JPH0855210A - Image processing method and image processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To realize an image processing method and an image processing apparatus capable of easily and collectively deleting unnecessary areas of a plurality of image data. In an image processing method for executing image processing using a plurality of image data, an unnecessary area to be deleted is designated for one image data of the plurality of image data (step) and designated for one image data. Based on the unnecessary area, the unnecessary area of the area of other related image data is calculated (step), the unnecessary area is deleted for all the image data (step), and the plurality of images in which the unnecessary area is deleted This is an image processing method for executing (step) image processing using data.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing method and an image processing apparatus capable of deleting a specific area. More specifically, it is possible to easily delete unnecessary areas of a plurality of image data at once. The present invention relates to an image processing method and an image processing apparatus capable of performing the above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Projection (IP: Intensit) is the simplest three-dimensional image display in an image diagnostic apparatus.
y Projection) Processing is known. For example, by using a series of IP images obtained by changing the observation direction at a fine angle, it becomes possible to stereoscopically observe the running of blood vessels and the relationship between the lesion site and blood vessels, etc., in the cine mode. Such three-dimensional observation is considered to be useful for determining the tumor size and malignancy / benignity. Further, it is expected that diagnosis can be facilitated by generating a 3D image from a projection processing result of a large number of image data obtained by helical scanning to obtain one image having a stereoscopic effect.

Here, the IP processing is a predetermined value such as a maximum value (or a minimum value, a specific value) for the signal value of the density or brightness of each corresponding pixel for all original images to be processed. This is a process of obtaining a projection image (IP image) obtained by extracting a value and projecting it.
That is, in the case as shown in FIG. 4, the first to Nth original images obtained in the depth direction are subjected to a process of extracting a predetermined value from pixels at the same position for all pixels to obtain one image. I am trying to get a projected image of. Then, the IP processing for the maximum value is performed by MIP (Maximun
Intensity Projection) processing and IP processing performed with a minimum value are called MinIP (Minimum Intensity Projection) processing, and IP processing performed with a specific value is called a specific value IP processing.

For example, in this MIP process, a tissue (for example, bone) having a higher intensity than a tissue (for example, blood vessel) to be extracted becomes an obstacle. Therefore, if the work of removing them is not done in advance, a projection image in which only the maximum value bone is extracted can be obtained.
Therefore, it is necessary to delete such an area. Therefore, in the obtained projection image, the bone region is removed and only the blood vessel is extracted.

Similarly, in the MinIP process, a tissue (for example, air) having a lower intensity than a tissue to be extracted (for example, a diseased part) becomes an obstacle. Therefore, it is necessary to remove them in advance.

As a process for removing the above disturbing tissues,
Threshold processing for removing unnecessary areas by setting thresholds, mask processing for setting masks to remove masked areas, and removal of areas of the same signal value in areas of other images that overlap unnecessary areas of one image Consolidation processing etc. can be considered.

[0007]

However, in the case of setting the threshold value and deleting the unnecessary area, there is a problem that the extraction cannot be performed well when the difference in CT value between the unnecessary area and the ROI is small. For example, in contrast, CT values of bones and blood vessels are very close to each other, and it is difficult to distinguish them by the threshold value.

In the case of mask processing, it is necessary to set a mask for each image with respect to an image having a large change in the axial direction. This can remove the unnecessary area almost completely, but the work efficiency is extremely poor.

Further, when removing an unnecessary area using a mask, it is efficient if it can be processed by a circular or square mask, but it is completely effective when the shape of the unnecessary area or the region of interest is complicated and complicated. Difficult to delete.
In particular, in the image of the neck and the head, bones and blood vessels are intricate, and it is extremely difficult to delete unnecessary regions and extract regions of interest by masking.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to realize an image processing method and an image processing apparatus capable of easily deleting an unnecessary area in a plurality of image data at once. It is to be.

[0011]

A first means for solving the above-mentioned problems is an image processing method for executing image processing using a plurality of image data, wherein one image data of the plurality of image data is Specify the unnecessary area to be deleted, calculate the unnecessary area of the related other image data area based on the specified unnecessary area for one image data, and delete the unnecessary area for all image data It is an image processing method for performing image processing using a plurality of image data in which regions are deleted.

A second means for solving the above-mentioned problems is an instruction input means for accepting designation of an unnecessary area to be deleted for one image data of a plurality of image data, and one instruction accepted by the instruction input means. Based on the unnecessary area of the image data, the unnecessary area of the area of other related image data is obtained, and the extraction processing means for deleting the unnecessary area obtained for all the image data, and the plurality of images in which the unnecessary area is deleted And an image processing unit that executes image processing using data.

