Patent ID: 7095039

Claim:
A radiation image read-out method, comprising the steps of: i) irradiating stimulating rays, which have been produced by a line light source, linearly along a main scanning direction and onto a stimulable phosphor sheet, on which a radiation image has been stored, the stimulating rays causing the stimulable phosphor sheet to emit light in proportion to an amount of energy stored on the stimulable phosphor sheet during exposure of the stimulable phosphor sheet to radiation, ii) receiving light, which is emitted from the linear area of the stimulable phosphor sheet exposed to the linear stimulating rays, with a line sensor comprising a plurality of photoelectric conversion devices arrayed along the main scanning direction, the received light being subjected to photoelectric conversion performed by the line sensor, iii) moving the stimulable phosphor sheet with respect to the line light source and the line sensor and in a sub-scanning direction different from the main scanning direction, and iv) successively acquiring output signal components from the photoelectric conversion devices of the line sensor in accordance with the movement, whereby an operation for reading out the radiation image from the stimulable phosphor sheet is performed, wherein the improvement comprises the provision of the steps of: a) previously storing reference signal components having been obtained in an initial state from the outputs of the photoelectric conversion devices of the line sensor, which has received reference light produced by a reference light source, b) causing the line sensor to receive the reference light, which is produced by the reference light source, at a stage immediately before the operation for reading out the radiation image from the stimulable phosphor sheet is performed, c) acquiring sensitivity signal components from the outputs of the photoelectric conversion devices of the line sensor having received the reference light, which is produced by the reference light source, at the stage immediately before the operation for reading out the radiation image from the stimulable phosphor sheet is performed, d) comparing the sensitivity signal components and the corresponding reference signal components with each other, sensitivity correction signal components for making a correction for variations in sensitivity among the photoelectric conversion devices of the line sensor being obtained from the comparison, and e) making a correction of the output signal components, which are acquired from the photoelectric conversion devices of the line sensor at the time of the operation for reading out the radiation image from the stimulable phosphor sheet, by use of the sensitivity correction signal components.