Fuji Photo Film Company, Limited

Masanori Teraoka

Seiji Matsumoto

Takao Komaki

Terumi Matsuda

Nobuyoshi Nakajima

Kenji Takahashi

Junji Miyahara

Noboru Kotera

Chiyuki Umemoto

Hisashi Yamazaki

Shusaku Eguchi

Takayuki Kuriyama

A radiation image recording and reproducing method comprises the steps of scanning a stimulable phosphor sheet carrying a radiation image stored thereon with stimulating rays, and detecting light emitted by the stimulable phosphor sheet upon stimulation by stimulating rays to obtain an image signal. The image signal including a stimulated light emission signal and an after-glow signal representing a stimulated light emission after-glow emanated by the portion of the stimulable phosphor sheet no longer being exposed to stimulating rays is detected in such a condition that the level of the after-glow signal at a position on the stimulable phosphor sheet 20 mm beyond the position where exposure to stimulating rays is completed is not higher than 10.sup.-2.5 times the level of the stimulated light emission signal, and the level of the after-glow signal at a position 430 mm beyond the position where exposure to stimulating rays is completed is not higher than 10.sup.-3.3 times the level of the stimulated light emission signal.

Radiation image recording and reproducing method

A radiation image storage panel comprising a support and a phosphor layer provided thereon which comprises a binder and a stimulable phosphor dispersed therein, characterized in that the support surface of said panel has a friction coefficient of not more than 0.6.

Radiation image storage panel

A radiation image storage panel comprising a support and a phosphor layer provided thereon which comprises a binder and a stimulable phosphor dispersed therein, characterized in that said stimulable phosphor has a particle size distribution showing two or more peaks.

A radiation image storage panel has at least one stimulable phosphor layer, and one or more layers provided on the stimulating rays incidence side of the stimulable phosphor layer. The latter layers respectively satisfy the condition of dav.times..mu.&lt;.lambda./2 or dav.times..mu.&gt;.lambda., wherein dav designates the average thickness of the layer, .mu. designates the refractive index of the layer, and .lambda. designates the wavelength of stimulating rays.

A radiation image storage panel comprising a support, a phosphor layer provided on the support which comprises a binder and a stimulable phosphor dispersed therein, and a protective film provided on the phosphor layer, characterized in that said support has a surface hardness lower than that of said protective film. Alternatively, the support can be provided with a plastic film layer having the surface hardness lower than that of the protective film.

A radiation image storage panel comprising a support and a phosphor layer provided thereon which comprises a binder and a stimulable phosphor dispersed therein, characterized in that a friction-reducing layer having a surface of a friction coefficient of not more than 0.6 is provided on the support-side surface and/or the phosphor layer-side surface thereof.

A radiation image storage panel comprises a substrate and a stimulable phosphor layer provided on the substrate. At least a part of the edges of end faces of the radiation image storage panel on the substrate side is chamfered. At least the end face of the radiation image storage panel including the chamfered edge is covered with a polymer film.

A radiation image storage panel having a fluorescent layer which comprises a binder and a stimulable phosphor dispersed therein. The panel is colored with an organic colorant which does not exhibit light emission of longer wavelength than that of the stimulating rays for the stimulable phosphor when exposed to the stimulating rays. The panel is colored so that the mean reflectance of the panel in the wavelength region of the stimulating rays is lower than the mean reflectance of the panel in the wavelength region of the light emitted by the stimulable phosphor upon stimulation thereof. The panel provides an image of high sharpness and contrast.

A radiation image recording system having a built-in light source for erasing the fog developing in a stimulable phosphor used in a radiation image recording and reproducing method in which a radiation image is once recorded on a stimulable phosphor sheet and then read out and reproduced into a visible radiation image. The light source is positioned between a section for feeding the stimulable phosphor sheet and a section where a radiation image is recorded on the sheet. The system is also provided with a unit for sending the stimulable phosphor sheet from the radiation image recording section to a sheet receiver or a radiation image information read out and reproducing system.

Radiation image recording system

In a radiation image recording and reproducing method in which a radiation image is once recorded in a stimulable phosphor and then read out and reproduced into a visible image, noise developing in the visible image due to repeated use of the stimulable phosphor is effectively erased by the combined use of first and second erasing steps. The first erasing is conducted to erase the radiation image previously stored in the phosphor, which requires a long period to erase, at an appropriate point of time after the phosphor is once used. The second erasing is carried out quickly to erase the fog, which develops in the phosphor after the first erasing, immediately before the phosphor is to be used for the next radiographic operation.

Noise erasing method in a radiation image recording and reproducing

An apparatus for erasing the fog developing in a stimulable phosphor sheet used for a radiation image recording and reproducing system in which a radiation image is once recorded in the stimulable phosphor sheet and then read out and reproduced on a recording material. The apparatus is arranged so that stimulable phosphor sheets are taken up one at a time out of their reservoir and each is loaded into a cassette used for the recording of a radiation image. It comprises a light source for erasing the fog, which is provided between the aperture of the reservoir from which the stimulable phosphor sheets are taken up and the section at which the sheets are loaded into the cassettes.

Noise erasing apparatus for stimulable phosphor sheet

A radiation image conversion panel is made of a stimulable phosphor which stores radiation energy when exposed to a radiation and emits light when stimulated by visible light or infrared rays. The panel is subjected to excitation before it is exposed to a radiation for recording or storing a radiation image therein by exposing the panel to light having a wavelength within the range of stimulating light wavelength of the stimulable phosphor used in the panel. By exciting the panel before exposure to radiation, the energy of radiation stored therein which will cause a noise is removed therefrom.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Masanori Teraoka