A third means for solving the above-mentioned problems is an instruction input means for accepting designation of an unnecessary area to be deleted for one image data of a plurality of image data, and one instruction accepted by the instruction input means. A concatenation processing means for obtaining an unnecessary area of an area of other related image data by a concatenation process based on the unnecessary area for the image data; and a deletion processing means for deleting the unnecessary area obtained for all the image data by the concatenation processing means. And an image processing unit that executes image processing using a plurality of image data from which unnecessary areas have been deleted by the deletion processing unit.

[0014]

In the first means for solving the problem, an unnecessary area to be deleted is designated for one image data of a plurality of image data, and related to the unnecessary area designated for the one image data. Unnecessary areas of other image data are obtained by the concatenation process, and unnecessary areas obtained for all image data are deleted. Then, the image processing is executed using the plurality of image data from which the unnecessary areas are deleted.

In the second means for solving the problem, an unnecessary area to be deleted for one image data of the plurality of image data is designated by the instruction inputting means,
Based on the unnecessary area designated for this one image data, the unnecessary area of other related image data is obtained by the extraction processing means, and the unnecessary area obtained for all the image data is deleted. Then, the image processing is executed by the image processing means by using the plurality of image data from which the unnecessary areas are deleted.

In the third means for solving the problem, the unnecessary area to be deleted for one image data of the plurality of image data is specified by the instruction inputting means, and the unnecessary area specified for this one image data is specified. The unnecessary area of the other related image data is obtained by the connection processing means on the basis of the above, and the unnecessary area obtained for all the image data is deleted by the deletion processing means. Then, the image processing is executed by the image processing means by using the plurality of image data from which the unnecessary areas are deleted.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of an image processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, the configuration of the image processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. The data storage unit 1 is for temporarily storing a plurality of image data obtained from an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging apparatus), a CT scanner, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, etc., and is a magnetic disk device or a magneto-optical disk. It is composed of devices.

The extraction processing unit 2 obtains an unnecessary area of an area of other related image data based on the unnecessary area designated for one image data, and deletes the unnecessary area obtained for all image data. Then, it is composed of a concatenation processing unit 2a for performing a concatenation process and a deletion processing unit 2b for performing a deletion process.

The image processing section 3 executes a predetermined image processing by using the plurality of image data subjected to the change processing by the extraction processing section 2 to generate a display image. Display unit 4
Displays the display image obtained by the image processing in the image processing unit 3. The instruction input unit 5 has various selections, instructions, requests,
It is for inputting parameters and the like. The control unit 6 integrally controls the entire image processing apparatus and also controls extraction processing and image processing described below.

The extraction processing unit 2, the image processing unit 3, and the control unit 6 are provided with software, hardware, and firmware such as a computer device or a processing processor in which respective processing (operation) programs are installed, as required. Is configured.

The operation and image processing method of the image processing apparatus thus configured will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 by taking the case of image data obtained by a CT scanner as an example.

When the control unit 6 receives a processing start request from the instruction input unit 5 or an operation unit (not shown), it shifts to the extraction processing work. First, the control unit 6 receives an input of an area designation of an unnecessary area from the instruction input unit 5 (step in FIG. 1). The area designation of the unnecessary area is performed by using one image data of a plurality of image data, for example, C
This is performed by specifying the T value numerically or by specifying a specific area using a pointing device such as a cursor.

Then, the control unit 6 monitors the input from the instruction input unit 5, and when the input of the necessary items of the predetermined parameters is completed, the acceptance of the instruction input is completed (step in FIG. 1).

According to the instruction input of the unnecessary area, the extraction processing unit 2 extracts and deletes unnecessary areas of other image data by the concatenation process and the deletion process for all the image data read from the data storage unit 1. Image data in which the region of interest is extracted is generated and the data storage unit 1 is again used.
To be stored.

In other words, the 1 input from the instruction input unit 5
When an area of a density value (CT value, etc.) that is recognized as having a relationship is detected for another image data within the area of an adjacent image data area that overlaps with an unnecessary area for one image data, the area is detected. Is determined as an unnecessary area, and a process such as setting a predetermined flag is performed.

