Radiation image recording and read-out apparatus

Abstract: A radiation image recording and read-out apparatus (1) comprises a circulation transfer means for transferring a stimulable phosphor sheet (30) along a predetermined cir­ culation path; an image recording section (41) which is disposed in the circulation path and in which a radiation image of an object is recorded on the stimulable phosphor sheet by exposing the stimulable phosphor sheet to radia­ tion passing through the object (43); an image read-out section (50) which is disposed in the circulation path for scanning the stimulable phosphor sheet with stimulating rays and detecting light emitted from the stimulable phos­ phor sheet to obtain an image signal; and an erasing section (70) which is disposed in the circulation path and releases residual radiation energy in the stimulable phosphor sheet before the stimulable phosphor sheet is returned to the image recording section. The radiation image recording and read-out apparatus further includes a radiation quality changing filter (102) for changing the quality of the radiation. The filter is arranged to be inserted into or retracted away from the path of the radiation in synchronization with the operation of a stimulable phosphor sheet changing mecha­ nism for discharging one stimulable phosphor sheet from the recording position in the image recording section and positioning another sheet in the recording section.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This invention relates to a radiation image recording and read-out apparatus according to the preamble of claim 1. The apparatus is used for exposing stimulable phosphor sheets to a radiation passing through an object to have a radiation image of the object stored therein, exposing the stimulable phosphor sheets to stimulating rays which cause them to emit light in proportion to the stored radiation energy, and detecting and converting the emitted light into electric signals. This invention particularly relates to a radiation image recording and read-out apparatus in which the stimulable phosphor sheets are circulated and reused for recording radiation images. Description of the Prior Art When certain kinds of phosphors are exposed to a radiation such as X-rays, α-rays, β-rays, γ-rays, cathode rays or ultraviolet rays, they store a part of the energy of the radiation. Then, when the phosphor which has been exposed to the radiation is exposed to stimulating rays such as visible light, light is emitted by the phosphor in proportion to the stored energy of the radiation. A phosphor exhibiting such properties is referred to as a stimulable phosphor. As disclosed in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,258,264, 4,276,473, 4,315,318 and 4,387,428, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 56(1981)-11395, it has been proposed to use a stimulable phosphor in a radiation image recording and reproducing system. Specifically, a sheet comprising the stimulable phosphor is first exposed to a radiation passing through an object to have a radiation image stored therein, and is then scanned with stimulating rays which cause it to emit light in proportion to the radiation energy stored. The light emitted from the stimulable phosphor sheet when the sheet is exposed to the stimulating rays is photoelectrically detected and converted to an electric image signal, which is processed as desired to reproduce a visible image having an improved quality, particularly a high diagnostic efficiency and accuracy. The finally obtained visible image may be reproduced in the form of a hard copy or may be displayed on a cathode ray tube (CRT). In this radiation image recording and reproducing system, the stimulable phosphor sheet is used to temporarily store the radiation image in order to reproduce the final visible image therefrom in a final recording medium. For economical reasons, therefore, it is desirable that the stimulable phosphor sheet be used repeatedly. Further, in a mobile X-ray diagnostic station such as a traveling X-ray diagnostic station in the form of a vehicle like a bus which is provided with a radiation image recording and read-out apparatus for use in the aforesaid radiation image recording and reproducing system and moves from place to place to record radiation images for mass medical examinations, it is disadvantageous to load the mobile X-ray diagnostic station with a large number of stimulable phosphor sheets, and the number of the stimulable phosphor sheets which can be loaded on the mobile X-ray diagnostic station is limited. Therefore, it is desired to load the mobile X-ray diagnostic station with stimulable phosphor sheets which can be used repeatedly, once store the radiation images of the objects in the stimulable phosphor sheets, transfer the electric image signals read out from the stimulable phosphor sheets into a recording medium having a large storage capacity, such as a magnetic tape, and circulate and reuse the stimulable phosphor sheets for further image recording and read-out operations, thereby to obtain the radiation image signals of many objects. Further, when image recording is conducted continuously by circulating and reusing the stimulable phosphor sheets, it