JP2002015062A - Advanced medical diagnostic imaging system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an advanced medical diagnostic imaging system that enables discovering an affected part at an early stage, allowing early stage medical treatment and putting restraints on medical expense, by creating an environment where as many patient as possible can receive image shooting with a high performance/high resolution medical image diagnostic device, and a diagnosis by a highly skilled image interpretation specialist can be provided. SOLUTION: A medical support management company 20 is entrusted by a medical image shooting specialist's office 22 or directly manages and runs the medical image shooting specialist's office 22. A patient, in an institution under a medical institution that has not a medical image shooting facility or a medical institutions 12,14 that have medical image shooting facilities but have not high performance/high resolution medical image diagnostic devices at present, goes to the medical image shooting specialist's office 22 that has the high performance/high resolution medical image diagnostic device at present in order to have an image of the patient's pertinent part shot. A medical image interpretation specialist 24 interprets the shot image to perform an image diagnosis. An image interpretation diagnostic report and the shot image data are transmitted to medical institutions 12, 14 and doctors in the medical institutions 12, 14 explain the diagnostic result to the patient.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to advanced medical imaging equipment using the Internet technology, and more particularly to advanced medical treatment for performing advanced medical image diagnosis using an MR apparatus (magnetic resonance tomography diagnostic imaging apparatus). The present invention relates to an image diagnostic system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional teleradiology service. This service is a hospinet service by SECOM, which is teleradiology (teleradiology) for MR and CT devices. The hospinet service is described, for example, in the magazine “Medical and Computer” published in June 1999.

[0003] In FIG.
It has contracts with 50 medical institutions. These agencies are MR
It is an inspection facility that has equipment and CT equipment. The requesting facility does not have an MR device or a CT device, and when imaging is necessary, requests the inspection facility to image the patient. The photographed image of the part of the patient is sent to the hospinet center via the communication line ISDN and managed and stored. Then, the image of the part where the patient is imaged is sent to an image interpretation specialist. The image interpretation specialist interprets the image of the site, creates a report, and sends the report to the hospitality center. The Hospinet Center sends the report to the requesting facility, where the physician explains the results to the patient based on the specialist's report.

[0004]

Conventional medical diagnostic systems are MR and CT devices that have rapidly spread, but they are trying to solve the problem that the number of image reading specialists cannot keep up, and the activities of visiting image reading specialists. The purpose of the present invention is to reduce the loss of travel time at the time of image capture and to improve the reduction in the operation rate of valuable image capturing equipment due to a shortage of image interpretation specialists.

[0005] In particular, the technological progress of the MR apparatus is rapidly progressing. However, when examining the performance of a hospital in which MR devices are installed, the number of MR devices with a magnetic field strength (Tesla) of 1.5 or higher, which is considered to be high resolution, is about the total number of MR devices. Only 30%. Hospitals in which this type of MR apparatus is installed are limited to university hospitals in large cities. In addition, doctors who can read images taken by this type of MR apparatus are limited to a part of university hospitals in large cities. What is most needed in the treatment of a patient using an MR apparatus is a high-quality captured image and the ability to diagnose the image. In addition, there is a demand for a system that can provide such medical care not only in large cities but also in major cities and towns.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the conventional disadvantages of ships, and it is an object of the present invention to ensure that as many patients as possible can be imaged by a high-performance, high-resolution medical image diagnostic apparatus, and that advanced images can be obtained. An object of the present invention is to provide a diagnostic system that enables an affected part to be found early by providing an environment capable of providing a diagnosis by an image interpretation specialist, thereby enabling early treatment and reducing treatment costs.

[0007] Further, when it is desired to open a specialized hospital for image radiography equipped with high-performance and high-resolution medical image diagnostic equipment by using the advanced medical image diagnostic system according to the present invention, it is also possible to use hospitals without conventional medical image diagnostic equipment. Alternatively, if a hospital that has only low-resolution medical image diagnostic equipment wants to install a high-performance, high-resolution medical image diagnostic・ To provide support for installing high-resolution medical image diagnostic equipment.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an advanced medical image diagnostic system, wherein a medical support operating organization manages and operates a medical image capturing specialized organization directly or on a commissioned basis. And a medical institution that does not have medical imaging equipment or a medical institution that has medical imaging equipment but does not have a high-performance, high-resolution medical imaging equipment at the moment. A step in which a patient of the institution goes to a medical imaging specialist institution having a high-performance and high-resolution medical imaging equipment at the present time and takes an image of the patient's part at the medical imaging specialist, and Digitizing the image capturing data of the imaged part of the patient and storing the image capturing data as a patient image capturing data in a medical data management server; and a medical image interpretation specialist Interpreting and performing image diagnosis, digitizing the specialist's image interpretation diagnosis report and storing it as medical data of a patient in the medical data management server, and performing the image interpretation diagnosis report and image photographing data. Transmitting to a medical institution; and explaining a diagnosis result to the patient by a doctor of the medical institution.

