Patent Publication Number: US-2013232361-A1

Title: Information processing apparatus and information processing method

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus which is used in an X-ray radiographing system and can be driven by a battery, and a control method and a program for such an information processing apparatus. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In the related arts, a requirement to realize a high efficiency and a high speed of an inspection by converting medical image information of a patient which is generated in a hospital into digital data and by storing and transmitting the digital data has been increasing. Therefore, even in the field of the X-ray radiographing, a digital system for outputting digital data by using an X-ray detector such as an FPD (Flat Panel Detector) or the like has widely been used in place of a screen/film system so far. The number of cases where a radio communicating function is provided for the X-ray detector is also increasing. 
     An all-wireless system in which radio communication is performed by using a PC (personal computer) such as a tablet PC or the like which can be driven by a battery together with the X-ray detector having such a radio communicating function has been constructed. 
     In the battery-drivable PC, since the PC is driven by the battery, power saving is important. In order to cope with the power saving, in a desk-top PC in the related art, it is a general way to shift the system into a sleep (standby) state after a predetermined time by using a management of a power source which is provided by the OS. In a mobile PC such as a tablet PC or the like, if the sleep state is used, data is stored only in a memory. There is, consequently, such a problem that the data is lost when the battery is dead. Generally, the system is operated in such a manner that when a predetermined time elapses after the sleep, the system is shifted to a rest state (generally called “hibernation”) in which the data is stored in an HDD. 
     As a prior art, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-264953 discloses such a construction that in an information processing apparatus having a receiving apparatus for receiving broadcasting program data although it is not an X-ray radiographing system, the apparatus is shifted from an operation state to a first sleep state in which power consumption is smaller than that in the operation state and to a second sleep state in which power consumption is smaller than that in the first sleep state and a time which is required for recovery to the operation state is longer than that in the first sleep state. It also discloses such a construction that when a TV application program for reproducing broadcasting program data which is received by a TV tuner is activated, a shift to the second sleep state is inhibited. 
     The operating method of the mobile PC mentioned above has such a problem that when the apparatus is shifted into hibernation, an activating time is delayed. In the mobile PC operation, shorter activating time, as well as the power saving, is an important subject. 
     The invention is made in consideration of the problems as mentioned above and it is an object of the invention to provide an information processing apparatus which is used in an X-ray radiographing system and can be driven by a battery, wherein an power saving and a high-speed activation can be realized. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In order to solve the above problem, the present invention provides an information processing apparatus for use in an X-ray radiographing system, comprising a detection unit that detects whether the information processing apparatus is driven by a battery or by an external power source, a discrimination unit that discriminates whether inspection information of the X-ray radiographing system is present or absent, and a shifting unit that shifts the information processing apparatus to a power saving mode on the basis of the detection by the detection unit and the discrimination by the discrimination unit. 
     Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a construction of an information processing apparatus which is used in an X-ray radiographing system according to the first embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart showing the processing operation of an information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described hereinbelow with reference to the drawings. 
     First Embodiment  
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a construction of an information processing apparatus which is used in an X-ray radiographing system according to the embodiment. The information processing apparatus is constructed by a PC (personal computer) such as a tablet PC or the like which can be driven by an AC power source and a battery. 
     An inspection information obtaining unit  101  obtains inspection information of an inspection which is scheduled to be executed by an X-ray detector  200  such as an FPD (Flat Panel Detector) or the like constructing the X-ray radiographing system from an external inspection instructing apparatus as digital data by, for example, the radio communicating function. The inspection information is, for example, information in which an inspection such as chest radiographing, abdominal radiographing, or the like which is scheduled to be executed is managed every patient. An inspection information presence/absence discriminating unit  102  detects the presence or absence of the inspection information obtained by the inspection information obtaining unit  101 . For example, the presence or absence of the inspection information is discriminated on the basis of whether or not there is a pending inspection or an inspection which is not executed yet or whether or not the inspection is being executed. 
     A driving method detecting unit  103  detects, through an OS (Operating System) unit  105 , whether the apparatus is driven by a battery  106  or by an AC power source  107 . 
     A power saving mode shifting unit  104  issues an instruction of a power saving mode to a power source setting unit  108  via the OS unit  105  on the basis of detection information from the inspection information presence/absence discriminating unit  102  and the driving method detecting unit  103 , thereby shifting the apparatus to the power saving mode. 
