JP2011185800A - Radiographic image photographing apparatus and radiographic image photographing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a radiographic image photographing apparatus capable of generating a radiation image without contrast based on acquired image data. <P>SOLUTION: Concerning a radiation detection element 7 connected to a scanning line 5 other than a scanning line 5 to which a voltage for data reading out is applied during irradiation of a radiation, a control device 22 of this radiographic image photographing apparatus 1 selects data D read out in the first place after finish of irradiation of the radiation among each data D read out from the radiation detection element 7. Concerning a radiation detection element 7 connected to the scanning line 5 to which the voltage for data reading out is applied during irradiation of the radiation, the control device 22 selects and adds data D read out during irradiation of the radiation and data D read out in the next frame among each data D read out from the radiation detection element 7, and generates a radiation image p based on the selected data D and the selected and added data D. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a radiographic image capturing apparatus and a radiographic image capturing system, and more particularly to a radiographic image capturing apparatus that performs readout processing even during radiation irradiation and a radiographic image capturing system using the same.

  A so-called direct type radiographic imaging device that generates electric charges by a detection element in accordance with the dose of irradiated radiation such as X-rays and converts it into an electrical signal, or other radiation such as visible light with a scintillator or the like. Various types of so-called indirect radiographic imaging devices have been developed that convert charges into electromagnetic signals after they have been converted into electromagnetic waves of a wavelength, and then generated by photoelectric conversion elements such as photodiodes in accordance with the energy of the converted and irradiated electromagnetic waves. Yes. In the present invention, the detection element in the direct type radiographic imaging apparatus and the photoelectric conversion element in the indirect type radiographic imaging apparatus are collectively referred to as a radiation detection element.

  This type of radiographic imaging apparatus is known as an FPD (Flat Panel Detector), and conventionally formed integrally with a support base (or a bucky apparatus) (see, for example, Patent Document 1). A portable radiographic imaging device in which an element or the like is housed in a housing has been developed and put into practical use (see, for example, Patent Documents 2 and 3).

  In such a radiographic imaging apparatus, for example, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7 to be described later, the radiation detection elements 7 are usually arranged in a two-dimensional form (matrix) on the detection unit P, and each radiation detection element 7 is arranged. Further, switch means each formed of a thin film transistor (hereinafter referred to as TFT) 8 is provided. Then, before the radiation image is taken, that is, before the radiation image taking device is irradiated with radiation from the radiation generating device, excessive charge remaining in each radiation detecting element 7 is released while appropriately controlling the on / off of the TFT 8. In many cases, the reset process is performed.

  Then, after the reset processing of each radiation detection element 7 is completed, radiation is generated in a state where all the TFTs 8 are turned off by applying an off voltage to the TFTs 8 through the scanning lines 6 from the gate drivers 15b of the scanning driving means 15. When radiation is irradiated from the apparatus to the radiographic imaging apparatus, a charge corresponding to the radiation dose is generated in each radiation detection element 7 and accumulated in each radiation detection element 7.

  Then, after the radiographic image is captured, the lines L1 to Lx of the scanning line 5 to which the on-voltage for signal readout is applied from the gate driver 15b of the scanning driving unit 15 are sequentially switched and accumulated from the radiation detecting elements 7 in the inside. In many cases, the read charge is read out, and is read out as image data by charge-voltage conversion by the read-out circuit 17.

  However, in the case of such a configuration, an interface between the radiographic imaging device and the radiation generation device is accurately constructed, and the radiographic imaging device side accumulates charges in each radiation detection element 7 when radiation is irradiated. Although it is necessary to be ready, it is not always easy to construct an interface between devices. If radiation is irradiated while the radiation imaging apparatus side is performing reset processing of each radiation detection element 7, the charges generated by the radiation flow out from each radiation detection element 7, and irradiation is performed. There has been a problem that the charge of the emitted radiation, that is, the conversion efficiency into image data is lowered.

  Therefore, in recent years, various techniques for detecting that radiation has been irradiated by the radiographic imaging apparatus itself have been developed. As a part of those techniques, for example, using the techniques described in Patent Document 4 and Patent Document 5, it is considered that the radiation imaging apparatus itself detects radiation irradiation.

  In Patent Documents 4 and 5, before the start of radiation irradiation to the radiographic imaging apparatus, for example, as shown in FIG. A radiographic imaging apparatus that repeatedly reads out image data from the radiation detection element 7 while sequentially switching each of the lines L1 to Lx, and continuously reads out the image data while radiation is being applied. And a method for reading out image data.

  Then, when the period for reading out each image data from all the radiation detection elements 7 arranged on the detection unit P is one frame, the frame next to the frame from which the radiation irradiation has ended to the frame from which the radiation irradiation has started. A technique for reconstructing image data for each radiation detection element 7 by adding the image data read for each frame up to each radiation detection element 7 is disclosed.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 15, the gate driver 15b starts to apply the on-voltage to each scanning line 5 in order from the uppermost scanning line 5 in the figure, and thereafter the scanning line 5 to which the on-voltage is applied. In the process of reading out image data from each radiation detection element 7 for each frame, which is performed while sequentially switching and applying in the downward direction in the figure, for example, the scanning line 5 of the portion ΔT indicated by hatching in FIG. It is assumed that radiation is irradiated and irradiation is completed while the on-voltage is sequentially applied.

  In this case, not the image data read from each radiation detection element 7 in the first frame, which is a frame irradiated with radiation, but the image data read from each radiation detection element 7 in the next second frame. By adding to the image data of the first frame, the image data for each radiation detection element 7 is reconstructed.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 17, when radiation irradiation is performed across frames, image data read from each radiation detection element 7 in the first frame where radiation irradiation is started and radiation irradiation are performed. The image data read from each radiation detection element 7 in the completed second frame and the image data read from each radiation detection element 7 in the next third frame are added to each radiation detection element. The image data for every 7 is reconstructed.

  16 and 17 do not indicate that radiation is applied only to the portion ΔT indicated by hatching, and the ON voltage is sequentially applied from the uppermost scanning line 5 as shown in FIG. This indicates that when reading processing is performed while switching the scanning line 5 to be applied, radiation is irradiated while the ON voltage is sequentially applied to the scanning line 5 of the portion ΔT indicated by hatching. Is irradiated over the entire area of the detection unit P.

  Then, each radiation detection element 7 connected to the scanning line 5 to which the on-voltage is applied from the gate driver 15b of the scanning driving means 15 while the radiation imaging apparatus is irradiated with radiation is turned on before that. Image data having a significantly larger value than the data read from each radiation detection element 7 connected to the scanning line 5 to which the voltage is applied is read. By utilizing this, the value of the electric charge read from each radiation detection element 7 is monitored, so that the radiation image capturing apparatus itself can detect that the radiation image capturing apparatus has been irradiated with radiation.

JP-A-9-73144 JP 2006-058124 A JP-A-6-342099 JP-A-9-140691 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-72252

  However, in the studies by the present inventors, for example, when the detection unit P of the radiographic imaging device is irradiated with radiation at the timing shown in FIG. 16, as described above, the first frame and the second frame are used. When the image data read for each of the radiation detection elements 7 is reconstructed by adding the respective image data read out in step, light and shade may appear in the radiation image generated based on the reconstructed image data. I understood.

  That is, for example, when the same dose of radiation is uniformly applied to the entire area of the detection unit P and at the timing shown in FIG. 16, the image data of the first frame and the second frame are added and re-executed. In the radiation image p generated based on the constructed image data, as shown in FIG. 18, at least an image region δT corresponding to the scanning line 5 to which the ON voltage is sequentially applied during irradiation with radiation (that is, FIG. 16). The image data value is slightly larger in the image area B below the image area δT than in the image area A above the image area corresponding to the shaded portion ΔT of FIG.

  This is not only the case where the same dose of radiation is uniformly applied to the entire detection unit P of the radiographic imaging apparatus, but also the radiographic imaging was performed by actually irradiating the radiographic imaging apparatus through the subject. Even in this case, shading appears in the similarly generated radiographic image. Then, when light and shade appear in the radiographic image generated in this way, the radiographic image becomes difficult to see.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and is based on image data obtained by a radiographic imaging apparatus that continuously performs data reading processing while radiation is being applied. It is an object of the present invention to provide a radiographic imaging apparatus capable of generating a non-radioscopic image and a radiographic imaging system using the same.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the radiographic imaging device of the present invention includes
A plurality of scanning lines and a plurality of signal lines arranged so as to intersect with each other; a plurality of radiation detecting elements arranged in a two-dimensional manner in each region partitioned by the plurality of scanning lines and the plurality of signal lines; A detector comprising:
Scanning drive means for applying the data reading voltage while sequentially switching the scanning lines during the reading process from the radiation detection element;
Switch means connected to each of the scanning lines and discharging the charge accumulated in the radiation detecting element to the signal line when the voltage for reading data is applied;
A readout circuit for converting the electric charge read out from the radiation detection element into data;
Control means for controlling at least the scanning drive means and the readout circuit to perform a readout process of the data from the radiation detection element;
With
When the period for reading out the data from all the radiation detection elements on the detection unit is one frame, the readout process for each frame from the radiation detection element is repeatedly performed, and the readout is performed at least when radiation is irradiated. Performing a read process for each frame for a predetermined number of frames including the frame being processed, obtaining the data for each radiation detection element for each frame,
The control means includes
For each of the radiation detection elements connected to the scanning line other than the scanning line to which the data reading voltage is applied while radiation is being applied, the data read from the radiation detection element After the irradiation of radiation is finished, select the data read first,
Regarding the radiation detection element connected to the scanning line to which the voltage for reading data is applied while radiation is being applied, radiation is included in the data read from the radiation detection element. Select and add the data read during irradiation and the data read in the next frame,
A radiographic image is generated based on the selected data and the selected and added data.

