WO2015015711A1

WO2015015711A1 - Mammography device, mammography device control method, and program

Info

Publication number: WO2015015711A1
Application number: PCT/JP2014/003536
Authority: WO
Inventors: 西村　愼二
Original assignee: キヤノン株式会社
Priority date: 2013-07-30
Filing date: 2014-07-02
Publication date: 2015-02-05

Abstract

Provided is a mammography device, wherein a radiation emission unit which projects radiation and a detection unit which detects radiation are positioned in opposition to one another, the radiation is projected while rotating the radiation and the detection unit around the circumference of a mammary gland, and a tomographic image of the mammary gland is photographed, said mammography device comprising: a cavity which is positioned between the radiation emission unit and the detection unit; and a mammary gland retaining unit which retains the mammary gland. The mammary gland retaining unit is detachably installed in the cavity.

Description

Mammography apparatus, control method and program for mammography apparatus

The present invention relates to a mammography apparatus for acquiring a tomographic image of a breast of a subject using radiation, a control method for the mammography apparatus, and a program.

As a technique for acquiring a radiation image of a subject's breast using radiation, the conventional mammography is required to make the breast thickness uniform in order to obtain good image quality. A radiographic image is acquired in a state of sandwiching.

As other techniques for capturing a radiographic image of a breast, for example,

Patent Documents

1 and 2 disclose a breast tomographic image capturing apparatus, and Patent Document 3 discloses a radiation CT apparatus for mammography. Patent Document 4 discloses a breast image forming apparatus, Patent Document 5 discloses a mammography photographing jig, and Patent Document 6 discloses a breast immobilization apparatus.

JP 2010-69241 A JP 2010-46356 A Japanese Patent No. 4857070 JP 2008-307236 A Japanese Patent No. 4796831 Japanese Patent No. 4598791

When taking images with a conventional breast tomography device or a radiation CT device for mammography, in order to obtain a clearer tomographic image, the body movement due to breathing and pulse of the subject should be suppressed as much as possible during imaging. Is needed.

In view of the prior art, the present invention provides a technique capable of taking a radiation tomographic image of a breast in a state where the subject is not moved.

In a mammography apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, a radiation generation unit that irradiates radiation and a detection unit that detects the radiation are arranged to face each other, and the radiation and the detection unit are arranged around the breast. A mammography apparatus for irradiating radiation while rotating and photographing a tomographic image of the breast,
A hollow hole disposed between the radiation generation unit and the detection unit;
A breast holding part for holding the breast;
The breast holding part is detachably installed in the hollow hole.

According to the present invention, it is possible to take a radiation tomographic image of the breast while keeping the subject stationary.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings, the same or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The accompanying drawings are included in the specification, constitute a part thereof, show an embodiment of the present invention, and are used to explain the principle of the present invention together with the description.
The figure which illustrates the structure of the mammography apparatus which concerns on embodiment. The figure which shows the state which rotated the gantry illustratively. The figure which shows the function structure of the mammography apparatus which concerns on embodiment. The figure explaining the flow of a process of the mammography apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment. The figure explaining the flow of a process of the mammography apparatus concerning 3rd Embodiment. The figure which shows the structure of the gantry of the mammography apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment. The figure explaining the structure of the pressurization control of an airbag. The figure explaining the drawing-in process of the breast which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the structural example of the airbag which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. The figure which shows the structure of the gantry of the mammography apparatus which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. The figure explaining the process which hold | maintains a breast in a breast holding part. The figure explaining the drawing-in process of a breast. The figure which shows the state in which the breast holding part was positioned in the imaging position. The figure which shows the structure of the gantry of the mammography apparatus which concerns on 4th Embodiment. The block diagram which shows the specific structure of an air pressure control part. The figure explaining the taking-in operation | movement of the breast to a breast holding part. The figure explaining the mechanism which takes in a breast holding part into the inside of a gantry. The figure explaining the structure of the shielding body which shields a breast holding | maintenance part. The figure explaining the structural example of a shield. The figure explaining the structural example of a shield. The figure explaining the structural example of a shield. The figure explaining the flow of the control method of the mammography apparatus of 4th Embodiment. The figure explaining the flow of the control method of the mammography apparatus of 5th Embodiment.

(First embodiment)
In the mammography apparatus of the present embodiment, a radiation source (radiation generation unit 11) that irradiates radiation and a detection unit 13 that detects radiation are arranged to face each other, and the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13 are arranged on the breast. A tomogram of the breast is taken by irradiating with radiation while rotating around. The mammography apparatus includes a hollow hole disposed between the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13 and a breast holding unit that holds the breast. Here, the breast holding part is detachably installed in the hollow hole. The mammography apparatus includes an air pressure control unit that pulls the breast into the breast holding unit by controlling the internal pressure of the breast holding unit to a negative pressure.

FIG. 1A is a diagram showing an external configuration of a mammography apparatus (hereinafter also simply referred to as an imaging apparatus) according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1A, it is assumed that the photographing apparatus main body 2 is disposed in the xy plane. The photographing apparatus main body 2 is provided with a support base 3 along the z direction, and the support base 3 is provided with a movable table 4 that can move along the z direction. Further, the movable table 4 is provided with a gantry rotation drive unit 5 for turning a casing (hereinafter referred to as a gantry 6) of the apparatus. The surface where the subject 1 and the gantry 6 face each other in front is referred to as a gantry front surface portion 130, the side surface portion of the gantry 6 is referred to as a gantry side surface portion 140, and the back surface portion of the gantry 6 is referred to as a gantry back surface portion 150.

The movable table 4 positions the gantry 6 in the z direction, and the gantry rotation drive unit 5 can turn the gantry 6 around a rotation axis parallel to the x axis according to the imaging posture of the subject 1.

When imaging is performed by the mammography apparatus, the breast of the subject 1 is aligned with the position of the center of the gantry front portion 130 of the gantry 6 and the front of the gantry 6 is opposed to the chest of the subject 1. The angle of the part 130 is adjusted. At this time, it is not desirable to force the subject 1 to take an unreasonable posture in order to align the breast of the subject 1 with respect to the gantry 6. In the mammography apparatus of the present embodiment, by using the movable table 4 and the gantry rotation driving unit 5, it is possible to perform tomography of the breast in an arbitrary imaging posture from the standing position to the oblique position and the prone position. Thereby, it becomes possible to perform imaging while reducing the burden on the subject 1.

FIG. 1B is a diagram exemplarily showing a state where the gantry 6 is turned. FIG. 1B shows a case where the subject sits on the chair 112 and photographs the subject 1 in an oblique position (sitting position). FIG. 1B shows a case where the subject 1 is lying down on the mount 113 such as a bed and the subject 1 is photographed in the prone position. In FIG. 1B, in order to display the state of the gantry 6 in an easy-to-understand manner, the configuration of the imaging device main body 2 and the column base 3 is omitted.

FIG. 1C is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the mammography apparatus. The functional configuration may be configured as software of an information processing apparatus connected to the mammography apparatus or may be configured as hardware.

The apparatus control unit 151 is electrically connected to a motor that drives the movable table 4 and a motor that drives the gantry rotation driving unit 5, and controls the operations of the movable table 4 and the gantry rotation driving unit 5. In addition, the apparatus control unit 151 gives instructions regarding the start and end of operations of the radiation generation unit 11, the detection unit 13, the pneumatic control unit 300, and the rotor rotation drive unit 15, which will be described later. Here, the air pressure control unit 300 includes an air pressure control unit 44, an air pressure control unit 45, an air pressure control unit 66, and an air pressure control unit 67, which will be described later. Each pneumatic control unit can perform pressure control under the control of the device control unit 151.

The rotation angle detector 160 detects the rotation angles of the radiation generator 11 and the detector 13. The position detection unit 170 detects the position of the breast holding unit in the hollow hole in the gantry 6. The apparatus control unit 151 can control radiation irradiation by the radiation generation unit 11 using the detection result of the rotation angle by the rotation angle detection unit 160. Further, the device control unit 151 can control the positioning of the breast holding unit so that the breast holding unit is positioned at a predetermined position using the result of position detection by the position detection unit 170.

The image processing unit 152 performs preprocessing necessary for performing reconstruction such as offset correction, gain correction, defect correction, logarithmic conversion, and the like on the image acquired by the detection unit 13, and then performs reconstruction. The algorithm used for reconstruction is not particularly limited, and a general method such as analytical reconstruction such as a filtered back projection method or algebraic reconstruction using an inverse matrix or a sequential method may be used.

The image storage unit 153 stores the reconstructed image processed by the image processing unit 152. Further, an image before reconstruction, an image before correction, and the like are saved as necessary. The image storage unit 153 stores an offset image, a gain image, and an image indicating the position of the defect necessary for various corrections, and the image is called when the image processing unit 152 performs correction. The image forming unit 154 creates an image for displaying the image stored in the image storage unit 153 on the display unit 155.

