JP3242995B2 - Medical image storage communication device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image storage / communication system which integrates various types of devices such as a device for generating a large amount of image information, a storage device thereof, and a search / display device, and manages the image information efficiently. Related to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A schematic configuration of such an image storage communication device is as shown in FIG. That is, an input unit 1 for generating an image, a search storage unit 2 for storing and retrieving the image, a display unit 3, and each of the units 1, 2,
3 and communication means 4 comprising a communication network 40. The input unit 1 uses the control unit 11 as a control center,
X-ray diagnostic apparatus, X-ray CT (computer tomography),
It has an image acquisition unit 12 such as a porcelain resonance imaging device (MRI) or an ultrasound diagnostic device, and has an image obtained by the image acquisition unit 12 and supplementary information such as a patient name of the image (hereinafter referred to as “image information”). ) Is temporarily held in the image memory 13 and transferred to the buffer 14 and held therein. This buffer 14 temporarily holds a large number of image information (hereinafter, referred to as “image group”) collected during one inspection period of one imaging period,
After the photographing period has ended, this group of images is transferred to the retrieval storage unit 2 via the communication unit 4 at an appropriate time.

[0003] The image group supplied from the input means 1 is stored in the retrieval storage means 2, and the image group is retrieved in response to a read request from the display means 3 and supplied to the display means 3. For this reason, the retrieval storage means 2 uses the control section 21 as a control center,
A search unit 23 for searching one or more image groups corresponding to search information such as an examination ID from the display unit 3 from a large number of image groups stored in the storage unit 22.

[0004] The display means 3 includes a control unit 31 for inputting search information and controlling the whole control of the means 3, and a buffer 32 for holding a group of images supplied from the search storage means 2.
And a display buffer 33 for holding a display image in the image group and a monitor 34 such as a CRT (cathode ray tube) for displaying the image.

As described above, a plurality of images are often collected during one inspection period. For example, if an angiographic image is collected by an X-ray diagnostic apparatus to diagnose the presence or absence of stenosis of a blood vessel, after injecting a contrast agent,
The cut of 10-20 seconds at the rate of 7-30 sheets / second,
Change the shooting direction and go 6 or 7 times to collect. In addition, if the tomographic image is acquired mainly by MRI or X-ray CT for finding a tumor, a plurality of tomographic images having different slice positions can be obtained. Increases with the number of patients. In an image storage communication device, an image group collected during this one inspection period is generally handled as one unit at the time of storage, transfer, or the like. Therefore, the following problem occurs.

[0006] Not all the images included in the image group are relatively important images to be interpreted, and even if they are relatively insignificant images that cannot be interpreted, for example, the aforementioned angiographic images. For example, it includes an image photographed before the inflow of the contrast agent, and a tomographic image without a tumor in the case of a tomographic image. For this reason, the observer must repeat the display switching operation of the image many times while displaying each image of the image group one by one and judging the necessity of image interpretation until a necessary image is displayed. . In addition, such a display switching operation and the determination of the importance of each image unnecessarily tire the observer and unnecessarily extend the time required for the entire image interpretation operation.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made in order to cope with the above-described circumstances.
An image that allows efficient interpretation work by selecting only relatively important images in the image group and displaying them instead of displaying all images included in the image group. It is to provide a storage communication device.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided an image storage communication apparatus comprising: a medical image input means for inputting a medical image; and a detecting means for detecting the presence or absence or degree of characteristic information of the medical image by a predetermined algorithm. Storage means for adding the detection result of the detection means to the medical image and storing the medical image based on the input search information; and storing the medical image based on the characteristic information added to the searched medical image. Display means for selectively or prioritizing and displaying the searched medical images.

[0009]

According to the image storage / communication apparatus of the present invention, a medical image is searched based on the input search information, and which of the searched medical images is displayed or in what priority order is displayed. Is determined based on the feature information added to the medical images.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of an image storage / communication device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the first embodiment, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of inspection information indicating the contents of the entire image group, and FIG. 3 is the contents of each image in the image group. It is a figure which shows an example of the image information which shows. FIG. 1 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 15 used in the description of the prior art, and the same parts as those in FIG. 15 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the apparatus of this embodiment, the input means 1 and the communication means 4 are not particularly different from the respective means of the conventional apparatus. And a feature information adding unit 25, and an image selecting unit 36 is added to the conventional display unit 3. Therefore, the description of the input unit 1 and the communication unit 4 is omitted, and the feature extraction unit 2 of the search storage unit 2
4, feature information adding section 25, image selecting means 3 of display means 3
6 will be mainly described.