becomes possible to increase the image recording speed in mass medical examination. This is very advantageous in practical use. In order to reuse stimulable phosphor sheets as described above, the radiation energy remaining in the stimulable phosphor sheet after it is scanned with stimulating rays to read out the radiation image stored therein should be erased by exposure to light or heat as described, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 56(1981)-12599 or USP 4,400,619. The stimulable phosphor sheet should then be used again for radiation image recording. As is well known, an object, e.g., human organs, bones, blood vessels and the like, exhibits radiation absorption properties specific to its structure. Utilizing this fact, there has been proposed an energy-subtraction method in which an object is exposed to radiations different from each other in quality to obtain a pair of radiation images and one of them is subtracted from the other after properly weighting them, whereby these can be obtained an image of a particular part of the object. In the energy-subtraction method, a plurality of radiation images of a given object must be obtained while the object remains stationary to prevent recording of a motion artifact due to motion of the object. That is, in the radiation image recording and read-out apparatus described above, a plurality of stimulable phosphor sheets must be exposed to radiation under different conditions in the image recording section. A radiation image recording and read-out apparatus according to the preamble of Claim 1 is known from the EP-A-0 077 678. In this apparatus, the phosphor sheets are fixed on an endless conveyor belt which circulates these sheets between a recording section, a read-out section and an erasing section. Furthermore, in this document is mentioned that the endless belt could be replaced by several conveyors that can automatically transfer the phosphor sheets therebetween, and operate the conveyors in such a way that the phosphor sheets are ultimately circulated via these conveyors. From the GB-A-2 098 425, an imaging system using different X-ray energies is known. The absorption of X-rays transmitted through a body is measured in a plurality of energy ranges and these measurements are processed to obtain image data with the soft tissue component eliminated. Such processed image data is obtained before and after the administration of a contrast agent, such as iodine, to the body. The two sets of processed image data are subjectively combined to obtain an isolated image of the contrast agent which is immune to motion of soft tissue. An energy substration processing method for radiation images using stimulable phosphor sheets is known from the EP-A-112 469. From US-A-3 825 761, a method of X-ray examination of objects that move in a rhythm with the heart wherein the image information is switched on and off in sychronism with the heart action is known. The X-ray tube is switched on and off at the heart frequency and is on for a period that is short compared with a duration of one heart action. In view of the foregoing observations and descriptions, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a radiation image recording and read-out apparatus according to the preamble of independent Claim 1 which apparatus enables stimulable phosphor sheets for recording radiation images to be repeatedly used, which enables a plurality of radiation images to be recorded at a high speed, which can be compactly fabricated for easy installation in and transport by a vehicle such as an X-ray bus, and which enables radiation image recording for energy-substraction processing to be effected easily, and automatically. These problems are solved by the features as indicated in the independent Claim 1. In the present invention, a pair of superposed stimulable phosphor sheets are fed to the image recording section with a filter intervening therebetween and the stimulable phosphor sheets are simultaneously exposed to radiation, one being exposed to the radiation emitted from the radiation source as it is and the other being exposed to the radiation passing through the filter, thereby obtaining two radiation images for use in energy-subtraction processing. The image signal obtained in the image read-out section may be once stored in a storage medium such as a magnetic recording tape or a magnetic recording disk, or may be reproduced as a visible image on a display device such as a CRT, or as a hard copy. The reproducing system may be directly connected to the radiation image recording and read-out apparatus of the present invention or may be installed remote from the radiation image recording and read-out apparatus to receive the image signal by radio transmission. For example, a reproducing system may be installed in a hospital and the radiation image recording and read-out apparatus of the present invention may be mounted on a mobile station such as an X-raying bus. The image signal obtained by the radiation image recording and read-out apparatus can then be sent by radio to the reproducing system in the hospital, where the radiation image of the patient is reproduced on a CRT, for example. A doctor can then make a diagnosis on