FIG. 1D is a diagram illustrating the flow of processing when imaging is performed by the mammography apparatus according to the embodiment. First, in step S101, the apparatus control unit 151 controls the operation of the movable table 4 and the gantry rotation driving unit 5 to set the position and posture (rotation angle) of the gantry 6 according to the imaging posture of the subject. . In step S101, for example, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the position and posture of the gantry 6 are set in accordance with the photographing posture of the subject.

Next, as a preparation for photographing, the apparatus control unit 151 controls the air pressure control unit 44 and the air pressure control unit 45 to execute the following steps S102 and S103. First, in step S102, the subject's breast (inspection object) is held in the mammography apparatus, and in step S103, the held breast is pulled in so that the subject's breast is not moved. To do.

After completion of the imaging preparation in step S102 and step S103, in step S104, the apparatus control unit 151 controls the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13 to perform imaging.

When imaging is completed in step S104, the apparatus control unit 151 controls the air pressure control unit 44 and the air pressure control unit 45 in step S105, and the subject is subjected to the processing procedure opposite to the processing in steps S102 and S103. One breast is taken out and a series of processes is completed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the gantry 6 (housing) of the mammography apparatus according to the first embodiment. In the mammography apparatus according to the first embodiment, a radiation generation unit 11 that irradiates radiation and a detection unit 13 that detects radiation are arranged to face each other, and the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13 are arranged around the breast. Take a tomographic image of the breast by irradiating it with rotating radiation. In the gantry 6, a radiation generation unit 11 that emits radiation when performing mammography is disposed, and a radiation focal point 12 is provided at the distal end of the radiation generation unit 11. A mammography region is formed between the radiation generator 11 and the detector 13.

A detection unit 13 that receives the radiation emitted from the radiation generation unit 11 is disposed at a position facing the radiation generation unit 11. The detection unit 13 photoelectrically converts the received radiation and outputs image data obtained by the photoelectric conversion to the image processing unit 152.

Inside the gantry 6, a rotor fixing portion 14 that functions as a stator is provided. A rotor rotation driving unit 15 that is rotatable with respect to the rotor fixing unit 14 is disposed on the outer peripheral portion of the rotor fixing unit 14. The radiation generating unit 11 is fixed to the rotor rotation driving unit 15 and rotates around the rotor fixing unit 14 together with the rotor rotation driving unit 15. The detection unit 13 is supported by a support unit 16, and the detection unit 13 is fixed to the rotor rotation driving unit 15 via the support unit 16, and rotates around the rotor fixing unit 14 together with the rotor rotation driving unit 15. The rotation of the rotor rotation drive unit 15 is controlled by the device control unit 151.

As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a mammography insertion hole 7 is provided at the center of the gantry front portion 130. The apparatus control unit 151 controls the operations of the movable base 4 and the gantry rotation driving unit 5 so that the center of the gantry front portion 130 of the gantry 6 is substantially aligned with the breast 21 of the subject 1. This process corresponds to the position / orientation setting process in step S101 described with reference to FIG. 1D.

The mammography apparatus includes a hollow hole disposed between the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13 and a breast holding unit 33 that holds the breast. Here, the breast holding part 33 is detachably installed in the hollow hole. The breast holding part 33 is configured as a member having a hollow part into which a breast can be inserted from the mammography insertion hole 7 having a hollow hole. Moreover, the breast holding part 33 is comprised by the member which permeate | transmits a radiation. When photographing, the breast 21 is inserted into the breast holder 33 through the mammography insertion hole 7. At this time, the subject 1 is in close contact with the sealing pad 32 that can be easily deformed following the unevenness of the chest.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of pressurization control of the air bag 34. As shown in FIG. 3, the mammography apparatus includes a negative pressure generation source 48 that generates a negative pressure. The air pressure control unit 45 evacuates air inside the breast holding unit 33 from the pipe 147 communicating with the inside of the breast holding unit 33 by the negative pressure generated by the negative pressure generating source 48. Is controlled to a negative pressure.

The mammography apparatus includes a holding part (airbag 34) for holding the breast inside a breast holding part 33 having a hollow part. The breast holding part 33 includes an airbag 34 arranged along the inner periphery, and the breast holding part 33 holds the periphery of the breast by the airbag 34. The pneumatic control unit 45 draws the breast held by the air bag 34 from one end side (mammography insertion hole 7 side) of the breast holding unit 33 toward the other end side of the breast holding unit 33.

An air bag 34 that holds the breast inside the breast holder 33 is provided on the inner periphery of the breast holder 33. When pressurized air is supplied to the air bag 34, for example, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the air bag 34 expands into a semicircular cross-sectional shape and is inserted into the breast holder 33. Hold around.

The mammography apparatus controls the supply of air generated by the positive pressure generation source 43 to the airbag 34 via the positive pressure generation source 43 that generates positive pressure air and the piping 146 that communicates with the airbag. An air pressure control unit 44 is provided. The airbag 34 is inflated by the air supplied under the control of the pneumatic control unit 44 and holds the breast.

The positive pressure generating source 43 generates positive pressure air. The air pressure control unit 44 controls the air generated by the positive pressure generating source 43 to have an appropriate pressure and flow rate, and the air chamber 370 of the air bag 34 through the pipe 146 and the air bag intake / exhaust port 35. Supply air inside. The air pressure control unit 44 measures the supply flow rate of the air supplied to the air chamber 370 of the air bag 34 and checks the supply flow rate until the air bag 34 is inflated to the size of the external size of the breast. I do. At this stage, the engineer opens the airtight lid 380 (FIG. 2) located on the opposite side of the mammography insertion hole 7, puts his hand inside the breast holding portion 33, and the breast 21 comes to substantially the center of the gantry 6. You may adjust as follows.

In the next stage, the air pressure control unit 44 controls the air supply flow rate to further supply air into the air chamber 370 of the air bag 34 to inflate the air bag 34. When the air bag 34 is inflated, the breast 21 is held by the air bag 34 in a substantially conical state, and the pneumatic control unit 44 stops supplying air. By this operation, the airbag 34 maintains the breast holding state as shown in FIG. The above processing with reference to FIG. 3 corresponds to the breast holding processing in step S102 described with reference to FIG. 1D.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the hermetic lid 380 provided on the gantry rear surface portion 150 side of the gantry 6 is closed to make the inside of the breast holding portion 33 sealed. The interior (air chamber 40) of the breast holding unit 33 is connected to the pneumatic control unit 45 through the intake / exhaust port 39 and the pipe 147, and the inside of the breast holding unit 33 is exhausted by the exhaust control of the pneumatic control unit 45. The The air pressure control unit 45 gradually exhausts air from the air chamber 40 inside the breast holding unit 33 by the negative pressure air generated by the negative pressure generation source 48.

The mammography insertion hole 7 side of the breast holding part 33 is sealed with the breast held by the air bag 34, and the gantry back part 150 side is sealed with an airtight lid 380. As the air in the air chamber 40 is exhausted from the intake / exhaust port 39, the inside of the breast holding portion 33 becomes in a negative pressure state. When the inside of the breast holding unit 33 is in a negative pressure state by the exhaust control by the air pressure control unit 45, the breast 21 is gradually drawn toward the inside of the breast holding unit 33. By this operation, it is possible to take a radiation tomographic image of the breast in a state where the subject is not moved. Furthermore, the breast chest wall vicinity 22 and the breast axilla vicinity 23 that are difficult to photograph with conventional mammography are also drawn into the breast holding portion 33. As a result, it is possible to image a wide range of the breast including the chest wall and the axilla as compared with the conventional case where the breast is sandwiched between the compression plates.

The retraction operation is performed while confirming that the subject 1 is not burdened, and the air pressure control unit 45 keeps the internal pressure of the air chamber 40 of the breast holding unit 33 constant, and the retraction process of the breast ends. The above processing with reference to FIG. 4 corresponds to the breast pull-in processing in step S103 described in FIG. 1D. This completes the series of shooting preparations.

Subsequently, the apparatus control unit 151 starts the photographing process. The apparatus control unit 151 rotates the rotor rotation driving unit 15 to start radiation irradiation from the radiation focus 12 of the radiation generation unit 11. The irradiated radiation passes through the breast 21 and reaches the detection unit 13. The detection unit 13 photoelectrically converts the received radiation and outputs a radiation image obtained by light source conversion to the image processing unit 152 as image data. The image processing unit 152 reads the image data from the detection unit 13 at specific intervals while synchronizing with the rotation driving of the rotor rotation driving unit 15. The image processing unit 152 performs reconstruction processing as a stereoscopic image using the image data read from the detection unit 13 and the rotation angle data of the rotor. Further improvement of the reconstruction accuracy of the stereoscopic image is achieved by reading out the entire circumference at a high speed with a finer pitch. The above processing corresponds to the photographing execution processing in step S104 described with reference to FIG. 1D.

