JP2005143918A - Remote operation support system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote operation support system capable of easily confirming whether or not transmitted information is surely received. <P>SOLUTION: When transmission of a medical treatment image is started, the thumbnail image of a selected medical treatment image is blink-marked by a yellow bar 103 with a prescribed color (for example, yellow), an indicator bar 104 indicating the transmission state is displayed on a comment display area 54, and the transmission state can be monitored. And, when the transmission is terminated, a transmission termination window is displayed at an operating room 5 side, a reception termination window is displayed at a support room 6 side, and the processing is terminated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote operation support system for performing an operation by connecting a remote place and an operation side through a communication line.

  Surgery is usually performed by a surgeon in the operating room on the patient. For example, if it is necessary for a surgeon in the operating room to perform an operation that has little experience in the past, it is necessary to visit a remote place familiar with the operation. The surgeon in the operating room performs an operation under remote support so that the remote support surgeon can receive instructions on the part to be removed by the remote support surgeon during surgery. By doing so, a system that assists in performing an appropriate operation on a patient in the operating room can be considered.

JP-A-2000-270318 discloses a prior art of such a system for remotely assisting surgery.
JP 2000-270318 A

  In the above Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-270318, information is exchanged between the operating room and the support room through the public line. For example, the information transmitted when the operating room is far away such as Japan and the support room is the United States. Takes time to be received. There is also the possibility of data loss on the communication path.

  Therefore, even if the sender thinks that it has been received, there is a possibility that the sender does not actually receive the call and enters the next surgical step before receiving appropriate advice.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a remote surgery support system that can easily confirm whether or not transmitted information has been reliably received.

  A remote operation support system according to the present invention is a remote operation support system capable of bidirectional communication by connecting an operation room and a remote operation support room via a communication line, and displays a diagnostic image provided on the operation side. A diagnostic image on the screen of the first image display terminal, the second image display terminal for displaying a diagnostic image provided on the surgery support room side, and the first image display terminal provided on the surgery room side Image display control means for displaying the thumbnail of the display, the image display control means, in the thumbnail of the diagnostic image, the display of the transmitted ratio for the data being transmitted from the operating room to the postoperative room, Display of transmission completion from the operation room to the operation support room, display of the operation support room comments, display of the operation support room comments, or indication that there is no comment on the operation support room Configured with a function of displaying one both.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that it can be easily confirmed whether or not the transmitted information is reliably received.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 8 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the entire remote operation support endoscope system, and FIG. 2 is a more detailed view of the remote operation support endoscope system of FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the contents displayed on the display screen of the display device of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the remote surgery support endoscope system of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a second diagram illustrating the process of FIG. 4, FIG. 7 is a third diagram illustrating the process of FIG. 4, and FIG. 8 is a third diagram illustrating the process of FIG. 4 is a diagram of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, the remote-support endoscope system 1 of the present embodiment is an endoscopic surgical apparatus unit (hereinafter simply referred to as a surgical apparatus unit) 2 that performs an operation under endoscopic observation. The remote support device unit 3 located at a remote location is connected to the surgical device unit 2 via a communication line 4, and the surgical device unit 2 and the remote support device unit 3 are remote from the operating room 5 respectively. The room (remote support room) 6 is arranged.

  The surgical device unit 2 disposed in the operating room 5 is an endoscope imaging device 10 for observing the inside of the body cavity of the patient 7, and a surgery for performing an operation for treatment on the patient 7 under the observation of the endoscope imaging device 10. And a device (surgical tool) 20.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, the abdomen of the patient 7 has a surgical instrument main body 8 for performing a surgical operation, and an optical internal view for observing the state of surgery by the surgical instrument main body 8. The mirror 9 is inserted.

  The surgical instrument main body 8 is a device that performs treatment such as incision or coagulation with an electric knife, for example. The surgical instrument main body 8 supplies drive power to the surgical instrument main body 8 via a cord or the like to enter the incision or coagulation mode. Accordingly, the surgical instrument is connected to the power supply unit (or power supply & control unit) 11 having a function of variably setting the output value according to the surgical instrument body 8 and the power supply unit (power supply & control unit depending on the treatment tool) 11. 20 is configured.

  The endoscope 9 is, for example, a rigid endoscope having a rigid insertion portion 12. For example, a charge coupled device (abbreviated as CCD) is used as an imaging element in the eyepiece 13 provided on the rear end side of the insertion portion 12. A TV camera 15 with a built-in 14 is mounted, and forms a means for capturing an endoscopic image.

  The light guide cable 16 of the endoscope 9 is connected to the light source device 17, and the illumination light of a lamp (not shown) inside the light source device 17 is transmitted via the light guide in the light guide cable 16 and the light guide in the endoscope 9. Then, the illumination light transmitted from the distal end surface of the light guide fixed to the illumination window on the distal end side of the insertion portion 12 is emitted to illuminate the subject side such as an organ in the body cavity.

  An objective lens (not shown) is attached to the observation window adjacent to the illumination window, and forms an optical image of the subject. This optical image is transmitted to the rear side by, for example, a relay lens system as an optical image transmission means disposed in the insertion portion 12, and can be enlarged and observed through an eyepiece lens (not shown) of the eyepiece portion 13.

  An optical image transmitted to the CCD 14 is formed through an imaging lens 18 of a television camera 15 that is detachably attached to the eyepiece 13. The CCD 14 is connected to a camera control unit (hereinafter abbreviated as CCU) 21 via a signal cable 19, and performs endoscopic imaging to generate a standard video signal by performing signal processing on a signal photoelectrically converted by the CCD 14. The apparatus 20 is comprised.

A video signal is output from the CCU 14 to the first monitor 22, and an endoscopic image of the organ in the body cavity imaged by the CCD 14 and the distal end side of the surgical instrument main body 8 operating the same is displayed.
The CCU 21 and the power supply unit 11 are connected to a (first) controller 24 that performs these controls and the like.
The controller 24 is also connected to, for example, a touch panel 25 for inputting control instructions and an ID reader 26 for reading patient data, for example, an RF-ID chip or a magnetic card.

  For example, the touch panel 25 can be operated to control the color tone change by the CCU 21 via the controller 24, and the output control of the surgical instrument main body 8 can also be performed. When the surgical instrument main body 8 is, for example, an electric scalpel, output level setting control for incision, coagulation, etc. using the electric scalpel can be performed. Further, when the treatment instrument 20 is a pneumoperitoneum, a value such as a set pressure can be variably controlled.

  The patient data recorded on the RF-ID chip or the magnetic card is read by the ID reader 26, the patient data is input to the controller 24, and is output to the CCU 21 via the controller 24. The patient data is displayed on the endoscope image. When the selection for performing the superimposed display is performed, the patient data can be superimposed and displayed on the endoscope image.

  The controller 24 provided in the CCU 21 and the operating room 5 is connected to the (first) signal transmission device 27. Then, the video signal of the endoscopic image output from the CCU 21 and displayed on the first monitor 22 is converted into a signal that can be transmitted by the communication line 4 by the signal transmission device 27, and the remote room 6 side through the communication line 4 (Second) signal transmission device 28 can be transmitted. The communication protocol of the communication line 4 is, for example, TCP / IP, and communication is performed using a dedicated line (optical fiber line) with a large-scale communication capacity.

  Further, the signal transmitted from the signal transmission device 28 on the remote room 6 side via the communication line 4 to the signal transmission device 27 is converted into a video signal, and output to the second monitor 29 connected to the signal transmission device 27, Image information and the like from the signal transmission device 28 side can be displayed on the second monitor 29.

Further, the control signal or patient data from the controller 24 is converted into a signal that can be transmitted through the communication line 4 by the signal transmission device 27 and transmitted to the signal transmission device 28 on the remote control room 6 side via the communication line 4. You can also.
Note that a keyboard or the like (not shown) is also connected to the controller 24 so that character information and the like can be transmitted from the keyboard to the remote support operator side on the signal transmission device 28 side through the controller 24. Further, although not shown, the controller 24 can take in a voice signal from a voice input device that inputs voice by hands-free that can be worn on the operator's head as data by a voice recognition function.

  On the other hand, in the remote support device unit 3 in the remote room 6, a third monitor 31 is connected to the signal transmission device 28, and an endoscopic image sent from, for example, the CCU 21 on the operating room 5 side is connected to the third monitor 31. Is displayed.

  The signal transmission device 28 is connected to a (second) controller 32, and a display device 33 serving as a fourth monitor is connected to the controller 32. The controller 32 is connected to input means such as a touch panel or a keyboard 34. A pointing device such as a mouse (not shown) is also connected.

  The controller 32 captures (captures) an endoscopic image sent from the CCU 21 on the operating room 5 side via the signal transmission devices 27 and 28 as a still image, and receives the signal transmission devices 27 and 28 from the first controller 24. The patient information sent through the patient is input and displayed on the display device 33 by superimposing or the like, and the operation means is given to the operator on the operating room 5 side, for example, by the input means such as the keyboard 34. In order to provide support information such as information, for example, display by marking of the position to be excised, display of the position of the artery to be taken care of at the time of excision, etc. are performed, and an image of this display input is displayed on the display device 33 as an overlay To do.

  Further, image information and the like displayed on the display device 33 is transmitted to the second monitor 29 in the operating room 5 via the signal transmission devices 28 and 27, and the contents are displayed on the display surface of the second monitor 29. So that Then, the operator in the operating room 5 can perform an appropriate operation by observing the image displayed on the second monitor 29 on which the support information by the remote support operator is displayed and performing the operation. I have to.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the display screen 33 a of the display device 33 includes an endoscope image display area 50, a thumbnail display area 51, a surgical instrument state display area 52, a patient information display area 53, and a comment display area 54.

In the endoscope image display area 50, an endoscope image from the CCU 21 constituting the endoscope imaging means is displayed, and in the thumbnail display area 51 next to the area 50, the selected thumbnail image is displayed. .
For example, the thumbnail display area 51 displays a reduced image (thumbnail image) of the image data stored in the HDD 41 of the second controller 32. In this HDD 41, reduced image (thumbnail image) data of medical images (X-ray image, ultrasonic image, CT image, MRI image, etc.) related to the endoscopic image of the CCU 21 in the operating room 5 is transmitted from the CCU 21 and stored. Is done. Original image data of medical images (X-ray images, ultrasound images, CT images, MRI images, etc.) is transmitted from the CCU 21 before a procedure, when a support is requested from the operating room 5, or when an image is requested from the support room 6. It is stored in the HDD 41 via the devices 28 and 27, and an original image can be displayed in the endoscope image display area 50.

  In the surgical instrument state display area 52, the setting state of the surgical instrument 20 transmitted from the first controller 24 is displayed. In the patient information display area 53, patient information from the first controller 24 is displayed. Character information transmitted from the operating room 5 side is displayed in the comment display area 54 between the surgical instrument state display area 52 and the patient information display area 53.

  The operation of this embodiment by the remote support endoscope system 1 having such a configuration will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, the surgical device unit 2 and the remote support device unit 3 are connected by a communication line 4, and each power source is turned on. In addition, patient information such as the name of the patient 7 is input from the ID reader 26 to the first controller 24.

  The endoscope 9 is connected to a light source device 17 via a light guide cable 16 so that illumination light is supplied, and a TV camera 15 is attached to the eyepiece 13 of the endoscope 9 and this TV camera 15 is connected. The signal cable 19 is connected to the CCU 21 so that the endoscopic image captured by the CCD 14 is displayed on the first monitor 22.

  In addition, the abdominal cavity is first inserted into the abdomen of the patient 7 through a trocar (not shown), and the abdomen is inflated. Then, the insertion part 12 of the endoscope 9 is inserted through a trocar so that an image of the affected part in the abdomen is displayed on the first monitor 22. Further, a surgical instrument main body 8 such as an electric knife to be operated is inserted into the abdomen of the patient 7 through a trocar.

  When it is desired to change the color tone of the endoscopic image displayed on the first monitor 22, the color tone can be changed by operating the touch panel 25 and sending a control signal from the first controller 24 to the CCU 21.

  The video signal of the endoscopic image output from the CCU 21 to the first monitor 22 is transmitted from the first signal transmission device 27 to the second signal transmission device 28 via the communication line 4 and displayed on the third monitor 31. Is done.

  This video signal is connected to the second controller 32 so that it can be input, and the remote support surgeon is suitable for showing an excision site at the time of surgery in the endoscopic image displayed on the third monitor 31. In the case of an image, an instruction for capturing from the keyboard 34 is performed, whereby the endoscopic image (still image) is captured via the video capture control unit 44 of the controller 32, and the display device 33 connected to the controller 32. As shown in FIG. 3, the captured endoscope image is displayed in the screen display area 50.

  In this state, the operation is continued. In this embodiment, various medical images for supporting support are transmitted from the operating room 5 to the support room 6 via the communication line 4. The transmission timing of the medical image is as follows.

(1) For medical images expected to be related to the procedure, transmit before the procedure. (2) For medical images necessary for support during the procedure, images from the operating room 5 or when requested from the support room 6. Regarding the request (1), before the procedure is started, the data is transmitted from the CCU 21 to the HDD 41 via the signal transmission devices 28 and 27 in advance while the traffic on the communication line 4 is free. At this time, dummy data is sent to the communication line 4 to confirm whether or not the medical image related to the traffic can be surely transmitted before the operation.

  A transmission sequence related to (2) will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, in step S1, the CCU 21 of the operating room 5 determines whether there is a request for a medical image for support from the support room 6, and selects the requested medical image if there is a request in step S2. If there is no request in step S3, a medical image for requesting support is selected. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the thumbnail image in which the original image data is stored in the HDD 41 is marked with a blue bar 101 of a predetermined color (for example, blue), and the thumbnail image in which the original image data is not stored in the HDD 41 is marked. A medical image to be transmitted is selected by selecting a thumbnail image in which the original image data is not stored with the cursor 102 or the like and double-clicking it.

  Then, transmission of the medical image selected in step S4 is started. When the transmission of the medical image is started, the thumbnail image of the selected medical image is blinked with a yellow bar 103 of a predetermined color (for example, yellow) and transmitted to the comment display area 54 as shown in FIG. An indicator bar 104 indicating the status is displayed, and the transmission status can be monitored.

  When the transmission is completed in step S5, a transmission completion window 110 as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the operating room 5 side, and a reception completion window 111 as shown in FIG. To do. In the transmission completion window 110 and the reception completion window 111, it is possible to input a comment to be transmitted to the other party.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the transmission state is monitored by the indicator bar 104, and the completion of the transmission of the medical image is confirmed in the transmission completion window and the reception completion window, so whether or not the transmitted information has been received reliably. It can be easily confirmed.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an entire remote operation support endoscope system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a more detailed configuration diagram of the remote operation support endoscope system of FIG. The figure which shows the content displayed on the display screen of the display apparatus of FIG. The flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the remote operation assistance endoscope system of FIG. First diagram for explaining the processing of FIG. 2nd figure explaining the process of FIG. 3rd figure explaining the process of FIG. 4th figure explaining the process of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Remote assistance endoscope system 2 ... Surgical apparatus part 3 ... Remote assistance apparatus part 4 ... Public line 5 ... Operating room 6 ... Remote assistance apparatus room 7 ... Patient 8 ... Surgical instrument main body 9 ... Endoscope 10 ... Endoscope Mirror imaging device 11 ... surgical instrument control unit 12 ... insertion unit 14 ... CCD
15 ... TV camera 17 ... Light source device 20 ... Surgical tool 21 ... CCU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 22 ... First monitor 24 ... (First) controller 25 ... Touch panel 26 ... ID reader 27 ... (First) signal transmission device 28 ... (Second) signal transmission device 29 ... Second monitor 31 ... Third monitor 32 ... (second) controller 50 ... Image display area 51 ... Thumbnail display area 52 ... Surgical instrument state display area 53 ... Patient information display area 54 ... Comment display area 101 ... Blue bar 102 ... Cursor 103 ... Yellow bar 104 ... Indicator Bar 110 ... Transmission complete window 111 ... Reception complete window Agent Patent attorney Susumu Ito

Claims (3)

In a remote surgery support system that allows two-way communication by connecting a surgery room and a remote surgery support room via a communication line,
A first image display terminal for displaying a diagnostic image provided on the operating room side;
A second image display terminal for displaying a diagnostic image provided on the surgery support room side;
Image display control means for displaying a thumbnail of a diagnostic image on the screen of the first image display terminal provided on the operating room side,
The image display control means includes
In the thumbnail of the diagnostic image, display of the transmission ratio of the data being transmitted from the operating room to the post-operative room, transmission completion display of transmission data from the operating room to the surgical support room, the surgical support A remote operation support system comprising a function of displaying at least one of a comment waiting display of a room, a comment of the operation support room, or a display indicating that there is no comment of the operation support room. An image display terminal for displaying a diagnostic image provided on the surgery support room side in a remote surgery support system capable of bidirectional communication by connecting a surgery room and a remote surgery support room via a communication line;
An image display terminal for displaying a diagnostic image provided on the operating room side;
An image display control means for displaying a common diagnostic image display menu on the image display terminals on the operating room side and the post-operative room side,
The image display control means includes
The remote operation support system according to claim 1, wherein the image display terminal on the operation room side transmits a diagnostic image to the operation support room in accordance with a request from the image display terminal on the operation support room side. The image display control means has a function of displaying a thumbnail of a diagnostic image on a screen of an image display terminal provided on the operating room side,
In the thumbnail of the diagnostic image, a display of the transmission ratio of data being transmitted from the operating room to the operation support room, a transmission completion display of transmission data from the operation room to the operation support room, the operation support room 3. The remote operation support system according to claim 2, further comprising a function of displaying at least one of a comment waiting display, a comment of the operation support room, or a display indicating that there is no comment of the operation support room. .

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