the basis of the reproduced radiation image and send his diagnosis to the mobile station by radio. A plurality of stimulable phosphor sheets for use in the energy-subtraction method may all be of the same kind or may be of different kinds having different radiation absorption characteristics as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59(1984)-83486. Stimulable phosphor sheets can be said to be different in their radiation absorption characteristics when the stimulable phosphor layers thereof comprise different phosphors exhibiting different absorption characteristics to incident radiation, or when the stimulable phosphor layers thereof comprise the same phosphor but are different in thickness or the like so that the rate of absorption differs for a given incident radiation. It is preferred that a stimulable phosphor sheet exhibiting higher radiation absorption on the high energy side be used in the case of high-energy recording, i.e. when the stimulable phosphor sheet is exposed to "hard" radiation, and a stimulable phosphor sheet exhibiting higher radiation absorption on the lower energy side be used in the case of low-energy recording, i.e. when the stimulable phosphor sheet is exposed to "soft" radiation, so that a radiation image of a desired part of the object can be obtained in a desirable state and an energy-subtraction image having an excellent graininess can be obtained. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a schematic view for illustrating the principle of an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a schematic view for illustrating the principle of still another embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is a view showing a radiation image recording and read-out apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, Figures 4A to 4G are views for illustrating the operation of the stimulable phosphor sheet positioning means employed in the embodiment of Figure 3, Figures 5A to 5F are views for illustrating the operation of another example of the stimulable phosphor sheet positioning means, Figures 6A and 6B are views for illustrating the mechanism for moving the filter employed in the embodiment of Figure 9, Figure 7 is a schematic view for illustrating the manner of reading out an image signal from an exposed stimulable phosphor sheet, and Figure 8 is a schematic view for illustrating an example of a system for reproducing an image obtained by the energy-subtraction method. In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a pair of stimulable phosphor sheets are simultaneously positioned in a image recording position superposed one on the other with a filter intervening therebetween, and are simultaneously exposed to radiation emitted from the radiation source. In one embodiment, as shown in Figure 1, two stimulable phosphor sheets are normally circulated along a single circulation path and when the energy-subtraction process is to be accomplished, they are superposed one on the other with a filter F intervening therebetween in the image recording position, or two of a plurality of stimulable phosphor sheets normally circulated along a single circulation path are superposed one on the other when the energy-subtraction process is to be accomplished. In another embodiment, as shown in Figure 2, two stimulable phosphor sheets are normally circulated along separate parallel circulation paths and when the energy-subtraction process is to be accomplished, they are positioned in the image recording position vertically aligned with each other with a filter F intervening therebetween, or two of a plurality of stimulable phosphor sheets normally circulated along separate parallel circulation paths are vertically aligned with each other in the image recording position. Now a concrete embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to Figure 3. Figure 3 shows a radiation image recording and read-out apparatus 1 in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention which is for recording a radiation image of the chest abdomen or the like of a patient lying on his back. The radiation image recording and read-out apparatus 1 has a stimulable phosphor sheet recirculating system for transferring six stimulable phosphor sheets 30 at appropriate intervals along a circulation path formed by endless belts 2A, 2B, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, guide rollers 14, 15, 16, 17, 17A, 18, 19, 19A and 20 respectively driven by the endless belts 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 13, guide plates 21, 22, 23A, 23B, 23C, 24, 25, 26 and 27, nip rollers 28A and 28B, and a path changing plate 29. In the circulation path, the path indicated at P1 formed by the endless belt 10, the guide rollers 17 and 19 and the endless belts 13, and the path indicated at P2 formed by the guide roller 17A, the endless belt 11, the guide roller 18, the endless belt 12 and the guide roller 19A are parallel to each other, and the stimulable phosphor sheets 30 are selectively fed along one of the parallel paths as will become apparent later. The paths P1 and P2 will be referred to as the "first branch path" and the "second branch path", respectively. An image recording table 41 is provided above