Moreover, the radiographic imaging system of the present invention is
A plurality of scanning lines and a plurality of signal lines arranged so as to intersect with each other; a plurality of radiation detecting elements arranged in a two-dimensional manner in each region partitioned by the plurality of scanning lines and the plurality of signal lines; A detector comprising:
Scanning drive means for applying the data reading voltage while sequentially switching the scanning lines during the reading process from the radiation detection element;
Switch means connected to each of the scanning lines and discharging the charge accumulated in the radiation detecting element to the signal line when the voltage for reading data is applied;
A readout circuit for converting the electric charge read out from the radiation detection element into data;
Control means for controlling at least the scanning drive means and the readout circuit to perform a readout process of the data from the radiation detection element;
Communication means for transmitting the data to an external device,
When the period for reading out the data from all the radiation detection elements on the detection unit is one frame, the readout process for each frame from the radiation detection element is repeatedly performed, and the readout is performed at least when radiation is irradiated. A radiographic imaging apparatus that performs a readout process for each of the frames for a predetermined number of frames including the frame that is being processed, and acquires the data for each of the radiation detection elements for each of the frames;
A console that generates a radiographic image based on the data for each of the radiation detection elements for each of the frames transmitted from the radiographic imaging device;
With
The console is
For each of the radiation detection elements connected to the scanning line other than the scanning line to which the data reading voltage is applied while radiation is being applied, the data read from the radiation detection element After the irradiation of radiation is finished, select the data read first,
Regarding the radiation detection element connected to the scanning line to which the voltage for reading data is applied while radiation is being applied, radiation is included in the data read from the radiation detection element. Select and add the data read during irradiation and the data read in the next frame,
A radiographic image is generated based on the selected data and the selected and added data.

  According to the radiographic image capturing apparatus and radiographic image capturing system of the system of the present invention, in a frame next to a frame from which data including true image data due to charges generated by radiation irradiation is read, In other words, so-called unread data is read out, but the unread data is excluded without being added to the data including the true image data caused by the charge generated by the irradiation of radiation.

  For this reason, it is possible to prevent the light and shade appearing by adding or not adding the unread data from appearing on the radiographic image, and it is possible to generate a radiographic image having no light and shade.

It is a perspective view which shows the radiographic imaging apparatus which concerns on each embodiment. It is sectional drawing which follows the XX line in FIG. It is a top view which shows the structure of the board | substrate of a radiographic imaging apparatus. It is an enlarged view which shows the structure of the radiation detection element, TFT, etc. which were formed in the small area | region on the board | substrate of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the YY line in FIG. It is a side view explaining the board | substrate with which COF, a PCB board | substrate, etc. were attached. It is a block diagram showing the equivalent circuit of a radiographic imaging apparatus. It is a block diagram showing the equivalent circuit about 1 pixel which comprises a detection part. It is a timing chart which shows the timing which switches the voltage applied to each scanning line between read-out processing between ON voltage and OFF voltage. It is a timing chart which shows the timing which switches the voltage applied to each scanning line between ON voltage and OFF voltage in the reset process of each radiation detection element. It is a timing chart which shows the example of the timing which a radiation is irradiated in the case of the read-out process of the data from each radiation detection element. It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the radiographic imaging system which concerns on each embodiment. (A) It is a figure showing the extending direction of the signal line | wire of a radiographic image, (B) The difference (DELTA) D of the data D in each image area, the data of image area A, B, and the increase (delta) D in image area (delta) T are shown. It is a graph to represent. It is a graph explaining that there is no shading in the whole image area of a radiographic image. It is a figure explaining the read-out process of the image data from each radiation detection element for every frame. It is a figure showing that irradiation was completed while radiation was irradiated while an ON voltage was sequentially applied to the scanning line of the shaded part of the 1st frame. It is a figure showing that radiation was irradiated and irradiation was completed while an ON voltage was sequentially applied to the scanning line of the shaded part of the 1st frame and the 2nd frame. It is a figure explaining each image area | region of the radiographic image produced | generated when a radiation is irradiated like FIG.

  Embodiments of a radiographic imaging apparatus and a radiographic imaging system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  In the following description, the radiographic imaging device is a so-called indirect radiographic imaging device that includes a scintillator or the like and converts the irradiated radiation into electromagnetic waves of other wavelengths such as visible light to obtain an electrical signal. As will be described, the present invention can also be applied to a direct radiographic imaging apparatus. Although the case where the radiographic image capturing apparatus is portable will be described, the present invention is also applicable to a radiographic image capturing apparatus formed integrally with a support base or the like.

[First Embodiment]
[Radiation imaging equipment]
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the radiographic image capturing apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is configured by housing a scintillator 3, a substrate 4, and the like in a housing 2.

  The housing 2 is formed of a material such as a carbon plate or plastic that at least the radiation incident surface R transmits radiation. 1 and 2 show a case in which the housing 2 is a so-called lunch box type formed by the frame plate 2A and the back plate 2B. However, the housing 2 is integrally formed in a rectangular tube shape. It is also possible to use a so-called monocoque type.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the side surface of the housing 2 is opened and closed for replacement of a power switch 36, an indicator 37 composed of LEDs and the like, and a battery 41 (not shown) (see FIG. 7 described later). A possible lid member 38 and the like are arranged. In the present embodiment, the side surface portion of the lid member 38 is a communication means for transmitting and receiving data D and the like described later with an external device such as a console 58 (see FIG. 12) and the like in a wireless manner. An antenna device 39 is embedded.

  The installation position of the antenna device 39 is not limited to the side surface portion of the lid member 38, and the antenna device 39 can be installed at an arbitrary position of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1. The number of antenna devices 39 to be installed is not limited to one, and a plurality of antenna devices 39 may be provided. Furthermore, it is also possible to configure data D and the like to be transmitted and received with an external device in a wired manner. In that case, for example, as a communication means, a connection terminal for connecting by inserting a cable or the like Etc. are provided on the side surface of the radiation image capturing apparatus 1.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a base 31 is disposed inside the housing 2 via a lead thin plate (not shown) on the lower side of the substrate 4, and an electronic component 32 and the like are disposed on the base 31. The PCB substrate 33, the buffer member 34, and the like are attached. In the present embodiment, a glass substrate 35 for protecting the substrate 4 and the radiation incident surface R of the scintillator 3 is disposed.

  The scintillator 3 is attached to a detection unit P, which will be described later, of the substrate 4. As the scintillator 3, for example, a scintillator 3 that has a phosphor as a main component and converts it into an electromagnetic wave having a wavelength of 300 to 800 nm, that is, an electromagnetic wave centered on visible light when it receives incident radiation, is used.

  In the present embodiment, the substrate 4 is formed of a glass substrate. As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of scanning lines 5 and a plurality of signal lines are provided on a surface 4 a of the substrate 4 facing the scintillator 3. 6 are arranged so as to cross each other. In each small region r defined by the plurality of scanning lines 5 and the plurality of signal lines 6 on the surface 4 a of the substrate 4, radiation detection elements 7 are respectively provided.

  Thus, the entire region r in which a plurality of radiation detection elements 7 arranged in a two-dimensional manner are provided in each small region r partitioned by the scanning line 5 and the signal line 6, that is, shown by a one-dot chain line in FIG. The region is a detection unit P.

  In the present embodiment, a photodiode is used as the radiation detection element 7, but other than this, for example, a phototransistor or the like can also be used. Each radiation detection element 7 is connected to the source electrode 8s of the TFT 8 serving as a switch means, as shown in the enlarged views of FIGS. The drain electrode 8 d of the TFT 8 is connected to the signal line 6.

  The TFT 8 is turned on when a turn-on voltage is applied to the connected scanning line 5 by the scanning drive means 15 described later, and is applied to the gate electrode 8g, and is stored in the radiation detection element 7. The electric charge that is present is emitted to the signal line 6. Further, the TFT 8 is turned off when the off voltage is applied to the connected scanning line 5 and the off voltage is applied to the gate electrode 8g, and the emission of the charge from the radiation detecting element 7 to the signal line 6 is stopped. The electric charge is held and accumulated in the radiation detection element 7.

  Here, the structure of the radiation detection element 7 and the TFT 8 in this embodiment will be briefly described with reference to the cross-sectional view shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line YY in FIG.

A gate electrode 8g of a TFT 8 made of Al, Cr or the like is formed on the surface 4a of the substrate 4 so as to be integrally laminated with the scanning line 5, and silicon nitride (laminated on the gate electrode 8g and the surface 4a). The first electrode 74 of the radiation detecting element 7 is connected to the upper portion of the gate electrode 8g on the gate insulating layer 81 made of SiN _x ) or the like via the semiconductor layer 82 made of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si) or the like. The formed source electrode 8s and the drain electrode 8d formed integrally with the signal line 6 are laminated.

The source electrode 8s and the drain electrode 8d are divided by a first passivation layer 83 made of silicon nitride (SiN _x ) or the like, and the first passivation layer 83 covers both the electrodes 8s and 8d from above. In addition, ohmic contact layers 84a and 84b formed in an n-type by doping hydrogenated amorphous silicon with a group VI element are stacked between the semiconductor layer 82 and the source electrode 8s and the drain electrode 8d, respectively. The TFT 8 is formed as described above.

  In the radiation detecting element 7, an auxiliary electrode 72 is formed by laminating Al, Cr, or the like on the insulating layer 71 formed integrally with the gate insulating layer 81 on the surface 4 a of the substrate 4. A first electrode 74 made of Al, Cr, Mo or the like is laminated on the auxiliary electrode 72 with an insulating layer 73 formed integrally with the first passivation layer 83 interposed therebetween. The first electrode 74 is connected to the source electrode 8 s of the TFT 8 through the hole H formed in the first passivation layer 83.

  On the first electrode 74, an n layer 75 formed in an n-type by doping a hydrogenated amorphous silicon with a group VI element, an i layer 76 which is a conversion layer formed of hydrogenated amorphous silicon, and a hydrogenated amorphous A p layer 77 formed by doping a group III element into silicon and forming a p-type layer is formed by laminating sequentially from below.