[0009] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an advanced medical image diagnostic system, wherein the medical support operation organization manages and operates the medical image photographing specialized organization on behalf of a medical image photographing specialized organization or directly. A medical institution that does not have imaging equipment or has a medical imaging equipment but does not have a high-performance, high-resolution medical imaging equipment at the current time. A step of going to a specialized medical imaging facility having a high-performance and high-resolution medical imaging facility and photographing a part of the patient at the specialized medical imaging facility, and a part of the patient photographed by the specialized medical imaging facility Digitizing the medical image data of the patient and storing it as image capturing data of the patient in the medical data management server; and reading the image capturing data by a medical image Performing the step of digitizing the specialist's image interpretation diagnostic report and storing it as patient's medical data in the medical data management server; and transmitting the image interpretation diagnostic report and image capturing data to the medical institution. And a step in which a doctor of the medical institution explains the diagnosis result to the patient;
Claiming a medical insurance fee to a health insurance institution according to the number of parts of the patient that was imaged,
Requesting the medical imaging professional organization at least one management / operating fee such as a rental fee, a maintenance contract fee, an imaging technician dispatch fee, a patient referral fee, etc., associated with the high-performance and high-resolution medical imaging device; The medical institution requests a health insurance institution for a writing fee and an advanced image interpretation fee associated with the advanced medical image capturing request.

[0010] In the advanced medical image diagnostic system according to the third aspect, the medical support operation institution has the medical institution or the medical image capturing facility which does not have the remote medical image capturing facility. Lending high-performance, high-resolution medical imaging equipment to medical institutions that do not have high-performance, high-resolution medical imaging equipment, installing the medical imaging equipment, contracting maintenance of the medical imaging equipment, imaging A step of sending at least one of a radiographing technician and referral of a patient; and a step of a medical support operation organization managing and operating a high-performance and high-resolution medical image capturing equipment on behalf of the medical institution. Imaging a part of a patient at the medical institution, digitizing image data of the part of the patient taken at the medical institution, and using a communication line to perform a medical data management service. Transmitting the image data to a patient and storing the captured image data as a patient image, a step of interpreting the image photographed data by a medical image interpretation specialist to perform an image diagnosis, and digitizing the image interpretation diagnosis result of the specialist to the medical data. A step of storing the medical diagnosis data of the patient in the management server, a step of transmitting the diagnostic reading report and the imaging data to the medical institution, and a step in which a doctor of the medical institution explains the diagnosis result to the patient, Prepare.

[0011] In the advanced medical image diagnostic system according to claim 4, the medical support operating institution has the medical institution or the medical image capturing facility which does not have the remote medical image capturing facility, Lending high-performance, high-resolution medical imaging equipment to medical institutions that do not have high-performance, high-resolution medical imaging equipment, installing the medical imaging equipment, contracting maintenance of the medical imaging equipment, imaging A step of sending at least one of a radiographing technician and referral of a patient; and a step of performing, by a medical support operation organization, management and operation associated with a high-performance and high-resolution medical imaging apparatus under contract from the medical institution. Imaging a part of a patient at the medical institution, digitizing image data of the part of the patient taken at the medical institution, and using a communication line to perform a medical data management service. Transmitting the image data to a patient and storing the captured image data as a patient image, a step of interpreting the image photographed data by a medical image interpretation specialist to perform an image diagnosis, and digitizing the image interpretation diagnosis result of the specialist to the medical data. A step of storing as a patient's medical data in a management server, a step of transmitting the image interpretation diagnostic report and image capturing data to the medical institution, and a step in which a doctor of the medical institution explains a diagnosis result to the patient, The medical institution, a step of charging a medical insurance fee, a medical fee for advanced medical image capturing and a high medical image interpretation fee to a health insurance institution in accordance with the number of imaged patient sites, and the medical support operating institution,
Charging the medical institution with at least one management / operating fee of a lending fee for the medical imaging equipment, a maintenance contract fee, an imaging technician dispatch fee, and the patient referral fee.

[0012] The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to claim 5 is characterized in that the medical image radiographing institution is an MRI radiographing institution. The medical image diagnostic system according to claim 6, wherein the medical image capturing specialized institution having the medical image capturing equipment with higher performance and higher resolution than the currently owned medical image capturing equipment has a magnetic field strength (tesla) of 1.0 or more; Preferably, it is characterized by having MR equipment of 1.5 or more. An advanced medical image diagnostic system according to claim 7 is characterized in that the medical image interpretation specialist is enrolled in the medical image photographing institution.