For example, one image data (for convenience,
If an area (bone or the like) designated as an unnecessary area exists in the first image data), the density value in this unnecessary area is extracted. Then, for other adjacent image data (for convenience, referred to as second image data), the density value of the area having the same area as the unnecessary area of the first image data is examined.
Therefore, if the density value included in the first unnecessary area exists in the area of the second image data that has the same address as the unnecessary area of the first image data,
The area of the density value of the second image data is flagged as an unnecessary area. In addition, the unnecessary area of the other adjacent image data (referred to as third image data for convenience) is obtained based on the unnecessary area of the second image data thus determined.

By obtaining the unnecessary area between the adjacent image data in this way, the unnecessary area can be obtained for all the image data.
For this reason, the connection processing unit 2a is configured to have a processor or a program for extracting unnecessary areas.

The process utilizing the correlation between the adjacent image data is called 3D concatenation process, and the 3D concatenation process allows each adjacent image data (first image data → second image data, second image data). Data →
The third image data, ...) is successively subjected to the connection process for extracting unnecessary areas (step in FIG. 1). By extracting unnecessary regions by the concatenation process in this way, even if the masking process is difficult because the regions of interest such as the head and the neck are complicated with the unnecessary regions, the unnecessary regions are specified only for one image data. As a result, unnecessary areas are automatically extracted from all other image data.

Then, the deletion processing section 2b executes a deletion process on the image data from which the unnecessary area has been extracted, deletes the unnecessary area portion, and extracts the region of interest (step 1 in FIG. 1). The image data from which the region of interest has been extracted in this manner is again stored in the data storage unit 1 according to the instruction from the data storage unit control unit 6.

Specifically, when processing the bones of the neck and head as unnecessary areas, the bones are firstly specified (or the density value of the bones) for one image data to connect the bones. The processing unit 2a extracts a bone region from adjacent image data and sets a flag. Then, the deletion processing unit 2b refers to the flag of the unnecessary area and executes the deletion processing, so that the bones of all the image data are deleted.

Such unnecessary area extraction and ROI extraction processing is repeated for all image data, and when the processing for all image data and the re-storing of the image data in the data storage section 1 are completed, the extraction processing section 2 The process of (1) is finished (step in FIG. 1).

In the above description, the unnecessary area is deleted and only the area of interest is left, but it is also possible to extract only the unnecessary area without deleting the unnecessary area. In this way, the data storage unit 1 stores a plurality of image data in which the region of interest is extracted, and the image processing unit 3 uses the plurality of image data to perform various image processing such as projection processing and 3D processing. It is executed (step in FIG. 1) and the processing result is displayed on the image display unit 4 (step in FIG. 1).

As described above, the unnecessary area extraction processing and the ROI extraction processing using the concatenation processing make it possible to easily delete the unnecessary areas and extract the ROIs collectively from a plurality of image data. .

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the details of the unnecessary area extraction processing (step in FIG. 1) using the connection processing. In FIG. 3, only the corresponding process is shown, and in practice, there may be a process of determining whether or not to execute each process.

First, a preprocess (step-a in FIG. 3) such as a well-known emphasis process for emphasizing the contour portion of each area using pixels around the pixel of interest is executed. Such enhancement processing facilitates extraction of each region (bone region, etc.). As the emphasis processing, an example of the filter coefficient is shown on the right side of the flowchart of FIG.

Next, the areas having the common density value are extracted from the overlapping areas by using the adjacent image data by the 3D connection processing described above (step 3 in FIG. 3).
b). As a result, the unnecessary area of the other image data related to the unnecessary area designated for one image data is automatically extracted.

Further, by extracting the area of the common density value in each image data by the two-dimensional area extraction processing,
Further, the unnecessary area is surely extracted (step-c in FIG. 3). That is, this two-dimensional region extraction process is a process of extracting a region having a common density value in each image data (in the two-dimensional plane).

By this two-dimensional area extraction processing, it is possible to extract even unnecessary areas existing at a position apart from a lump area on one image data which cannot be extracted by the 3D connection processing.

Finally, the smoothing process (step-d in FIG. 3) is performed using the surrounding pixels so that the image data emphasized in the above-described enhancement process (step-a in FIG. 3) is restored. To do. As an example of this smoothing process, FIG.
An example of the filter coefficient is shown on the right side of the flowchart in FIG.

As described above, by performing the 3D concatenation process and the two-dimensional region extraction process after the preprocessing by the emphasizing process to extract the unnecessary region and finally perform the smoothing process, the unnecessary region for one image data is designated. Only by doing so, it becomes possible to reliably extract unnecessary areas from all image data.