  When radiation enters from the radiation incident surface R of the housing 2 of the radiographic imaging apparatus 1 and is converted into an electromagnetic wave such as visible light by the scintillator 3, and the converted electromagnetic wave is irradiated from above in the figure, the electromagnetic wave is detected by radiation. The electron hole pair is generated in the i layer 76 by reaching the i layer 76 of the element 7. In this way, the radiation detection element 7 converts the electromagnetic waves irradiated from the scintillator 3 into electric charges.

  On the p layer 77, a second electrode 78 made of a transparent electrode such as ITO is laminated and formed so that the irradiated electromagnetic wave reaches the i layer 76 and the like. In the present embodiment, the radiation detection element 7 is formed as described above. The order of stacking the p layer 77, the i layer 76, and the n layer 75 may be reversed. Further, in the present embodiment, a case where a so-called pin-type radiation detection element formed by sequentially stacking the p layer 77, the i layer 76, and the n layer 75 as described above is used as the radiation detection element 7. However, it is not limited to this.

A bias line 9 for applying a bias voltage to the radiation detection element 7 is connected to the upper surface of the second electrode 78 of the radiation detection element 7 via the second electrode 78. The second electrode 78 and the bias line 9 of the radiation detection element 7, the first electrode 74 extended to the TFT 8 side, the first passivation layer 83 of the TFT 8, that is, the upper surfaces of the radiation detection element 7 and the TFT 8 are A second passivation layer 79 made of silicon nitride (SiN _x ) or the like is covered from above.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in this embodiment, one bias line 9 is connected to a plurality of radiation detection elements 7 arranged in rows, and each bias line 9 is connected to a signal line 6. Are arranged in parallel with each other. Further, each bias line 9 is bound to the connection 10 at a position outside the detection portion P of the substrate 4.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, each scanning line 5, each signal line 6, and connection 10 of the bias line 9 are input / output terminals (also referred to as pads) provided near the edge of the substrate 4. 11 is connected. As shown in FIG. 6, each input / output terminal 11 has an anisotropic COF (Chip On Film) 12 in which a chip such as a gate IC 12a constituting a gate driver 15b of a scanning drive means 15 described later is incorporated on the film. They are connected via an anisotropic conductive adhesive material 13 such as an anisotropic conductive adhesive film or an anisotropic conductive paste.

  The COF 12 is routed to the back surface 4b side of the substrate 4 and connected to the PCB substrate 33 described above on the back surface 4b side. Thus, the board | substrate 4 part of the radiographic imaging apparatus 1 is formed. In FIG. 6, illustration of the electronic component 32 and the like is omitted.

  Here, the circuit configuration of the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 will be described. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an equivalent circuit of the radiographic imaging apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an equivalent circuit for one pixel constituting the detection unit P.

  As described above, each radiation detection element 7 of the detection unit P of the substrate 4 has the bias line 9 connected to the second electrode 78, and each bias line 9 is bound to the connection 10 to the bias power supply 14. It is connected. The bias power supply 14 applies a bias voltage to the second electrode 78 of each radiation detection element 7 via the connection 10 and each bias line 9. The bias power supply 14 is connected to a control means 22 described later, and the control means 22 controls the bias voltage applied to each radiation detection element 7 from the bias power supply 14.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, in this embodiment, it can be seen that the bias line 9 is connected via the second electrode 78 to the p-layer 77 side (see FIG. 5) of the radiation detection element 7. In addition, the bias power supply 14 supplies a voltage equal to or lower than a voltage applied to the second electrode 78 of the radiation detection element 7 via the bias line 9 as a bias voltage on the first electrode 74 side of the radiation detection element 7 (that is, a so-called reverse bias voltage). Is applied.

  The first electrode 74 of each radiation detection element 7 is connected to the source electrode 8s of the TFT 8 (indicated as S in FIGS. 7 and 8), and the gate electrode 8g of each TFT 8 (FIGS. 7 and 8). Are respectively connected to the lines L1 to Lx of the scanning line 5 extending from the gate driver 15b of the scanning driving means 15 to be described later. Further, the drain electrode 8 d (denoted as D in FIGS. 7 and 8) of each TFT 8 is connected to each signal line 6.

  The scanning drive means 15 is a power supply circuit 15a that supplies an on voltage and an off voltage to the gate driver 15b via the wiring 15c, and a voltage applied to each line L1 to Lx of the scanning line 5 between the on voltage and the off voltage. A gate driver 15b that switches between the on state and the off state of each TFT 8 is provided.

  When the scanning drive unit 15 receives a trigger signal from the control unit 22 (described later) during image read processing for reading out the data D from each radiation detection element 7, the scanning drive unit 15 receives each line L <b> 1 of the scanning line 5 from the gate driver 15 b. Switching between the on voltage and off voltage of the voltage applied to Lx is started.

  Specifically, in this embodiment, when the scanning drive unit 15 receives a trigger signal from the control unit 22 during the reading process of the data D from each radiation detection element 7, for example, as shown in FIG. The process of sequentially switching the lines L1 to Lx of the scanning line 5 for switching the voltage applied from the gate driver 15b between the on voltage (that is, the voltage for reading data) and the off voltage is repeated for each frame, Thus, data D is read out from each radiation detection element 7 connected to each of the lines L1 to Lx of the scanning line 5.

  In the following, as shown in FIG. 9, a period for reading data D from all the radiation detection elements 7 for one surface arranged two-dimensionally on the detection unit P (see FIGS. 3 and 7) is one frame. That's it.

  In addition, the reset of each radiation detection element 7 that discharges the charge remaining in each radiation detection element 7 before the data D is read from each radiation detection element 7 or until the next radiographic image is taken. It is also possible to configure to perform processing.

  When performing the reset processing of each radiation detection element 7, for example, the scanning drive unit 15 scans the voltage applied from the gate driver 15b between the on voltage and the off voltage, as shown in FIG. The lines L1 to Lx are sequentially switched to perform a reset process Rm for one surface, and the reset processing of each radiation detection element 7 is performed while repeatedly performing the reset process Rm for one surface as necessary. Is done.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, each signal line 6 is connected to each readout circuit 17 formed in the readout IC 16. In the present embodiment, the readout IC 16 is provided with one readout circuit 17 for each signal line 6.

  The readout circuit 17 includes an amplification circuit 18 and a correlated double sampling circuit 19. An analog multiplexer 21 and an A / D converter 20 are further provided in the reading IC 16. 7 and 8, the correlated double sampling circuit 19 is represented as CDS. In FIG. 8, the analog multiplexer 21 is omitted.

  In the present embodiment, the amplifier circuit 18 is configured by a charge amplifier circuit, and is configured by connecting a capacitor 18b and a charge reset switch 18c in parallel to the operational amplifier 18a and the operational amplifier 18a. In addition, a power supply unit 18 d for supplying power to the amplifier circuit 18 is connected to the amplifier circuit 18.

Further, the signal line 6 is connected to the inverting input terminal on the input side of the operational amplifier 18 a of the amplifier circuit 18, and the reference potential V ₀ is applied to the non-inverting input terminal on the input side of the amplifier circuit 18. ing. Note that the reference potential V ₀ is set to an appropriate value, and in this embodiment, for example, 0 [V] is applied.

  The charge reset switch 18 c of the amplifier circuit 18 is connected to the control means 22, and is turned on / off by the control means 22. If the charge reset switch 18c is turned off and the TFT 8 of the radiation detection element 7 is turned on at the time of reading data D from each radiation detection element 7, the charge accumulated in each radiation detection element 7 is turned on. Are emitted from each radiation detection element 7 to the signal line 6 via the TFT 8, and flow into the capacitor 18 b via the signal line 6 and are accumulated. A voltage value corresponding to the accumulated charge amount is output from the output side of the operational amplifier 18a.

  In this way, the amplifier circuit 18 outputs a voltage value according to the amount of charge output from each radiation detection element 7 and converts the charge voltage. When the charge reset switch 18c is turned on, the input side and the output side of the amplifier circuit 18 are short-circuited, and the charge accumulated in the capacitor 18b is discharged to reset the amplifier circuit 18. ing. Note that the amplifier circuit 18 may be configured to output a current in accordance with the charge output from the radiation detection element 7.

  A correlated double sampling circuit (CDS) 19 is connected to the output side of the amplifier circuit 18. In this embodiment, the correlated double sampling circuit 19 has a sample and hold function. The sample and hold function in the correlated double sampling circuit 19 is turned on / off by a pulse signal transmitted from the control means 22. To be controlled.

  Then, the control means 22 controls the amplification circuit 18 and the correlated double sampling circuit 19 in the process of reading the data D from each radiation detection element 7 to amplify the charges emitted from each radiation detection element 7. The voltage value converted by the charge voltage 18 is sampled by the correlated double sampling circuit 19 and output as data D downstream.

  Data D of each radiation detection element 7 output from the correlated double sampling circuit 19 is transmitted to the analog multiplexer 21 (see FIG. 7), and is sequentially transmitted from the analog multiplexer 21 to the A / D converter 20. The A / D converter 20 sequentially converts the data into digital value data D, outputs it to the storage means 40, and sequentially stores it.

  The control means 22 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), an input / output interface connected to the bus, an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or the like (not shown). It is configured. It may be configured by a dedicated control circuit. And the control means 22 controls operation | movement etc. of each member of the radiographic imaging apparatus 1. Further, as shown in FIG. 7 and the like, the control means 22 is connected with a storage means 40 constituted by a DRAM (Dynamic RAM) or the like.

  In the present embodiment, the above-described antenna device 39 is connected to the control unit 22, and each member such as the detection unit P, the scanning drive unit 15, the readout circuit 17, the storage unit 40, the bias power supply 14, and the like. A battery 41 for supplying electric power is connected. The battery 41 is provided with a connection terminal 42 for charging the battery 41 by supplying power to the battery 41 from a charging device (not shown) such as a cradle.

  As described above, the control means 22 controls the bias power supply 14 to set a bias voltage to be applied to each radiation detection element 7 from the bias power supply 14, or the charge reset switch 18 c of the amplification circuit 18 of the readout circuit 17. Various processes such as on / off control and transmission of a pulse signal to the correlated double sampling circuit 19 to control on / off of the sample hold function are executed.