the uppermost endless belt 2B and a radiation source 42 which may be an X-ray source, for instance, is disposed above the image recording table 41. Thus, an image recording section 40 is formed by the photographing table 41 and the radiation source 42. Radiation shield plates Al, A2 and A3 are provided in the image recording section 40 to prevent radiation emitted from the radiation source 42 from going outside the image recording section 40. When a pair of stimulable phosphor sheets are to be simultaneously exposed to radiation for the purpose of the energy-subtraction processing, a pair of stimulable phosphor sheets are positioned on the endless belt 2B superposed one on the other with a filter F intervening therebetween by the stimulable phosphor sheet positioning mechanism 200. Then the radiation source 42 is energized and radiation images are recorded on the stimulable phosphor sheets. By virtue of the filter F intervening therebetween, the two stimulable phosphor sheets are exposed to radiations of different qualities, whereby two radiation images usable for the energy-subtraction processing can be obtained by one operation of the radiation source 42. The first branch path P1 forms a part of the circulation path along which the stimulable phosphor sheets 30 are transferred in the case of the normal recording. On the other hand, a stimulable phosphor sheet exclusively for energy-subtraction processing, e.g., a stimulable phosphor sheet having different radiation absorption characteristics, is transferred along the second branch path P2. The path changing plate 29 selectively introduces the stimulable phosphor sheet into the first branch path P1 or the second branch path P2 under the control of a controller (not shown). An image read-out section 50 is provided on the right side end (as seen in Figure 3) of the radiation image recording and read-out apparatus 1 of this embodiment. In the image read-out section 50, a laser source 51 is provided above the endless belt 8. The image read-out section 50 further comprises a mirror 53, a galvanometer mirror 54 and mirrors 55 and 56 which are disposed to cause a laser beam 52 emitted from the laser source 51 to scan the stimulable phosphor sheet 30 (which is fed to the image read-out section 50 after exposure to the radiation in the image recording section 40) on the endless belt 8 in the direction of width of the stimulable phosphor sheet 30 (the main scanning). Along the main scanning line of the laser beam 52, a reflecting mirror 57 is disposed and light emitted from the stimulable phosphor sheet 30 upon exposure to the laser beam 52 enters a light collecting optical element 58 from light input face 58A thereof directly or after being reflected by the reflecting mirror 57. In the light collecting optical element 58, the light is guided by total internal reflection to a photomultiplier 59 connected to a light output face 58B of the light collecting optical element 58. While the main scanning is effected, the stimulable phosphor sheet 30 is transferred by the endless belt 8 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the main scanning direction (sub-scanning). That is, the stimulable phosphor sheet 30 is two-dimensionally scanned. The image signal obtained by the photomultiplier 59 is fed to an image processing circuit (not shown) and then fed to an image reproducing system such as a CRT or a recording device for reproducing a radiation image on a photosensitive film by scanning the photosensitive film with a light spot. Alternatively, it may be sent to a storage means such as a magnetic recording tape. Though the time required to read the radiation image information stored in a stimulable phosphor sheet 30 is generally longer than the time required to record the radiation image information on the stimulable phosphor sheet 30, recording on the six stimulable phosphor sheets can be accomplished in a short time and the recorded stimulable phosphor sheets can, for instance, be kept waiting on the endless belts after recording. In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 58(1983)-89245, it is proposed to effect "preliminary read-out" in order to ascertain image input information regarding the radiation image information stored in the stimulable phosphor sheet before effecting reading of the radiation image information stored in the stimulable phosphor sheet 30 for the purpose of obtaining the image signal to be actually used for reproducing the image of the object. (This latter reading is generally referred to as "final read-out".) For the preliminary read-out there are used stimulating rays having an energy level lower than that of the stimulating ray to be used in the final reading. On the basis of the image input information obtained by the preliminary read-out the image information signal read in the final read-out can be processed, e.g., can be adjusted in gain, in order to obtain a high quality visible image unaffected by fluctuations in the recording conditions. In the radiation image recording and read-out apparatus of this embodiment, the preliminary read-out and the final read-out can be effected by driving the endless belts 9, 7 and 8 to return the stimulable phosphor sheet 30 to the image reading