A storage phosphor cassette for use in recording radiographic images of
elongated objects. The cassette comprises a shell and a single storage
phosphor plate. The shell includes first and second opposite open ends.
The single storage phosphor plate is housed within the shell and is
adapted to be at least partially removable from the shell through the
first and second open ends. A radiation image of the elongate object can
be read by extracting a first portion of the single plate through one of
the two opposing ends of the cassette and scanning the first portion of
the single storage phosphor plate to obtain a first partial image, and
then extracting a second portion of the single plate through the other of
the two opposing ends of the cassette and scanning the second portion of
the single storage phosphor plate to obtain a second partial image. The
first and second partial images can be combined to form the image of the
elongate object.