFID tag 802 of the syringe 800 together with the data temporarily stored in the storage device. As described above, the syringe 800 is filled with the chemical solution, and data related to the filled chemical solution is recorded in the RFID tag 802.

Note that the RFID tag 802 may have data relating to the syringe as described above recorded in advance. In addition, the reader 922a that reads data from the RFID tag 932 of the chemical container 930 can be a reader / writer that can also write data. In this case, the current internal volume (remaining amount) obtained by subtracting the filling amount from the internal volume before filling stored in the chemical solution container 930 can be written in the RFID tag 932. The remaining amount can be calculated by a CPU included in the chemical liquid filling device 920.

The injection control unit 150 has a current time counting function as described above. By using this, the filling date and time recorded in the RFID tag 802 is read by the RFID module 166 (see FIG. 6), and the current date and time measured by the time counting function and the read filling date and time are indicated by the injection control unit 150 ( As a result, if the current date and time is after a predetermined period from the filling date and time, that is, if the expiration date is exceeded, the injection control unit 150 performs processing for preventing injection of the chemical solution. Can be. The process for preventing the injection of the chemical liquid includes, for example, disabling the operation of the piston drive mechanism 140 (see FIG. 6) and that the expiry date of the chemical liquid has exceeded the display unit 154 (see FIG. 6). And a warning by sound or voice from a sounding unit (not shown) such as a buzzer. Although the expiration date of the chemical solution is set in advance in the injection control unit 150, the operator can arbitrarily change the set expiration date. Thus, the safety of the injected contrast agent can be ensured by managing the filling date and time of the drug solution.

Each medical device constituting the fluoroscopic imaging system, such as the chemical liquid injection device 100, the fluoroscopic imaging device 200, the heater 900, the disposal box 910, and the chemical liquid filling device 920, may be connected to a medical network. Thereby, it is possible to easily store and track the history of treatments for the subject, the usage history of the drug solution, the usage history of the syringe and the like.

In addition, at least the drug solution injection device 100 and the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 may be connected to a medical network. Thereby, the injection result including the injection speed, the injection time, the injection amount, and the injection graph of the chemical injected by the chemical injection device 100, and the imaging conditions by the fluoroscopic imaging device 200 (imaging time, when the imaging device is a CT device) Tube voltage, etc.) can be stored as injection data in a fluoroscopic imaging device, RIS (radiology information system), PACS (medical image storage management system), HIS (hospital information system), etc. through a medical network. Thereby, the stored injection data is used for management of injection history. In particular, the injection amount or the like can be recorded in the chart information as a used chemical solution or used for accounting. In addition, physical information such as the body weight of the subject, ID, name, examination site, and examination method can be acquired from RIS, PACS, HIS, etc., and displayed on the drug solution injector, and injection can be performed accordingly. Such information and data acquired from the RFID tag 802 by the RFID module 166 may be transmitted from the chemical injection device 100 to the RIS, PACKS, HIS, or the like via the fluoroscopic imaging device 200, or from the chemical injection device 100. It may be transmitted directly to RIS, PACKS, HIS or the like.

Moreover, the filling amount of the chemical solution by the chemical solution filling device 920 can be an injection amount of the chemical solution to the subject. By doing so, the filled chemical can be used without waste. The injection amount can be calculated using a calculation formula that takes into account factors such as physical characteristics such as the body weight of the subject, imaging region and imaging time, or a value can be directly determined by a doctor or the like. The above-mentioned factors used for calculating the injection amount or the value of the injection amount determined by a doctor or the like can be input by the operator, or RIS, HIS, PACS, external server connected via a network or a direct line It can also be obtained from an external database such as a cloud. By obtaining the factor used for calculating the injection amount from an external database, it is possible to prevent an input error by the operator.

Calculation of the injection amount using the calculation formula is executed by the injection control unit 150. The function of the injection control unit 150 may be any of arbitrary computer devices such as various control circuits included in the chemical solution injection device, the fluoroscopic imaging device, and the chemical solution filling device. That is, the injection amount of the chemical liquid can be calculated by any other computer device, not the chemical liquid injection apparatus. In addition, the function of the console control circuit is provided in any other computer device instead of the chemical solution injection device, so that not only the injection amount of the chemical solution but also the injection protocol with parameters such as injection speed and injection time as parameters Can be created on the device.