The retrieval storage unit 2 is a unit for storing the image group generated by the input unit 1, searching for an image group in response to a read request from the display unit, and outputting the image group, as in the prior art. Incidentally, inspection information and image information as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are attached to the image group supplied from the input unit 1. The examination information is information unique to an image group collected in one examination, for example, various kinds of information such as an examination ID number, a patient ID number, and a patient name. The image information conversion is information attached to each image included in the image group. For example, in addition to the conventional information including the image number and the size of the image, the image information is indicated by hatching. Characteristic information including "degree of characteristic (abnormality)" and "presence / absence of characteristic" is included. The feature detecting unit 24 detects the feature information for each image, and the feature information adding unit 25 adds the feature information to the image information. This feature information is used when selecting an image to be displayed on the display unit 3, so that the image has little importance (that is, an image that does not have a predetermined feature, Can vary depending on the image collection device and the purpose of collecting the images, etc.), and only relatively important images can be displayed.

The feature detecting section 24 has a predetermined algorithm. When an image group is supplied from the input means 1, the feature detecting section 24 detects feature information for each image in the image group using the algorithm. Hereinafter, an example of the above algorithm will be described.

This algorithm includes a candidate selection algorithm of a vascular stenosis site for an angiographic image, a pneumoconiosis detection algorithm for a CT slice image by X-ray CT, and a nodule for an indirect simple X-ray image. There is an algorithm for detecting a striated shadow (cancer), an algorithm for detecting the presence or absence of inflow of a contrast agent from a digital X-ray image of a coronary artery, and the like. The feature detection unit 24 includes these various algorithms, and selects and uses them as appropriate according to information such as the modality name and the inspection part name of the inspection information.

An algorithm for selecting a candidate for a vascular stenosis site is described, for example, in Chapter 4 “Quantitative Analysis of Blood Vessel Images in Angiographic Images” in “Possibility of Computer-Aided Diagnosis in Digital Radiography” by Doi et al. Adopt the algorithm that Briefly describing this algorithm, assuming a plurality of lines (dotted lines) as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5 in one image region, comparing the diameters of blood vessels on each line of a certain blood vessel, and finding the difference, for example, 0.8mm
If this is the case, it is determined that there is a possibility of stenosis, that is, there is a characteristic, and the difference is used as the degree of the characteristic.

As a pneumoconiosis detection algorithm by X-ray CT, for example, “Pneumoconiosis X-ray CT” written by Chen and Toriwaki et al. In Computer Vision magazine published on May 17, 1990.
Automatic extraction of granular shadows in images "section,
This is an algorithm for measuring the degree of the granular shadow of the CT image, and is an algorithm for judging that the degree of the granular shadow is strong as having a characteristic.

For an algorithm for detecting a nodular shadow (cancer) on an indirect simple X-ray image, for example, 199
"Possibility of Computer-Aided Diagnosis in Digital Radiography," Chapter 3, "Detection of Nodular Shadows in Chest X-Ray Images," by Doi et al. ing.

An algorithm for detecting the presence or absence of inflow of a contrast agent from a digital X-ray image of a coronary artery is as follows.
As shown in FIG. 6, the original image is divided into a predetermined number of grid regions, here, 54 regions, and the average value of pixel values is calculated for each region, and expressed by 54 average values. Obtained reduced image. Then, a difference image is calculated between the reduced image and a reduced image of another temporally adjacent original image similarly calculated, and the positive and negative numbers (the number of +, the number of-, and 0 of the Number). Then, the positive number and the negative number are compared, and if there is a difference between them, it is determined that the image is an image into which a contrast agent is flowing. This means that when the contrast agent is not flowing into both images, the positive and negative numbers are naturally 0, and when the imaging position is simply shifted, the positive and negative numbers are almost the same. Is the determination principle. In this algorithm, as described above, when there is a difference between the two, it is assumed that an image temporally later has a feature, and the degree of this difference is defined as the degree of the feature.

The feature information adding unit 25 is provided with the feature detecting unit 2.
The feature information for each image obtained in step 4 is added to each image information shown in FIG. The storage unit 22 stores individual images of the image group, inspection information of the image group, and image information to which the characteristic information is added.