Subsequently, the apparatus control unit 151 performs a breast extraction process. When performing the extraction process of the pulled breast, the pneumatic control unit 45 controls the negative pressure generation source 48 to stop the generation of negative pressure air, and the air from the positive pressure generation source 43 is used as the breast holding unit. It controls to supply to the 33 air chambers 40. The air pressure controller 45 controls the pressure in the air chamber 40 to be equal to or higher than the atmospheric pressure by controlling the air pressure from the positive pressure source 43 and the flow rate of the supplied air.

Next, when performing the extraction process of the pulled breast, the pneumatic control unit 44 controls the positive pressure generation source 43 to stop the generation of the positive pressure air, and the negative pressure generated by the negative pressure generation source 48. The air in the air chamber 370 of the airbag 34 is exhausted by the pressurized air. The air bag 34 contracts due to the exhaust of air, the breast 21 held by the air bag 34 is released from the air bag 34, and the operation of taking out the breast 21 is completed.

According to the present embodiment, it is possible to take a radiation tomographic image of the breast in a state where the subject is not moved.

Also, compared to the case where the breast is sandwiched between the compression plates, it is possible to photograph a wide range of the breast including, for example, the chest wall and the axilla.

(Second Embodiment)
The mammography apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of airbags having a plurality of independent air chambers as a configuration of the airbag. In addition, the piping communicating with the plurality of airbags has a dedicated piping for each air chamber.

The air pressure control unit 44 independently controls the supply of air to a plurality of independent air chambers via a dedicated pipe.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an airbag according to the second embodiment. In the present embodiment, an air bag 34 having a plurality of independent air chambers 42 along the inner periphery of the breast holding portion 33 will be described as a configuration example of the air bag. Each air chamber 42 is provided with a dedicated intake / exhaust port and piping, and the pneumatic control unit 44 supplies pressurized air to each air chamber 42 through the dedicated intake / exhaust port and piping. To control. In the air bag 34 of the present embodiment, the amount of air supplied to the air chambers 42 can be controlled independently, so that the breast shape of the subject can be changed by changing the inflating amount of the air bag corresponding to each air chamber 42. Can be formed into a breast shape suitable for breast tomographic imaging. In addition, the breast holding position can be adjusted so that the breast 21 is substantially at the center of the gantry 6. For this reason, the pneumatic controller 42 controls the amount of expansion of each air chamber 42 instead of the technician placing his / her hand inside the breast holder 33 to adjust the holding position of the breast 21, thereby adjusting the holding position. Thus, a breast shape suitable for imaging can be created.

Even in the case of different breast shapes due to the influence of gravity according to the shooting posture, the pneumatic pressure control unit 44 controls the pressure and flow rate of air supplied to each air chamber 42 to adjust the holding position. Thus, a desired breast shape can be created. For example, even when photographing in a standing position (FIG. 1A), an oblique position, or a prone position (FIG. 1B), the air pressure control unit 44 controls the supply amount of pressurized air to expand the expansion amount of each air chamber 42. By changing, the holding position can be adjusted to create a desired breast shape. Note that, in the airbag 34 of the present embodiment, if the same pressurized air is supplied to each of the air chambers 42, it is possible to create an airbag shape similar to that of the first embodiment.

According to the present embodiment, it is possible to perform breast tomographic imaging while stably holding the subject so as not to move.

(Third embodiment)
In the mammography apparatus of the present embodiment, a radiation generation unit 11 that irradiates radiation and a detection unit 13 that detects radiation are arranged to face each other, and the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13 are rotated around the breast. Radiation is irradiated while taking a tomographic image of the breast. The mammography apparatus is installed in the hollow hole, a breast holding part 54 for holding the breast, a cylindrical hollow hole (fixing air chamber 61) disposed between the radiation generating part 11 and the detection part 13. And a breast holder 54 that holds the breast. The breast holding part 54 can be taken out from the hollow hole, and the breast holding part 54 is detachably installed in the hollow hole.

Further, the mammography apparatus includes a drawing-in part that draws the breast holding part 54 into a cylindrical hollow hole. The lead-in portion includes an air pressure control unit 67 that controls the pressure inside the hollow hole (fixing air chamber 61) to a negative pressure. The pneumatic control unit 67 can fix the breast holding unit 54 holding the breast in the hollow hole arranged between the radiation generating unit 11 and the detection unit 13, or can take out the breast holding unit 54 from the hollow hole The pressure inside the hollow hole is controlled so that The pneumatic control unit 67 pulls the breast holding unit 54 into the cylindrical hollow hole by controlling the pressure inside the hollow hole (fixing air chamber 61) to a negative pressure. In addition, the pneumatic control unit 67 can take out the breast holding unit 54 from the hollow hole arranged between the radiation generating unit 11 and the detection unit 13 by controlling the pressure inside the hollow hole to a positive pressure. To do.

The mammography apparatus further includes a positioning unit that positions the breast holding unit 54 in a hollow hole formed between the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13. The positioning part has a breast holding part guide 64 (guide member) and a breast holding part stopper 63 which will be described later.

Also, the retracting unit of the mammography apparatus includes an air pressure control unit 66 that controls the internal pressure of the breast holding unit 54 to a negative pressure. The breast holding unit 54 is disposed between the radiation generating unit 11 and the detection unit 13 in a state where the breast holding unit 54 is mounted on the mammography apparatus, and the breast holding unit 54 is disposed on the housing (gantry 6) of the mammography apparatus. It is configured to be detachable from the opening 171. The air pressure control unit 66 pulls the breast into the breast holding unit 54 by controlling the internal pressure of the breast holding unit 54 to a negative pressure. The pneumatic control unit 66 makes it possible to take out the breast from the breast holding unit 54 by controlling the pressure inside the breast holding unit 54 to a positive pressure.

A mammography apparatus according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Similar to the mammography apparatus of the first embodiment, it is assumed that the imaging apparatus main body 2, the support base 3, the movable base 4, and the gantry rotation drive unit 5 are configured. The functional configuration of the apparatus is the same as that in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the gantry 6 of the mammography apparatus according to the third embodiment. When imaging is performed by the mammography apparatus, the breast of the subject 1 is aligned with the position of the center of the front of the gantry 6 and the front of the gantry 6 so as to face the chest of the subject 1. Adjust the angle.

In the gantry 6, a radiation generation unit 11 that emits radiation when performing radiation tomography is disposed, and a radiation focal point 12 is provided at the tip of the radiation generation unit 11. A detection unit 13 that receives the radiation emitted from the radiation generation unit 11 is disposed at a position facing the radiation generation unit 11. The detection unit 13 photoelectrically converts the received radiation and outputs image data obtained by the photoelectric conversion to the image processing unit 152. As shown in FIG. 2, the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13 are fixed to the rotor rotation driving unit 15, and rotate around the rotor fixing unit 14 together with the rotor rotation driving unit 15.

The breast holding unit 54 is disposed between the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13 and is configured as a member having a hollow part into which a breast can be inserted from the mammography insertion hole 7. Further, the breast holding unit 54 is configured to be detachable from the opening 171 of the gantry 6 of the mammography apparatus.

The air pressure control unit 66 controls the air pressure inside the breast holding unit 54, and the air pressure control unit 67 controls the air pressure in the fixing air chamber 61 for fixing the breast holding unit 54. The negative pressure generation source 65 can generate negative pressure air, and each of the air pressure control unit 66 and the air pressure control unit 67 converts the negative pressure generated by the negative pressure generation source 65 to an appropriate pressure and flow rate. It is configured to be controllable.

The pipe (air pipe 57) connected to the breast holding part 54 includes an expansion / contraction part that expands and contracts according to the attachment / detachment of the breast holding part 54. The pneumatic control unit 66 is connected to the breast holding unit 54 via a pipe 68, an air pipe connection port 58, an air pipe 57 having an extendable retractable expansion / contraction part that can freely extend and contract, and a pipe connection member 56. The air in the holding part 54 can be exhausted. By evacuating the air in the breast holding part 54, the breast can be drawn from one end side of the breast holding part 54 toward the other end side of the breast holding part 54. On the other end side of the breast holding part 54, a connection part for connecting to an air pipe 57 having an extension retractable expansion / contraction part is provided.

Further, the air pressure control unit 67 can exhaust the air in the internal space of the fixing air chamber 61 for fixing the breast holding unit 54 through the pipe 69 and the intake / exhaust port 59. The air pressure control unit 67 exhausts air in the internal space of the fixing air chamber 61 of the housing (gantry 6) and controls the pressure to a negative pressure. The air pressure control unit 67 exhausts the air in the internal space and controls the pressure to a negative pressure, so that the one end side of the casing provided with the opening 171 is directed toward the other end side of the casing. The breast holder 54 is retracted.

