Method of and apparatus for reading out radiation image
AssigneeFUJIFILM Corporation
InventorAkira Yamaguchi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A radiation image read out from a radiation image sensor, which stores electric charges corresponding to the amount of radiation exposed onto the radiation image sensor upon exposure of radiation carrying thereon a radiation image and stores the radiation image, by causing the radiation image sensor to output an electric signal corresponding to the stored electric charges and by amplifying the output electric signal by a reading amplifier. A part of the stored electric charges are read before reading the radiation image and, the gain of the reading amplifier is changed on the basis of the amount of electric charges of the part of the stored electric charges which has been read before reading the radiation image.
Claims12
A method of reading out a radiation image from a radiation image sensor, which stores electric charges corresponding to the amount of radiation exposed onto the radiation image sensor upon exposure of radiation carrying thereon a radiation image and thereby stores the radiation image, by causing the radiation image sensor to output an electric signal corresponding to the stored electric charges and by amplifying the output electric signal by a reading amplifier, wherein the improvement comprises that
- a part of the stored electric charges are read before reading the radiation image, and
- an offset is determined according to an amount of electric charges of the part of the stored electric charges which has been read before reading the radiation image and the determined offset is added to the electric signal obtained by reading the radiation image.
An apparatus for reading out a radiation image comprising:
- a radiation image sensor which stores electric charges corresponding to the amount of radiation exposed onto the radiation image sensor upon exposure of radiation carrying thereon a radiation image, thereby storing the radiation image and outputs an electric signal corresponding to the stored electric charges and
- a reading means which is provided with a reading amplifier which amplifies and outputs the electric signal output by the radiation image sensor and causes the radiation image sensor to output the electric signal corresponding to the stored electric charges and the reading amplifier to amplify and output the electric signal output from the radiation image sensor, wherein the improvement comprises that
- the reading amplifier is a variable gain amplifier, and
- the reading means reads a part of the stored electric charges before reading the radiation image,
- wherein the apparatus further comprises:
- an offset adding means which determines an offset according to an amount of electric charges of the part of the stored electric charges which has been read before reading the radiation image and adds the determined offset to the electric signal obtained by reading the radiation image.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.