  Next, a process for reading data D from each radiation detection element 7, a process for detecting the start and end of radiation irradiation on the radiation image capturing apparatus 1, and the like will be described.

  In the present embodiment, the control means 22 is configured to press the power switch 36 (see FIG. 1) of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 before the radiographic image capture, or to change the radiographic image capture apparatus 1 to the awake state, When a signal to start reading data D from each radiation detecting element 7 is received from the console 58, the data D reading processing from each radiation detecting element 7 is sent to the scanning drive unit 15 at that time. A trigger signal for starting is transmitted.

  Further, the control means 22 controls on / off of the charge reset switch 18c of the amplifier circuit 18 of the readout circuit 17, or transmits a pulse signal to the correlated double sampling circuit 19, so that each radiation detection element 7 Data D is read out. In the present embodiment, the process of reading data D from each radiation detection element 7 also serves as a reset process for releasing extra charges from each radiation detection element 7. As described above, the reset processing of each radiation detection element 7 may be performed separately before starting the D reading processing.

  In the present embodiment, in this way, the process of reading data D from each radiation detection element 7 is started before the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 is irradiated with radiation. Therefore, in each frame immediately after the start of the data D reading process, dark charges generated in each radiation detection element 7 not irradiated with radiation are read as data D.

The data D corresponding to these dark charges is the data D read out after the radiation imaging apparatus 1 is irradiated with radiation, that is, the true image data d ^* caused by the charges generated in the radiation detecting element 7 by the radiation irradiation. It can be used as an offset correction value O for calculating true image data d ^* after being subtracted from data D (that is, so-called image data) equal to the sum of the data corresponding to dark charges.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the control unit 22 does not discard each data D read from each radiation detection element 7 for each frame immediately after the data D reading process is started as extra data D. The offset correction value O is stored in the storage means 40 for each frame.

  However, it is not necessary to save all the offset correction values O for each frame after the reading process of the data D from each radiation detection element 7 is started. There are also restrictions such as the storage capacity of the storage means 40. Therefore, in this embodiment, the number of frames for storing the data D in the storage unit 40 is set in advance.

  And the control means 22 repeats the reading process of the data D from each radiation detection element 7 as mentioned above, and the data D (in this case offset) of each radiation detection element 7 for the frame number set beforehand. When the correction value O) is stored in the storage unit 40, the data D of each subsequent frame is sequentially overwritten on the data D of the past frame in order from the frame in which the data D is first stored. It is like that.

  On the other hand, the control means 22 reads out the data D from each radiation detection element 7 as described above and saves it in the storage means 40, and at the same time, based on the value of the read data D, the radiation for the radiographic imaging apparatus 1 The start and end of irradiation are detected.

  At the timing shown in FIG. 9, when the data D is read from each radiation detection element 7 while the on-voltage is applied to each line L1 to Lx of the scanning line 5 from the gate driver 15b of the scanning drive unit 15. In addition, it is assumed that radiation is irradiated at the timing as shown in FIG. 11 in the m-th frame, for example.

  In FIG. 11, the hatched period represents the period during which radiation was irradiated. In addition, the on-voltage is sequentially applied to each of the lines La to Lb of the scanning line 5 shown in FIG. 11 while, for example, the scanning line 5 of the hatched portion ΔT shown in FIG. This corresponds to each line of the scanning line 5.

  In the case as shown in FIG. 11, in the m-th frame, the on-voltage is applied to the lines L1 to La-1 of the scanning line 5, and the lines L1 to La-1 of the scanning line 5 are applied to the lines L1 to La-1 via the TFT8. The data D read from each connected radiation detection element 7 is data resulting from the dark charges read before the radiation is irradiated.

Therefore, as shown in Table 1 below, these data D have the same value as the data D itself as in the case of the frame before the m-1th frame (that is, when the data D is the offset correction value O). It becomes a small value (5 in Table 1 below). In addition, the numerical value described in following Table 1 is a numerical value at the time of comprising so that the data D can take the value of 0-2 < ¹⁶ > -1 (namely, 65535). Moreover, the numerical value described in the following Table 1 is a numerical value representing a value before and after the numerical value, and represents a representative value.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 11, since radiation has begun to be applied to the line La of the scanning line 5 in the m-th frame, each radiation detection element 7 connected to the line La of the scanning line 5 generates dark charges. A larger value of data D (1000 in Table 1 above) that is clearly different from the originating data is read out.

  And in each line La-Lb of the scanning line 5 to which the ON voltage was sequentially applied while the radiation was irradiated, data read from each radiation detection element 7 connected to the lines La-Lb of the scanning line 5 D gradually becomes larger depending on the elapsed time from the start of radiation irradiation (1000 to 29000 in Table 1).

  Therefore, for example, the value of the individual data D read from each radiation detection element 7 by the reading circuit 17 as described above is monitored by the control means 22, and the read data D is set in advance, for example. It can be configured to determine that radiation irradiation has started when the threshold value is exceeded. In this case, in the case of Table 1 above, the threshold is set to 500, for example.

  Further, in the case of such a configuration, when there is an abnormal radiation detection element 7 that outputs large data D even when radiation is not irradiated, or when a fluctuation that occurs in the data D happens to be a large value In addition, there is a risk that it may be determined that radiation has been started by mistake.

  Therefore, for example, the integrated value ΣD (n) of each data D read from each radiation detection element 7 connected to the line Ln of the scanning line 5 read by the readout circuit 17 as described above. The calculation is performed for each line Ln of the scanning line 5, and radiation irradiation is started when the integrated value ΣD (n) of each data D for each line Ln of the scanning line 5 exceeds, for example, a preset threshold value. It can be configured to determine that

  In this case, if the number of radiation detection elements 7 connected to one line Ln of the scanning line 5 is, for example, 1000, the scanning line 5 in the (m−1) th frame before the radiation is irradiated. Since each data D read from each radiation detecting element 7 connected to the line Ln is a value around 5 from Table 1, the integrated value ΣD (n) in that case is a value around 5000. . In the m-th frame, each data D has a value of about 5 in each radiation detection element 7 connected to each line L1 to La-1 of the scanning line 5 before radiation irradiation is started. The integrated values ΣD (1) to ΣD (a-1) of each data for each line L1 to La-1 of the scanning line 5 are values around 5000, respectively.

  On the other hand, in each radiation detection element 7 connected to each line La of the scanning line 5 that has been read out when radiation irradiation is started in the m-th frame, the value of each data is around 1000. The integrated value ΣD (a) of each data of the line La of the scanning line 5 rapidly increases to a value around 1 million.

  Therefore, in this case, the threshold value is set to a value greater than 5000 and 1 million or less, that is, for example, 100,000.

  Further, a total value ΣD (m) of the data D read from all the radiation detection elements 7 arranged in a two-dimensional manner on the detection unit P is calculated for each frame, and each data D for each frame is calculated. For example, it may be determined that radiation irradiation has started when the total value ΣD (m) exceeds a preset threshold.

  In this case, if the number of radiation detection elements 7 arranged on the detection unit P is, for example, 1 million, it is read out from each radiation detection element 7 in the (m−1) th frame before the radiation is irradiated. Since each data D has a value of about 5 from Table 1, the total value ΣD (m) for each frame in that case is a value of about 5 million. Therefore, in this case, the threshold is set to 10 million, for example.

  In the above case, although the integrated value and the total value are different in the range to be integrated (summed), it means the total sum of each data D and have the same meaning content. In other words, the value and the total value.

  In the present embodiment, the control unit 22 determines that each of the read data D and each of the scanning lines 5 is satisfied when each of the above conditions is satisfied in the set determination process, that is, in each of the above criteria. When the integrated value ΣD (n) of each data D for each line Ln or the total value ΣD (m) of each data D for each frame exceeds a threshold value, it is determined that radiation irradiation has started. ing.

  Therefore, in the case of the example in Table 1 above, the control unit 22 does not determine that radiation irradiation has started since the above condition is not satisfied in any determination process in the (m-1) th frame. In the m-th frame, since the above condition is satisfied in any of the determination processes, it is determined that radiation irradiation has started.

  In addition, the threshold value in each of the above determination processes may be set in advance as described above, and, for example, an initial stage when the process of reading data D from each radiation detection element 7 is started. That is, at the time when it is certain that the radiation imaging apparatus 1 is not irradiated with radiation, the data D from each radiation detection element 7 (in this case, the offset correction value O), the integrated value or the total value of each data D Or by acquiring each data D, integrated value, and total value for several frames, calculating their respective average values, adding a predetermined value to these values, and adding the radiation, etc. It is also possible to configure so that a threshold value is set for each image shooting.

  Further, for example, when the data D read from each radiation detection element 7 is stored in the storage unit 40, the data D is voted on a histogram (not shown), and the radiation image capturing apparatus is based on the frequency distribution of the histogram. 1 may be configured to determine whether or not radiation irradiation has started.

  That is, in the frame before the start of radiation irradiation, the data D having a small value due to the dark charge is read from each radiation detecting element 7, so that the class corresponding to the data D having the small value on the histogram is read out. Although the frequency increases, in a frame where radiation irradiation is started, data D resulting from the radiation generated by the radiation irradiation is added to the data D from each radiation detection element 7, and data D having a relatively large value is read out. Therefore, the frequency of the class corresponding to the large value data D increases on the histogram.

  Therefore, for example, the frequency of the class in the range corresponding to the large data D on the histogram is monitored, and when the total value of the frequency in the range exceeds the threshold, it is determined that radiation irradiation has started from the frame. It is also possible to configure.

  In this case, as described above, there is a case where there is an abnormal radiation detection element 7 that outputs large data D even when radiation is not irradiated, or fluctuations that occur in the data D happen to have a large value. Therefore, even in the frame before the start of radiation irradiation, the frequency of the class in the above range corresponding to the large data D on the histogram may not be zero.