position after the stimulable phosphor sheet 30 is once transferred to the endless belt 9 upon completion of the preliminary read-out, and by subsequently effecting the final read-out. From the image information reading section 50, the stimulable phosphor sheet 30 is fed to an erasing section 70 by the endless belt 9. The erasing section 70 includes a housing 71 and a plurality of erasing light sources 72 arranged in the housing 71. After a shutter 73 is opened, the stimulable phosphor sheet 30 is fed by the endless belt 9 until the stimulable phosphor sheet 30 is brought into contact with the nip rollers 28A. Then the stimulable phosphor sheet 30 is introduced into the housing 71 by the nip rollers 28A and the shutter 73 is closed. The erasing light sources 72 emit light in the stimulating wavelength range of the stimulable phosphor on the stimulable phosphor sheet 30, and residual radiation energy in the stimulable phosphor sheet 30 is released therefrom by exposing the stimulable phosphor sheet 30 to the light emitted from the erasing light sources 72. The shutter 73 prevents the erasing light emitted from the erasing light sources 72 from reaching the image information reading section 50, whereby production of noise in the image signal is prevented. The erased stimulable phosphor sheet 30 is discharged from the erasing section 70 by rotating the nip rollers 28B and then returned to the image recording section 40 by the endless belts 10, 13 and 13A to be delivered to the endless belt 2B in the image recording section 40. When the endless belts 10, 13 and the image recording section 40 are still occupied by the preceding stimulable phosphor sheet or sheets 30, the following stimulable phosphor sheet 30 is made to wait on one of the endless belts 10, 13 depending on the number of the preceding stimulable phosphor sheets occupying the endless belts 10, 13 and the image recording section 40. If the endless belts 10, 13 and the image recording section 40 are all occupied, the stimulable phosphor sheet 30, i.e., the sixth stimulable phosphor sheet 30, is returned to the endless belt 9 by rotating the nip rollers 28A in the reverse direction after erasure and is made to wait on the endless belt 9. As described above, the endless belts 2A, 2B, 3 to 13A and the nip rollers 28A and 28B constituting the stimulable phosphor sheet recirculating system are controlled in response to operation of the image recording section 40, the image information reading section 50 and the erasing section 70 to transfer the stimulable phosphor sheet 30 or to support thereon the stimulable phosphor sheet 30. Now an example of the stimulable phosphor sheet positioning mechanism 200 will be described with reference to Figures 4A to 4G. In Figures 4A to 4G, a first stimulable phosphor sheet 30A is transferred by the endless belt 13A to between a pair of deflector belts 201 and then transferred to the endless belt 2B in the image recording section 40 under the guidance of the deflector belts 201 and guide belts 202. At this time the deflector belts 201 are inclined downward toward the endless belt 2B (Figures 4A and 4B). Thereafter, the filter F is moved over the first stimulable phosphor sheet 30A (Figure 4C). The mechanism for moving the filter F over the stimulable phosphor sheet 30A will be described later. Then the deflector belts 201 are inclined upward toward the endless belt 2b and a second stimulable phosphor sheet 30B is positioned on the filter F to be vertically aligned with the first stimulable phosphor sheet 30A (Figure 4D). After exposure to radiation, the filter F is slightly lifted away from the first stimulable phosphor sheet 30A together with the second stimulable phosphor sheet 30B (Figure 4E), and then the first stimulable phosphor sheet 30A is transferred from the endless belt 2B toward the endless belt 2A (Figure 4F). By lifting the filter F before the first stimulable phosphor sheet 30A is moved, the first stimulable phosphor sheet 30A is prevented from being scratched. Thereafter, the filter F is retracted and the second stimulable phosphor sheet 30B is transferred from the endless belt 2B toward the endless belt 2A (Figure 4G). Though not shown, the filter F may be lifted by any suitable means. Instead of deflector belts 201, guide rollers can be used. Further, the filter F may be first positioned above the endless belt 2B spaced therefrom and then the first stimulable phosphor sheet 30A may be inserted therebetween. In this case, the inclination of the deflector belts 201 must be carefully controlled. Figures 5A to 5F show another example of the stimulable phosphor sheet positioning mechanism in which a magazine is employed. A magazine M is provided with rollers R1 and R2 in the base wall thereof. An outlet opening P is formed on the discharge side end wall of the magazine M and an opening through which the filter F is inserted into the magazine M is formed above the outlet opening P. A first stimulable phosphor sheet 30A is first transferred into the magazine M from the right side as shown by the arrow (Figure 5A). Then the filter F is inserted into the magazine M over the first stimulable phosphor sheet 30A (Figure 5B). Then a second stimulable phosphor sheet 30B is