JP2012256345A - Image management system and image storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique which prevents deletion of a medical image linked with a medical report.SOLUTION: An image management system includes: storage means in which a plurality of medical images are stored; deletion preventive attribute adding means which adds a deletion preventive attribute to a prescribed region in an additional information section of medical images corresponding to link information described in medical reports generated by report generation means; and deleting means which deletes, from the storage means, medical images which the deletion preventive attribute is not added to and which satisfy a prescribed deletion condition.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image management technique for managing medical images, and more particularly to a technique for preventing deletion of medical images linked to reports.

  In recent years, systemization in hospitals has progressed in recent years, and various systems have been operating in hospitals. For example, an image management system (PACS) or a radiation information system (RIS) is connected to a network, and a client terminal on the network is used to communicate with these medical image storage devices and radiation information systems to obtain medical images and examination status information. Or, inspection order information is transmitted / received.

  The image management system is a system that manages a medical image received from a modality for creating a medical image, and stores the medical image so that the created medical image can be displayed on a client terminal via a network.

  In this image management system, medical images are becoming filmless, and medical images that must be managed by the image management system are rapidly increasing. Some measures can be taken by adding an image storage device for storing medical images in the system, but there is a limit when the increase speed of medical images exceeds the expansion speed.

  Therefore, in order to secure a storage area for a newly generated medical image, a technique has been proposed in which a medical image that is less likely to be referenced is deleted (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In Patent Literature 1, a medical image with a low possibility of reference is searched from patient transition information and the like, and the corresponding medical image is deleted by the search.

  Incidentally, the image management system may include a report creation device that interprets stored medical images and creates a medical report. In such an image management system, linking of medical images stored in the image management system is described in the medical report created by the report creation device. A medical image linked from the image management system at the time of browsing the medical report is acquired (for example, see Patent Document 2).

JP-A-10-143402 JP 2003-296451 A

  When the report creation apparatus of Patent Literature 2 is provided in the image management system of Patent Literature 1, there is a risk that a medical image linked to a medical report will be deleted. If the medical image linked to the medical report is deleted, the medical image that is the basis of the medical report cannot be referred to, and important information is lost from the medical report. The viewer cannot accurately grasp the contents of the medical report.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for preventing deletion of a medical image linked to a medical report.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 corresponds to storage information for storing a plurality of medical images and link information described in the medical report created by the report creation means in the image management system. Deletion prevention information ancillary means for attaching deletion prevention information to a predetermined area of an incidental information part of a medical image, and deletion for deleting a medical image that does not have the deletion prevention information and satisfies a predetermined deletion condition from the storage means And means.

  The storage unit stores a medical image record stored in the storage unit, and the deletion prevention information-accompanying unit stores the storage corresponding to the image storage position information included in the medical image record corresponding to the link information. Deletion prevention information may be attached to a predetermined area of the accompanying information part of the medical image stored in the storage position of the means (corresponding to the invention described in claim 2).

  The attribute information may be at least one of a series attribute, an examination attribute, and a patient attribute (corresponding to the invention according to claim 3).

  The attribute information is any one of the series attribute, examination attribute and patient attribute, or the series attribute, examination attribute and patient attribute, or examination attribute and patient attribute, or patient attribute. (Corresponding to the invention of claim 4).

  In an image management system in which an image storage device having storage means for storing a plurality of medical images and an image management server are connected via a network, the image management server stores a record of medical images stored in the storage means. Storage means for storing, wherein the image storage device corresponds to image storage position information included in a medical image record corresponding to link information described in the medical report created by the report creation means. Deletion prevention information supplementary means for attaching the deletion prevention information to a predetermined area of the supplementary information part of the medical image stored in the storage position (corresponding to the invention of claim 3).

  Storage means for storing a plurality of medical images, and deletion prevention information ancillary means for attaching deletion prevention information to a predetermined area of an auxiliary information part of a medical image corresponding to link information described in the medical report created by the report creating means And a deletion unit that deletes from the storage unit a medical image that is not accompanied by the deletion prevention information and satisfies a predetermined deletion condition (corresponding to the invention described in claim 4).

  The deletion prevention information supplementary means deletes in a predetermined area of the supplementary information part of the medical image stored in the storage position of the storage means corresponding to the image storage position information included in the medical image record stored in the storage means Prevention information may be attached (corresponding to the invention described in claim 5).

  According to the image management technology for managing a plurality of medical images of the present invention, when a medical report linked with a desired medical image is created, the medical image linked to the medical report is excluded from the deletion target, and the medical image During the deletion process, a medical image that is not removed from the deletion target and satisfies a predetermined deletion condition is deleted.

  As a result, it is possible to prevent a situation in which a medical image linked to a medical report is deleted when the medical image is deleted. Therefore, no information is lost from the medical report, and the contents of the medical report can be accurately transmitted.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image management system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the report production apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure explaining the image link information embedded in the medical report which the report preparation apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment created. It is a figure explaining the content of the image link information which the report production apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment acquires. (A) is a figure explaining the image protection command and image link information which the report preparation apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment transmits, (b) is the image link information embedded in the medical report shown in FIG. FIG. 4C is an explanatory diagram when a single medical image corresponding to the item is set as an exclusion target for deletion prevention, and FIG. 3C deletes the entire series to which the medical image corresponding to the image link information embedded in the medical report shown in FIG. 3 belongs. It is explanatory drawing at the time of making it into the exclusion object of prevention. It is a flowchart figure which shows operation | movement of the report preparation apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image management server which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a functional block diagram of the image management server which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure explaining the image database with which the image management server which concerns on 1st Embodiment is provided, (a) is an image database updated when the image link information shown in (b) of FIG. b) is an image database that is updated when the image link information shown in FIG. 5C is transmitted. It is a figure explaining the image deletion command and image storage location information which the image management server which concerns on 1st Embodiment transmits. It is a figure explaining the screen which sets the deletion process start timing and deletion condition which are displayed with the image management server which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart figure which shows the operation | movement which the image management server which concerns on 1st Embodiment provides a deletion prevention attribute to an image database. It is a flowchart figure which shows deletion control operation | movement of the image management server which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows the process of the image management system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart figure which shows the deletion prevention control operation | movement of the image management server which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart figure which shows the deletion control operation | movement of the image management server which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image storage device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure explaining the medical image which attached the deletion prevention information memorize | stored in the image storage device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement which attaches the deletion prevention information of the image storage device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart figure explaining the deletion operation | movement of the image storage device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

  Preferred embodiments of an image management system, an image management server, and a report creation apparatus according to the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram in which a part of a hospital system is extracted. As shown in FIG. 1, in a hospital system, an image management server 200 including an image database and a plurality of image storage devices 300 serving as storage means are connected to a network N. The image management server 200 and the image storage device 300 include a computer having a communication function, and data communication is possible via a network. Further, the report creation apparatus 100 and the client terminal 400 are connected to the network N. Each of the report creation apparatus 100 and the client terminal 400 includes a computer having a communication function, and can perform data communication with each other via a network, and can also perform data communication with the image management server 200 and the plurality of image storage apparatuses 300. It has become.

  This system is an image management system (PACS) that stores and deletes medical images, and also causes the client terminal 400 to acquire a created medical report. In creating a medical report, the report creating apparatus 100 acquires a desired medical image by performing data communication with the image management server 200 and the image storage device 300, and describes image link information as a link to the medical report. The client terminal 400 acquires a desired medical report from the report creation apparatus 100 and transmits image link information to the image management server 200. The image management server 200 searches the image database using the image link information as a search key, acquires the storage position information of the medical image, and transmits it to the client terminal 400. The client terminal 400 communicates with the image storage device 300 corresponding to the storage position information, and acquires a medical image.

  In the present embodiment, this system is a system that further excludes a medical image linked to a medical report created by the report creation device 100 from a deletion target and protects it from deletion processing of the image management system. Hereinafter, a technique for excluding the medical image linked to the medical report from the deletion target and protecting it from the deletion process will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the report creation apparatus 100. The report creation device 100 includes a workstation device connected to a network. The workstation device is connected with a keyboard 160 and a mouse 170 as input devices, and includes a medical report monitor 190 and a reference information monitor 180 as display devices.

  The workstation device includes a processing unit 110, a main storage unit 140, a transmission / reception unit 130, an input / output IF unit 150, and an external storage unit 120. The processing unit 110 is a so-called CPU, and performs calculations according to a program stored in the external storage unit 120 to control the peripheral units 120 to 150. The main storage unit 140 is a RAM such as a semiconductor memory, for example. As a work area of the processing unit 110, a program, a calculation result by calculation of the processing unit 110, or data is expanded. The transmission / reception unit 130 is a network adapter such as a LAN card or a modem, for example, and performs data communication with other devices via the network N. The input / output IF unit 150 receives instruction information corresponding to an input operation of the keyboard 160 and the mouse 170 and outputs monitor display information to the medical report monitor 190 and the reference information monitor 180.

  The external storage unit 120 is a so-called magneto-optical disk (MOD) or magnetic disk (HDD), and stores a program for realizing a computer as the report creation apparatus 100 and a created medical report. Note that the created medical report may be stored in another computer connected to the network, that is, the external storage unit 120 of a so-called report server.

  The report creation device 100 functions as a device that creates a medical report by performing calculation according to a program stored in the external storage unit 120 in the processing unit 110 and stores the created medical report. Further, in the present embodiment, when a medical image is linked to the created medical report, in order to exclude the linked medical image from the deletion target, information for specifying the linked medical image is used. The image link information is transmitted to the image management server 200. That is, the report creation apparatus 100 includes a report creation unit 111, an image link information extraction unit 112, and a transmission / reception control unit 113.

  The report creation unit 111 displays a medical image to be interpreted on the reference information monitor 180, displays a medical report being created on the medical report monitor 190, and performs a medical report creation operation using the keyboard 160, the mouse 170, or the like of the device operator. Create medical reports according to your needs. If there is a medical image to be linked to the medical report, image link information of the medical image to be linked is described in the medical report.

  The image link information extracting unit 112 extracts image link information described in the medical report. If the apparatus operator holds in advance exclusion settings that are set using the keyboard 160 and mouse 170, image link information extraction processing is performed.

  The image link information is information in which the host name, IP address, medical image ID, series ID, examination ID, and patient ID of the image management server 200 are paired. FIG. 3 is a source of the created medical report. As shown in FIG. 3, the image link information is described in the medical report together with the link sign. For example, in the medical report shown in FIG. 3, at least image link information A is described. The image link information A is the host name of the image management server 200, the medical image ID “00002”, and the series ID “001”. ”,“ 002 ”as the examination ID, and“ 00292 ”as the patient ID.

  The series is a minimum unit group of medical images according to the DICOM standard. Each captured part, image generation time, slice thickness, presence of contrast medium, reconstruction function in the case of an X-ray CT apparatus, a predetermined incidental It is a group that is divided by the same information, the image taken in the same couch movement direction in the case of the X-ray CT apparatus, the even or odd number of the medical image ID, or the part determination by the histogram of the image, and the series ID is It is a group name divided into.

  The image link information extraction unit 112 develops the medical report stored in the external storage unit 120 in the main storage unit 140 and sequentially reads descriptions. The description of the link sign, the host name of the image management server 200 and the IP address is searched from the medical report, and the image link information is extracted. Extracting image link information is completed by storing the extracted image link information in the main storage unit 140 separately.

  In the extraction of the image link information, a part or all of the information included in the image link information is extracted according to the range excluded from the deletion process. The range to be excluded from the deletion process is held in advance as an exclusion setting. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining exclusion setting. The image link information extraction unit 112 holds in advance any one of the exclusion settings D1 to D4 that correspond to the range B to be excluded and the content C of the image link information to be extracted shown in FIG. The image link information extraction unit 112 extracts part or all of the information included in the image link information according to the content of the image link information to be extracted according to the held exclusion setting.

  For example, in the case where the excluded range is a single medical image linked to a medical report, that is, in the case of the exclusion setting D1, the medical image ID, series ID, examination ID, and patient are included as the contents of the image link information to be extracted. Extract the ID. When the entire series to which the medical image linked to the medical report belongs is excluded, that is, in the case of the exclusion setting D2, the series ID, examination ID, and patient ID are extracted as the contents of the image link information to be extracted. To do. When the entire examination to which the medical image linked to the medical report belongs is excluded, that is, in the case of the exclusion setting D3, the examination ID and the patient ID are extracted as the contents of the image link information to be extracted. When the medical image linked to the medical report is a range that excludes all of the medical images related to the patient to be imaged, that is, in the case of the exclusion setting D4, the patient ID is set as the content of the image link information to be extracted. Extract.

  The transmission / reception control unit 113 controls the data transmission / reception unit 130 to control data communication with other devices. Control is performed to transmit the extracted image link information to the image management server 200. At this time, an image protect command, which is a control command for performing processing for removing the medical image specified by the image link information from the deletion target, is generated and transmitted together with the image link information. 5A to 5C are diagrams illustrating the data structure of transmission data to be transmitted to the image management server 200. FIG. As shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, the image link information F is added to the image protect command E to form transmission data, which is transmitted to the image management server 200. (B) and (c) in FIG. 5 are specific examples of transmission data, and details will be described later.

  This transmission data is a control command for requesting the image management server 200 to add a deletion prevention attribute to the record of the image database corresponding to the image link information.

  The transmission / reception control unit 113 performs control for transmitting an image protection command and image link information, and also specifies information for specifying a desired medical image generated by the report generation unit 111 in order to acquire a medical image to be interpreted. Control to transmit to the image management server 200, control to receive storage position information of a desired medical image transmitted from the image management server 200, and control to access a storage position corresponding to the storage position information and receive a medical image .

  The medical report creation and image link information transmission procedure of the report creation apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 6, when a request for creating a medical report for a medical image is received through the network N (S101), a medical report creation screen is displayed on the medical report monitor 190 (S102), and a medical report is created on the reference information monitor 180. The medical image to be referred is displayed (S103). Here, bibliographic items to be entered in the medical report are created in accordance with an entry operation using the keyboard 160 and mouse 170 of the apparatus operator, an automatic copying operation of the written items, and a selection and designation operation of pre-registered information. . The reference information monitor 180 displays past medical reports, past medical images, history information, and the like as contents to be referred to, in addition to medical images to be interpreted as medical images to be referenced.

  The medical report displayed on the medical report monitor 190 is provided with a finding column. By performing an operation for entering the finding for the medical image being referred to in the finding column, the character string input in the finding column is arranged. (S104). In order to link medical images, past medical reports, history information, etc. displayed on the reference information monitor 180 to a specific character string in a state where the character strings are arranged, The link correspondence range is specified by putting the cursor (S105).

  Next, a drag operation input for designating a content to be linked among the contents displayed on the reference information monitor 180 is performed (S106). Then, a drag display icon is displayed (S107), and a drop operation is performed on the linkable range display portion of the medical report creation screen (S108). When a character string is specified, the link information of the content, the drop operation If the target is a medical image, image link information is pasted in the form of a hyperlink (S109). At the same time, the color of the character string in the link correspondence range in which the hyperlink is set is changed and the underline is turned down to identify and display (S110).

  Subsequently, it is determined whether there is a character string to be linked to the content being referred to (S111). If there is a character string to be linked (S111, Yes), the link corresponding range of S105 is specified. Returning to the process, if there is no character string to be linked (S111, No), the medical report is saved as the input of the finding character string is completed (S112).

  When the medical report is saved (S112), it is determined whether the exclusion setting is held in advance (S113). When there is no exclusion setting (S113, No), a series of processing is completed. If there is an exclusion setting (S113, Yes), the content of the image link information to be extracted is recognized from the exclusion setting (S114). If the exclusion setting is not performed in advance or if a setting change is requested by an operation of the apparatus operator, a display screen for performing the exclusion setting is displayed on the monitor, and the exclusion setting input using the keyboard 160 and the mouse 170 is performed. May be accepted.

  Next, the stored description of the medical report is sequentially read, and a search is made for a link indicator, a marker of image link information such as the host name and IP address of the image management server 200 (S115). When there is no sign in the reading range of the medical report (S116, No), unless the reading of the entire range of the medical report is finished (S118, No), the description of the medical report is sequentially read and the signs are searched in the reading range. (S115) is repeated.

  When a corresponding sign is found (S116, Yes), a part or all of the medical image ID, series ID, examination ID, and patient ID among the image link information according to the content of the image link information to be extracted determined in S114. Is extracted (S117).

  When reading of all the descriptions of the medical report is completed (S118, Yes) and all the image link information linked to the medical report is extracted, an image protect command is generated with each extracted image link information as an argument (S119). ).

  When the image link information is extracted and the image protect command is generated, the image protect command and the image link information are transmitted to the image management server 200 (S120), and a series of processing is finished.

  As described above, when the medical report is created, the report creating apparatus 100 extracts the image link information from the medical report and uses the extracted image link information to remove the medical image linked to the medical report from the deletion target. It transmits to the image management server 200. By transmitting the image link information, the report creation apparatus 100 requests the image management server 200 to remove the medical image linked to the medical report from the deletion target, and specifies the medical image linked to the medical report. Information to be notified.

  Next, the image management server 200 will be described in detail. FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of the image management server 200. The image management server 200 includes a workstation device, and includes a processing unit 210, a main storage unit 220, an external storage unit 230, and a transmission / reception unit 240. A man-machine interface unit 250 is connected to the workstation device.

  The man-machine interface unit 250 includes input means such as a keyboard and a mouse, and a monitor that displays a screen, and interacts with an apparatus operator. The external storage unit 230 temporarily stores a program for realizing a computer as the image management server 200, an image database, and a medical image for registration processing.

  FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of the image management server 200. The image management server 200 is an apparatus that registers or deletes a medical image and notifies the client terminal 400 of the storage position of the medical image by performing an operation according to a program stored in the external storage unit 230 by the processing unit 210. Function as. Registration means that the medical image temporarily stored in the external storage unit 230 is transmitted to the image storage device 300 to be stored, and the stored medical image record is added to the image database and updated. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the image management server 200 includes a medical image storage unit 212, a medical image registration unit 211, a server-side deletion unit 214, an image database, and a transmission / reception control unit 215.

  The medical image storage unit 212 temporarily stores a medical image transmitted from an image creation apparatus or an old image management server 200 that is directly or indirectly connected to the network N.

  The medical image registration unit 211 generates image storage position information for specifying the storage destination of the medical image stored in the medical image storage unit 212, transmits the medical image via the transmission control unit, and stores the medical image in the image database. A new medical image record is created.

  The image database 213 stores medical image records stored in the image storage device 300 as a database. FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams showing the image database 213. The record of the medical image to which the record number is attached is a pair of medical image registration date 11, examination date 12, last access date 13, patient ID 14, examination ID 15, series ID 16, medical image ID 17, and image storage position information 18. Data set.

  For example, record No. 3 is a medical image in which the registration date 11 is “91/02/01”, the patient ID 14 is “00292”, the examination ID 15 is “002”, the series ID 16 is “001”, and the medical image ID 17 is “00002”. The information 18 is stored in “address AAC”.

  Further, the image database 213 is a database management system serving as a deletion prevention grant unit. When the image protection command and the image link information are transmitted from the report creation apparatus 100, the image database 213 is prevented from being deleted for all corresponding medical images using the image link information as a search key. Update the image database with attributes.

  For example, in FIG. 9A, the deletion prevention attribute 19 is given to the medical image “record No. 3”. The report creation apparatus 100 receives the record No. If the image link information of the medical image corresponding to 3 is described in the report, and the range to be excluded from the deletion target is the content to exclude the single medical image linked to the medical report from the deletion target, the image protection command and the patient Image link information including ID “00292”, examination ID “001”, series ID “001”, and medical image ID “00002” is transmitted. In the image database 213, the deletion prevention attribute 19 is given only to the medical image of “record No. 3” corresponding to this image link information.

  Also, for example, in FIG. 9B, the deletion prevention attribute 19 is assigned to the record numbers 2 to 4. The report creation apparatus 100 receives the record No. If the image link information of the medical image corresponding to 3 is described in the report and the entire series to which the medical image linked to the medical report belongs is excluded from the deletion target, the image protect command and the patient ID “00292”, Image link information including the examination ID “001” and series ID “001” is transmitted. In the image database 213, the deletion prevention attribute 19 is given to the medical images of record numbers 2 to 4 corresponding to the image link information.

  When the image link information is the content that excludes the entire examination to which the medical image linked to the medical report belongs, and deletes all medical images related to the patient who is the imaging target of the medical image linked to the medical report Even when the content is excluded from the target, the deletion prevention attribute is assigned to all records having the same examination attribute or patient attribute as the examination attribute or patient attribute to which the medical image linked to the report belongs.

  The image database 213 is a database management system serving as a search unit, and the server-side deletion unit 214 searches the image database using a search key generated for deleting a medical image, and is recorded in the corresponding medical image record. Image storage position information is read out and sent to the server-side deletion unit 214.

  The image database 213 functions as a PACS. When a search key for requesting a medical image is transmitted from the client terminal 400, the image database 213 searches the image database for a medical image corresponding to the search key, and the medical image corresponding to the search by the search. The image storage position information recorded in this record is read out and transmitted to the client terminal 400 via the transmission control means.

  The server-side deletion unit 214 performs control to delete the medical image from the image storage device 300 according to the deletion processing start timing and the deletion condition that are stored in advance. When the deletion processing start timing comes, the processing is started, and the deletion condition is sent to the image database 213 as a search key. When the image storage position information recorded in the medical image record corresponding to the search key is read by the image database 213, the image storage position information is acquired, an image deletion command is generated, and the image storage position information is added. . Then, an image deletion command and image storage position information are transmitted to the image storage device 300 via the transmission / reception control means 215.

  10A and 10B show the data structure of transmission data transmitted via the transmission / reception control unit 215 by the server-side deletion unit 214. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the transmission data includes an image deletion command G and acquired image storage position information H, and is transmitted to the image storage device 300. Specific examples shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B will be described later.

  The deletion process start timing is created by interacting with the apparatus operator using the man-machine interface unit 250. The server-side deletion unit 214 displays a deletion queue registration setting screen on the monitor, and the device operator performs an input operation for setting the deletion processing start timing with time using a keyboard, a mouse, or the like, thereby deleting the deletion processing start timing. Is set.

  Similarly, the deletion condition is created by interacting with the apparatus operator using the man-machine interface unit 250. The server-side deletion unit 214 displays a deletion queue registration setting screen on the monitor, and the apparatus operator performs an input operation for setting the deletion condition using a keyboard, a mouse, or the like, so that the deletion condition is set. The deletion condition includes, for example, deleting a medical image corresponding to a predetermined patient ID, deleting a medical image whose examination date or registration date, or last access date is before the predetermined date.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a deletion queue registration setting screen. On this screen, activation of deletion processing is set for each day of the week, and start and end times are set. For example, in FIG. 11, the deletion processing execution timing is from 20:00 to 23:00 on Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. In addition, on this screen, it is set which date of medical image examination, registration, or last access is referred to as a deletion condition, and the age of the date to be deleted is set. Moreover, the patient attribute of the medical image to be deleted is set. For example, in FIG. 11, a medical image whose registration date is before 10 years ago and a medical image whose patient ID is “00292” are set as deletion targets.

  The transmission / reception control means 215 controls the data transmission / reception unit 240 to control data communication with other devices. The transmission / reception unit 240 is controlled to transmit the medical image stored in the medical image storage unit 212 to the image storage device 300 specified by the image storage position information generated by the medical image acquisition unit 211.

  The transmission / reception control unit 215 controls the transmission / reception unit 240 to transmit the image deletion command generated by the server-side deletion unit 214 and the acquired image storage position information to the image storage device 300 described in the image storage position information. To do.

  The procedure for assigning the deletion prevention attribute of the image management server 200 will be described with reference to FIG. First, when an image protect command and image link information are transmitted from the report creation apparatus 100 (S201, Yes), the image database 213 is searched using the image link information as a search key (S202).

  When the corresponding medical image is found (S203, Yes), the image database 213 is updated with the deletion prevention attribute added to all the records of the corresponding medical image (S204).

  When the image database 213 is updated, all the medical images linked to the medical report, or all the series to which the medical images linked to the medical report belong, all examination names, and medical images linked to the medical report are captured. Data communication notifying that all the medical images related to the patient have been excluded from the deletion target is performed to the report creating apparatus 100 (S205), and a series of processes is terminated.

  The medical image deletion procedure of the image management server 200 will be described with reference to FIG. First, when the deletion processing start timing arrives (S301, Yes), a search key that searches for a medical image that meets the deletion condition and has no deletion prevention attribute is generated, and the search key matches the image database 213. The medical image to be searched is searched (S302).

  When a corresponding medical image record is found by the search (S303, Yes), the image storage position information recorded in the record is read (S304), and an image deletion command is generated (S305).

  Next, an image deletion command and image storage position information are transmitted to the image storage device 300 corresponding to the information specifying the image storage device 300 included in the read image storage position information (S306), and a series of processing is performed. finish.

  In the image storage device 300 that has received the image deletion command and the image storage position information, the medical image stored in the storage position corresponding to the image storage position information is deleted according to the image deletion command.

  As described above, when the image link information is transmitted from the report creation apparatus 100, the image management server 200 searches the image database 213 for a medical image record corresponding to the image link information, and deletes the attribute of the medical image corresponding to the medical image. And the image database 213 is updated.

  In addition, when the deletion processing start timing arrives, a medical image record that has an examination date, a registration date, or a last access date older than a predetermined date and has no deletion prevention attribute, or a predetermined patient ID By searching for records of medical images that do not have a deletion prevention attribute, the medical images linked to the medical report are excluded from the deletion targets, and images that meet the deletion conditions in other medical images are deleted. To do.

  The operation of the image management system will be described. As shown in FIG. 14, in the image management system, first, for example, a medical report shown in FIG. 3 is created by the report creation apparatus 100 (S401). When the medical report creation is completed and the created medical report is saved (S402), the image link information described in the medical report is extracted (S403).

  For example, as image link information, image link information including [medical image ID: 00002] & [series ID: 001] & [examination ID: 002] & [patient ID: 00292] from the medical report shown in FIG. Extracted (S404).

  Further, an image protect command is generated and transmitted to the image management server 200 together with the extracted image link information (S405). For example, when the exclusion target by the exclusion setting is a single medical image, as shown in FIG. 5B, the medical protection command includes [medical image ID: 00002] & [series ID: 001] & [examination ID]. : 002] & [patient ID: 00292] are added and transmitted to the image management server 200. Further, for example, when the exclusion target by the exclusion setting is the entire series, as shown in FIG. 5C, [series ID: 001] & [inspection ID: 002] & [ Patient ID: 00292] is added and transmitted to the image management server 200.

  When the image link information is transmitted, the image management server 200 searches the image database for a medical image corresponding to the image link information (S406), and when a corresponding medical image is found (S407), the corresponding medical image record. The medical image database 213 is updated by assigning a deletion prevention attribute to (S408). For example, when the image link information shown in (b) of FIG. 5 is transmitted, the record No. shown in (a) of FIG. 3 is extracted corresponding to this image link information, and a deletion prevention attribute is given to this medical image. When the image link information shown in (c) of FIG. 5 is transmitted, the record No. shown in (b) of FIG. 2 to 4 are extracted corresponding to the image link information, and a deletion prevention attribute is given to these medical images.

  Next, when the deletion start timing arrives in the image management server 200 (S409), a medical image that satisfies the deletion condition and has no deletion prevention attribute is searched from the image database (S410), and the corresponding record is retrieved. It is detected (S411). For example, in the image database 213 shown in FIG. 9A, when the deletion start timing arrives on February 1, 2005, and a deletion condition for deleting a medical image having a registration date 10 years ago is set. , Record No. 1 to 5 and 1000 to 1003 are applicable. 3 has a deletion prevention attribute, and the record No. 3 is detected. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 1000 to 1003. Further, in the image database shown in FIG. 9B, when the deletion condition for deleting the record having [Patient ID: 00292] is set, the record No. 1 to 5 correspond to record No. Deletion prevention attributes are assigned to 2 to 4, and the record No. 1 and 5.

  When the corresponding medical image is found by the search, image storage position information is acquired from the corresponding medical image record, an image deletion command is generated, and transmitted to the image storage device 300 together with the acquired image storage position information (S412). . Here, in FIG. When 1, 2, 4, 5 and 1000 to 1003 are detected, “address AAA”, “address AAA”, “address AAD”, “address” which are image storage position information recorded in these medical image records. “Address AAE”, “Address BBA”, “Address BBB”, “Address BBC”, and “Address BBD” are acquired and transmitted to the image storage device 300 as the transmission data shown in FIG. Further, in FIG. When 1 and 5 are detected, “address AAA” and “address AAE”, which are image storage position information recorded in these medical image records, are acquired and transmitted as the transmission data shown in FIG. It is transmitted to the image storage device 300.

  In the image recording apparatus, the medical image stored in the storage position corresponding to the received image storage position information is deleted (S413), and the series of processing ends.

  As described above, in the image management system, when the medical report is generated, the medical image linked to the medical report is excluded from the deletion target, and the medical image is not excluded from the deletion target during the deletion process of the medical image. The medical image that satisfies the condition is deleted. When the report creation apparatus 100 creates a medical report, it transmits image link information to the image management server 200 in order to exclude a medical image linked to the medical report from a deletion target. The image management server 200 assigns a deletion prevention attribute to the medical image corresponding to the image link information, and excludes the medical image having the deletion prevention attribute when searching for the deletion target. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the medical image linked to the medical report from being deleted, and it is possible to accurately transmit the contents of the medical report without losing information in the medical report.

  In the case where the report creation apparatus 100 includes a computer that creates a medical report and a server that stores the medical report, the server that stores the medical report searches the image link information and sends it to the image management server 200. That's fine. Further, the report creation apparatus 100 may transmit the entire medical report to the image management server 200. When transmitting the entire odd report, the image management server 200 is provided with the image link information extraction means 112 of the report creation apparatus 100, acquires the image link information from the transmitted medical report, and based on this image link information You may perform the process which gives a deletion prevention attribute to the image database 213. FIG.

  The report creation apparatus 100 is also provided with a system for managing the image database 213 included in the image database 213, and the image database 213 of the image management server 200 is directly operated to extract a medical image to be deleted and to give a deletion prevention attribute. In this case, the image protection command and the image link information need not be transmitted to the image management server 200. When the report creation apparatus 100 is configured by a computer that creates a medical report and a server that stores the medical report, the server that stores the medical report is also provided with an image database management system that provides a deletion prevention attribute.

(Second Embodiment)
The image management server 200 according to the present embodiment transmits a deletion prevention command to the image storage device 300 without assigning a deletion prevention attribute. In addition, when searching the image database based on the deletion condition, the search excluding the record having the deletion prevention attribute is not performed.

  That is, when the image protect command and the image link information are transmitted, the image database extracts the image storage position information recorded in the record corresponding to the image link information. When the image protection command is transmitted, the server-side deletion unit 214 generates a deletion prevention command and transmits it to the image storage device 300 via the transmission / reception control unit together with the image storage position information.

  In addition, the server-side deletion unit 214 does not make a search request to the image database except for a medical image having a deletion prevention attribute at the time of deleting a medical image, and acquires image storage position information only with a set deletion condition. The image storage position information is extracted together with the deletion instruction.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart for sending a deletion prevention command of the image management server 200. As shown in FIG. 15, first, when image link information is transmitted together with an image protect command from the report creating apparatus 100 (S501, Yes), an image database is searched using the image link information as a search key (S502). When the corresponding medical image record is detected (S503, Yes), the image storage position specifying information recorded in the corresponding medical image record is acquired (S504). When the image storage position specifying information is acquired, a deletion prevention instruction is generated (S505) and transmitted to the image storage device 300 together with the image storage position specifying information (S506), and the series of processing ends.

  The medical image deletion procedure of the image management server 200 will be described with reference to FIG. First, when the deletion processing start timing arrives (S601, Yes), a corresponding medical image is searched from the image database using the deletion condition as a search key (S602). When a corresponding medical image record is found (S603, Yes), the image storage position information recorded in the record is read (S604), and an image deletion command is generated (S605). Next, the image storage position information is transmitted together with the image deletion command to the image storage apparatus 300 corresponding to the information specifying the image storage apparatus 300 included in the read image storage position information (S606), and a series of processing is performed. finish.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the image management server 200 performs the medical image deletion prevention control on the image storage device 300 and does not recognize the medical image to be excluded from the deletion process. Extract the deletion target.

  When the image storage device 300 receives the deletion prevention command, the image storage device 300 attaches deletion prevention information to the stored medical image. When the deletion command is transmitted from the image management server 200, the image storage device 300 refers to the additional information of the medical image and deletes it. If prevention information is attached, the deletion of the medical image is stopped.

  FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram of the image storage device 300. The image storage device 300 has a computer configuration including a processing unit 310, a transmission / reception unit 320, an external storage unit 330, and a main storage unit 340. The external storage unit 330 stores a program for realizing the computer as an image storage device 300 such as NAS (Network Attached Storage, NAS), and medical images transmitted from the image management server 200 as the medical image storage unit 331. Remembered.

  The image storage device 300 functions as a device that attaches deletion prevention information to a medical image and deletes the medical image by performing a calculation according to a program stored in the external storage unit by the processing unit. In other words, it includes deletion prevention information supplementary means 311 and storage device side deletion means 312.

  When the deletion prevention command and the image storage position information are transmitted from the image management server 200, the deletion prevention information supplement means 311 attaches the deletion prevention information to the medical image stored in the storage position corresponding to the image storage position information. . FIG. 18 shows a medical image with deletion prevention information attached thereto. In FIG. 18, a deletion prevention area 22 for attaching deletion prevention information to the incidental information portion 21 of the medical image 20 is secured, and “1”, for example, is written as the deletion prevention information 23 in the deletion prevention area.

  When the deletion command and the image storage position information are transmitted from the image management server 200, the storage device side deletion means 312 which is the detection means included in the deletion means is stored in the storage position corresponding to the image storage position information. The supplementary information part of the medical image is read to detect whether or not the deletion prevention information is attached, and only the medical image without the deletion prevention information is deleted.

  FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the deletion prevention operation of the image storage device 300. First, when a deletion prevention command and image storage position information are transmitted from the image management server 200 (S701, Yes), the deletion prevention information area is added to the supplementary information of the medical image stored in the storage position corresponding to the image storage position information. Is set (S702), deletion prevention information is attached to the area (S703), and a series of processing ends.

  FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing the deletion operation of the image storage device 300. First, when a deletion command and image storage location information are transmitted from the image management server 200 (S801, Yes), the deletion prevention information is included in the supplementary information of the medical image stored in the storage location corresponding to the image storage location information. The area portion is read (S802), and it is detected whether deletion prevention information is attached (S803).

  If the deletion prevention information is not attached (S803, No), the medical image stored in the storage position corresponding to the image storage position information is deleted (S804), and the series of processing ends.

  If the deletion prevention information is attached (S803, Yes), the deletion of the medical image stored in the storage position corresponding to the image storage position information is stopped (S805), and the series of processes is terminated.

  As described above, in the image management system, when the medical report is generated, the medical image linked to the medical report is excluded from the deletion target, and the medical image is not excluded from the deletion target during the deletion process of the medical image. The medical images that meet the requirements were deleted. When the report creation apparatus 100 creates a medical report, it transmits image link information to the image management server 200 in order to exclude a medical image linked to the medical report from a deletion target. The image management server 200 transmits to the image storage device 300 a command for excluding the medical image corresponding to the image link information from the image database from the deletion target. In the image storage device 300, the deletion prevention information is attached to the medical image stored in the storage position corresponding to the image storage position information transmitted together with the deletion prevention instruction, and in response to the deletion instruction from the image management server 200. The deletion of the medical image attached with the deletion prevention information is stopped. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the medical image linked to the medical report from being deleted, and it is possible to accurately transmit the contents of the medical report between doctors without losing information in the medical report.

  It should be noted that double deletion prevention protection may be applied using both the first embodiment and the second embodiment. In this case, in the second embodiment, a process for giving a deletion prevention attribute according to the image protection command may be performed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Report creation apparatus 110 Processing part 111 Report creation means 112 Image link information extraction means 113 Transmission / reception control means 120 External storage part 130 Transmission / reception part 140 Main storage part 150 Input / output IF part 160 Keyboard 170 Mouse 180 Reference information monitor 190 Medical report monitor 200 Image management server 210 Processing unit 211 Medical image registration unit 212 Medical image storage unit 213 Image database 214 Server side deletion unit 215 Transmission / reception control unit 220 Main storage unit 230 External storage unit 240 Transmission / reception unit 250 Man-machine interface unit 300 Image storage device 310 Processing Section 311 Deletion Prevention Information Attached Unit 312 Storage Device Side Deletion Unit 320 Transmission / Reception Unit 330 External Storage Unit 331 Medical Image Storage Unit 400 Client Terminal N Network

Claims (7)

A storage means for storing a plurality of medical images;
Deletion prevention information supplementary means for attaching deletion prevention information to a predetermined area of the supplementary information part of the medical image corresponding to the link information described in the medical report created by the report creation means;
A deletion unit that deletes a medical image that is not accompanied by the deletion prevention information and satisfies a predetermined deletion condition from the storage unit;
An image management system comprising: Further comprising storage means for storing records of medical images stored in the storage means;
The deletion prevention information supplement means is:
Deletion prevention information is attached to a predetermined area of an auxiliary information portion of a medical image stored in a storage position of the storage unit corresponding to image storage position information included in a medical image record corresponding to the link information. The image management system according to claim 1.   The image management system according to claim 2, wherein the attribute information is at least one of a series attribute, an examination attribute, and a patient attribute.   The image according to claim 3, wherein the attribute information is any one of the series attribute, the examination attribute and the patient attribute, or the examination attribute and the patient attribute, or the patient attribute. Management system. In an image management system in which an image storage device having storage means for storing a plurality of medical images and an image management server are connected via a network,
The image management server
Storage means for storing records of medical images stored in the storage means;
With
The image storage device includes:
Predetermined information in the supplementary information part of the medical image stored in the storage position of the storage means corresponding to the image storage position information included in the medical image record corresponding to the link information described in the medical report generated by the report generation means Deletion prevention information ancillary means for attaching deletion prevention information to the area;
An image management system comprising: A storage means for storing a plurality of medical images;
Deletion prevention information supplementary means for attaching deletion prevention information to a predetermined area of the supplementary information part of the medical image corresponding to the link information described in the medical report created by the report creation means;
A deletion unit that deletes a medical image that is not accompanied by the deletion prevention information and satisfies a predetermined deletion condition from the storage unit;
An image storage device comprising: The deletion prevention information supplement means is:
Deletion prevention information is attached to a predetermined area of the supplementary information part of the medical image stored in the storage position of the storage means corresponding to the image storage position information included in the medical image record stored in the storage means. The image storage device according to claim 6.

Images