  Therefore, in this case as well, a value other than 0 may be set in advance as the threshold value. For example, at the initial stage when the process of reading data D from each radiation detection element 7 is started. The frequency of the class in the above range (or the average value of frequencies for several frames) obtained when each data D is voted on the histogram in one frame (or several frames) is calculated, and the frequency (or average value) is calculated. It is also possible to configure so that a threshold value is set for each radiographic image capturing, for example, by setting a value obtained by adding a predetermined value and adding it as a threshold value.

  In this embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. 11, when the control unit 22 determines that radiation irradiation has started in the m-th frame, the control unit 22 stores the frame number m of the frame in the CPU memory or the like. It has become.

  In the present embodiment, the control means 22 similarly reads the individual data D read out, the integrated value ΣD (n) of each data D for each line Ln of the scanning line 5, or for each frame. On the basis of the total value ΣD (m) of each data D, it is determined that the irradiation of radiation has ended.

  Specifically, the control means 22 makes the individual data D, the integrated value ΣD (n), and the total value ΣD (m) equal to or less than the threshold values set as described above, for example, in the same manner as the above-described determination processes. When it becomes, it is judged that the irradiation of radiation has been completed.

  At this time, as can be seen from FIG. 11, the actual radiation irradiation is completed in the m-th frame, but as can be seen from Table 1 above, the scanning line to which the ON voltage is applied after the radiation irradiation is completed. As for the data D read from each radiation detection element 7 connected to each line L after the 5th line Lb + 1, a value of around 30000 is read. At this stage, the control means 22 It is not judged that the irradiation has ended.

  When the determination is made based on the value of the individual data D read from each radiation detection element 7, as can be seen from Table 1 above, the scan line 5 is detected in the (m + 1) th frame. Since the individual data D read from each radiation detection element 7 connected to the line Lb + 1 becomes a value around 30 and falls below the threshold value, the control means 22 finishes the radiation irradiation at this point. Judge.

  Further, in the case where the determination is made based on the integrated value ΣD (n) of each data D for each line Ln of the scanning line 5, as can be seen from Table 1, the scan is performed in the (m + 1) th frame. The individual data D read from each radiation detection element 7 connected to the line Lb + 1 of the line 5 becomes a value around 30, and the integrated value ΣD (b) becomes a value around 30000. Therefore, the value is equal to or less than the threshold value, and the control unit 22 determines that the radiation irradiation has been completed at this point.

  On the other hand, when the determination is made based on the total value ΣD (m) of each data D for each frame, as can be seen from Table 1, the total value ΣD (m) of the mth frame. Since the total value ΣD (m + 1) of the (m + 1) th frame also exceeds the above threshold value, the control means 22 indicates that the radiation irradiation has ended at the time when the reading process of the (m + 1) th frame is completed. Does not judge.

  However, the total value ΣD (m + 2) for the (m + 2) th time is a value equal to or smaller than the threshold value. Therefore, when the control unit 22 is configured to make a determination based on the total value ΣD (m) of each data D for each frame, for example, the total value ΣD (m ) Is equal to or less than the threshold (in the above case, the m + 2th frame), it is determined that the radiation irradiation has been completed in the previous frame (that is, the m + 1th frame).

  When the control means 22 determines that the irradiation of radiation has been completed as described above, the frame, that is, the frame number m + 1 of the m + 1th frame in the above example is stored in the memory of the CPU or the like.

  In the present embodiment, the control means 22 applies the scan driving means 15 to the scan driving means 15 at the time when the reading process of the m + 2th frame, that is, the three frames including the frame determined to have started the radiation irradiation, is completed. The trigger signal is transmitted to stop the application of the on-voltage from the gate driver 15b to each of the lines L1 to Lx of the scanning line 5, and the data D reading process from each radiation detection element 7 is terminated. ing.

As will be described later, in each radiation detection element 7 connected to each line L1 to La-1 of the scanning line 5, true image data resulting from the charge generated in each radiation detection element 7 due to radiation irradiation. As can be seen from Table 1 and FIG. 11, d ^* is read in the (m + 1) th frame.

Further, in each radiation detection element 7 connected to each line Lb + 1 to Lx of the scanning line 5, the true image data d ^* resulting from the electric charge generated in each radiation detection element 7 due to radiation irradiation is As can be seen from Table 1 and FIG. 11, the data is read out in the mth frame.

Further, in each radiation detection element 7 connected to each line La to Lb of the scanning line 5, the true image data d ^* resulting from the charges generated in each radiation detection element 7 due to radiation irradiation is the above-mentioned As can be seen from Table 1 and FIG. 11, the data is divided and read out in the m-th frame and the m + 1-th frame.

  Further, as described above, the data D read from each radiation detection element 7 in, for example, the (m-1) th frame before the start of radiation irradiation to the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 is used as the offset correction value O. Can do.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the control unit 22 finishes the reading process of the data D from each radiation detection element 7 as described above, the control unit 22 performs the data D selection process and the like in the present embodiment to be described later. In the case of the above, each of the frames from the (m−1) th frame which is the frame immediately before the mth frame where the start of radiation irradiation is detected to the (m + 1) th frame where the end of radiation irradiation is detected. Each data D for each radiation detection element 7 is transmitted to the console 58 via an antenna device 39 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 7 and the like) which is a communication means.

  In addition, instead of using the data D read in the (m-1) th frame as the offset data O for each radiation detection element 7, for example, the readout process was performed when radiation irradiation was started. An average value of the data D for each radiation detection element for several frames before the second frame is calculated, and the average value or the like is set as an offset correction value O for each radiation detection element 7. Is possible.

  In this case, the data of the offset correction value O for each radiation detection element 7 for one frame and the data D for each radiation detection element of the m-th and m + 1-th frames are transmitted.

Note that the selection process of data D, the calculation of true image data d ^* , the generation process of a radiographic image, and the like in this embodiment will be described after the configuration of the radiographic image capturing system 50 is described.

[Radiation imaging system]
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of the radiographic image capturing system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12, the radiographic imaging system 50 includes, for example, an imaging room R1 that irradiates radiation and images a subject (part of a patient to be imaged) that is a part of a patient (not shown), and a radiographer or the like. The anterior chamber R2 where the operator performs various operations such as control of the start of radiation applied to the subject, and the outside thereof are arranged.

  In the radiographing room R1, a bucky device 51 that can be loaded with the radiographic imaging device 1 described above, a radiation source 52 that includes an X-ray tube (not shown) that generates radiation to irradiate a subject, and a radiation generation device 55 that controls the radiation source In addition, when the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 and the radiation generating apparatus 55 and the console 58 communicate wirelessly, a base station 54 provided with a wireless antenna 53 that relays these communications is provided.

  12 shows the case where the portable radiographic imaging device 1 is used by being loaded into the cassette holding part 51a of the bucky device 51. However, as described above, the radiographic imaging device 1 is the bucky device 51. Or may be formed integrally with a support base or the like. Further, as described above, when communication between the radiographic imaging device 1 and an external device is performed via a cable such as a LAN cable, these cables are connected to the base station 54 as shown in FIG. It is also possible to configure such that information such as data can be transmitted / received by wired communication via a cable or the base station 54.

  The base station 54 is connected to the radiation generating device 55 and the console 58, and signals for LAN communication when transmitting information between the radiographic image capturing device 1 and the console 58 are transmitted to the base station 54. Is converted into a signal for transmitting information to and from the radiation generating device 55, and a converter (not shown) that performs the reverse conversion is incorporated.

  In the present embodiment, the front room R2 is provided with an operation console 57 for the radiation generating device 55. The operation console 57 is operated by an operator such as a radiologist to transmit radiation to the radiation generating device 55. An exposure switch 56 for instructing the start of irradiation is provided. The radiation generating device 55 activates the radiation source 52 or emits radiation from the radiation source 52 when the exposure switch 56 is operated by an operator such as a radiologist and a signal is transmitted from the console 57. It is supposed to let you.

  In addition to this, the radiation generating device 55 moves the radiation source 52 to a predetermined position so that the radiation image capturing device 1 loaded in the designated bucky device 51 can be appropriately irradiated with radiation, or the radiation direction thereof. Adjusting a diaphragm (not shown) so that radiation is irradiated within a predetermined region of the radiographic imaging apparatus 1, or adjusting the radiation source 52 so that an appropriate dose of radiation is irradiated Various controls such as these are performed on the radiation source 52. In addition, you may comprise so that operators, such as a radiographer, may perform these processes manually.

  In addition, the radiation generator 55 irradiates the radiation from the radiation source 52 by, for example, stopping the X-ray tube of the radiation source 52 when a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of radiation irradiation from the radiation source 52. Is supposed to stop.

  The configuration and the like of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 are as described above. In the present embodiment, the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 may be mounted and used in the bucky device 51 as described above. In other words, it can be used alone.

  That is, the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 is arranged in a single state, for example, on the upper surface side of a bed provided in the capturing room R1 or a bucky apparatus 51B for the supine position capturing as shown in FIG. (See FIG. 1) The patient's hand, which is the subject, can be placed on the top, or the patient's waist, legs, etc. lying on the bed can be inserted between the bed and the bed. It has become. In this case, for example, radiation image capturing is performed by irradiating the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 with radiation from a portable radiation source 52B or the like via a subject.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, a console 58 constituted by a computer or the like is provided outside the photographing room R1 and the front room R2. The console 58 is provided with a display unit 58a configured with a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), or the like. In addition, the console 58 is connected to or includes a storage means 59 composed of an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or the like.

  It is also possible to configure the console 58 so as to be provided, for example, in the front chamber R2. Further, for example, the console 58 has a function of changing the state of the radiographic imaging device 1 between a wake-up state and a sleep state, or an operator such as a radiographer takes an image. It may be configured to have a function that enables creation or selection of imaging order information representing the contents of radiographic imaging performed in the room R1, and the configuration is appropriately configured.