As described above, in the image processing method for executing image processing using a plurality of image data,
The unnecessary area to be deleted is specified for one image data of the plurality of image data, and the unnecessary area of the area of other related image data is obtained based on the unnecessary area specified for one image data, and the entire image is acquired. According to the image processing method of deleting the unnecessary area obtained for the data and executing the image processing using the plurality of image data from which the unnecessary area is deleted, one image data of the plurality of image data is deleted. When an unnecessary area to be specified is designated, unnecessary areas of other related image data are obtained by the concatenation process based on the unnecessary area designated for this one image data, and the unnecessary area obtained for all image data is obtained. To be deleted.
Then, the image processing is executed using the plurality of image data from which the unnecessary areas are deleted. As a result, the unnecessary area can be surely extracted from all the image data and the interested area can be surely extracted only by designating the unnecessary area of one image data.

The instruction input means for accepting the designation of the unnecessary area to be deleted for one image data of the plurality of image data, and the relation based on the unnecessary area for the one image data received by the instruction input means. An image for performing image processing by using an extraction processing unit that obtains an unnecessary area of an area of other image data and deletes the unnecessary area obtained for all image data, and an image processing that uses a plurality of image data from which the unnecessary area is deleted. According to the image processing apparatus including the processing means, the unnecessary area to be deleted for one image data of the plurality of image data is designated by the instruction inputting means, and the unnecessary area is designated for the one image data. Unnecessary areas of other related image data are linked with the extraction processing means based on Ri unnecessary area determined for all image data along with the sought is deleted. And
Image processing is executed by the image processing means using a plurality of image data from which unnecessary areas have been deleted. This is 1
Only by designating the unnecessary area for one image data, the unnecessary area can be surely extracted for all the image data, and the region of interest can be surely extracted.

Then, one of the plurality of image data
An instruction input unit that receives designation of an unnecessary area to be deleted for one image data, and an unnecessary area of another image data area that is related by the connection processing based on the unnecessary area of one image data received by the instruction input unit Image processing is performed by using a concatenation processing unit that obtains the unneeded area obtained by the concatenation processing unit, and a deletion processing unit that deletes the unnecessary area obtained by the concatenation processing unit. According to the image processing device including the image processing means,
An unnecessary area to be deleted for one image data of the plurality of image data is specified by the instruction input means, and unnecessary areas of other related image data are linked based on the unnecessary area specified for this one image data. Unnecessary areas obtained by the connection processing by the processing means and obtained for all image data are deleted by the deletion processing means. Then, the image processing is executed by the image processing means by using the plurality of image data from which the unnecessary areas are deleted. As a result, the unnecessary area can be surely extracted from all the image data and the interested area can be surely extracted only by designating the unnecessary area of one image data.

[0045]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, an unnecessary area to be deleted is designated for one image data of a plurality of image data, and the unnecessary area designated for this one image data is designated. The unnecessary area of other image data related to the other image data is obtained by the concatenation process, and the unnecessary area obtained for the other image data is deleted. An image processing method and an image processing apparatus capable of surely extracting an unnecessary area from image data and surely extracting a region of interest can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of an operation of an image processing method and an image processing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing details of a connection process.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of projection processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 data storage unit 2 extraction processing unit 3 image processing unit 4 display unit 5 instruction input unit 6 control unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image processing method for executing image processing using a plurality of image data, wherein an unnecessary area to be deleted is designated for one image data of the plurality of image data, and designated for one image data. Based on the unnecessary area, the unnecessary area of the area of other related image data is calculated, the unnecessary area is deleted for all the image data, and the image processing is executed using the multiple image data with the unnecessary area deleted. An image processing method comprising: 2. An instruction input means for accepting designation of an unnecessary area to be deleted for one image data of a plurality of image data, and a relation based on the unnecessary area for one image data accepted by the instruction input means. Extraction processing means for obtaining unnecessary areas of areas of other image data and deleting unnecessary areas obtained for all image data, and an image for performing image processing using a plurality of image data with unnecessary areas deleted An image processing apparatus comprising: a processing unit. 3. An instruction input means for accepting designation of an unnecessary area to be deleted for one image data of a plurality of image data, and a connection based on the unnecessary area for one image data accepted by the instruction input means. Concatenation processing means for obtaining unnecessary areas of areas of other image data related by processing, deletion processing means for deleting unnecessary areas obtained for all image data by the connection processing means, and unnecessary areas deleted by the deletion processing means. And an image processing unit that executes image processing using a plurality of image data.