FIG. 1E is a diagram for explaining the flow of processing when imaging is performed by the mammography apparatus according to the present embodiment. First, in step S301, the apparatus control unit 151 controls the operation of the movable table 4 and the gantry rotation driving unit 5 to set the position and posture (rotation angle) of the gantry 6 according to the imaging posture of the subject. . In step S302, the subject 1 is placed at a position slightly separated from the center of the gantry 6, the breast holder 54 is taken out of the gantry 6, and a friction reducing agent is applied to the inner wall of the breast holder 54. Then, lightly press the breast 21 of the subject 1. At this time, the air pipe 57 having the extension retractable expansion / contraction part connected to the breast holding part 54 follows while extending. In this state, an airtight space is formed in the breast holder 54, and the breast 21 is held in the breast holder 54.

Next, as preparation for photographing, the apparatus control unit 151 controls the air pressure control unit 66 and the air pressure control unit 67 to execute the following steps S303 and S304. First, in step S303, the breast 21 held in the breast holding unit 54 is pulled in so that the subject's breast is not moved. In step S304, the breast holding unit 54 is fixed to the mammography apparatus.

After completion of the imaging preparation in step S304, in step S305, the apparatus control unit 151 controls the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13 to perform imaging.

When imaging is finished in step S305, in step S306, the apparatus control unit 151 controls the air pressure control unit 66 and the air pressure control unit 67 to take out the breast 21 of the subject 1, and ends a series of processing. .

Next, with reference to FIG. 7, a process for holding the breast of the subject in the breast holder 54 will be described. First, the position and posture (rotation angle) of the gantry 6 are set according to the photographing posture of the subject. This process corresponds to step S301 in FIG. 1E.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the subject 1 is placed at a position slightly away from the front part of the gantry at the center of the front part of the gantry 6. At this stage, the breast holding part 54 is not fixed and can be taken out from the opening 171 of the gantry 6. The breast holder 54 is taken out from the opening 171 of the gantry 6 and a friction reducing agent is applied to the inner wall of the breast holder 54, and then the breast 21 of the subject 1 is lightly pressed against the breast holder 54. When the breast holding part 54 is taken out from the gantry 6, the air pipe 57 having the extension retractable expansion / contraction part connected to the breast holding part 54 follows while extending. In this state, an airtight space is formed in the breast holding unit 54, and the holding process of the breast 21 in the breast holding unit 54 is completed. The above processing corresponds to the breast holding processing in step S302 described with reference to FIG. 1E.

Subsequently, the air pressure control unit 66 exhausts the air in the breast holding unit 54 by controlling the negative pressure generating source 65 shown in FIG. 6 to generate negative pressure air. As shown in FIG. 8, when the air inside the air chamber 62 of the breast holding unit 54 is exhausted, the breast 21 is deeply drawn into the breast holding unit 54 when the negative pressure state is reached. By this operation, it is possible to take a radiation tomographic image of the breast in a state where the subject is not moved.

Retraction work is performed while confirming that the subject 1 is not burdened, and it is confirmed that the imaging target part of the breast 21 has been pulled into the breast holder 54, and the breast 21 is pulled into the breast holder 54. Ends. The above processing corresponds to the breast pull-in processing in step S303 described with reference to FIG. 1E. The breast holding unit 54 is configured by a member that transmits radiation and visible light. A material capable of transmitting visible light is used so that the state of the breast 21 drawn into the inside can be confirmed.

Next, by slowly moving the subject 1 toward the front side of the gantry 6, the outer peripheral portion of the breast holding portion 54 gradually moves inside the gantry 6 along the inclination of the breast holding portion guide 64 constituting the positioning portion. It enters into a cylindrical hollow hole (fixing air chamber 61) provided in the. The breast holding portion guide 64 (guide member) is a cylindrical shape in which the breast holding portion 54 inserted from the opening 171 of the case (gantry 6) of the mammography apparatus is provided inside the case (gantry 6). It leads to the hollow hole (fixing air chamber 61). The cylindrical hollow hole (fixing air chamber 61) is disposed between the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13.

The pneumatic seal 55 (seal member) is fitted with the breast holding part 54 guided by the breast holding part guide 64 (guide member) to make the internal space of the housing (gantry 6) airtight. When the breast holding part 54 enters the cylindrical hollow hole (fixing air chamber 61) inside the gantry 6, the outer peripheral part of the breast holding part 54 and the ring-shaped pneumatic seal 55 (seal member) are formed. Mating. One end side of the fixing air chamber 61 for fixing the breast holding portion 54 is sealed by fitting the breast holding portion 54 and the pneumatic seal 55, and the other end side of the fixing air chamber 61 closes the airtight lid 60. Thus, the inside of the fixing air chamber 61 is in an airtight state. When positioning the breast holder 54, the air pipe 57 having the extension retractable extension / contraction part is taken into the fixing air chamber 61 in conjunction with the extension / contraction of the extension / contraction part.

The breast holder 54 and the pneumatic seal 55 (seal member) are fitted, and the tip of the pneumatic seal 55 is pushed into the breast holder stopper 63 installed on the breast holder guide 64. The breast holding part stopper 63 is a member constituting a positioning part for positioning the breast holding part 54, and the breast holding part 54 is positioned by the breast holding part stopper 63. When the breast holder 54 is pushed to the position of the breast holder stopper 63, the breast holder 54 is positioned at the imaging position. FIG. 9 shows a state where the breast holder 54 is positioned (fixed) at the imaging position.

Depending on the body shape of the subject 1, the tip of the pneumatic seal 55 may not be inserted up to the position of the breast holder stopper 63. In this case, the air pressure control unit 67 uses the negative pressure generated by the negative pressure generation source 65 to connect the interior of the casing (gantry 6) to the fixing chamber 61 of the casing (gantry 6) from the pipe 69 communicating with the inside of the casing (gantry 6). The air in the internal space is exhausted to control the pressure in the internal space of the gantry 6 to a negative pressure. In the airtight state with the airtight lid 60 closed, the air pressure control unit 67 exhausts the air in the internal space of the fixing air chamber 61 through the intake / exhaust port 59 and the pipe 69 to bring it into a negative pressure state. When the inside of the fixing air chamber 61 is in a negative pressure state, the breast holding part 54 is drawn by the negative pressure. The distal end of the pneumatic seal 55 fitted to the breast holder 54 is pulled to the position of the breast holder stopper 63, and the breast holder 54 fitted to the pneumatic seal 55 is positioned in the mammography region. The

The breast holding part stopper 63 is arranged at one place or a plurality of places, and the depth direction can be arbitrarily set according to the mammography region. The breast holding part 54 is stably positioned (fixed) by abutting against the breast holding part stopper 63 and positioning.

The breast holding unit stopper 63 is provided with a position detection unit 170 such as a proximity sensor (not shown), and a signal from the position detection unit 170 is sent to the apparatus control unit 151. The apparatus control unit 151 can detect that the breast holding unit 54 is positioned at a predetermined position by receiving a signal from the position detection unit 170. When the apparatus control unit 151 detects that the breast holding unit 54 has been positioned, the fixing process of the breast holding unit 54 in step S304 described in FIG. 1E ends. The above-described steps S302 to S304 complete the preparation for shooting.

Subsequently, the apparatus control unit 151 starts the photographing process. The photographing process corresponds to the photographing execution process in step S305 described with reference to FIG. 1E, and performs the same process as in the first embodiment. The apparatus control unit 151 rotates the rotor rotation driving unit 15 to start radiation irradiation from the radiation focus 12 of the radiation generation unit 11. The irradiated radiation passes through the breast 21 and reaches the detection unit 13. The detection unit 13 photoelectrically converts the received radiation, outputs a radiation image obtained by light source conversion to the image processing unit 152 as image data, and a series of imaging processes ends.

Subsequently, the apparatus control unit 151 performs a breast extraction process. The breast extraction process corresponds to the process of step S306 described with reference to FIG. 1E. The air pressure control unit 66 controls the negative pressure generation source 65 to stop the generation of negative pressure air, and supplies the positive pressure air from the positive pressure generation source 70 to the air chamber 62 of the breast holding unit 54. The pressure in the chamber 62 is set higher than the atmospheric pressure. As a result, a gap is formed between the breast holding part 54 and the breast 21, and the breast 21 is released from the breast holding part 54, and the breast extraction process is completed.

In preparation for the next photographing, the air pressure control unit 67 controls the negative pressure generating source 65 to stop the generation of negative pressure air. The air pressure control unit 67 supplies positive pressure air from the positive pressure generation source 70 to the fixing air chamber 61, and makes the pressure inside the fixing air chamber 61 higher than the atmospheric pressure, thereby maintaining the breast. The breast holding part 54 positioned at the position of the part stopper 63 is pushed out. As a result, the breast holder 54 can be easily removed from the gantry 6.