[About processing such as selection of data D]
Hereinafter, processing such as selection of data D according to the present embodiment in the control means 22 and the console 58 of the radiographic imaging apparatus 1 that performs processing on each data D obtained as described above will be described. The operation of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 and the radiographic image capturing system 50 according to the present embodiment will be described together.

  In the following, the data D for each radiation detection element 7 read out in the m-th frame and the m + 1-th frame is represented as D (m) and D (m + 1), respectively.

  As described above, according to the conventional method, each data D (m) read in the m-th frame and each data D (m + 1) read in the m + 1-th frame (both are offset correction values). O is subtracted), and the data D for each radiation detection element 7 is reconstructed, the radiation image p based on the reconstructed data is at least as shown in FIG. The image value slightly lower in the image area B below the image area δT than in the image area A above the image area δT corresponding to the scanning line 5 to which the ON voltage is sequentially applied during irradiation of radiation. In some cases, it becomes larger and shading appears on the radiation image p.

  The reason for the appearance of light and shade is considered as follows in the example shown in Table 1 above.

That is, each of the radiation detection elements 7 corresponding to the image region A of the radiation image p in FIG. 18, that is, the lines L1 to L1 of the scanning line 5 to which the on-voltage is applied before radiation irradiation is started in the m-th frame. In each radiation detection element 7 connected to La-1, in the m-th frame, data D (m) resulting from dark charge, that is, data D (m) equivalent to the offset correction value O having a value of around 5, is obtained. In the (m + 1) th frame, data D (m + 1) having a large value of about 30000 including the true image data d ^* resulting from the charge generated by the radiation irradiation is read out.

On the other hand, each radiation detection element 7 corresponding to the image region B of the radiation image p in FIG. 18, that is, the line Lb of the scanning line 5 to which the on-voltage is applied after the radiation irradiation is completed in the m-th frame. In each of the radiation detection elements 7 connected to +1 to Lx, a large value of data D (m around 30000 including the true image data d ^* caused by the charges generated by radiation irradiation is obtained in the m-th frame. ) Is read out.

  In the (m + 1) th frame, a value is obtained as the sum of so-called unread data resulting from the charges that cannot be read out from each radiation detection element 7 in the mth frame and data corresponding to the offset correction value O caused by the dark charges. The data D (m + 1) of around 30 is read out.

  That is, data D (that is, D (m) + D (m + 1)) read from each radiation detection element 7 corresponding to the image region B of the radiation image p in FIG. 18 is larger than the data D read from each radiation detection element 7 corresponding to the image area B of the radiographic image p of FIG. 18 by about 25 data corresponding to the unread data due to the charge that could not be completely read out. . This is visually recognized as the density of the image area A and the image area B in the radiation image p.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the final radiation image is generated, each radiation detection element 7 connected to the lines L1 to La-1 of the scanning line 5 is true due to the charge generated by the radiation irradiation. The data D (m + 1) read in the (m + 1) th frame including the image data d ^* is selected and used, and the data D (m) read in the mth frame is not used.

Further, in each of the radiation detection elements 7 connected to the lines Lb + 1 to Lx of the scanning line 5, the m-th frame including the true image data d ^* resulting from the charge generated by the radiation irradiation. The read data D (m) is selected and used, and the data D (m + 1) read in the (m + 1) th frame is not used.

  These data D that are selected and used are eventually at least the radiation detection elements 7 connected to the lines L1 to La-1 and Lb + 1 to Lx of the scanning line 5, that is, while the radiation is being applied. In the radiation detection elements connected to the scanning lines 5 other than the respective lines La to Lb of the scanning line 5 to which the ON voltage is applied, the data D (m) and D (m + 1) read out in each frame are stored. Of these, after the irradiation of radiation is completed, the data read first is selected.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the control means 22 and the console 58 of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 use the scanning lines 5 other than the lines La to Lb of the scanning line 5 to which the on-voltage is applied while radiation is being applied. For the radiation detection elements 7 connected to the lines L1 to La-1 and Lb + 1 to Lx, radiation irradiation is performed among the data D (m) and D (m + 1) read in each frame. After the operation is completed, the data read first is selected.

  The data D to be selected is eventually the data D (m + 1) in the radiation detection elements 7 connected to the lines L1 to La-1 of the scanning line 5 and the lines Lb + 1 to Lx of the scanning line 5, respectively. In each connected radiation detection element 7, this is data D (m).

On the other hand, as can be seen from FIG. 11 and Table 1 above, the radiation detection elements 7 connected to the lines La to Lb of the scanning line 5 to which the ON voltage is applied while the radiation is being applied are shown in FIG. true image data d ^* is that due to the charges generated by irradiation, since read out is divided by the m-th frame and the m + 1 th frame, the reconstruction of ^* true image data d is a data D (m ) And data D (m + 1) are required, and true image data d ^* can be reconstructed by adding them.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the control means 22 and the console 58 of the radiographic imaging apparatus 1 are connected to the lines La to Lb of the scanning line 5 to which the on-voltage is applied while the radiation is being applied. For the detection element 7, of the data D read in each frame, the data D (m) read while radiation is applied in the m-th frame and the next m + 1-th frame. The read data D (m + 1) is selected, added and used.

[Calculation of True Image Data d ^* and Radiation Image Generation Processing]
Subsequently, the control means 22 and the console 58 of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 select the data D (m) and D (m + 1) selected as described above and add the data D (m) + D (m +1), true image data d ^* for each radiation detection element 7 is calculated, and a radiation image p is generated based on the calculated true image data d ^* .

Specifically, first, for the radiation detection elements 7 connected to the lines L1 to La-1 of the scanning line 5 that has selected the data D (m + 1), the offset correction is made to the data D (m + 1). Since the value O is superimposed,
d ^* = D (m + 1) -O (1)
To calculate true image data d ^* for each radiation detection element 7.

The same applies to the radiation detection elements 7 connected to the lines Lb + 1 to Lx of the scanning line 5 that has selected the data D (m).
d ^* = D (m) −O (2)
To calculate true image data d ^* for each radiation detection element 7.

For the radiation detection elements 7 connected to the lines La to Lb of the scanning line 5 obtained by selecting and adding the data D (m) and D (m + 1), the data D (m) and D (m Since the offset correction value O is superimposed on each of (+1),
d ^* = (D (m) -O) + (D (m + 1) -O)
∴d ^* = D (m) + D (m + 1) −2O (3)
To calculate true image data d ^* for each radiation detection element 7.

Then, the control means 22 and the console 58 of the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 perform gain correction, logarithmic conversion processing, normalization processing, floor processing on the true image data d ^* for each radiation detection element 7 thus calculated. Various processes such as tonal processing are performed to calculate final image data, and a final radiation image p is generated based on the calculated image data.

  Note that image processing methods such as gain correction and logarithmic conversion processing are publicly known, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  As described above, according to the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 and the radiographic image capturing system 50 according to the present embodiment, they are connected to the scanning lines 5 other than the scanning lines 5 to which the on-voltage is applied while radiation is being applied. For the radiation detecting element 7, after the irradiation of radiation is completed, only the data D (m) or data D (m + 1) read out first is selected, and other data is not used. In addition, for the radiation detection element 7 connected to the scanning line 5 to which the ON voltage is applied while radiation is being applied, the data D (m) read while the radiation is being applied and its data D (m) The radiographic image p is generated using only data obtained by selecting and adding the data D (m + 1) read in the next frame.

In the frame next to the frame from which the data D including the true image data d ^* resulting from the charge generated by the irradiation of radiation is read, so-called unread data is normally read. In the image capturing apparatus 1 and the radiographic image capturing system 50, as described above, unread data is excluded without being added to the data D including the true image data d ^* caused by the charge generated by the irradiation of radiation. Since it is configured as described above, it is possible to prevent the light and shade that appears by adding or not adding unread data from appearing on the radiation image p, and it is possible to generate the radiation image p having no light and shade. Become.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, as described above, the case where the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 and the radiographic image capturing system 50 are configured to positively exclude unread data has been described. It is also possible to add the unread data to the data D including the true image data d ^* caused by the charge generated by the above.

At this time, as described above, if unread data is added or not added, since light and shade appear on the generated radiation image p, in the second embodiment, reading is performed from each radiation detection element 7. The unread data is uniformly added to the data D including the true image data d ^* resulting from the charge generated by the irradiation of radiation.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 11, the control means 22 of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 detects that radiation irradiation has started in the m-th frame when radiation is irradiated, and the m + 1-th time. When it is detected that the irradiation of radiation has been completed in this frame, data D is read from each radiation detection element 7 until the next m + 2th frame, and the reading process is terminated.

  When the selection process of the data D is performed on the console 58, the m + 2th frame following the m + 1th frame in which the end of radiation irradiation is detected from the mth frame in which the start of radiation irradiation is detected. The data D (m) to D (m + 2) and the offset correction value O for each radiation detection element 7 in each frame up to and including the antenna device 39 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 7 etc.) as communication means. To the console 58.

  And the control means 22 and the console 58 of the radiographic imaging device 1 are processings other than each line La-Lb of the scanning line 5 to which the ON voltage was applied in the process of selection of data D, etc. while the radiation was irradiated. For the radiation detection element 7 connected to each of the lines L1 to La-1 of the scanning line 5, the data D (m + 1) and the data D (m read out) in the next m + 2 frame. Select +2) and add.

  For the radiation detection elements 7 connected to the lines Lb + 1 to Lx of the scanning line 5 other than the lines La to Lb of the scanning line 5 to which the on-voltage is applied while radiation is being applied, The data D (m) and the data D (m + 1) read in the next m + 1th frame are selected and added.

  Further, for the radiation detection elements 7 connected to the lines La to Lb of the scanning line 5 to which the ON voltage is applied while radiation is being applied, the data D (m) and D (m + 1) described above are used. In addition, the data D (m + 2) read in the next m + 2th frame is selected and added.

Subsequently, the control means 22 and the console 58 of the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 calculate the true image data d ^* for each radiation detection element 7 based on the data D selected and added as described above. A radiation image p is generated based on the calculated true image data d ^* .

Specifically, first, for the radiation detection elements 7 connected to the lines L1 to La-1 of the scanning line 5 obtained by selecting and adding the data D (m + 1) and D (m + 2), Since the offset correction value O is superimposed on the data D (m + 1) and D (m + 2) respectively,
d ^* = (D (m + 1) -O) + (D (m + 2) -O)
∴d ^* = D (m + 1) + D (m + 2) -2O (4)
To calculate true image data d ^* for each radiation detection element 7.

The same applies to the radiation detecting elements 7 connected to the lines Lb + 1 to Lx of the scanning line 5 obtained by selecting and adding the data D (m) and D (m + 1).
d ^* = (D (m) -O) + (D (m + 1) -O)
∴d ^* = D (m) + D (m + 1) −2O (5)
To calculate true image data d ^* for each radiation detection element 7.

For the radiation detection elements 7 connected to the lines La to Lb of the scanning line 5 obtained by selecting and adding the data D (m), D (m + 1), and D (m + 2), the data D Since the offset correction value O is superimposed on each of (m) to D (m + 2),
d ^* = (D (m) -O) + (D (m + 1) -O) + (D (m + 2) -O)
∴d ^* = D (m) + D (m + 1) + D (m + 2) −3O (6)
To calculate true image data d ^* for each radiation detection element 7.

Then, the control means 22 and the console 58 of the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 perform gain correction, logarithmic conversion processing, normalization processing, floor processing on the true image data d ^* for each radiation detection element 7 thus calculated. Various processes such as tonal processing are performed to calculate final image data, and a final radiation image p is generated based on the calculated image data.

  As described above, according to the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 and the radiographic image capturing system 50 according to the present embodiment, they are connected to the scanning lines 5 other than the scanning lines 5 to which the on-voltage is applied while radiation is being applied. With respect to the radiation detecting element 7, the data D (m) or the data D (m + 1) read out first after the irradiation of the radiation and the data D ( m + 1) or data D (m + 2) is selected and added, and the radiation detection element 7 connected to the scanning line 5 to which the on-voltage is applied while radiation is being applied. , Data D (m) read during irradiation with radiation, each data D (m + 1), D (m) read in the next frame and the next frame of the next frame +2) is selected and added to generate a radiation image p.

Therefore, in the next frame, the data D including the true image data d ^* resulting from the charge generated by the irradiation of the radiation, which is selected or selected and added in the first embodiment, is included in the next frame. Since the read-out unread data is added uniformly, as in the case of the first embodiment, the density appearing by adding or not adding the unread data is added to the radiation image p. Therefore, it is possible to generate a radiographic image p having no shading.

  In addition, when configured as in the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, the above-described effective effects are exhibited. However, more substantially effective effects are shown in Table 2 below in each frame. This is exhibited when data D as shown is read out.

As can be seen from a comparison between Table 2 and Table 1, in the case of Table 2, the radiation dose applied to the radiographic imaging apparatus 1 is stronger than in the case of Table 1. As described above, when the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 is irradiated with intense radiation, as shown in Table 2, data D including the true image data d ^* resulting from the charge generated by the radiation irradiation is read out. In some cases, relatively large data D may be read in a subsequent frame.

  These data D are read up to the previous frame among the unread data D described in the first embodiment and the second embodiment, that is, the charges generated in each radiation detection element 7 due to radiation irradiation. The value is too large to be described as data resulting from the uncut electric charge, and it is considered that data by so-called lag is included.

  The lag is a kind of metastable energy level in which some of the electrons and holes generated in the i layer 76 (see FIG. 5) are irradiated when intense radiation is applied to the radiation detection element 7 such as a photodiode. After the transition to the metastable state), the mobility in the radiation detecting element 7 is lost and it becomes difficult to read out from the radiation detecting element 7, and then the energy level is lowered (that is, deactivated). Is read out.

  However, electrons and holes that have once transitioned to a metastable energy level are not easily deactivated, and therefore remain in the radiation detection element 7 for a relatively long period of time. Therefore, when strong radiation is irradiated and a large lag is generated, as shown in Table 2, in each frame after the frame irradiated with radiation, data D resulting from a relatively large value of lag is relatively long. Will continue to be read.

  By the way, when the data D obtained in each frame is the data D as shown in Table 1, as described above, each data D (m) read in each of the m-th and m + 1-th frames, When D (m + 1) is added for each radiation detection element 7, light and shade appear in the image area A and the image area B on the radiation image p (see FIG. 18) as described above.

  However, for example, if the data D (m) to D (m + 2) for the three frames from the m-th to the (m + 2) -th time are added for each radiation detection element 7, at least each line L1 of the scanning line 5 In each case, the radiation detection element 7 connected to ~ La-1 and the radiation detection element 7 connected to each line Lb + 1 to Lx of the scanning line 5 has an added value of 30035, and the radiation image Shading does not appear in the image areas A and B of p. As described above, if configured as in the first and second embodiments described above, light and shade will not appear in the image areas A and B of the radiation image p.

  On the other hand, when the data D as shown in Table 2 is obtained in each frame, the data D (m) to D (m + 2) for the three frames from the m-th to the (m + 2) -th time are obtained as described above. When added for each radiation detection element 7, the added value is 60405 in the radiation detection element 7 connected to each line L1 to La-1 of the scanning line 5, whereas each line Lb + 1 of the scanning line 5 is added. In the radiation detection element 7 connected to ˜Lx, the added value is 60700, so that shading appears clearly in the image areas A and B of the radiation image p.

  Further, when the data D as shown in Table 2 is obtained in each frame, the data D (m) and D (m + 1) for the m-th and m + 1-th two frames are used as the radiation detection elements 7. Are added to each line Lb + 1 to Lx of the scanning line 5, whereas the added value is 60005 in the radiation detection element 7 connected to each line L1 to La-1 of the scanning line 5. Since the added value is 60400 in the radiation detecting element 7 that is present, the shading clearly appears in the image areas A and B of the radiation image p.

  As described above, in particular, when the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 is irradiated with strong radiation and a large lag occurs, the conventional method of simply adding the data D for two frames or three frames is employed. Can not do it.

On the other hand, in the methods described in the first and second embodiments, as described above, only the data D including the true image data d ^* caused by the charge generated by the irradiation of radiation is used, and the lag is used. The resulting data D is not used (in the case of the first embodiment), or is read in the data D including the true image data d ^* resulting from the charge generated by radiation irradiation and the frame immediately after that. The data D resulting from the lag is added uniformly and used (in the case of the second embodiment).

  Therefore, according to the radiographic image capturing apparatus 1 and the radiographic image capturing system 50 according to the first and second embodiments described above, when the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 is irradiated with strong radiation that causes a relatively large lag. Even so, it is possible to accurately prevent the occurrence of light and shade in the image areas A and B of the radiation image p, and it is possible to generate a radiation image p having no light and shade. It is done.

[Third Embodiment]
In the first and second embodiments described above, in the radiation image p as shown in FIG. 18, the image region δT corresponding to the scanning line 5 to which the ON voltage is sequentially applied during radiation irradiation, The process for preventing the occurrence of light and shade in the upper image area A and the lower image area B has been described.

  More specifically, in the radiographic image p shown in FIG. 13A of FIG. 18 and FIG. 18, for example, each radiation detection after processing in the extending direction of the signal line 6 (the vertical arrow direction in the figure). When the data D of the element 7 is viewed, according to the conventional method, as shown in FIG. 13B, a difference ΔD of the data D occurs in the image areas A and B of the radiation image p. In the first and second embodiments, the process for eliminating the difference ΔD of the data D has been described.

  On the other hand, when viewing the image region δT corresponding to each of the lines La to Lb of the scanning line 5 to which the ON voltage is sequentially applied during irradiation with radiation, as shown in FIG. 13B, the image region δT. In some cases, the data D of each radiation detection element 7 after processing in FIG. 4 is significantly different from the data D of each radiation detection element 7 after processing in the image areas A and B.

  In the research by the present inventors, when radiation is applied to the radiographic imaging device 1, in this embodiment, the irradiated radiation is converted into electromagnetic waves by the scintillator 3 (see FIG. 2 and the like). By irradiating each TFT 8, it becomes easier for current to flow in each TFT 8, and this phenomenon occurs because the amount of leakage of charge accumulated in each radiation detection element 7 in each TFT 8 increases. It has been. Note that when the irradiation of radiation is completed, the leak amount is restored.

  That is, when the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 is irradiated with radiation, the amount of leakage increases in all the TFTs 8 on the detection unit P, but the leaked charges are stored in the data D while the radiation is being irradiated. The data is read by being superimposed on the charges of the radiation detecting elements 7 connected to the lines La to Lb of the scanning line 5 to be read.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, a large number of radiation detection elements 7 are connected to one signal line 6 via TFTs 8, and the radiation imaging apparatus 1 is irradiated with radiation. As a result, the amount of leakage increases in all TFTs 8 connected to the single signal line 6. Then, when electric charges are read from one radiation detection element 7 connected to the one signal line 6, from each other radiation detection element 7 connected to the signal line 6. Since the amount of leakage increases, data resulting from the charge leaked from the other radiation detection elements 7 is added to the data D that should be read out from the one radiation detection element 7 and read out.

  Therefore, the data D read from each radiation detection element 7 connected to each line La to Lb of the scanning line 5 is increased by an amount corresponding to the charge leaked from the other radiation detection element 7 via the TFT 8. Thus, it is considered that each data D in the image area δT corresponding to each line La to Lb of the scanning line 5 of the radiation image p is significantly larger than each data D in the image areas A and B.

  As one method for preventing such a phenomenon from occurring, it is possible to provide a light shielding material for all the TFTs 8 so that the electromagnetic waves irradiated from the scintillator 3 do not reach each TFT 8.

  On the other hand, as described above, the increment δD superimposed on each data D of each radiation detection element 7 in the image region δT shown in FIG. 13B is one signal to which the radiation detection element 7 is connected. This is an increase in the data D caused by the electric charges leaking from all the radiation detection elements 7 connected to the line 6 and flowing into the signal line 6, but in our study, the increase δD is The knowledge that it is proportional to the sum total of each electric charge accumulated in each radiation detecting element 7 connected to the signal line 6 is obtained.