transferred into the magazine M over the filter F (Figure 5C). In this state, the stimulable phosphor sheets are exposed to radiation. After exposure, the filter F is retracted away from the magazine M, whereby the second stimulable phosphor sheet 30B falls on the first stimulable phosphor sheet 30A. (Figure 5D) Thereafter, the first stimulable phosphor sheet 30A is discharged by driving the rollers R1 and R2. At this time, the second stimulable phosphor sheet 30B on the first stimulable phosphor sheet 30A is prevented from being discharged together with the first stimulable phosphor sheet 30A by abutment between the right side end of the filter F and the left side end of the second stimulable phosphor sheet 30B. (Figure 5E) Finally the second stimulable phosphor sheet 30B is discharged by driving the rollers R1 and R2. (Figure 5F) The first stimulable phosphor sheet 30A may be discharged before the filter F is retracted. The first and second stimulable phosphor sheets 30A and 30B may be discharged from the image recording section 40 as superposed, and then may be separated from each other downstream of the image recording section 40. The filter F can be inserted into and retracted from the image recording section 40 by moving it in a direction perpendicular (as shown by arrow Y) to the transfer direction of the stimulable phosphor sheets as shown in Figure 6A. The filter F can be moved by various known mechanisms such as one comprising a wire driving system as shown in Figure 6B. Different kinds of stimulable phosphor sheets both exclusively for use in energy-subtraction processing can be used, and in this case the guide rollers 19A are driven under the control of a signal from a controller and the stimulable phosphor sheets on the endless belts 11 and 12 are fed to the endless belt 2B. Owing to the radiation energy absorption characteristics of the particular part whose image is desired to be recorded, the two radiation images stored in the stimulable phosphor sheets 30A and 30B differ from each other in image information regarding the particular part. The energy-subtraction processing for obtaining an image of the particular part from the image information stored in the stimulable phosphor sheets 30A and 30B will be briefly described with reference to Figure 7, hereinbelow. The stimulable phosphor sheet 30A is scanned with a laser beam 111 which is emitted from a laser source 120 and deflected by a scanning mirror 112 in the direction of arrow X (main scanning) in Figure 7 with the stimulable phosphor sheet 30A being transferred in the direction of arrow Y (sub-scanning). Light 113 emitted from the stimulable phosphor sheet 30A in the pattern of stored energy upon exposure to the stimulating laser beam 111 enters a light collecting plate 114 from one end face thereof and impinges upon a photomultiplier 115 after traveling the inside of the light collecting plate 114 by total reflection. The light collecting plate 114 may be formed of transparent acrylic resin, for instance. The photomultiplier 115 outputs an image signal S representing the amount of the light 113. The image signal S is converted into a digital image signal logS A representing the logarithmic value of the image signal S by a logarithmic converter 116 comprising an amplifier and an A/D converter. The digital image signal logS A is stored in a storage medium 117 such as a magnetic recording disk. In the same manner, the radiation image information stored in the stimulable phosphor sheet 30B is read and a digital image signal logS B is stored in the storage medium 117. The digital image signals logS A and logS B respectively obtained from the stimulable phosphor sheets 30A and 30B are then read out from the storage medium 117 and are input into a subtraction operation circuit 118. The subtraction operation circuit 118 weights the digital image signals logS A and logS B with appropriate values (constants a and b in the following formula) and calculates the difference therebetween for each pair of corresponding picture elements, thereby obtaining a digital difference signal Ssub. That is, Ssub=a·logS A -b·logS B +c (a, b and c being constants) In the above formula, the constant c is a bias component for substantially uniformizing the difference signals Ssub in density. The digital difference signals Ssub are subjected to signal processings such as gradation processing and then sent to a display device such as a CRT or a reproducing system to reproduce an energy subtraction image on the basis of the digital difference signals Ssub. Figure 8 shows an example of the energy-subtraction image reproducing system. In Figure 8, a photosensitive film 130 is transferred in the direction of arrow Y (sub-scanning) and at the same time the photosensitive film 130 is scanned with a laser beam 131 in the direction of arrow X (main scanning). The laser beam 131 is modulated by an A/O modulator according to an image signal fed from an image signal feeder 133, thereby forming a visible image on the photosensitive film 130. By inputting said difference signal Ssub as the image signal, an energy subtraction image of a desired part extracted from an image of the overall object can be recorded on the photosensitive film 130.