(Fourth embodiment)
The mammography apparatus of this embodiment is a mammography apparatus capable of imaging both the left and right breasts simultaneously. In the mammography apparatus, a radiation generation unit 11 that irradiates radiation and a detection unit 13 that detects radiation are arranged to face each other, and radiation is emitted while rotating the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13 around the breast. Irradiate and take a tomographic image of the breast. The mammography apparatus includes a breast holding unit that holds a breast, an air pressure control unit that pulls the breast into the breast holding unit by controlling the internal pressure of the breast holding unit to a negative pressure, and a radiation generation unit 11 detection unit. 13 is provided with a positioning part for positioning the breast holding part in the hollow hole formed in between. That is, the mammography apparatus draws the breast into the breast holding unit by controlling the breast holding unit that holds the breast, the positioning unit that positions the breast holding unit, and the internal pressure of the breast holding unit to a negative pressure. An air pressure control unit. The breast holding part can be taken out from the hollow hole (mammography insertion hole).

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the gantry 6 (housing) of the mammography apparatus according to the fourth embodiment. In the mammography apparatus, a radiation generation unit 11 that irradiates radiation and a detection unit 13 that detects radiation are arranged facing each other, and radiation is emitted while rotating the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13 around the breast. Then, a tomographic image of the breast is taken. In the gantry 6, a radiation generating unit 11 for irradiating radiation when performing mammography is disposed, and a radiation focal point 12 is provided at the tip. A mammography region is formed between the radiation generator 11 and the detector 13.

The mammography apparatus includes a rotation angle detection unit 160 that detects the rotation angles of the radiation generation unit and the detection unit. Inside the gantry 6, a rotor fixing portion 14 that functions as a stator is provided. A rotor rotation driving unit 15 that is rotatable with respect to the rotor fixing unit 14 is disposed on the outer peripheral portion of the rotor fixing unit 14. The encoder of the rotor rotation drive unit 15 functions as a rotation angle detection unit 160 that detects the rotation angles of the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13. When the imaging conditions of the mammography apparatus perform imaging of the left and right breasts separately, the apparatus control unit 151 controls the irradiation of radiation by the radiation generation unit 11 using the detection result of the rotation angle by the rotation angle detection unit 160. Is possible.

The mammography apparatus includes a position detector 170 that detects the positions of the

breast holders

25 and 26 in the hollow hole. The position detection unit 170 detects the positions of the plurality of

breast holding units

25 and 26 in the hollow holes in the gantry 6. The apparatus control unit 151 (positioning unit) positions the plurality of

breast holding units

25 and 26 using the position detection result of the position detection unit 170.

The radiation generating unit 11 is fixed to the rotor rotation driving unit 15 and rotates around the rotor fixing unit 14 together with the rotor rotation driving unit 15. The detection unit 13 is supported by a support unit 16, and the detection unit 13 is fixed to the rotor rotation driving unit 15 via the support unit 16, and rotates around the rotor fixing unit 14 together with the rotor rotation driving unit 15. The rotation of the rotor rotation drive unit 15 is controlled by the device control unit 151.

As shown in FIG. 10, the apparatus control unit 151 includes the movable table 4 and the gantry so that the center of the gantry front portion 130 (FIG. 1A) of the gantry 6 is aligned with the left breast 210 and the right breast 220 of the subject 1. The operation of the rotation drive unit 5 is controlled. A mammography insertion hole 7 is provided at the center of the gantry front portion 130.

In a mammography region formed between the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13, a left breast holding unit 25 and a right breast holding unit 26 (hereinafter referred to as “breast holding unit 25”) for holding the left and right breasts. , 26 "). By taking images while holding the left and right breasts in the

breast holders

25 and 26, it is possible to simultaneously photograph the left and right breasts. The

breast holding portions

25 and 26 are configured as members having hollow portions into which the breast can be inserted through the mammography insertion hole 7, and can perform radiography of the left breast 210 and the right breast 220 drawn into the inside. It can be made of a material that can transmit radiation.

The

breast holders

25 and 26 are connected to the pneumatic control unit 300 (FIG. 11) via freely retractable extension retractable air pipes 148 and 49 (extensible parts). The air pressure control unit 300 can exhaust the air in the

breast holding units

25 and 26 via the extended retractable air pipes 148 and 49 that function as expansion and contraction units. The left breast 210, from one end side of the

breast holding portions

25, 26 communicating with the mammography insertion hole 7 toward the other end side of the

breast holding portions

25, 26 by exhausting air in the

breast holding portions

25, 26 The right breast 220 can be retracted. On the other end side of the

breast holding portions

25 and 26, connection portions that are connected to the extended retractable air pipes 148 and 49 are provided.

The

breast holders

25 and 26 can be removed from the mammography insertion hole 7 of the gantry 6 of the mammography apparatus, and the breast can be held in the

breast holders

25 and 26 in the detached state. It is. The

breast holders

25 and 26 are configured by members that transmit radiation and visible light. By comprising a material that can transmit visible light, the holding state of the breast can be confirmed.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of the pneumatic control unit 300. The pneumatic control unit 300 according to the present embodiment includes the left and right breast holding units 25, via the extended retractable air pipes 148 and 49, respectively. 26 is connected. The air pressure control unit 300 includes an air pump 141, a pressure control unit 142, a flow rate control unit 143, and a switching unit 144.

The air pump 141 can generate a negative pressure for exhausting air from the

air chambers

27 and 28 of the

breast holders

25 and 26 and a positive pressure for supplying air to the

air chambers

27 and 28. The pressure control unit 142 controls the pressure in the

air chambers

27 and 28 of the

breast holding units

25 and 26 to an appropriate pressure. The pressure control unit 142 is connected to the air pump 141 via the pipe 145.

The flow rate control unit 143 controls the flow rate of the gas (air) that moves in the

air chambers

27 and 28 of the

breast holding units

25 and 26 so as not to place an excessive burden on the left breast 210 and the right breast 220. The flow rate control unit 143 is connected to the pressure control unit 142 via the pipe 146.

The switching unit 144 controls connection between the

breast holding units

25 and 26 and the pneumatic control unit 300. The switching unit 144 is connected to the air chamber 27 of the left breast holding unit 25 via an extended retractable air pipe 148 (expandable part), and the air chamber 28 of the right breast holding part 26 and the extended retractable air pipe 149 (expandable part). ). The control of the switching unit 144 switches the exhaust of air from the

air chambers

27 and 28 or the supply of air to the

air chambers

27 and 28 according to the pressure controlled by the pressure control unit 142 and the flow rate controlled by the flow rate control unit 143. Is possible. The switching unit 144 is connected to the flow rate control unit 143 through the pipe 147.

Next, a configuration for positioning the breast holder will be described. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a mechanism for taking the

breast holding portions

25 and 26 in which the left breast 210 and the right breast 220 are fixed at a negative pressure into the gantry 6. Since the mechanisms for taking the left and right breasts are the same, FIG. In the explanation, the sectional view of the mechanism on the right breast 220 side will be explained as common contents.

First, the right breast holding part 26 is a member having a hollow part into which a breast can be inserted from the mammography insertion hole 7 side, and the right breast holding part 26 is positioned at the end of the right breast holding part 26. The feed screw 33 is provided. When the screw driving unit 340 is driven (rotated), the right breast holding unit 26 moves in the positioning direction 310 according to the pitch of the feed screw 33. For example, when the screw screw 340 is driven (rotated) in one direction to move the feed screw 33 in the right direction (y + direction) in the drawing, the right breast holding unit 26 connected to the feed screw 33 is used. Also moves in the right direction (y + direction). On the other hand, when the screw drive unit 340 is driven (rotated) in the opposite direction and the feed screw 33 moves in the left direction (y-direction) in the drawing, the right breast holding unit 26 connected to the feed screw 33 is used. Also moves in the left direction (y-direction) in the drawing.

The feed screw 33 and the screw driving unit 340 function as a positioning unit that positions the right breast holding unit 26 at a predetermined position in the gantry 6. The feed screw 33 and the screw drive unit 340 (positioning unit) position the right breast holding unit 26 at a predetermined position in the gantry 6 along the y direction (first direction).

The mammography apparatus includes an adjustment unit that adjusts the interval between the plurality of breast holding units in accordance with the interval between the left and right breasts. The holding part 350 that functions as an adjusting part holds the screw driving part 340 in a rotatable state. The holding part 350 is made of an elastic member, and can be elastically deformed in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface (x direction), for example. Due to the elastic deformation of the holding unit 350, it absorbs a positional deviation (inter-pitch error) between the left and right breasts that occurs when the left breast 210 and the right breast 220 are inserted into the left breast holding unit 25 and the right breast holding unit 26, The mutual space | interval of the

breast holding parts

25 and 26 can be adjusted. The holding unit 350 can function as a positioning unit. The left breast holding unit 25 and the right breast holding unit 26 are arranged between the breast holding units in a direction along the x direction (second direction) in the gantry 6. Are adjusted to a predetermined position based on the adjustment.