     The OS unit  105  provides fundamental functions and controls and manages the whole computer system. The battery  106  supplies power to the apparatus by itself, and the AC power source  107  supplies power to the apparatus via an external source. The power source setting unit  108  sets which one of the battery  106  and the AC power source  107  is used as a power source. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates the processing operation of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment. When no operation is executed in the information processing apparatus and a predetermined time elapses (step S 201 ), a screen saver is started (step S 202 ). During the serving of the screen saver, the inspection information can be obtained by the inspection information obtaining unit  101 . 
     When a predetermined time elapses after the start of the screen saver (step S 203 ), it is discriminated by the driving method detecting unit  103  whether or not the apparatus is driven by the battery (step S 204 ). If the apparatus is driven by the AC power source, since there is a low risk of power off, the apparatus is shifted to a sleep state (a first power saving mode) by the power saving mode shifting unit  104  (step S 205 ). In the sleep state, data is stored in the memory and therefore high-speed activation can be performed. 
     If the apparatus is driven by the battery (step S 204 ), it is discriminated whether or not the battery  106  has a sufficient remaining battery level (step S 206 ). If it is determined that the battery  106  has a low remaining battery level (that is, the remaining battery level is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value), the apparatus is shifted to a rest state (a second power saving mode) by the power saving mode shifting unit  104 , since there is a high risk of power off (step S 207 ). The rest state will be hereafter called “hibernation”. Although it requires a longer time for activation than the sleep state, the hibernation is a safe measure since the data is stored in the hard disk, and also the hibernation leads to a great power saving effect as compared to the sleep state. 
     If it is determined in step S 206  that the battery  106  has a sufficient remaining battery level (that is, the remaining battery level exceeds the predetermined threshold value), the presence or absence of the inspection information is discriminated by the inspection information presence/absence discriminating unit  102  (step S 208 ). The presence or absence of the inspection information is discriminated on the basis of whether or not there is a pending inspection or an unexecuted inspection or whether or not the inspection is being executed (step S 208 ). 
     If it is determined in step S 208  that the inspection information is absent, the apparatus is shifted to the sleep state by the power saving mode shifting unit  104  (step S 212 ). After the elapse of a predetermined time M (step S 213 ), the apparatus is then shifted to the hibernation (step S 214 ). If it is determined in step S 208  that the inspection information is present, the apparatus is shifted to the sleep state by the power saving mode shifting unit  104  (step S 209 ). After the elapse of a predetermined time N (step S 210 ), the apparatus is then shifted to the hibernation (step S 211 ). 
     It is assumed that the predetermined time N (where the inspection information is present) is longer than the predetermined time M (where the inspection information is absent). This is because (a) if the inspection information is present, there is a very high possibility that the inspection will be restarted and it is therefore desirable that the apparatus waits in the sleep mode as long as possible such that the apparatus may be immediately returned to the original state, and (b) if the inspection information is absent, there is little possibility that the inspection will be executed and it is therefore desirable to quickly shift the apparatus to the hibernation, which is safe and leads to a greater power saving effect, although it requires a longer activation time. It is also assumed that if the operation by an interface such as mouse, keyboard, or the like is executed in the present sequence, the operation is immediately returned to “start”. 
     Second Embodiment  
     Next, the second embodiment will be described. Since the construction of an information processing apparatus which is used in the X-ray radiographing system in this embodiment is similar to that in the first embodiment, its description is omitted here. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates the processing operation of the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment. Steps S 301  to S 311  are identical to steps S 201  to S 211  in  FIG. 2 , respectively. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment only in that if it is determined in step S 308  that the inspection information is absent, the apparatus is directly shifted to the hibernation without shifting to the sleep state (step S 314 ). In other words, the predetermined time M is set to zero (M=0) in the flowchart of  FIG. 2 . 
     Other Embodiments  
     Embodiments of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer-executable instructions recorded on a storage medium (e.g., non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) of the present invention, and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer-executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). The computer may comprise one or more of a central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU), or other circuitry, and may include a network of separate computers or separate computer processors. The computer-executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like. 
     While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions. 
     This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-045423, filed Mar. 1, 2012, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.