X-ray imaging apparatus and method of operating the same

Abstract

An apparatus including a scintillator panel which absorbs X-rays radiated from an X-ray generator and converts the X-rays into visible light; an image detector including a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix array and charging the plurality of pixels with electric charges proportional to intensity of the visible light converted by the scintillator panel; a gate driver which selects a line in the image detector and applies a drive signal to pixels in the selected line; an automatic exposure request signal generator which generates an automatic exposure request signal as a trigger signal informing of X-ray radiation through detection of X-rays radiated from the X-ray generator; and a controller which controls a time point of performing an exposure operation depending on a state of the drive signal applied to the pixels of the selected line in response to the automatic exposure request signal is disclosed.

1 . A method of operating an X-ray imaging apparatus comprising:
 receiving, by a controller, a trigger signal informing of X-ray radiation;   determining, by the controller, whether a drive signal is applied to pixels of a selected line in an image detector including a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix array to perform a flush operation, upon receiving the trigger signal; and   performing, by the controller, an exposure operation after completion of the flush operation.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the trigger signal is an exposure request signal received from an X-ray generator. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising: detecting, by an automatic exposure request signal generator, X-rays radiated from an X-ray generator to generate the trigger signal, before receiving the trigger signal. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the generating the trigger signal comprises:
 converting X-rays radiated from the X-ray generator into visible light;   detecting and converting the visible light into an electric signal;   amplifying the electric signal; and   converting the amplified electric signal into a digital signal to generate the trigger signal.   
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the flush operation is performed in a multiple-gate flush manner by dividing all lines in the image detector into a plurality of unit gate blocks and simultaneously applying the drive signal to each of the unit gate blocks. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the flush operation is performed in a multiple-channel-gate flush manner by dividing all lines in the image detector into a plurality of unit gate blocks and simultaneously applying the drive signal to each of the unit gate blocks such that the drive signal is simultaneously applied to a plurality of lines in the unit gate blocks. 
     
     
         7 . A method of operating an X-ray imaging apparatus comprising:
 dividing all lines in an image detector including a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix array into a plurality of unit gate blocks; and   performing a flush operation in a multiple-gate flush manner by simultaneously applying a drive signal to each of the unit gate blocks.   
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein the flush operation is performed in a multiple-channel-gate flush manner by simultaneously applying the drive signal to each of the unit gate blocks such that the drive signal is simultaneously applied to a plurality of lines in the unit gate blocks.