When the search unit 23 inputs search information such as an examination ID number and a patient ID number as a read request from the display unit 3, the search unit 23 searches for an image group corresponding to the search information, and together with each image in the image group, the image group is searched. The inspection information and the image information (including the characteristic information) of each image are sent to the display unit 3.

The display means 3 sends the search information to the search storage means 2 at the time of image interpretation, the image group corresponding to the search information sent from the search storage means 2, the inspection information, and the image of each image. The information is temporarily stored in the disk 35. The image selecting means 36 selects a relatively small number of images to be displayed from the image group according to the presence or absence of the feature in each image information, and determines the display order of the display images according to the degree of the feature. The display buffer 33 holds the display images selected by the image selection means 36, sends each display image to the monitor 34 in accordance with their display order, and provides it for display. Next, the operation of the image storage communication device configured as described above will be described.

The image generated by the image collection unit 12 of the input means 1 is stored in the image memory 13 and transferred to the buffer 14 each time the image is generated. The information is sent to the retrieval storage means 2 together with the information.

The feature information, that is, the presence / absence of the feature and the degree of the feature are detected for each of the images in the image group by the feature detecting unit 24, and the feature information adding unit 25 adds the feature information to each image information, and then stores the feature information. Stored in the unit 22.

When search information is sent from the display means 3 to perform an image interpretation operation, the search unit 23 searches for an image group corresponding to the search information, and the image group is searched for the inspection information and each image information. Is sent to the display means 3 together with the data.

In the display means 3, first, the image group, the inspection information and each image information are temporarily stored in the disk 35,
The image selecting unit 36 selects an image (display image) to be displayed, for example, an image into which a contrast agent flows, according to the presence or absence of the feature of each image information. The selected display image is temporarily stored in the display buffer 33 and then output to the monitor 34 in a predetermined order for display. Also, the image selection unit 3
In 6, the priorities of the images may be set according to the degree of the feature of each image information, and the images may be displayed in that order.

As described above, according to this embodiment, feature information, that is, presence / absence of a feature and a degree of a feature are detected for each image collected by the input means, and a relatively small number of images are displayed based on the feature information. The important images to be selected can be selected, and the interpretation work only needs to be performed within this relatively small number of images to be displayed. There is no need to judge, and the interpretation work can be performed efficiently.

In the above-described first embodiment, the detection and addition of the characteristic information is performed by the search and storage means, and the selection of the image is performed by the display means. It may be performed on the means side. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, the input means 1 includes a feature detecting unit 24 and a feature information adding unit 25.
Each time an image is collected, the presence / absence and degree of the feature of the image are detected by the feature detecting unit 24, and the feature information is added to the image information by the feature information adding unit 25. Is sent to the retrieval storage means 2 and stored.
Further, as shown in FIG.
The image having a characteristic, that is, the above-mentioned image to be displayed may be selected on the input unit 1 side, and the selected image to be displayed may be supplied to the display unit 3.

Further, as shown in FIG.
May be arranged on the retrieval storage means 2 side. In this case, only the image to be displayed selected by the image selection unit 36 is displayed on the display means 3.
The transmission time can be expected to be shortened.

Next, a second embodiment will be described. FIG.
Is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment. The same parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted. The first embodiment is characterized in that feature information of each image is detected by a predetermined algorithm, and an important image to be displayed is selected based on the feature information.
This embodiment focuses on the confirmation of the collected image performed by the attending physician or the radiologist, which is generally performed immediately after the image acquisition. At this confirmation operation, each image (moving image such as an angiographic image) is checked. If it is an important image to be displayed (in the case of an angiographic image, a cut into which a contrast agent is flowing), information to that effect (hereinafter referred to as “image Selection information) is added to the image (or cut), and it is determined whether or not the image is an important image to be displayed based on whether or not the image selection information is added.

For this purpose, the input means 1 is provided with a selection instructing means 17 for inputting image selection information. However, it is practically effective for the selection instructing means 17 to use specific function keys of a keyboard provided for inputting, for example, examination information. In addition,
The image display unit 16 is a unit including a display memory and a monitor for performing a checking operation.
It is provided in.

