X-ray diagnostic apparatus and medical-information processing apparatus configured to control a rotating speed of a rotary anode of an X-ray tube by deriving an acquiring condition from a fluoroscopic image

• US 10,638,998 B2
• Filed: 06/07/2017
• Issued: 05/05/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Totsuka, Yuki, Soya, Masaharu, Takahashi, Katsuo, Takahashi, Kansei, Mochiduki, Akira, Kojima, Katsunori, Sato, Daisuke, Uehara, Hisayuki, Kobayashi, Hiroyoshi, Tetsuka, Akio
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Allen C.
• Application Number:
  US15/616,342
• Publication Number:
  US 20170352518A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,063 Days
• Field of Search: 378 42, 378 62, 378 987, 378125, 378131, 378132, 378144
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/06 Diaphragms
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/40 Arrangements for generating radiation specially adapted for radiation diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/4441 the rigid structure being a C-arm or U-arm
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/465 adapted to display user selection data, e.g. graphical user interface, icons or menus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/48 Diagnostic techniques A61B6/022, A61B6/025 A61B6/032, A61B6/037 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/486 involving generating temporal series of image data
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/487 involving fluoroscopy
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/54 Control of apparatus or devices for radiation diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/542 involving control of exposure
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/545 involving automatic set-up of acquisition parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 35/10 Rotary anodes; Arrangements for rotating anodes; Cooling rotary anodes
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 35/101 Arrangements for rotating anodes, e.g. supporting means, means for greasing, means for sealing the axle or means for shielding or protecting the driving
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 35/26 by rotation of the anode or anticathode
• CPC Class Codes: H05G 1/26 Measuring, controlling or protecting measuring X-ray radiation G01T
• CPC Class Codes: H05G 1/265 Measurements of current, voltage or power
• CPC Class Codes: H05G 1/30 Controlling
• CPC Class Codes: H05G 1/66 Circuit arrangements for X-ray tubes with target movable relatively to the anode

Abstract

An X-ray diagnostic apparatus comprises an X-ray tube and processing circuitry. The X-ray tube includes a rotary anode. The processing circuitry is configured to derive an acquiring condition from a fluoroscopic image, and start to increase, in accordance with the acquiring condition derived, a rotating speed of the anode from a low rotating speed to a high rotating speed before the X-ray tube finishes emitting an X-ray to acquire the fluoroscopic image.

Claims

1. An X-ray diagnostic apparatus comprising:

an X-ray tube including a rotary anode; and

processing circuitry configured to;

derive an acquiring condition from a fluoroscopic image, and

start to increase, in accordance with the acquiring condition derived, a rotating speed of the rotary anode from a low rotating speed to a high rotating speed before the X-ray tube finishes emitting an X-ray to acquire the fluoroscopic image.

2. The X-ray diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to start image acquiring in an interval from when the rotating speed of the rotary anode reaches the high rotating speed to when an elapsed time required to increase the low rotating speed to the high rotating speed elapses after the X-ray tube finishes emitting an X-ray to acquire the fluoroscopic image.

3. The X-ray diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to start to increase the rotating speed of the rotary anode from the low rotating speed to the high rotating speed if a variation in a statistic in brightness of pixels of the fluoroscopic image satisfies a determination condition.

4. The X-ray diagnostic apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the determination condition is a condition that the statistic falls within a predetermined range during more than a predetermined time.

5. The X-ray diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to start to increase the rotating speed of the rotary anode from the low rotating speed to the high rotating speed if an operating mechanism is stopped and if a variation in a statistic in brightness of pixels of the fluoroscopic image satisfies a determination condition.

6. The X-ray diagnostic apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the operating mechanism is a couch on which a subject is placed.

7. The X-ray diagnostic apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the operating mechanism is a collimator that adjusts an irradiation range of an X-ray.

8. The X-ray diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to start to increase the rotating speed of the rotary anode from the low rotating speed to the high rotating speed if information indicating that a subject has stopped breathing or information indicating that the subject has received a command to stop breathing is received and if a variation in a statistic in brightness of pixels of the fluoroscopic image satisfies a determination condition.

9. The X-ray diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to start to increase the rotating speed of the rotary anode from the low rotating speed to the high rotating speed if information indicating that a subject has stopped moving or information indicating that the subject has received a command to stop moving is received and if a variation in a statistic in brightness of pixels of the fluoroscopic image satisfies a determination condition.

10. The X-ray diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to start to increase the rotating speed of the rotary anode from the low rotating speed to the high rotating speed if a user has performed a predetermined operation and if a variation in a statistic in brightness of pixels of the fluoroscopic image satisfies a determination condition.

11. The X-ray diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to start to increase the rotating speed of the rotary anode from the low rotating speed to the high rotating speed if a predetermined time has elapsed after the X-ray tube has started to emit an X-ray to acquire the fluoroscopic image and if a variation in a statistic in brightness of pixels of the fluoroscopic image satisfies a determination condition.

12. The X-ray diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to start to increase the rotating speed of the rotary anode from the low rotating speed to the high rotating speed if a user satisfies a position condition and if a variation in a statistic in brightness of pixels of the fluoroscopic image satisfies a determination condition.

13. The X-ray diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

perform a process to determine a time when the rotating speed is started to increase from the low rotating speed to the high rotating speed by using at least one of following pieces of information as state information;

information that indicates a variation in a statistic in brightness of pixels of the fluoroscopic image, information that indicates whether an operating mechanism is stopped, information that indicates whether a subject has stopped breathing, information that indicates whether the subject has received a command to stop breathing, information that indicates whether the subject has stopped moving, information that indicates whether the subject has received a command to stop moving, information that indicates whether a user has performed a predetermined operation, information that indicates a time that has elapsed after the X-ray tube has started to emit an X-ray to acquire the fluoroscopic image, and information that indicates a position of a user, the processing circuitry performing the process, in accordance with a relationship between the state information at a time when the rotating speed is started to increase from the low rotating speed to the high rotating speed and an evaluation of a time when the rotating speed of the rotary anode is started to increase from the low rotating speed to the high rotating speed, to learn a weighting coefficient with regard to each piece of the state information and determine the time when the rotating speed is started to increase from the low rotating speed to the high rotating speed based on the state information input and the weighting coefficient, and

start to increase the rotating speed of the rotary anode from the low rotating speed to the high rotating speed at the time determined.

14. The X-ray diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

derive an irradiation possible condition that may be implemented by using the rotating speed of the rotary anode, and

acquire an acquisition image under the irradiation possible condition if the acquiring condition does not fall within the irradiation possible condition.

15. The X-ray diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to decrease the rotating speed of the rotary anode if the rotating speed of the rotary anode is a rotating speed at which the rotary anode resonates.

16. An X-ray diagnostic apparatus comprising:

an X-ray tube including a rotary anode; and

processing circuitry configured to;

derive an acquiring condition from a fluoroscopic image and derive an irradiation possible condition that may be implemented by using a rotating speed of the rotary anode, and

acquire an acquisition image under the irradiation possible condition if the acquiring condition does not fall within the irradiation possible condition.

17. The X-ray diagnostic apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to decrease the rotating speed of the rotary anode if the rotating speed of the rotary anode is a rotating speed at which the rotary anode resonates.

18. A medical-information processing apparatus comprising:

processing circuitry configured to;

acquire an acquiring condition based on a fluoroscopic image, and

calculate, in accordance with the acquiring condition acquired, a time when a rotating speed of a rotary anode is started to increase from a low rotating speed to a high rotating speed before an X-ray tube, including the rotary anode, finishes emitting an X-ray to acquire the fluoroscopic image.