The filling of the chemical solution into the empty syringe can be substituted with the chemical solution injection device 100. Thereby, a chemical | medical solution filling apparatus can be made unnecessary. When the empty syringe is filled with the drug solution using the drug solution injection device 100, the presser 112 is a claw or hook for detachably holding the flange formed at the piston end of the empty syringe attached to the injection head 110. Has a flange holding structure. The flange holding structure holds the flange of the piston, and the syringe 112 is retracted while the syringe is connected to the chemical solution container 930, whereby the chemical solution in the chemical solution container 930 can be filled into the syringe.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Chemical solution injection device 101 Console 103 Touch panel 112 Presser 110 Injection head 121 Stand 140 Piston drive mechanism 150 Injection control part 152 Imaging control part 153 Electromagnetic wave irradiation device 154 Display unit 156 Input unit 164 RFID control circuit 165 Antenna 166 RFID module 200 Transparent imaging device 600 Adapter 800 Syringe 802 RFID tag

Claims

When imaging an image using a fluoroscopic imaging device having an electromagnetic wave irradiator, a chemical solution injection device for injecting a contrast medium prior to imaging an image,
An injection head to which a plurality of syringes are detachably mounted, the plurality of syringes including a contrast medium syringe and a physiological saline syringe, for operating a piston of the contrast medium syringe An injection head comprising: a first piston drive mechanism; and a second piston drive mechanism for operating a piston of the physiological saline syringe;
At least one data input interface for accepting data input;
Using the data input via the data input interface, the injection amount and injection speed of the contrast medium and the physiological saline are obtained, and the first piston drive mechanism and the injection speed are determined according to the obtained injection amount and injection speed. An injection control unit for controlling the operation of the second piston drive mechanism,
The injection control unit includes:
The injection amount and the injection speed of the contrast agent in the case of injecting only the contrast agent are obtained, and the setting value for the irradiation intensity of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the electromagnetic wave irradiator of the fluoroscopic imaging device at the time of imaging is different from the specific setting value In this case, the obtained contrast medium injection amount and injection rate are reduced at a predetermined ratio determined in accordance with the set value, and the reduced amount is obtained as the physiological saline injection amount and injection rate. The chemical injection device.
2. The chemical injection device according to claim 1, wherein the injection control unit is configured to simultaneously operate the first piston drive mechanism and the second piston drive mechanism in accordance with the obtained injection amount and injection speed. .
The injection control unit obtains the injection amount and the injection speed of the contrast agent by using the body weight of the subject, the contrast enhancer content per unit amount of the contrast agent, the contrast enhancer amount per body weight of the subject and the injection time as data. The chemical | medical solution injection device of Claim 1 or 2.
The contrast agent syringe is equipped with an RFID tag in which at least the contrast enhancer content per unit amount of the contrast agent and the contrast enhancer amount per body weight of the subject are recorded as data,
The chemical injection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the injection head further includes an RFID reader that acquires data from the RFID tag as one of the data input interfaces.
One of the data input interfaces has an input unit configured to accept an input operation by an operator,
The injection controller is
A plurality of set values and a table storing a ratio of the contrast medium and the physiological saline corresponding to each set value;
Allowing the input unit to accept data input so that one of the set values is selected;
The ratio corresponding to the selected set value is read from the table, and using the read ratio, the injection amount and injection speed of the contrast medium are reduced, and the injection amount and injection speed of the physiological saline are calculated. ,
The chemical injection device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
A fluoroscopic imaging device having an electromagnetic wave irradiator;
A plurality of syringes including a contrast agent syringe and a saline syringe;
An injection head to which a plurality of syringes are detachably mounted, the first piston driving mechanism for operating the piston of the contrast medium syringe, and the piston of the physiological saline syringe An injection head comprising: a second piston drive mechanism;
At least one data input interface for accepting data input;
Using the data input via the data input interface, the injection amount and injection speed of the contrast medium and the physiological saline are obtained, and the first piston drive mechanism and the injection speed are determined according to the obtained injection amount and injection speed. An injection control unit for controlling the operation of the second piston drive mechanism,
The injection controller is
The injection amount and the injection speed of the contrast agent in the case of injecting only the contrast agent are obtained, and the setting value for the irradiation intensity of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the electromagnetic wave irradiator of the fluoroscopic imaging device at the time of imaging is different from the specific setting value In this case, the obtained contrast medium injection amount and injection rate are reduced at a predetermined ratio determined in accordance with the set value, and the reduced amount is obtained as the physiological saline injection amount and injection rate. A fluoroscopic imaging system.
The fluoroscopic imaging system according to claim 6, wherein the injection control unit is configured to simultaneously operate the first piston drive mechanism and the second piston drive mechanism in accordance with the obtained injection amount and injection speed.
