JPH03174661A - Medical picture controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To retrieve the medical pictures at a high speed by dividing a storage area into pieces for a key picture, total pictures including the key picture, and a remaining picture excluding the key picture respectively and at the same time producing the directories for each stored picture and its position in each storage area to store the pictures. CONSTITUTION:A key picture is designated and temporarily stored in a magnetic disk 1d of a picture work station 1, and a picture 22 added with a key picture 21a is recorded to an optical disk library 2 via an optical disk library control part 1e. The disk 1d includes a key picture directory Kdir and a total picture directory Tdir and record a specific area of a specific optical disk where each picture is stored. When a key picture of a specific patient is needed, the ID number of the patient is inputted via a picture work station 1. Thus the directory Kdir of the key picture of the patient recorded in the Kdir is displayed on a picture display device of the station 1. In such a constitution, a medical pictures can be retrieved at a high speed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a medical image management device that collects, processes, displays, stores, searches, and transmits medical images.

[Prior Art] In this type of device, an operator such as a doctor selects a desired key image, attaches a sign indicating that it is a key image to the bottom of the image, and records it on a recording medium such as an optical disk. It has been conventional practice to store images in a mixed form among all the images already stored there.

Here, the key image refers to an image in which an operator such as a doctor has some doubts about the image (having specific findings) compared to images of general healthy people, and can be arbitrarily specified. These key images are narrowed down from all the images as those that are questionable, and by comparing them with newly captured images, or displaying them continuously in chronological order to observe their progress, Contributes to more efficient diagnosis.

In the conventional medical image management device described above, when searching for only key images of a certain patient later, all images of that patient are
If there are 0 images and 10 of them are key images, then the total number of images is 10.
10 out of 0 with key image signature in the image header
You need to find it and read it. In this case, 100
It takes time to read out the key images that are recorded intermittently among all the images.

Therefore, the above problem can be solved by providing a certain storage M area for each patient in advance in the image recording medium, and further dividing the area into a key image area and other image areas for recording. However, once a certain storage area is secured, it is unclear how many images of that patient will increase or what will be the proportion of key images, and in reality, it is not possible to provide a certain storage area on the image recording medium for each patient. It is possible.

It is also conceivable to allocate one image recording medium to each patient, that is, one patient and one image recording medium. However, in this method, it is necessary to manage a number of image recording media corresponding to the number of patients visiting the hospital, and the corresponding image recording medium must be searched for before reading out, which is impractical in practice.

Therefore, in reality, images are simply recorded continuously on one image recording medium in the order in which the images were collected, without dividing them for each patient, and without distinguishing between recording areas depending on whether they are key images or not.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] In this way, in the prior art described in Section 2, images are simply recorded continuously in the order in which they were collected, so when reading out the 4-1 image of a desired patient from among these, the image recording This has the problem of requiring a lot of effort and time to search among all the images of all patients recorded on the medium.

Also, in order to make it easier to access key images, for example, even if you want to keep only the key image as an important image on hand or online, you can store all images as important images. Another problem was that it required a large amount of storage capacity.

An object of the present invention is to provide a medical image management device that can easily and quickly search for a desired key image of a desired patient, and can significantly reduce image storage capacity for facilitating access to key images. It is in.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The object of the present invention is to provide a key image signature adding means for adding a key image signature to a desired image among images displayed on an image display device; The storage area is divided into an image (key image) and all images including this key image or remaining images excluding the key image, and each image is recorded in the image storage device, and each stored image and the remaining images excluding the key image are stored in the storage area. This can be achieved by providing an image storage control means that creates a directory indicating the location and stores the image in a storage device.

[Effect]

The key image signature adding means is a cursor, etc. of the image (image data) sent from a medical image generating device such as an X-ray CT, MRl, or a digital signal converter for X-ray film images and displayed on an image display device. A key image signature is attached to the desired image specified by .

- In addition, the image storage control means divides the storage area into the image to which the key image/sign-in is added (key image) and the entire image including the key image of - or the remaining image excluding the key image, and stores each image as an image. A directory (-list) showing each image recorded and stored in the storage device and its position on the recording area.
Create and save it to the storage device.

As a result, when searching for a desired key image of a desired patient, it is only necessary to search for the key image in the key image storage area using only the key image directory, and the key image of the desired patient can be searched easily and quickly. , Also, the image storage capacity for facilitating access to key images is significantly reduced.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a medical image management device according to the present invention, in which 1 is an image workstation that forms the center of the device, and 2 is an image storage device that stores various medical images, in this case an optical disk. It's a library. In addition, 3 is X-ray C
A medical image generating device such as T, MRI, or a digital signal converter for an X-ray film image, in this case an X-ray CT.

In this case, the image workstation 1 is an X-ray CT
an image collection unit 1a that collects images from 3, etc.; a CPU 11 that controls each part of the device and performs various calculation processes; an image display processing unit 1c that performs image display and image processing; and an image display processing unit 1c that temporarily stores data such as images. , a magnetic disk 1d that stores and stores key image directories and all image directories, which will be described later.
and an optical disk library control section 1e that controls the optical disk library 2.

Among these, CPU1. b and the image display/processing section 1 (for example, it is also used as a key image signature adding means and an image storage control means. Here, the key image signature adding means is displayed on the image display device of the image display/processing section IC. The image storage controller has a function of adding a key image signature to a desired image designated by a selection cursor (to be described later) among the images that have been added.
The optical disk is divided into the raw image) and all images including this key image, and each image is recorded in the optical disk library 2.
In addition, disks h'JKdir and ``I''dir are created and stored on the magnetic disk 1d, showing each stored image and its position on the optical disk drive 2, divided into key images and all images. It has the function of

Next, the operation of such an apparatus of the present invention will be explained.

First, the image (image data) taken by the X-ray CT 3 is sent to the image collection unit Ia of the image workstation 1 and the CPU 1b.
The image is manually inputted to the image display/processing section 1c through the. The image input to the image display/processing unit 1c is subjected to image processing and displayed for diagnosis.

During this diagnosis, if necessary, use the imaging workstation 1.
Specify the key image using the mouse or trackball (not shown) provided on the computer. For example, if you move the selection cursor 13 to the top of the key image selection icon (pictogram) 12 displayed as rKEYJ at the bottom right of the image display screen 11 of the image display/processing unit IC shown in FIG. , the CPU 1b sets the mode of the image workstation 1 to the key image selection mode. In the case of a multi-slice image such as an X-ray CT image, the key image is selected by moving the selection cursor 13 to within the display area of the desired image to be selected as the key image.

FIG. 2 illustrates a case where two slices of an X-ray CT multi-slice image are selected. In addition, for MRI images and X-ray film images converted into digital signals (hereinafter simply referred to as X-ray film images), you can also specify the key image selection icon 12 to enter the key image selection mode, and move the selection cursor 13 on the desired image. Specified by. FIG. 3 illustrates key image selection of an X-ray film image.

An image input to the image collection unit 1a of the image workstation 1 is stored on the magnetic disk 1d, and the header of the image (mainly the part where ID information is written) is stored on the magnetic disk 1d.
The key image signature selected as the key image as described above is added to the beginning of the image.

FIG. 4 schematically shows the data format of an image temporarily stored in the magnetic disk 1d. In this FIG. 4, 21 is an image ladder, 21a is a key image sign,
22 indicates images, respectively. Here, from the 1st to the nth
The images 22 up to the
The MRI images of ' are shown respectively. Also, in Gogo, X-ray C'
A key image signature 21. An example in which a is added is shown. In addition, the header 21 includes a key image signature 21 as shown in FIG.
In addition to a, the ID number 2Lb, name 21c, date of birth 21d, gender 21e, examination date 21f of the patient in the image 22,
Image type 21g, image density 21h, image size (
(horizontal, vertical) 211, etc. are recorded.

When the key image designation is completed as described above, each image is recorded and stored in the optical disk library 2 as follows. That is, the image 22 that is stored on the magnetic disk 1d of the image workstation 1 and to which the key image 21a is added is recorded on the optical disk library 2 through the optical disk library control section 1e. Further, the image 22 without the key image signature 21a is also recorded in the optical disc library 2 as described above. At this time, the key image sign 21
The image 22 with the "a" added is recorded and stored separately on the key image recording optical disk, and all images including the key image signature 21a, including the image 22 with the "a" added, are recorded and stored separately on the all image recording optical disk. Ru.

When an image is recorded on each optical disk of the optical disk library 2, the recorded image directory dir for each optical disk is stored in the magnetic disk 1d of the image workstation 1.
is created and recorded. That is, on the magnetic disk 1d,
Key image direct 1 Jkdir and all images BUILEF 1~
A Tdir is created to record which optical disk and where each image is stored.

When it becomes necessary to observe a desired key image of a desired patient, inputting that patient's ID number 21b from the image workstation 1 will direct the image to
The image of the patient recorded in dir is displayed on the image display device of image workstation 1.

When the doctor specifies a key image that he wishes to display from the direct Kdir, the location on which optical disc the key image is recorded on is read out from the direct Kdir and sent to the optical disc library control unit 1e.
The corresponding key image is read out from the corresponding key image recording optical disk of the optical disk library 2 and displayed on the display of the image works station (2).

Here, since there are more all images than key images, if the same number of optical disks are initially prepared, the capacity of the all image optical disk becomes full faster than that of the key image optical disk. In this case, at that point, the oldest full-image optical disc is removed from the optical disc library 2, stored elsewhere, and a new full-image optical disc is loaded. -Toe image optical disk 1 When the capacity of the disk becomes full, a new key image optical disk is added. As a result, if, for example, 48 optical discs can be loaded into one optical disc library 2, the device will operate and the storage of images will progress, and for example, 48 optical discs can be loaded into one optical disc library 2.
One disk is a key image optical disk, and eight disks are all image optical disks.

It is better to have more key image optical disks loaded that are searched frequently than all image optical disks that are rarely searched after storage, and more key images are stored in the optical disk library 2, which usually has a certain limit on storage capacity. This is a good idea in terms of operation.

In the above embodiment, a case was described in which the optical disk library 2 was directly connected to the image workstation 1, but a plurality of image workstations 1
This can also be applied to the case where the optical disk library 2 is connected to the optical disk library 2 via N (Local to Network). Figure 6 is a block diagram showing an example.
1 is a LAN, 32 is an optical disk library control device, and 33 is an MRI. The rest is the same as in FIG. 1, but here, each image work 2 and team 1 is provided with a LAN connection section 1f instead of the optical disk library control section 1e.

The optical disk library control device 32 is a L A N
It includes a connection section 32a, a CPU 32b, an optical disk library control section 32c, and a magnetic disk 32d.

In this way, a plurality of image workstations 1 are
When connected to the optical disk library 2 via the optical disk library 2, an optical disk library control device 32 is placed in front of the optical disk library 2 in order to enable common image searches from any image workstation 1. The key image directory Kd is on the magnetic disk 32d inside.
An optical disk library control device 32 is placed in the i r stage,
The key image directory K is stored on the magnetic disk 32d.
d i r and all image directory Tdir are created and saved.

According to such a configuration, MR? Image search is now possible, and MRI
33 image workstations 1 can also search for X-ray CT images.

In the two-part embodiment, the storage area is divided into a key image and all images including this key image, and each image is recorded in the image storage device. However, the key image and the remaining images excluding the key image are The storage area may be divided into two areas for recording in the image storage device. According to the former, there is an advantage that hacking up of the key image is performed at the same time as the image is stored, and according to the latter, there is an advantage that the total number of recorded images is reduced.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the directory was created separately for key images and all images, as shown respectively, but since the storage area occupied by the directory is usually small and the reading time is short, it is not necessary to separate them. There's no need. The storage location of the directory is also not limited to the above embodiment.

Further, the designation of the key image (addition of the key image signature) may be performed at any time, such as when the image is stored, after storage, or at the time of each diagnosis.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, a desired key image of a desired patient can be searched easily and quickly, and the image storage capacity for facilitating access to key images/arches can be significantly reduced.

As a simple example, if the key image is 10% of the total image,
With the device of the present invention, key images can be searched at 1/10 the speed of searching with a conventional device (device that stores all images).

Additionally, in order to facilitate access to key images, for example, if you want to keep only the key images on hand or online as important images, conventional devices require that all images be saved. In contrast, with the device of the present invention, only the key image needs to be stored, so the image storage capacity can be reduced to 1/10. In other words,
Optical disk libraries usually have a certain limit on their image storage capacity, but in such cases, where conventional devices can only store one or more key images, the device of the present invention can store 10 months worth of key images. It will be possible to store it.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the device of the present invention, and FIG.
3 and 3 are diagrams for explaining the key image designation operation by the same device as above, FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the data format of the image temporarily stored in the magnetic disk of FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a detailed view of a portion of the header in the data mat, and FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Image workstation, 1a... Image collection unit, lb, 32b, -CPU, 1cm image display/processing unit, ], d, 32d... Magnetic disk, le,
32c... optical disk library control unit, lf, 32
a... LAN connection section, 2... Optical disk library, 3... X-ray CT, 21... Header, 21a...
・Key image signature, 22...Image, 31...LAN,
32... Optical disk library device, 33... MR
I, Kdir...Key image directory, Tdir...
...All images are directed.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Key image signature adding means for adding a key image signature to a desired image among the images displayed on an image display device;
An image to which a key image signature has been added (key image) and all images including this key image or remaining images excluding the key image are stored in separate storage areas, and each image is recorded in an image storage device, and each stored image is What is claimed is: 1. A medical image management device comprising: and image storage control means for creating a directory indicating the location on the recording area and storing the directory in a storage device. 2. An image storage control means that records the key image and all images including the key image or residual images excluding the key image on separate recording media to separate storage areas and record each image in the image storage device. The medical image management apparatus according to claim 1, comprising: a medical image management apparatus according to claim 1;