This image selection information may be added to the image information shown in FIG. 2 described in the first embodiment in place of the characteristic information,
May be mixed at the time of communication to the server.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a general communication format of a group of images from the input means 1 to the retrieval and storage means 2 when the collected images are moving images such as angiographic images. The communication format is the examination information including the examination ID number and the patient ID number as shown in FIG. 2 similar to the first embodiment, the cut name, and the image information including the image number and the image size as shown in FIG. , And image data, and when instructed by the selection instructing means 17, the image selection information is mixed before the cut name. Of course, when the image group is composed of a single image without a cut concept, the image selection information is mixed after the image information of the image specified by the selection instruction unit 17. The search storage means 2 stores the image selection information together with the inspection information and the image data transferred in such a format.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a flow of work at the time of image collection. Here, a case where a moving image such as an angiographic image is captured will be described as an example. Shooting such a moving image
As described in the conventional explanation, a cut of 10 to 20 seconds at a rate of 7 to 30 shots / second is performed while changing the shooting direction.
It is common to do it seven times. As shown in FIG. 11, shooting starts (S1), and when shooting of one cut ends (S1).
2), the cut is immediately reproduced and a moving image is displayed to confirm the image (S3). At the time of this image confirmation, if the cut is an important image to be displayed, for example, if the state of inflow of the contrast agent is appropriately photographed, the selection instruction means 17 is operated to change the image selection information. Then, the cut is temporarily stored in the buffer 14 together with the cut name and image information. On the other hand, if the cut is a relatively insignificant image that cannot be displayed, it is transferred and stored in the buffer 14 without any operation of the selection instructing means 17. Then, the photographing direction and the like are changed to prepare for the next cut (S
5) When the preparation is completed, the operations from S2 to S4 are repeated, and all the planned cuts are photographed, and the inspection ends (S6). When this check is completed, buffer 1
4, the image selection information is mixed at an appropriate position in accordance with the communication format shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a flow of the image interpretation work. At the same time as the start of the image interpretation work (S11), an image request from the display means 3 to the search and storage means 2, that is, search information such as an examination ID number input by operating an input device such as a keyboard (not shown) of the display means 3 is searched and stored. When output to the means 2 (S12), the search unit 23 sends the image group corresponding to the search information, its inspection information, each cut name, image selection information, and each image information to the display means 3, and the image group Are temporarily stored in the buffer 32. Then, depending on whether or not the image selection information is added, the cut to which the image selection information is added is supplied from the buffer 32 to the display buffer 33 first, and the cut is displayed as a moving image and includes image interpretation. (S13). When the observation of the cut is completed and the radiologist operates an input device such as a keyboard (not shown) to request display of the cut to which the next image selection information is added (S14), the next cut is buffered. From 32, it is supplied to the display buffer 33 and provided for display. Even when the display of all the cuts to which the image selection information has been added has been completed, the cuts to which no image selection information has been added are displayed if requested by the radiologist. The operations of S13 and S14 are repeated under the instruction of the radiologist, a report on the examination is created by the radiologist based on all the displayed cuts (S15), and the interpretation work on the examination ends (S15). S16).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the priority is given to displaying the cuts or images to which the image selection information has been added at the stage of the checking operation, so that the time and effort for displaying or switching the images that are not so important are changed. And the efficiency of image interpretation work can be improved. Next, a third embodiment will be described. FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment. The same parts as those in FIG.

The storage unit 22 generally stores the magnetic disk 2
21 and an optical disk 222, and relatively small-capacity data such as inspection information and image information are stored on the magnetic disk 2.
21 and a relatively large amount of data such as image data (for example, about 2 G
B) is stored on the optical disk 222. This is because the characteristics of both media, that is, the magnetic disk is inferior to the optical disk in terms of storage capacity, but is superior in the execution speed performance of data writing and reading, and the optical disk is superior in the execution speed performance of data writing and reading. Considering characteristics that are inferior to magnetic disks but extremely superior in terms of storage capacity, by appropriately selecting and using both media, it is possible to simultaneously reduce search time and increase storage capacity. is there.

This embodiment utilizes the characteristics of the magnetic disk 221 described above. The cut or image to which the image selection information is added is stored on the magnetic disk 221 together with the inspection information and the image information. It is intended to quickly respond to a read request. Cuts or images to which no image selection information is added are stored on the optical disk 222 as before.

When search information arrives from the display means 3 together with the read request, the search is first performed in the magnetic disk 221 and a cut or image of the test corresponding to the search information is sent to the display means 3 together with the test information and image information. Further, while observing the cut or image sent from the magnetic disk 221, another cut or image to which the image selection information collected in the inspection is not added is transferred from the optical disk 222 to the magnetic disk 221 and displayed. The transfer efficiency can be improved by waiting from step 3 for a read request.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the cut or the image to which the image selection information is added is stored on the magnetic disk 221 together with the inspection information and the image information, and the transfer time is reduced by responding to the read request from the display means 3. Can be shortened, and thereby the efficiency of the image reading operation can be improved.