Note that the direction of elastic deformation of the holding portion 350 is not limited to the direction perpendicular to the paper surface (x direction). For example, the holding unit 350 can be elastically deformed in the vertical direction (z direction) on the paper surface to position the left breast holding unit 25 and the right breast holding unit 26 in the z direction (third direction).

The mammography apparatus includes

shields

36, 37, and 38 that are provided corresponding to the

breast holders

25 and 26 and shield radiation. In addition, the mammography apparatus includes a moving unit (feed screw 39, screw) that moves the

shields

37, 38 to a shielding position that covers the

breast holders

25, 26 or a storage position that does not cover the

breast holders

25, 26. Drive section 400). The device control unit 151 (control unit) controls the movement of the moving unit (feed screw 39, screw driving unit 400). When imaging the left and right breasts at the same time, the apparatus control unit 151 controls the moving unit to move the shielding body to a storage position where the shielding body does not cover the breast holding unit. When imaging the left and right breasts separately, the apparatus control unit 151 controls the moving unit to move the shield corresponding to the breast holding unit to be imaged among the shields to the storage position. The shield corresponding to the breast holding unit that does not perform imaging is moved to the shielding position.

For example, as shown in FIG. 13, the right breast holder 26 holds a shield 36 (shield body support). The shield 37 and the shield 38 are supported so as to be movable in the horizontal direction with respect to the shield 36 (shield support portion). The

shields

36, 37, and 38 are members that shield radiation, and for example, materials such as lead and tungsten can be used. In addition, said material is an illustration, The meaning of this invention is not limited to this example, What is necessary is just a material which can shield a radiation. The movement of the

movable shields

37 and 38 will be described later. The shield 36 is a fixed shield and has a function of supporting the

shields

37 and 38 and a function of shielding scattered radiation. The screw drive unit 400 is rotatably supported inside the gantry 6, and the shield 36 is connected to the flange of the screw drive unit 400. The

shields

36, 37, and 38 are provided corresponding to the plurality of

breast holders

25 and 26, respectively.

A feed screw 39 for moving the shield 37 is provided at the end of the shield 37. The feed screw 39 and the screw drive unit 400 function as a moving unit that moves the

shields

37 and 38 to a shielding position that covers the right breast holding unit 26 or a storage position that does not cover the breast holding unit, respectively.

When the screw driving unit 400 is driven (rotated), the shield 37 moves in the moving direction 320 according to the pitch of the feed screw 39. For example, when the screw screw 400 is driven (rotated) in one direction to move the feed screw 39 in the right direction (y + direction), the shield 37 connected to the feed screw 39 is also on the paper surface. Move to the right (y + direction). On the other hand, when the screw drive unit 400 is driven (rotated) in the opposite direction and the feed screw 39 moves in the left direction (y-direction), the shield 37 connected to the feed screw 39 is also on the paper surface. Move to the left (y-direction).

Next, the movement of the shield 37 and the shield 38 will be described with reference to FIGS. 15A to 15C schematically showing the movement of the

shields

37 and 38. An engaging member 72 urged in the z-direction by the elastic member 71 is provided on the inner surface side of the shield 37. When the shielding member 37 moves and the engaging member 72 of the shielding member 37 engages with the recess 73 of the shielding member 38, the shielding member 38 moves together with the shielding member 37 in accordance with the movement of the shielding member 37.

FIG. 15A shows a state in which the three

shields

36, 37, and 38 are stored. FIG. 15B shows a state where the shield 37 is moved in the horizontal direction (y-direction) by the movement of the feed screw 39 and the engaging member 72 of the shield 37 and the recess 73 of the shield 38 are engaged. . FIG. 15C shows a state in which the shield 38 is moved in accordance with the movement of the shield 37 when the shield 37 is further moved in the horizontal direction (y-direction) by the movement of the feed screw 39. As shown in FIG. 15C, in the state where the shield has advanced, a part of each shield overlaps between the shield 37 and the shield 38 and between the shield 36 and the shield 38. It is configured as follows.

By the above operation, the shielding body 37 and the shielding body 38 are moved to the shielding position covering the right breast holding unit 26. The

shields

37 and 38 and the shield 36 shield the periphery of the right breast holder 26. With this configuration, for example, when only the breast held in the left breast holding unit 25 is imaged, it is possible to prevent radiation from being applied to the breast held in the right breast holding unit 26. .

Note that, as the configuration of the shield, FIGS. 15A to 15C have described the configuration in which the shield 38 is interlocked with the movement of the shield 37. The gist of the present invention is not limited to this example, and a feed screw for driving the shield 38 and a screw driving unit may be provided independently as with the shield 37.

Further, the shields may be configured with portions corresponding to the plurality of

shields

37 and 38 as bellows structures. In this case, the bellows structure covers the circumference of the breast holding portion in the extended state (shielding position) in accordance with the movement of the feed screw 39, and is an image of the breast fixed to the breast holding portion in the contracted state (storage position). It becomes possible.

Next, storage of the shield will be described. The shielding body is stored by performing the reverse operation of the movement. First, in the state shown in FIG. 15C, when the device control unit 151 rotates the screw driving unit 400 in the opposite direction to the rotation direction in the case of development, the feed screw 39 moves in the horizontal direction (y + direction). With this movement, the shield 37 also moves in the horizontal direction (y + direction). Further, the shield 38 in which the engaging member 72 and the recess 73 are engaged also moves in the horizontal direction (y + direction). When the shield 38 moves to the position shown in FIG. 15B, the movement of the shield 38 is restrained by the flange 50. Further, when the shield 37 moves in the horizontal direction (y + direction) in accordance with the movement of the feed screw 39, the engagement member 72 and the elastic member 71 are caused by the force that the end surface of the engagement member 72 receives from the contact portion with the recess 73. Is pressed in the z + direction, and the engagement with the recess 73 is released. And if the edge part of the shield 37 moves to the storing position of the flange 50, it will be in the storage state in which three shields were stored.

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining a flow of a series of processing from imaging preparation to breast extraction by the control method of the mammography apparatus of the fourth embodiment. In step S801, the breast is taken into the breast holder, and in step S802, the breast holder is positioned. In step S803, the left and right breasts are photographed, and in step S804, the breast is extracted from the breast holding unit. Hereinafter, specific contents of each process will be described.

(Preparation for shooting (S801))
As preparation for imaging for performing left and right mammography, the operation of capturing the breasts into the breast holders 25 and 26 (breast fixation) will be described. The plurality of

breast holders

25 and 26 are configured to be detachable from the opening of the gantry 6 (housing) of the mammography apparatus. As shown in FIG. 12, the subject 1 is placed at a position slightly separated from the center of the gantry 6, the right breast holder 26 is taken out from the inside of the gantry 6, and a friction reducing agent is applied to the inner wall of the breast holder. Thereafter, it is lightly pressed against the right breast 220 of the subject 1. At this time, the extended retractable air pipe 149 (expandable part) connected to the right breast holding part 26 follows the right breast holding part 26 while extending. In this state, an airtight space (air chamber 28) is formed in the right breast holding unit 26, and the capturing operation for taking the right breast 220 into the right breast holding unit 26 is completed. Although the case of the right breast 220 has been described above, the capturing operation of the left breast 210 is the same.

The apparatus control unit 151 (FIG. 1C) operates the pneumatic control unit 300 described with reference to FIG. 11 when the breast capturing operation is completed. The device control unit 151 causes the air pump 141 to generate a negative pressure, and the pressure and the flow rate of the generated negative pressure are controlled by the pressure control unit 142 and the flow rate control unit 143. The switching unit 144 controls a connection destination of the left breast holding unit 25 and the right breast holding unit 26. When air is exhausted from both breast holding units, the switching unit 144 connects the left and right

breast holding units

25 and 26 and the pneumatic control unit 300 via the extended retractable air pipes 148 and 49 (expandable units). . Further, when only one side is connected, for example, when air is exhausted only from the left breast holding unit 25, the switching unit 144 is connected to the left breast holding unit 25 via the extended retractable air pipe 148 (expandable part). The control unit 300 is connected. Alternatively, when the air is exhausted only from the right breast holding unit 26, the switching unit 144 connects the right breast holding unit 26 and the pneumatic control unit 300 via the extended retractable air pipe 149 (extension / contraction unit).

The internal state of the

breast holding units

25 and 26 connected to the air pressure control unit 300 becomes a negative pressure state when air is exhausted. As the internal state of the

breast holders

25 and 26 becomes negative, the breasts held in the

breast holders

25 and 26 are drawn deeply into the breast holders, and the breast holders 25 and 26 (Fixed state of the breast). At this time, the pull-in operation is performed while confirming that the subject 1 is not burdened, and the right breast holding unit 26 is confirmed by confirming that the region to be imaged of the right breast 220 has been taken into the right breast holding unit 26. The operation of capturing the right breast 220 inside (fixing the breast) is completed. In the above description, the fixation of the breast in the case of the right breast 220 has been described, but the capturing operation (breast fixation) of the left breast 210 is the same.

It should be noted that in the breast capture operation (breast fixation), the left breast holding unit 25 and the right breast holding unit 26 can transmit visible light so that the state of the drawn breast can be confirmed. It is composed of materials.

(Breast holder positioning operation (S802))
Next, the positioning operation of the breast holder will be described. After the breast is fixed, the subject 1 is slowly advanced toward the gantry 6 side. At this time, the device control unit 151 drives (rotates) the screw driving unit 340 for each of the

breast holding units

25 and 26 to move the feed screw 33 in the internal direction (y direction) of the gantry 6. As the feed screw 33 moves, the

breast holders

25 and 26 gradually enter the gantry 6. The extended retractable air pipes 148 and 49 (expandable portions) are taken into the gantry 6 in conjunction with the movement of the

breast holding portions

25 and 26 due to the stretchability. The device control unit 151 stops the drive of the screw driving unit 340 at the position where the chest of the subject 1 is in close contact with the gantry 6 and stops the

breast holding units

25 and 26 from entering.

When there is a position shift with respect to a position set in advance using the position detection result of the position detection unit 170, the device control unit 151 drives the screw driving unit 340 to move the feed screw 33. The device control unit 151 finely adjusts the positions of the

breast holding units

25 and 26 in the positioning direction 310, and fixes the screw driving unit 340 and the feed screw 33 so that the

breast holding units

25 and 26 do not move at the positions. To do. Thus, the positioning operation of the breast holding unit is completed.

The apparatus control unit 151 controls the drive of the screw driving unit 400 so that the

shields

37 and 38 are in the storage state (storage position) shown in FIG. As a result, both the left and right breasts are positioned at the photographing position, and the preparation for photographing is completed.

(Shooting operation (S803))
After the preparation for imaging is completed, the apparatus control unit 151 controls the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13 to perform imaging operation. The apparatus control unit 151 rotates the rotor rotation driving unit 15 to start radiation irradiation from the radiation focus 12 of the radiation generation unit 11. The irradiated radiation passes through the left breast 210 with the negative pressure fixed and the right breast 220 with the negative pressure fixed, and reaches the detection unit 13. The detection unit 13 photoelectrically converts the received radiation and outputs a radiation image obtained by light source conversion to the image processing unit 152 as image data. The image processing unit 152 reads the image data from the detection unit 13 at specific intervals while synchronizing with the rotation driving of the rotor rotation driving unit 15. The image processing unit 152 performs a reconstruction process as a stereoscopic image using the image data read from the detection unit 13 and the rotation angle data of the rotor. Further improvement of the reconstruction accuracy of the stereoscopic image is achieved by reading out the entire circumference at a high speed with a finer pitch. The imaging process for imaging both breasts simultaneously is completed by the above process.

(Breast Extraction Operation (S804))
Subsequently, the apparatus control unit 151 performs operation control for extracting the breast from the

breast holding units

25 and 26. When performing the extraction processing of the breast fixed to the

breast holding units

25 and 26, the pneumatic control unit 300 controls the air pump 141 to stop the generation of the negative pressure air, and the positive pressure air is removed from the breast. It controls so that it may supply to the

air chambers

27 and 28 of the holding

parts

25 and 26. The air pressure controller 300 controls the pressure in the

air chambers

27 and 28 to be equal to or higher than the atmospheric pressure by controlling the air pressure from the air pump 141 and the flow rate of the supplied air. Between the left breast and the left breast holding part 25 fixed at a negative pressure by sending air slightly higher than atmospheric pressure into the

air chambers

27 and 28 of the

breast holding parts

25 and 26, and between the right breast and the right breast holding part 26 There is a gap between them. Thereby, the left breast 210 and the right breast 220 are released from the

breast holders

25 and 26 from the respective breast holders, and the extraction operation is completed.

According to the present embodiment, it is possible to simultaneously perform radiation tomographic images of both the left and right breasts in a state where the subject is not moved. By simultaneous imaging of both the left and right breasts, the time from preparation for imaging to the end of imaging can be shortened, and the burden on the subject can be reduced.

(Fifth embodiment)
In the present embodiment, a configuration will be described in which breast tomography is performed for each side after both breasts are inserted. In the following description, a configuration will be described in which both breasts are taken into the breast holder, the left breast is photographed after the breast holder is positioned, and then the right breast is photographed. Note that the imaging order of the left and right breasts is exemplary, and the left breast may be imaged after the right breast is imaged. The left and right imaging order is performed by the apparatus control unit 151 controlling the operation of the mammography apparatus according to the operation input of the operator.

The configuration of the mammography apparatus of this embodiment is the same as that of the fourth embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted to avoid duplication with the description of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining a flow of a series of processing from imaging preparation to breast extraction by the control method of the mammography apparatus of the fifth embodiment. In FIG. 17, since the loading of the breast into the breast holding unit (S801) and the positioning of the breast holding unit (S802) are the same as in the operation of the fourth embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

In step S901, preparation for imaging the left breast is performed, and imaging of the left breast is performed in step S902. In step S903, the right breast is prepared for imaging. In step S904, the right breast is imaged. In step S905, the breast is extracted from the breast holding unit. Hereinafter, the contents of each operation in steps S901 to S905 will be described.

(Left breast imaging preparation (S901))
When imaging the left breast, the apparatus control unit 151 drives the screw driving unit 400 on the right breast holding unit 26 side to move the feed screw 39 to the subject 1 side (y-side in FIG. 13). . When the shield 37 is moved in the horizontal direction (y-direction) by the movement of the feed screw 39, the engaging member 72 of the shield 37 and the recess 73 of the shield 38 are engaged, and the shield 38 is connected to the shield 37. As a result, the shield 37 and the shield 38 are advanced as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15C. The developed shields 37 and 38 and the shield 36 shield the outer periphery of the right breast holding unit 26. The

shields

37 and 38 and the shield 36 surround the outer peripheral side surface of the right breast holding unit 26. The right breast fixed at the negative pressure in the right breast holding unit 26 is in a state where it can be shielded from radiation irradiation. Through the steps so far, the right breast holding unit 26 is shielded by the

shields

36, 37, and 38, and the preparation for imaging of the left breast fixed to the left breast holding unit 25 that is not shielded by the shield is fixed. .

(Left breast imaging operation (S902))
After the preparation for photographing the left breast is completed, the left breast with the negative pressure fixed is photographed. The apparatus control unit 151 controls the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13 so as to perform an imaging operation. The apparatus control unit 151 rotates the rotor rotation driving unit 15 to start radiation irradiation from the radiation focus 12 of the radiation generation unit 11. The irradiated radiation passes through the left breast 210 fixed at a negative pressure and reaches the detection unit 13. The detection unit 13 photoelectrically converts the received radiation and outputs a radiation image obtained by light source conversion to the image processing unit 152 as image data. The image processing unit 152 reads the image data from the detection unit 13 at specific intervals while synchronizing with the rotation driving of the rotor rotation driving unit 15.

At this time, the right breast fixed to the right breast holding unit 26 with negative pressure is shielded (protected) from radiation by the

shields

37, 38, and 39, so that it is not irradiated with radiation. While the radiation generating unit 11 is rotating once, while the shielded right breast holding unit 26 is rotated, there is a position where the radiation irradiated from the radiation focal point 12 does not reach the detection unit 13 directly through the left breast. That is, if there is a breast holder (right breast holder 26) that is not an imaging target between the radiation generation unit 11 and a breast holder (in this case, the left breast holder 25) that is an imaging target, it is not an imaging target. Detection of radiation is prevented by the shield on the breast holding unit side. Such a relative position between the radiation generator 11 and the

breast holders

25 and 26 is referred to as a shield position. The device control unit 151 rotates the shield position on the right breast holding unit 26 side where the radiation generation unit 11 is shielded, and generates radiation so as to interrupt radiation exposure to prevent invalid exposure while passing through the shield position. The irradiation of the unit 11 is controlled.

The apparatus control unit 151 detects the rotational position of the radiation generation unit 11 based on the rotation angle data of the rotor, and controls the radiation generation unit 11 to resume radiation irradiation immediately after the radiation generation unit 11 passes through the shield position. The radiography of the unshielded left breast is continued.

The image processing unit 152 performs reconstruction processing as a stereoscopic image using the image data read from the detection unit 13 and the rotation angle data of the rotor. Further improvement of the reconstruction accuracy of the stereoscopic image is achieved by reading out the entire circumference at a high speed with a finer pitch. Up to this point, mammography of the left breast with negative pressure fixed is completed.

(Right breast imaging preparation (S903))
Next, preparation for photographing the right breast fixed to the right breast holding unit 26 under a negative pressure is started. As preparation for photographing the right breast, the shield of the right breast holder 26 is stored and the left breast holder 25 is shielded. The shielding of the right breast holding unit 26 is performed by performing the reverse operation of the progress. When the device control unit 151 rotates the screw driving unit 400 in the direction opposite to the rotation direction in the case of the advancement, the feed screw 39 moves in the horizontal direction (y + direction). With this movement, the shield 37 also moves in the horizontal direction (y + direction). Further, the shield 38 in which the engaging member 72 and the recess 73 are engaged also moves in the horizontal direction (y + direction). When the shield 38 moves to the position of the flange 50, the movement of the shield 38 is restrained by the flange 50, and the engagement with the shield 37 is released. And if the edge part of the shielding body 37 moves to the position of the flange 50, it will be in the storage state in which three shielding bodies were stored.

While performing storage control of the shield of the right breast holder 26, the apparatus controller 151 performs movement control for moving the shield in order to cover the left breast holder 25 with the shield. The apparatus control unit 151 drives the screw driving unit 400 on the left breast holding unit 25 side to move the feed screw 39 to the subject 1 side (y-side in FIG. 14). When the shield 37 is moved in the horizontal direction (y-direction) by the movement of the feed screw 39, the engaging member 72 of the shield 37 and the recess 73 of the shield 38 are engaged, and the shield 38 is connected to the shield 37. As a result, the shield 37 and the shield 38 are advanced as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15C. The developed shields 37 and 38 and the shield 36 shield the outer periphery of the left breast holding unit 25. The left breast fixed to the negative pressure in the left breast holding unit 25 is shielded from radiation irradiation. Through the steps so far, the left breast holding unit 25 is shielded by the

shields

37 and 38, and the preparation for photographing the right breast, which is fixed to the non-shielded right breast holding unit 26 with negative pressure, is completed.

(Right breast imaging operation (S904))
After preparation for photographing the right breast is completed, the right breast with the negative pressure fixed is photographed. The apparatus control unit 151 controls the radiation generation unit 11 and the detection unit 13 so as to perform an imaging operation. The apparatus control unit 151 rotates the rotor rotation driving unit 15 to start radiation irradiation from the radiation focus 12 of the radiation generation unit 11. The irradiated radiation passes through the right breast 220 fixed at a negative pressure and reaches the detection unit 13. The detection unit 13 photoelectrically converts the received radiation and outputs a radiation image obtained by light source conversion to the image processing unit 152 as image data. The image processing unit 152 reads the image data from the detection unit 13 at specific intervals while synchronizing with the rotation driving of the rotor rotation driving unit 15.

At this time, since the left breast fixed to the left breast holding unit 25 with negative pressure is shielded (protected) from radiation by the

shields

37, 38, 39, it is not irradiated with radiation. The apparatus control unit 151 rotates the shield position on the left breast holding unit 25 side where the radiation generation unit 11 is shielded, and generates radiation so as to interrupt radiation irradiation to prevent invalid exposure while passing through the shield position. The irradiation of the unit 11 is controlled.

The apparatus control unit 151 detects the rotational position of the radiation generation unit 11 based on the rotation angle data of the rotor, and controls the radiation generation unit 11 to resume radiation irradiation immediately after the radiation generation unit 11 passes through the shield position. The radiography of the unshielded right breast is continued.

The image processing unit 152 performs reconstruction processing as a stereoscopic image using the image data read from the detection unit 13 and the rotation angle data of the rotor. Further improvement of the reconstruction accuracy of the stereoscopic image is achieved by reading out the entire circumference at a high speed with a finer pitch. The mammography of the right breast with negative pressure fixed is completed so far.

(Breast Extraction Operation (S905))
When the imaging of the right breast is completed, the apparatus control unit 151 performs operation control for performing a breast extraction operation. When performing the extraction processing of the breasts whose negative pressure is fixed to the

breast holding units

25 and 26, the apparatus control unit 151 controls the pneumatic pressure control unit 300 on each breast holding unit side. The air pressure control unit 300 controls the air pump 141 to stop the generation of negative pressure air so as to supply the positive pressure air to the

air chambers

27 and 28 of the

breast holding units

25 and 26. The air pressure controller 300 controls the pressure in the

air chambers

27 and 28 of the

breast holding parts

25 and 26, and between the right breast and the right breast holding part 26 A gap appears between them. Thereby, the left breast 210 and the right breast 220 are released from the

breast holders

According to the present embodiment, it is possible to take a radiation tomographic image one side at a time by fixing both the left and right breasts in a state where the subject is not moved. By performing mammographic tomography for each side, it is not necessary to separate the overlap between the breast to be imaged and the breast not to be imaged in the reconstruction process of the image processing unit, and tomographic images of higher resolution breasts can be captured. It becomes possible to do.

Further, by covering the periphery of the breast holding portion where the non-imaging breast is fixed with negative pressure with a shielding body, it is possible to prevent the non-imaging breast from being exposed (invalid exposure).

(Other embodiments)
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, in order to make the scope of the present invention public, the following claims are attached.

This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-158271 filed on July 30, 2013 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-25797 filed on December 12, 2013. Yes, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Claims

A radiation generating unit for irradiating radiation and a detection unit for detecting the radiation are arranged to face each other, and the tomogram of the breast is irradiated with radiation while rotating the radiation and the detection unit around the breast. A mammography apparatus for photographing
A hollow hole disposed between the radiation generation unit and the detection unit;
A breast holding part for holding the breast;
The breast radiation imaging apparatus, wherein the breast holding part is detachably installed in the hollow hole.
The mammography apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an air pressure control unit that draws the breast into the breast holding unit by controlling a pressure inside the breast holding unit to a negative pressure.
The mammography apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a positioning unit that positions the breast holding unit in a hollow hole formed between the radiation generation unit and the detection unit.
4. The mammography apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the breast holding unit includes an air bag arranged along an inner periphery, and holds around the breast by the air bag.
The mammography apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a drawing-in part that draws the breast holding part into the hollow hole.
6. The mammography apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the pull-in unit includes a control unit that controls the internal pressure of the breast holding unit to a negative pressure.
2. The mammography apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the breast holding unit is constituted by a member that transmits radiation and visible light.
The mammography apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pipe connected to the breast holding part includes an expansion / contraction part that expands and contracts according to the attachment / detachment of the breast holding part.
2. The mammography apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an adjustment unit that adjusts the interval between the plurality of breast holding units in accordance with the interval between the left and right breasts.
A shield that is provided corresponding to the breast holder and shields the radiation;
A moving part that moves the shield to a shielding position that covers the breast holding part or a storage position that does not cover the breast holding part;
The mammography apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a control unit that controls movement of the moving unit.
The control unit controls the moving unit to move the shielding unit to a storage position where the shielding unit does not cover the breast holding unit when imaging the left and right breasts simultaneously. The mammography apparatus according to 10.
When imaging the left and right breasts separately, the control unit controls the moving unit to move a shield corresponding to a breast holding unit that performs imaging among the shields to the storage position, The mammography apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a shield corresponding to a breast holding unit that does not perform imaging among the shields is moved to the shielding position.
A rotation angle detection unit for detecting a rotation angle of the radiation generation unit and the detection unit;
The said control part controls irradiation of the radiation by the said radiation generation part using the detection result of the said rotation angle, when imaging | photography conditions perform imaging | photography of the said right and left breast separately. The described mammography apparatus.
A position detector for detecting the position of the breast holder in the hollow hole;
The mammography apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the positioning unit positions the breast holding unit using a result of the position detection.
A radiation generating unit for irradiating radiation and a detection unit for detecting the radiation are arranged to face each other, and the tomogram of the breast is irradiated with radiation while rotating the radiation and the detection unit around the breast. A mammography apparatus for photographing
A hollow hole disposed between the radiation generation unit and the detection unit;
A breast holding part that is installed in the hollow hole and holds the breast;
The breast radiation imaging apparatus, wherein the breast holding part can be taken out from the hollow hole.
A radiation generation unit that irradiates radiation and a detection unit that detects the radiation are disposed to face each other, and the radiation generation unit and the detection unit are rotated around the breast to irradiate the radiation. A method for controlling a mammography apparatus for taking a tomogram,
A control step in which a control unit of the mammography apparatus performs control for taking out a breast holding unit installed in a hollow hole disposed between the radiation generation unit and the detection unit from the hollow hole; A method for controlling a mammography apparatus, comprising:
A program for causing a computer to execute the steps of the method for controlling a mammography apparatus according to claim 16.