An advanced medical image diagnostic system according to claim 8 is characterized in that the medical image interpretation specialist is located in a place different from the place of the medical imaging specialty institution. Claim 9
In the advanced medical image diagnostic system according to the above, the medical support management organization charges the medical image interpretation specialist or the medical institution an image diagnostic fee of the medical image interpretation specialist. An advanced medical image diagnostic system according to a tenth aspect is characterized in that the medical data management server is installed in the medical support operating organization.

An advanced medical image diagnostic system according to an eleventh aspect is characterized in that the medical data management server is installed in a server operating organization different from the medical support operating organization. The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to claim 12, wherein the medical image capturing portal organization and the medical institution installed at a plurality of locations around the one location of the medical support administration organization are formed as a joint network. I do. The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to claim 13, further comprising a step of digitizing other examination data of the patient and storing it as medical data of the patient in the medical data management server using a communication line. .

An advanced medical image diagnostic system according to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the system further comprises a step in which a doctor of the medical institution and / or the medical image interpretation specialist goes to the medical data management server to browse. The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to claim 15, wherein the medical data management server registers vacancy information of all the imaging conditions of the medical image capturing specialized institution, and a doctor of the medical institution browses the information to empty the patient. The method further comprises the step of introducing the medical image photographing institution.

A medical image diagnostic system according to a sixteenth aspect is characterized in that the medical image photographing equipment is at least one of an MRI apparatus, an MRA apparatus, a CT apparatus, an X-ray apparatus, and a PET apparatus. The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to claim 17, wherein the doctor of the medical institution, the medical image interpreting specialist views the image capturing data of the patient's region in real time, and cooperates with the image capturing technician. ,
The method further includes a step of subsequently confirming an imaging region, setting an image resolution, and examining an image compression ratio.

An advanced medical image diagnostic system according to claim 18 is characterized in that the image compression ratio is set so that the medical image interpretation specialist can reproduce an optimal image when performing an image diagnosis. The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to claim 19 is characterized in that the remote communication transmits high-resolution 12-bit digital data using a high frequency band. The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to claim 20, wherein the medical support operation is performed on behalf of the medical institution or the medical image capturing specialized institution in the advanced medical image diagnostic system according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The institution charges the medical insurance fee to the health insurance institution according to the number of the patient's parts taken.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the advanced medical image diagnostic system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the advanced medical image diagnostic system. In this embodiment, an MR device will be described.
The present invention can be applied to a radiation diagnostic apparatus such as a CT apparatus, an X-ray apparatus, and a PET apparatus other than the apparatus. MR devices include MRI
Devices, MRA devices.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 10 denotes an advanced medical image diagnostic system. The system 10 includes a personal medical institution clinic 12 located in each municipality or the like that does not have an MR device.
And MR equipment installed, but at the moment high performance MR
A medical institution 14 such as a medical corporation that has a low-resolution MR device having a magnetic field strength (Tesla) of 1.0 or less that is not a device;
A medical support operating company 20 having a server facility for accumulating various medical information, and a high performance and high resolution at the present time for performing MR examination on patients who come to the hospital by referrals from the medical institutions 12 and 14. High-resolution magnetic field strength (Tesla) of 1.0 or more, preferably 1.5 or more
It comprises an imaging specialist clinic 22 having an R device, and an image interpretation specialist 24 that makes a diagnosis on an image captured by the imaging clinic 22 and creates a diagnostic report on the diagnosis. You. Note that the specialty imaging clinic 22 includes a large-capacity storage device that stores the imaging data of a patient's MR device and an image interpretation diagnostic report.

When performing image interpretation, the medical image interpretation specialist 24 and the doctors of the medical institutions 12 and 14 look at the medical image data of the patient's part in real time, and cooperate with an image photographing technician. Then, it is preferable to check the imaging region, set the resolution of the image, and consider the image compression ratio. The image compression ratio is based on the position of the part, the state of the part,
It is preferable to take image data with different image compression ratios depending on the condition of the disease or the like and at least according to the condition of the disease.

The medical support operating company 20 is installed at one location in, for example, Tokyo, and the MR imaging is installed at a plurality of locations in a large city such as Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, etc., with the medical support operating company 20 as the center. Specialist clinic 22 and the medical institutions 1 installed in multiple locations in large cities and cities
2 and 14 form a cooperative network.

The medical support management company 20 is entrusted by the specialized medical imaging clinic 22 or directly manages and operates the specialized medical imaging clinic 22. Further, the medical support operating company 20 manages an image interpretation specialist 24. Note that the management and operation include lending associated with the high-performance medical imaging equipment, setting up the medical imaging equipment, contracting maintenance of the medical imaging equipment, dispatching an imaging technician, and introducing a patient. Say doing at least one. The medical support operating company 20 is installed in one place in Tokyo, and forms a network including medical clinics, medical institutions such as hospitals, a medical clinic 22 and an image reading specialist 24. In this embodiment, the medical support operating company 20 has installed a server device for storing various medical data. In addition, the image interpretation specialist 24
It is resident in an imaging specialist clinic 22.

The LAN inside the medical clinic 22, the medical support operating company 20 and the medical clinic 22, the medical support operating company 20 and the medical institutions 1 such as each clinic and each hospital
2 and 14 are 156Mbps ATM-LAN and 100
Mbps, 1000 Mbps (Gigabit Ethernet (registered trademark)) Ethernet-LAN, Internet protocol, and other high-speed and large-capacity data transmission communication means. The telecommunications is preferably performed in a high frequency band. For telecommunications in teleradiology, a hub-and-spoke system including an ISDN and a T1 line can be adopted. In this manner, high-resolution 12-bit digital data can be transmitted to an interpretation specialist who is most suitable for interpretation diagnosis of a specific case. The transmission of the image data is preferably performed by compressing the image data using an image compression technique such as Motion JPEG. The image compression ratio is preferably set so that the image interpretation specialist 24 can reproduce an optimal image when performing image diagnosis.

The doctor at the clinic or hospital who has examined the patient prepares an instruction on which part of the patient is to be imaged. MR
In the imaging specialty clinic 22, the imaging technician takes an image of a designated part of the patient introduced from each clinic and each of the hospitals 12 and 14 with the MR device. At this time, the part name and the number of parts photographed by the MR device are counted. Then, the name of the imaged part and the number of the part
Is used at a later date when a medical fee for the patient is charged to the health insurance agency 26.

An image captured by the MR device is created as a digital image. Here, the image interpretation specialist 24 determines the part of the patient being imaged by the LA in the imaging specialist clinic 22.
N, the image is displayed on the terminal device or read directly in real time. It is preferable that an external large-capacity storage device for storing image photographing data of the MR apparatus be installed so that the image interpreting specialist 24 can project and scan the imaged part at a later date. And image interpretation specialist 2
4 creates an image interpretation diagnostic report. The image interpretation diagnostic report is stored in a storage device together with the captured image for a certain period of time.

The medical support operating company 20 includes the name and address of the patient who has received the MR diagnosis from the medical imaging specialty clinic 22,
Electronically receive personal medical data including examination records and image interpretation diagnostic reports. These personal medical data are stored in a server installed in the medical support operating company 20. The MR imaging report is used when the medical support operating company 20 distributes the medical fee collected from the health insurance organization 26 to the medical support operating company 20, the imaging specialist clinic 22, and the image interpretation specialist 24 at a later date.

The photographed image of the patient and the image interpretation diagnostic report are sent from the specialized medical imaging clinic 22 to the medical institutions 12 and 14 from which the patient is introduced using a communication line. The doctors at the medical institutions 12, 14 explain the results to the patient based on the photographed image and the image interpretation diagnostic report.

In the above, medical data management for storing the MR imaging image and the image interpretation diagnostic report of the patient may be entrusted to a server operating company. The advanced medical diagnostic system in this case is shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 30 denotes a server operating company. The server operating company 30 receives the image photographed by the MR device at the image photographing specialty clinic 22 and the image interpretation diagnosis report using a communication line and stores it in the mass storage device. further,
The mass storage device stores the name of the patient who has undergone MR imaging.
Keep the address and inspection record. Further, the medical data management server registers the vacancy information of the imaging status of all the medical image imaging specialist clinics 22. Thus, the doctors of the medical institutions 12 and 14 browse the information and introduce the patient to the vacant medical imaging specialist clinic 22.

The specialty imaging clinic 22 sends data such as the name, address, date and time of the patient who has undergone the MR imaging to the server operating company 30 and at the same time to the above-mentioned medical management company. Thus, the patient's MRI image and the image interpretation diagnostic report are sent from the server of the server operating company 30 to the medical institutions 12 and 14 which are the referral sources of the patient by the instruction of the medical support operating company 20 using the communication line. . Then, the doctors of the medical institutions 12, 14 explain the results to the patient based on the MR imaging image and the image interpretation diagnosis report. Here, the medical support operating company 20 and the doctor of the referring hospital can browse the MR imaging image and the image interpretation diagnostic report of the patient using the communication line as necessary and receive these data. it can.

Further, in the above description, the image reading specialist 2
4 is resident in the specialized medical imaging clinic 22, but may be resident in the medical support operating company 20, or may be located in a country remote from these places. In this case, the image interpretation specialist 24 interprets an image captured in real time. Or image interpretation specialist 24
Alternatively, the diagnosis may be performed by accessing the above-mentioned server device from the medical support operating company 20 or a computer installed at the residence of the specialist, and extracting and interpreting the MR image. The image interpretation diagnosis result of the specialist 24 is created as digital data, and is transmitted to the server device via a communication line and accumulated.

The image clinic 22 charges a medical fee to the health insurance agency 26 in accordance with the number of parts of the patient that have been imaged. The medical support operating company 20 includes a rental fee for the image capturing facility, installation work for the medical image capturing facility, and maintenance of the medical image capturing facility, out of the insurance income and the medical expenses paid by the patient from the health insurance agency 26. At least one administrative and operating fee for contracting, dispatching an imaging technician, and referral of a patient. Also, an image interpretation specialist 24
Is paid from the medical specialty clinic 22 or the medical support operating company 20. That is, when the image interpretation specialist 24 is enrolled in the imaging specialist clinic 22, the imaging specialist 22 is not enrolled in the imaging specialist clinic 22, and the image interpretation specialist 24 is not enrolled in the imaging specialist clinic 22. Is paid from the medical support operating company 20.

[0032] Further, the patient is referred to the image clinic 2.
The medical institutions 12 and 14 introduced in 2 charge the health insurance organization 26 for a writing fee and an image interpretation fee associated with the advanced MR imaging. Further, the medical support operating company 20 pays a referral fee to the medical institutions 12 and 14 referred to the medical specialty clinic 22.

Next, another embodiment of the advanced medical image diagnostic system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 50 denotes an advanced medical diagnostic imaging system.
The difference between the system 50 and the above-mentioned advanced medical image diagnostic system denoted by reference numeral 10 is that an imaging specialist having a high-resolution MR imaging equipment 40 having a magnetic field strength (Tesla) of 1.0 or more, preferably 1.5 or more. There is no clinic.

In the advanced medical image diagnostic system 50, the above-mentioned medical support operating company 20 manages and operates the following high-resolution MR imaging equipment 40 of a medical institution. That is, the medical support operating company 20 lends the high-performance and high-resolution MR imaging equipment 40 to the following medical institutions 12 and 14, contracts maintenance of the MR imaging equipment 40, dispatches an imaging technician, and Refer a patient.

The medical support operating company 20 has a personal clinic 1 located in each municipalities or the like that does not have image capturing equipment.
2 and an image capturing facility are installed, and the magnetic field strength (tesla) of the MR apparatus is set at each hospital 14 such as a medical corporation having a low-resolution MR image capturing facility whose magnetic field strength (tesla) is 1.0 or less. A high-performance and high-resolution MR image photographing equipment 40 of 1.0 or more, preferably 1.5 or more is installed.

Thus, the patient's site is photographed by the medical institutions 12 and 14 using the MR device. The medical image data of the part of the patient photographed by the medical institutions 12 and 14 is digitized and transmitted to the medical support operating company 20 including the medical data management server 42 using a communication line. The image interpretation specialist 24 interprets the captured image stored in the medical data management server 42 to make a diagnosis, and creates an image interpretation diagnosis report. Note that the image interpretation specialist 24 may be enrolled in the medical support operating company 20 or may be in a place or a place away from the medical support operating company 20.

The image interpretation diagnosis report prepared by the MR image interpretation specialist 24 is digitized and transmitted to the medical data management server 42 for storage. Then, the image interpretation diagnosis report and the captured image are stored in the medical data management server 4.
Medical institution 12, where the part of the patient was imaged with the MR device from 2,
14 is transmitted. The doctors of the medical institutions 12, 14 explain the diagnosis results to the patient.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram when a medical data management server installed in the server operating company 44 is used. The server management company 44 is the medical institution 12,1.
Receiving the image data and the image interpretation diagnosis report obtained by the MR imaging with the MR imaging equipment 40 of 4 using a communication line;
Store in mass storage. Further, the mass storage device stores the name and address of a patient who has undergone MR imaging, and an examination record.

The medical institutions 12 and 14 send data such as the name, address and date and time of the patient who has undergone the MR imaging to the server operating company 44 and also to the above-mentioned medical support operating company 20. Thus, the MR imaging image and the image interpretation diagnostic report of the patient are sent from the server of the server operating company 44 to the medical institutions 12 and 14 which are the referral sources of the patient by the instruction of the medical support operating company 20 using the communication line. .
Then, the doctors of the medical institutions 12, 14 explain the results to the patient based on the MR imaging image and the image interpretation diagnosis report.
In addition, the medical support management company 20 and the hospital 1
2, 14 doctors view the MR imaging image and the image interpretation diagnosis report of the patient using a communication line as needed,
And these data can be received.

Further, in the above description, the image interpretation specialist 2
4 may be resident in the medical support operating company 20 or may be located in or outside a country remote from these locations. In this case, the image interpretation specialist 24
The above-mentioned server device is accessed from the medical support operating company 20 or a computer installed at the location of the specialist to take out a captured image, interpret the image, and make a diagnosis. The image interpretation diagnosis result of the specialist 24 is created as digital data, and is transmitted to the server device via a communication line and accumulated.

Here, the medical institutions 12, 14 are MR
A medical treatment fee is charged to the health insurance institution 26 in accordance with the number of parts of the patient photographed by the apparatus. Furthermore, medical institutions 12, 14
Requests the health insurance agency 26 for a writing fee and an advanced image interpretation fee associated with the advanced MR imaging. The medical support operating company 20 pays the medical institution 12.14 a lending fee for the imaging equipment, a maintenance contract for the imaging equipment, a dispatch fee for the imaging technician, and a referral fee for the patient. Claim.

A reward to the image interpretation specialist 24 is paid from the image imaging specialist office 22 or the medical support management company 20. That is, the image interpretation specialist 24
If you are enrolled in the medical imaging clinic 22, the medical imaging clinic 22 is used. If the image interpretation specialist 24 is not enrolled in the MR imaging clinic 22, the medical support operation is performed. Paid from company 20.

An image photographed by the MR apparatus can exert its power at a medical site only after being properly interpreted and diagnosed. It is important to have a radiological physician who can accurately interpret the captured image. The medical support operation company 20 is entrusted with operation and management.
2. A medical institution that has established a network with the top specialists in Japan as a radiological diagnostician, and has been requested to perform MR imaging for the highest level of interpretation and analysis reports.
2,14. In addition, by deploying a plurality of imaging specialist clinics 22, it is possible to utilize the imaging specialist clinics 22 where the image interpretation specialists 24 gather, and to effectively utilize personnel such as radiologists and nurses.
We can expect the profit of the R business to expand.

The above-mentioned advanced medical image diagnostic system 1
At 0,50, the medical institution 12,14 or the altitude M
The medical support operating company 20 may charge the health insurance institution 26 for the medical treatment fee in accordance with the number of parts of the patient imaged in place of the R image imaging clinic 22.

The imaging specialty clinic 22 includes CT, MRI,
It is an imaging diagnosis center for outpatients such as MRA, and has several imaging diagnosis centers nationwide. Furthermore, the image specialty clinic 22 provides a radiologist's interpretation service to hospitals and referral doctors nationwide. These agencies
It has a joint network with the medical support operating company 20. Imaging diagnostic centers continue to focus on adding more image interpreting specialists 24 in expanding diagnostic capabilities. The emphasis is on the quality and expertise of radiologists to achieve excellent professional results. A radiologist working with a contracted orthopedic surgeon, neurosurgeon, or neurologist earns a reputation as a "specialist for specialists."

The medical support management company 20 collects a wide range of data, such as patient registrations, examination processes, diagnostic interpretation by specialists, and transmission of information, from the examination order time to patient satisfaction surveys and internal data collection systems. Further, the medical support operating company 20 also checks the elapsed time from completion of the examination of the patient to submission of a written report to the referring doctor. Medical support operator 20 monitors key indicators that may be important to the referring physician, patient, and insurance company. These investigations may be performed by the diagnostic imaging center itself. In addition, the medical support operating company 20 shares data with the diagnostic imaging center to provide patient satisfaction, patient waiting time, report turnaround time, radiologist report accuracy, and radiologist peers. In the field of reviews, film review by photographers, etc., it is preferable to set guidelines and targets for monitoring and measuring the performance.

By specializing the image interpretation specialist 24, the radiologist can concentrate on a specific site. As a result, the referring physician or patient can receive a very skilled and advanced radiologist's image interpretation diagnosis. The image interpretation specialist 24 includes specialists in other fields such as musculoskeletal radiology, head and neck, jaw joint, spinal injection, and neuroradiology following the spine image. Specialization of image interpretation specialist 24
The best strategy when choosing a scanning option. The exchange of opinions between the referring doctor and the image interpretation specialist 24 will appropriately perform the scanning. Thus, every morning, it is possible to hold a spine conference for the 20 best cases of the previous day in an interactive video conference. They can also share information between radiologists and discuss the subject.

The medical support operating company 20 provides an Internet web page, a newsletter, and centralized marketing support. The medical support operating company 20 deals with doctors and hospitals, and actually visits and uses mail, catalogs, faxes, e-mails, and the like. The radiologist, who is the image interpretation specialist 24, indirectly carries out sales activities by indirectly communicating important results to the referring doctor in a timely manner.

[0049]

According to the advanced medical image diagnostic system of the present invention, as many patients as possible can be imaged by a high-performance, high-resolution medical image diagnostic apparatus, and provide a diagnosis by an advanced image interpretation specialist. By creating an environment where it is possible, the affected part can be found early, and early treatment can be performed, leading to a reduction in treatment costs.

Further, according to the advanced medical image diagnostic system according to the present invention, when it is desired to open a specialized hospital for image photographing equipped with high-performance and high-resolution medical image diagnostic equipment, the conventional medical image diagnostic equipment is not provided. If a hospital or a hospital equipped only with low-resolution medical image diagnostic equipment wishes to install high-performance, high-resolution medical image diagnostic equipment, it is possible for these hospitals to operate without the management risks of the medical image diagnostic equipment. It can provide support for installing high-performance, high-resolution medical imaging equipment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional teleradiology service.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the advanced medical image diagnostic system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a modified example of one embodiment of the advanced medical image diagnostic system according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of the advanced medical image diagnostic system according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a modified example of another embodiment of the advanced medical image diagnostic system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 50; advanced medical image diagnostic system 12, 14, medical institution 20, medical support operating company 22, MR imaging specialist clinic 24, MR image reading specialist 26, health insurance institution 30, 44, server operating company 40, advanced MR Shooting equipment

Claims (20)

[Claims] (1) a step in which a medical support operating organization manages and operates a medical image capturing specialized organization on behalf of a medical image capturing specialized organization or directly; a medical institution or medical image that does not have medical image capturing facilities Under a medical institution that has imaging equipment but does not have high-performance, high-resolution medical image capturing equipment at the current time, patients at the institution can obtain high-performance, high-resolution medical image capturing at the current time. Visiting a specialized medical imaging facility having facilities and photographing a part of the patient at the specialized medical imaging facility; digitizing the image capturing data of the part of the patient captured by the specialized medical imaging facility to obtain medical data; A step of storing the image capturing data of the patient in the management server; a step of interpreting the image capturing data by a medical image interpretation specialist to perform an image diagnosis; an image interpretation diagnostic report of the specialist Digitizing a report and storing it as medical data of a patient in the medical data management server; transmitting the image interpretation diagnostic report and image capturing data to the medical institution; And a step of explaining the diagnosis result to the advanced medical image diagnostic system. 2. A step in which a medical support operating organization manages and operates the medical image capturing specialized organization on behalf of a medical image capturing specialized organization or directly; a medical institution or medical image not having medical image capturing equipment Under a medical institution that has imaging equipment but does not have high-performance, high-resolution medical image capturing equipment at the current time, patients at the institution can obtain high-performance, high-resolution medical image capturing at the current time. Going to a medical imaging specialist institution having facilities and photographing a part of the patient with the medical imaging specialist; digitizing the medical image data of the patient's part taken by the medical imaging specialist, and obtaining medical data A step of storing the image capturing data of the patient in the management server; a step of interpreting the image capturing data by a medical image interpretation specialist to perform an image diagnosis; an image interpretation diagnostic report of the specialist Digitizing a report and storing it as medical data of a patient in the medical data management server; transmitting the image interpretation diagnostic report and image capturing data to the medical institution; Explaining the diagnosis result to the medical image capturing step; and requesting the medical insurance fee to a health insurance institution in accordance with the number of parts of the patient imaged by the medical image capturing institution; Requesting a specialized radiography organization for at least one management / operating fee such as a lending fee, a maintenance contract fee, an imaging technician dispatch fee, a patient referral fee, etc. associated with the high-performance / high-resolution medical imaging equipment; An institution requesting a health insurance institution for a writing fee and an advanced image interpretation fee associated with the advanced medical imaging request. . 3. The medical support operation institution has the medical institution or the medical image capturing equipment which does not have the remote medical image capturing equipment, but has the high-performance and high-resolution medical image capturing equipment at the present time. Lending high-performance, high-resolution medical imaging equipment to medical institutions that do not own it, installing the medical imaging equipment, contracting maintenance of the medical imaging equipment, dispatching an imaging technician, introducing patients at least 1
Performing a medical treatment operation; and performing a management and operation associated with a high-performance and high-resolution medical image capturing facility, entrusted by the medical institution; and photographing a part of a patient at the medical institution. Digitizing image capturing data of a part of a patient captured by the medical institution, transmitting the digitized data to a medical data management server using a communication line, and storing the image capturing data as patient image capturing data; A medical image interpretation specialist to perform image diagnosis; digitizing an image interpretation diagnosis result of the specialist and storing the result as medical data of a patient in the medical data management server; and the image interpretation diagnosis report and the image An advanced physician, comprising: transmitting imaging data to the medical institution; and explaining a diagnosis result to the patient by a doctor of the medical institution. Diagnostic imaging system. 4. The medical support operation institution has the medical institution or the medical image capturing equipment which does not have the remote medical image capturing equipment, but has the high-performance and high-resolution medical image capturing equipment at the present time. Lending high-performance, high-resolution medical imaging equipment to medical institutions that do not own it, installing the medical imaging equipment, contracting maintenance of the medical imaging equipment, dispatching an imaging technician, introducing patients at least 1
Performing a medical treatment operation; and performing a management and operation associated with a high-performance and high-resolution medical image capturing facility, entrusted by the medical institution; and photographing a part of a patient at the medical institution. Digitizing image capturing data of a part of a patient captured by the medical institution, transmitting the digitized data to a medical data management server using a communication line, and storing the image capturing data as patient image capturing data; A medical image interpretation specialist interprets the image and performs image diagnosis; digitizing the image interpretation diagnosis result of the specialist and storing the result as medical data of a patient in the medical data management server; and the image interpretation diagnosis report and Transmitting image capturing data to the medical institution; a doctor of the medical institution explaining a diagnosis result to the patient; and the medical institution is photographed. Reimbursement depending on the number of sites of the person,
Requesting a health insurance organization for a writing fee and an advanced medical image interpretation fee associated with advanced medical image capturing; the medical support operating organization provides the medical institution with a rental fee for the medical imaging equipment;
Requesting at least one management and operation fee of a maintenance contract fee, an imaging technician dispatch fee, and the patient referral fee. 5. The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to claim 1, wherein the medical image radiographing institution is an MR radiographing institution. 6. A medical imaging specialist institution having medical imaging equipment with higher performance and higher resolution than the currently owned medical imaging equipment, has a magnetic field strength (Tesla) of 1.0 or more, preferably 1.5 or more. The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising an MRI facility. 7. The medical image reading specialist is enrolled in the medical image photographing institution.
The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 8. The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to claim 1, wherein the medical image interpretation specialist is located in a place different from the place of the medical imaging specialized institution. 9. The medical support management institution charges the medical image interpretation specialist or the medical institution for an image diagnosis fee of the medical image interpretation specialist. 2. The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to claim 1. 10. The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to claim 1, wherein the medical data management server is installed in the medical support operation organization. 11. The medical data management server according to claim 1, wherein the medical data management server is installed in a server operating organization different from the medical support operating organization.
The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to the paragraph. 12. The medical image capturing portal organization and the medical institution, which are installed at a plurality of locations around one of the medical support administration organizations, are formed as a joint network. The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to any one of the preceding claims. 13. The medical data management server according to claim 1, further comprising a step of digitizing other examination data of the patient and storing the data as medical data of the patient in the medical data management server using a communication line. 2. The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to claim 1. 14. The medical data management server according to claim 1, further comprising a step of the doctor at the medical institution and / or the medical image interpretation specialist to browse to the medical data management server. Advanced medical image diagnostic system. 15. The medical data management server registers vacant information on the imaging conditions of all of the medical image capturing specialized institutions, and a doctor of the medical institution browses the information to view the information and empty the patient. The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a step of introducing the medical image to an institution. 16. The medical image photographing equipment according to claim 1, wherein the medical image photographing equipment is at least one of a magnetic resonance tomography diagnostic apparatus, a CT diagnostic apparatus, an X-ray apparatus, and a PET apparatus. The advanced medical diagnostic imaging system as described. 17. The doctor of the medical institution and the medical image interpreting specialist look at real time imaging data of the part of the patient, cooperate with an imaging technician, and confirm the imaging part thereafter. The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a step of setting an image resolution and examining an image compression ratio. 18. The advanced medical image diagnostic system according to claim 16, wherein the image compression ratio is set so that the medical image interpretation specialist can reproduce an optimal image when performing an image diagnosis. . 19. The advanced medical image diagnosis according to claim 1, wherein the telecommunication is transmitted as high-resolution 12-bit digital data using a high frequency band. system. 20. In the advanced medical image diagnostic system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, a part of a patient where the medical support operation organization is imaged on behalf of the medical institution or the medical imaging specialty institution. An advanced medical image diagnostic system characterized in that a medical fee is charged to a health insurance institution according to the number of medical institutions.