The injection control unit obtains the injection amount and the injection speed of the contrast agent by using the body weight of the subject, the contrast enhancer content per unit amount of the contrast agent, the contrast enhancer amount per body weight of the subject and the injection time as data. The fluoroscopic imaging system according to claim 6 or 7.
The contrast agent syringe is equipped with an RFID tag in which at least the contrast enhancer content per unit amount of the contrast agent and the contrast enhancer amount per body weight of the subject are recorded as data,
The fluoroscopic imaging system according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the injection head further includes an RFID reader that acquires data from the RFID tag as one of the data input interfaces.
One of the data input interfaces has an input unit configured to accept an input operation by an operator,
The injection control unit includes:
A plurality of set values and a table storing a ratio of the contrast medium and the physiological saline corresponding to each set value;
Allowing the input unit to accept data input so that one of the set values is selected;
The ratio corresponding to the selected set value is read from the table, and using the read ratio, the injection amount and injection speed of the contrast medium are reduced, and the injection amount and injection speed of the physiological saline are calculated. ,
The fluoroscopic imaging system according to any one of claims 6 to 9.
The fluoroscopic imaging system according to any one of claims 6 to 10, wherein the syringe is a prefilled type or a field filling type syringe.
The fluoroscopic imaging system according to any one of claims 6 to 11, wherein the syringe has a flange formed at an end of a cylinder and has a notch on an outer periphery of the flange.
When imaging an image using a fluoroscopic imaging apparatus having an electromagnetic wave irradiator, a contrast medium syringe and a physiological saline solution are used to inject at least a contrast medium and a physiological saline prior to image capture. A plurality of syringes including a first syringe drive mechanism, a first piston drive mechanism for operating a piston of the contrast medium syringe, and a first piston for operating the piston of the saline syringe. 2 is a control method of a chemical liquid injection device comprising: a piston drive mechanism; and an injection control unit that controls operations of the first piston drive mechanism and the second piston drive mechanism,
The injection control unit obtaining an injection amount and an injection speed of the contrast agent when injecting only the contrast agent using predetermined data; and
When the setting value for the irradiation intensity of the electromagnetic wave irradiated from the electromagnetic irradiation generator of the fluoroscopic imaging device at the time of imaging is different from the specific setting value, the injection control unit calculates the determined contrast agent injection amount and injection speed. , Reducing the amount at a predetermined ratio determined according to the set value, and obtaining the reduced amount as the infusion amount and infusion rate of the physiological saline;
A method for controlling a chemical liquid injector.
When the injection control unit injects only the contrast agent according to the obtained injection amount and injection speed of the contrast agent and physiological saline, the first piston drive mechanism is operated, and the set value is specified. 14. The method for controlling a chemical injection device according to claim 13, further comprising the step of simultaneously operating the first piston driving mechanism and the second piston driving mechanism when the irradiation intensity value is different from the irradiation intensity value.
The control of the chemical injection device according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the predetermined data includes a subject's body weight, a contrast enhancer content per unit amount of contrast agent, a contrast enhancer amount per subject weight, and an injection time. Method.
When imaging an image using a fluoroscopic imaging apparatus having an electromagnetic wave irradiator, a contrast medium syringe and a physiological saline solution are used to inject at least a contrast medium and a physiological saline prior to image capture. A plurality of syringes including a first syringe drive mechanism, a first piston drive mechanism for operating a piston of the contrast medium syringe, and a first piston for operating the piston of the saline syringe. A computer program for a chemical injection device comprising two piston drive mechanisms,
Obtaining an injection amount and an injection speed of the contrast agent when injecting only the contrast agent using predetermined data; and
When the setting value for the irradiation intensity of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the electromagnetic wave irradiator of the fluoroscopic imaging device at the time of imaging is different from the specific irradiation intensity value, the determined contrast medium injection amount and injection speed are determined according to the setting value. Reducing the amount at a predetermined ratio determined, and determining the reduced amount as the infusion amount and infusion rate of the physiological saline;
A computer program for causing a chemical injection device to execute.
When only the contrast medium is injected according to the determined injection amount and injection speed of the contrast medium and physiological saline, the first piston drive mechanism is operated, and the set value is different from the specific set value. The computer program for making the chemical injection device of Claim 16 perform further in the case further having the step which operates the said 1st piston drive mechanism and a 2nd piston drive mechanism simultaneously.
The computer of the chemical injection device according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the predetermined data includes a subject's body weight, a contrast enhancer content per unit amount of contrast medium, a contrast enhancer amount per body weight of the subject, and an injection time. program.