Claims: A radiation image recording and read-out apparatus (1) comprising: a circulating and conveying means for conveying a plurality of stimulable phosphor sheets (30) for recording radiation images thereon along a predetermined circulation path (P1, P2), an image recording section (40) positioned on said circulation path for recording the radiation image of an object on each of said stimulable phosphor sheets (30) by exposing said stimulable phosphor sheet (30) to a radiation passing through said object, an image read-out section (50) positioned on said circulation path and provided with a stimulating ray source (51) for emitting stimulating rays for scanning said stimulable phosphor sheet (30) carrying said radiation image stored therein at said image recording section, and a photoelectric read-out means (59) for detecting light emitted by said stimulable phosphor sheet scanned by said stimulating rays to obtain an electric image signal, an erasing section (70) positioned on said circulation path for, prior to the next image recording on said stimulable phosphor sheet (30) for which the image read-out has been conducted at said image read-out section (50), having said stimulable phosphor sheet (30) release the radiation energy remaining in said stimulable phosphor sheet, characterised in that it further comprises: a stimulable phosphor sheet feeding/discharging means (104) for feeding at least two stimulable phosphor sheets (30) to the image recording section (40) in a superposed state and for discharging the stimulable phosphor sheets (30) after exposure to radiation from the image recording section (40) to the circulation path, which feeding and discharging means includes a positioning mechanism (200) for arranging at least two of the phosphor sheets one by one in a stack with a radiation filter (F) therebetween and for discharging the sheets after the sheets have been exposed. The radiation image recording and read-out apparatus of claim 1 in which the positioning mechanism (200) includes deflecting and guiding means (201, 201) which are inclinable for guiding a first phosphor sheet (30A) on a position of a conveyor belt and a second phosphor sheet (30B) in a position above said first phosphor sheet and said radiation filter. The radiation image recording and read-out apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein upstream between said feeding/discharging means and said erasing section at least a portion of said circulation path is branched into a first and second branch path (P1, P2) for storing and for conveying different kinds of phosphor sheets, according to different radiation qualities provided by the radiation quality changing means, successively to the feeding/discharging means, each branch path include at least one separate belt conveyor, said separate conveyor belt being adapted to be controlled by control means for conveying the phosphor sheets along the circulation path and for holding them in a waiting position. The radiation image recording and read-out apparatus of any of claims 1 to 3 in which at least two different kinds of stimulable phosphor sheet having different radiation absorption characteristics are included among said stimulable phosphor sheets.

Inventors: ISHIDA MASAMITSU, SHIMURA KAZUO, ISHIDA, MASAMITSU, SHIMURA, KAZUO
Applicants: FUJI PHOTO FILM CO LTD, FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.
Application year: 1985
Main classification: G01T1
IPC codes: H05G1, G01T1, G03B42