Patent ID: 7091510

Claim:
A method for storing and reproducing a radiation image which comprises the steps of: providing a composite structure comprising a fluorescent sheet placed on a radiation image storage panel comprising a fluorescent layer and a radiation image storage layer in such manner that the fluorescent sheet is arranged adjacent to the image storage layer of the storage panel, the fluorescent sheet containing a phosphor which absorbs a radiation energy and emits a light of ultraviolet or visible region, the fluorescent layer of the storage panel containing a phosphor which absorbs a radiation energy and emits a light of ultraviolet or visible region, and the radiation image storage layer of the storage panel containing a stimulable oxide phosphor which absorbs the light emitted by the phosphors of the fluorescent layer and the fluorescent sheet to store therein energy of the absorbed light and releases the stored energy in the form of a light emission upon irradiation with a light of visible or infrared region, wherein the stimulable oxide phosphor is a stimulable rare earth element activated-alkaline earth metal oxide phosphor having the formula (I): M II O.aM III 2 O 3 :xEu, yLn (I) in which M II is at least one alkaline earth metal selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Sr and Ba; M III is at least one trivalent metal selected from the group consisting of B, Al and Ga; Ln is at least one rare earth element selected from the group consisting of La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu; and each of a, x and y satisfies the conditions of 0.5≦a≦5.5, 1×10 −6 ≦x≦0.2, and 1×10 −6 ≦y≦0.2; applying onto the composite structure on the side of the fluorescent sheet or the radiation image storage panel a radiation having penetrated through an object, a radiation having been emitted by an object, or a radiation having been scattered or diffracted by an object, so as to store energy of the applied radiation in the form of a latent image on the image storage layer of the storage panel; separating the radiation image storage panel from the fluorescent sheet; irradiating the image storage panel on the side of image storage layer with a stimulating light in a visible or infrared region to excite the oxide phosphor in the storage layer so that the energy stored in the storage layer in the form of a latent image is released in the form of a light emission; collecting the light emission released from the storage layer by light-collecting means; converting the collected light into a series of electric signals; and producing an image corresponding to the latent image from the electric signals.