  The charges accumulated in the radiation detection elements 7 are connected to the radiation detection elements 7 in the image areas A and B, that is, the lines L1 to La-1 and Lb + 1 to Lx of the scanning line 5, respectively. Each radiation detection element 7 reads out as data D, and each radiation detection element 7 in the image region δT, that is, each radiation detection element 7 connected to each line La to Lb of the scanning line 5 reads out. This corresponds to the difference D−δD obtained by subtracting the increase δD on which the leak amount is superimposed from the data D.

  That is, the charges accumulated in the radiation detection elements 7 connected to the radiation detection elements 7 in the image regions A and B, that is, the lines L1 to La-1 and Lb + 1 to Lx of the scanning line 5, are In each radiation detection element 7 connected to each radiation detection element 7 in the image region δT, that is, each line La to Lb of the scanning line 5 in proportion to the data D read from each radiation detection element 7. Is proportional to the difference D−δD obtained by subtracting the increment δD from the data D read from each of the radiation detection elements 7.

  Therefore, the increment δD superimposed on the data D of each radiation detection element 7 in the image region δT shown in FIG. 13B is connected to the lines L1 to La-1 and Lb + 1 to Lx of the scanning line 5. It is proportional to the sum of each data D for each radiation detection element 7 and each difference D−δD for each radiation detection element 7 connected to each line La to Lb of the scanning line 5.

  Here, considering that the size of the increase δD due to leakage included in each data D in the image region δT is very small compared to the size of the data D itself, the difference D−δD≈D. Therefore, the increase δD is approximately proportional to the sum of the data D of all the radiation detection elements 7 connected to the signal line 6 to which the radiation detection element 7 is connected via the TFT 8. Is possible.

  Then, using the data D for each radiation detection element 7 calculated by the method described in the first embodiment or the method described in the second embodiment, the target radiation detection for calculating the increment δD Calculate the sum of the data D of all the radiation detection elements 7 connected to the signal line 6 to which the element 7 is connected, and calculate the increment δD by multiplying it by a proportional constant κ obtained experimentally in advance. To do.

Then, the calculated increment δD is used as the data D of the radiation detection element 7 (that is, D (m) + D (m + 1) in the first embodiment, D (m) in the second embodiment. The original data D ^* of the radiation detection element 7 is calculated by subtracting from + D (m + 1) + D (m + 2)).

The above processing is performed for all the radiation detection elements 7 in the image region δT of the radiation image p, and the true value is obtained by subtracting the offset correction value O from the calculated original data D ^{* according} to the above equation (3) or (6). Image data d ^* is calculated.

  With this configuration, as shown in FIG. 14, the difference ΔD (FIG. 13) between the data D of the image areas A and B of the radiation image p due to the effects of the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above. (See (B)) disappears, and the increment δD of the data D of the image region δT from the image regions A and B of the data D also disappears. Therefore, it is possible to prevent light and shade from appearing in the entire region of the radiation image p, and it is possible to generate a radiation image p without light and shade.

  In each of the above embodiments, after detecting that the irradiation of radiation has started in the m-th frame, it is detected that the irradiation of radiation has ended, and the frame where the end of irradiation has been detected (that is, the m + 1-th frame). (Frame) or the next frame (that is, the m + 2th frame), the case where the data D is read from each radiation detection element 7 has been described. For example, after detecting the start of radiation irradiation, It is also possible to configure in advance how many frames including the frame in which the start of radiation irradiation is detected are to be read out.

  Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the radiation is applied to the radiation image capturing apparatus 1 as illustrated in FIG. 16 has been described, but the same applies to the case where the radiation is applied as illustrated in FIG. Needless to say, processing is performed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Radiographic imaging apparatus 5, L1-Lx Scan line 6 Signal line 7 Radiation detection element 8 TFT (switch means)
15 Scanning drive means 17 Reading circuit 22 Control means 39 Antenna device (communication means)
50 Radiographic imaging system 58 Console D Data D (m) to D (m + 2) Data P per frame P Detection unit p Radiological image r Region δD Increase of data

Claims (8)

A plurality of scanning lines and a plurality of signal lines arranged so as to intersect with each other; a plurality of radiation detecting elements arranged in a two-dimensional manner in each region partitioned by the plurality of scanning lines and the plurality of signal lines; A detector comprising:
Scanning drive means for applying the data reading voltage while sequentially switching the scanning lines during the reading process from the radiation detection element;
Switch means connected to each of the scanning lines and discharging the charge accumulated in the radiation detecting element to the signal line when the voltage for reading data is applied;
A readout circuit for converting the electric charge read out from the radiation detection element into data;
Control means for controlling at least the scanning drive means and the readout circuit to perform a readout process of the data from the radiation detection element;
With
When the period for reading out the data from all the radiation detection elements on the detection unit is one frame, the readout process for each frame from the radiation detection element is repeatedly performed, and the readout is performed at least when radiation is irradiated. Performing a read process for each frame for a predetermined number of frames including the frame being processed, obtaining the data for each radiation detection element for each frame,
The control means includes
For each of the radiation detection elements connected to the scanning line other than the scanning line to which the data reading voltage is applied while radiation is being applied, the data read from the radiation detection element After the irradiation of radiation is finished, select the data read first,
Regarding the radiation detection element connected to the scanning line to which the voltage for reading data is applied while radiation is being applied, radiation is included in the data read from the radiation detection element. Select and add the data read during irradiation and the data read in the next frame,
A radiographic image capturing apparatus that generates a radiographic image based on the selected data and the selected and added data. The control means includes
For each of the radiation detection elements connected to the scanning line other than the scanning line to which the data reading voltage is applied while radiation is being applied, the data read from the radiation detection element Among these, after the radiation irradiation is completed, the data read out first and the data read out in the next frame are selected and added,
Regarding the radiation detection element connected to the scanning line to which the voltage for reading data is applied while radiation is being applied, radiation is included in the data read from the radiation detection element. Select and add the data read during irradiation and the data read in the next frame and the next frame of the next frame,
The selected and added data of the radiation detection elements connected to the scanning lines other than the scanning line to which the data read voltage is applied while the radiation is being applied, and the radiation are irradiated. The radiation image is generated based on the selected and added data of the radiation detection element connected to the scanning line to which the voltage for reading data is applied. The radiographic imaging apparatus according to 1.   The control means applies radiation from the selected and added data for the radiation detection elements connected to the scanning line to which the voltage for reading data is applied while radiation is being applied. A value obtained by calculating an increase in the selected and added data resulting from the electric charge leaked from each radiation detection element via each of the switch means, and subtracting the increased amount from the selected and added data The radiographic image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a radiographic image is generated based on the selected data.   The control means detects the start and end of radiation irradiation based on a total value of the data read from all the radiation detection elements on the detection unit for each frame. The radiographic imaging apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-3.   The control means detects the start and end of radiation irradiation based on an integrated value of the data read from each radiation detection element connected to each scanning line. The radiographic imaging device according to any one of claims 3 to 4. A plurality of scanning lines and a plurality of signal lines arranged so as to intersect with each other; a plurality of radiation detecting elements arranged in a two-dimensional manner in each region partitioned by the plurality of scanning lines and the plurality of signal lines; A detector comprising:
Scanning drive means for applying the data reading voltage while sequentially switching the scanning lines during the reading process from the radiation detection element;
Switch means connected to each of the scanning lines and discharging the charge accumulated in the radiation detecting element to the signal line when the voltage for reading data is applied;
A readout circuit for converting the electric charge read out from the radiation detection element into data;
Control means for controlling at least the scanning drive means and the readout circuit to perform a readout process of the data from the radiation detection element;
Communication means for transmitting the data to an external device,
When the period for reading out the data from all the radiation detection elements on the detection unit is one frame, the readout process for each frame from the radiation detection element is repeatedly performed, and the readout is performed at least when radiation is irradiated. A radiographic imaging apparatus that performs a readout process for each of the frames for a predetermined number of frames including the frame that is being processed, and acquires the data for each of the radiation detection elements for each of the frames;
A console that generates a radiographic image based on the data for each of the radiation detection elements for each of the frames transmitted from the radiographic imaging device;
With
The console is
For each of the radiation detection elements connected to the scanning line other than the scanning line to which the data reading voltage is applied while radiation is being applied, the data read from the radiation detection element After the irradiation of radiation is finished, select the data read first,
Regarding the radiation detection element connected to the scanning line to which the voltage for reading data is applied while radiation is being applied, radiation is included in the data read from the radiation detection element. Select and add the data read during irradiation and the data read in the next frame,
A radiographic imaging system that generates a radiographic image based on the selected data and the selected and added data. The console is
For each of the radiation detection elements connected to the scanning line other than the scanning line to which the data reading voltage is applied while radiation is being applied, the data read from the radiation detection element Among these, after the radiation irradiation is completed, the data read out first and the data read out in the next frame are selected and added,
Regarding the radiation detection element connected to the scanning line to which the voltage for reading data is applied while radiation is being applied, radiation is included in the data read from the radiation detection element. Select and add the data read during irradiation and the data read in the next frame and the next frame of the next frame,
The selected and added data of the radiation detection elements connected to the scanning lines other than the scanning line to which the data read voltage is applied while the radiation is being applied, and the radiation are irradiated. The radiation image is generated based on the selected and added data of the radiation detection element connected to the scanning line to which the voltage for reading data is applied. 7. The radiographic image capturing system according to 6.   The console is irradiated with radiation from the selected and added data for the radiation detection element connected to the scanning line to which the voltage for reading data is applied while radiation is being applied. Calculating an increment of the selected and added data resulting from the electric charge leaked from each radiation detecting element via the switch means, and subtracting the increment from the selected and added data; The radiographic image capturing system according to claim 6, wherein a radiographic image is generated based on the selected data.

Images