Radiant energy – Source with recording detector – Using a stimulable phosphor
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-07
2003-04-15
Hannaher, Constantine (Department: 2878)
Radiant energy
Source with recording detector
Using a stimulable phosphor
Reexamination Certificate
active
06548823
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for reading a medical image obtained through radiographing of a subject.
Radiographic images obtained by using X-rays are commonly used as a medical image for diagnoses of a disease. There have been used widely the so-called radiographs which are obtained by applying X-rays transmitted through a subject to a phosphor layer (a fluorescent screen) to produce visible rays, by applying the visible rays to a film employing silver halide in the same way as in the ordinary photography and by developing the film to obtain the radiographic images.
In recent years, however, there have been developed methods wherein images are taken out of a phosphor layer without using a film coated with silver halide. These methods are represented by a method wherein radiations transmitted through a subject are absorbed in a phosphor, then, the phosphor is excited by light or heat energies, for example, so that radiation energies accumulated in the phosphor through the aforesaid absorption may be made to radiate as fluorescence (luminescence), and this fluorescence is converted photoelectrically to obtain image signals.
To be concrete, U.S. Pat. No. 3,859,527 and TOKKAISHO No. 55-12144 disclose a method for converting radiographic images wherein a stimulant phosphor is used and visible rays or infrared rays are used as stimulating and exciting light. This method is one wherein a radiographic image conversion panel in which a stimulant phosphor layer is formed on a support is used, radiations transmitted through a subject are applied to the stimulant phosphor layer of the conversion panel to accumulate radiation energies corresponding to radiation transmittance of each region of the subject to form a latent image, and then, the stimulant layer is scanned by the stimulating and exciting light to make the accumulated radiation energies to radiate to be converted into light, and this light signal is converted photoelectrically to obtain a radiographic image signal.
The radiographic image signal thus obtained is outputted on a silver halide film or on CRT as it is or after being subjected to image processing, to be visualized or filed in an electronic filing device.
(First Problem)
Even in the case of urgent radiographing, it is necessary to input order information such as names of regions to be radiographed and image processing conditions about regions to be radiographed before radiographing. Namely, order information such as regions to be radiographed is decided in advance because a level of a signal recorded in a film varies depending on a region to be radiographed, and thereby, reading and image processing are executed at an appropriate signal level from the film. Incidentally, there has been required a long time before the start of actual radiographing, because of necessity to input order information before radiographing. In a medical service site, in particular, there is an occasion where urgent radiographing is required, depending on conditions of a patient, and it is important for an apparatus handling medical images to be capable of coping with urgent rediographing.
There will be explained in detail as follows.
When radiographing in a hospital, a region to be radiographed varies for each radiographing in many cases. For example, there are many cases wherein regions to be radiographed on a body are changed in succession for each radiographing, such as radiographing a chest region after raadiographing an abdominal region. It is usually necessary to optimize a size of radiographing and image processing for each region to obtain optimum image quality and radiographing time. For example, reading conditions and image processing in radiographing of viscera in an abdominal region are greatly different from those in radiographing of thorax bones.
In the case of a patient in emergency, however, radiographing that requires less time and labor of inputting at the sacrifice of optimum size and image processing is preferred, because it is necessary to hurry up. The reason for the foregoing is that operations of several times are needed for inputting the contents stated above.
There is further available a radiographic image system wherein a cassette that houses therein a film is used to radiograph with a radiographing device and a reader is used for reading. In the case of this radiographic image system, when a plurality of cassettes are used, order information input, radiographing and reading are conducted in this order, but radiographing and reading are conducted in a separate apparatus, which results in a problem that correspondence between each cassette and each radiographing is not clear.
In other words, when radiographing by the use of an Xray detection plate housed in a cassette, it is necessary to store the relationship between information of the region radiographed by a radiographer and a cassette housing the plate, until the image that is read through image reading is related with region information concerning the region radiographed, the plate subjected to X-ray exposure is not subjected to image reading as it is. Further, when a plate is registered in advance for the region to be radiographed, it is necessary to store until radiographing of the region to be radiographed and image reading thereof are completed.
However, when a change of image reading conditions for the region to be radiographed is not important, the necessity to input in advance the relationship between the region to be radiographed and a plate, or between the region to be radiographed and a cassette housing therein the plate is low. Therefore, there are some cases where no inputting is desirable from the viewpoint of efficiency.
Further, in some cases in a hospital, doctors in charge take turns depending on a time zone, such as a day of the week, the forenoon and the afternoon. For example, there is a case where doctor A in the internal department takes charge of the most part of chest regions, while doctor B in the department of surgery takes charge of the most part of lumbar vertebrae and appendicular skeleton. In this case, frequency of regions to be radiographed varies depending on the doctor. Therefore, by changing the order of regions to be radiographed on the display screen that is for selecting a region to be radiographed for each day of the week and each time zone, an operator can select the region to be radiographed easily.
(Second Problem)
In the case of radiographing for radiographic images and reading of images obtained through radiographing, it is necessary for an operator to input operation procedures concerning the radiographing and reading from an operation section.
On the conventional apparatus in general, there is provided an input means that is composed of a detection means such as a touch panel which detects key input and of a display means such as a display in which a touch panel is pasted on the surface for conducting key display corresponding to an input position for key input of the detection means.
Thus, radiographing and reading are executed by the apparatus in accordance with operation procedures inputted by the aforesaid input means.
Incidentally, display of key is in a single color in general, and its arrangement has been specific to the apparatus. Or, the key arrangement has been one established for the apparatus by an operator or a serviceman in advance.
In such a case, it sometimes happens that body parts examined (regions) to be radiographed (head region, neck region, chest region, abdominal region, backbone, upper limb, lower limb, . . . ) for example, amount to 200 types or more. Therefore, one screen is not enough to display, and it has been necessary to search the desired region by advancing pages and thereby by switching screens. Accordingly, operations are complicated, and a long time has been required for searching the desired region and deciding it. Further, it can also be considered to display on one screen on a tabulated and thumbnailed display basis, which, however, is not easy to use.
In addition, for other items wh
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