In the above-described second and third embodiments, it is possible to instruct the control unit of the retrieval storage unit so that a cut or an image to which no image selection information is added is not transferred to the display unit. By performing such an instruction operation, it is possible to reduce the transfer time of relatively insignificant images to which no image selection information is added.

As shown in FIG. 14, a comment input device 18 is added to the input means to check images and add image selection information, as well as other appropriate comments, for example, comments such as the reason why the image was selected. Can be input, and this comment is displayed together with the image, so that the interpretation work can be assisted.

As described above, according to this embodiment, characteristic information and image selection information are added for each image or each cut, and a relatively small number of images to be displayed are displayed based on the characteristic information and image selection information. By selecting and targeting that image, or by giving that image priority,
You can exclude less important images from the display, or place less important images in the reverse order,
As a result, the efficiency of the image interpretation work can be improved.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but can be implemented in various modifications. For example, in the above description, when an image is generated by the input unit, the image is temporarily stored in the search storage unit, and an appropriate image group is transferred from the search storage unit to the display unit in response to a read request from the display unit. In a special case, for example, in the case of an emergency patient or the like, after an image is generated, the image may be immediately transferred to the display unit without being stored in the search storage unit. Also, in the communication means,
If public lines or satellite communications are adopted, the communication range can be expanded between hospitals and the communication speed can be improved.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention, a medical image is searched based on input search information, and which of the searched medical images is displayed or in what priority order is displayed. Is determined based on the feature information added to the medical images, so that the searched medical images can be displayed efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of inspection information indicating the contents of an entire image group.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of image information indicating the content of each image included in an image group.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining an example of a data collection line used by one algorithm for feature detection shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a view showing another example of the data collection line shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the operation of another algorithm for feature detection shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration in which a feature detecting unit and a feature information adding unit are arranged in an input unit as a modification of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration in which an image selection unit is arranged in a search storage unit as a modification of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a general communication format of one group of images from the input unit to the retrieval storage unit when the image collected by the input unit shown in FIG. 9 is a moving image such as an angiographic image.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a work flow at the time of image collection according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a flow of work at the time of image interpretation according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the third embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a configuration in which a comment input device is added to input means as a modification example common to the second embodiment and the third embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 and 13;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional image communication storage device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Input means, 2 ... Search storage means, 3 ... Display means, 4 ...
Communication means, 24 ... feature detection unit, 25 ... feature information addition unit,
36: Image selection unit.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ identification code FI H04N 5/76 H04N 5/76 B (58) Investigated field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06T 1/00 200 G06T 1 / 00 280-340 G06F 17/30 170 JICST file (JOIS)

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] A medical image input means for inputting a medical image; a detecting means for detecting presence or degree of characteristic information of the medical image by a predetermined algorithm; and a detection result of the detecting means for the medical image. Storage means for additionally storing the medical image based on the input search information; and selectively or selectively storing the searched medical image based on feature information added to the searched medical image. A medical image storage communication device, comprising: display means for determining and displaying a priority order. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the detecting means includes a vascular stenosis site candidate selection algorithm for an angiographic image, a pneumoconiosis detection algorithm for an X-ray CT slice image, and a nodular shadow for an indirect simple X-ray image. 2. The medical image storage / communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of a detection algorithm for detecting a contrast agent flowing into a digital X-ray image of a coronary artery and an algorithm for detecting presence / absence of inflow of a contrast agent. 3. An algorithm for detecting the presence or absence of inflow of a contrast agent for a digital X-ray image of the coronary artery,
Dividing the original image into a predetermined number of lattice areas, obtaining a reduced image indicating the average value of pixel values for each of the lattice areas, calculating a difference image between the reduced images of other temporally adjacent original images, 3. The medical image storage and communication device according to claim 2, wherein the inflow of the contrast agent is determined based on the positive and negative numbers of the difference image. 4. The medical device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit selects a medical image to be displayed based on the presence or absence of characteristic information, and determines a display order of the display images based on a degree of the characteristic. Image storage communication device. 5. The storage means includes a first storage means having a low speed and a large capacity and a second storage means having a high speed and a small capacity, and stores the medical images by allocating them to the two storage means according to the characteristic information. 2. The medical image storage and communication device according to claim 1, wherein: