FR2788654A1 - Industry/advertising/communications archiving/image communication system having digital base placed word expressions and processing associating real/calculated image allowing image synthesis separate archived image - Google Patents

Abstract

The image archiving and communicating method has images from different sources. Specific digital word expressions (XI1,XIi,XIn) are placed in the digital base. Processing associates the images (IA) and the calculated images (IC). In response to an image request, the image synthesis can be calculated separately from the archived image by association with the image expression. Independent claims are included for: (1) a system for archiving and communicating images; (2) and the application of an archiving and communication system for managing images in a hospital, for recognition of postal addresses, for analysis of manuscripts, and for the electronic control of documents.

Description

- 1- '

  Method and system for archiving and communicating images "

DESCRIPTION

  The present invention relates to a method for archiving and communicating images. It also targets

  a system implementing this process.

  The archiving and communication of images represents a considerable challenge in the medical and scientific field, but also in many industrial and commercial sectors, such as publishing, advertising, communication or technical documentation.

or commercial.

  There are currently image banks dedicated to various applications, which implement database management systems (DBMS) to manage semantic links between archived images

  and other data related to the applications concerned.

  The images archived in these image banks are

  retrieved from these banks for further processing.

  An image bank conventionally results from the association of an archiving and communication system (PACS) and a database management system (DBMS) which makes it possible to manage semantic links between archived images and others

application data.

  In the particular case of hospital information systems, the medical images produced and used daily constitute, all sources combined, a considerable volume of data which it is necessary to archive durably and to transmit to clinicians in the shortest possible time. . Archiving and image communication systems (PACS: "Picture Archiving and Communication Systems") are currently used for this. The DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine) standard has made it possible to harmonize data exchanges between archiving and communication systems and software tools

image processing.

  A disadvantage of current image store systems is that they do not take into account the fact that certain images can be derived from others, which constitutes a loss of semantic information when

the exploitation of images.

  Document W09831138 discloses a universal search system for archiving images comprising an image generation device equipped to perform coding of the images generated, thus making it possible to link generations of images with respect to each other.

and compared to the originals.

  In this case, it is an image coding method making it possible to evaluate the effect of the processing operations which may have been carried out on images. This process provides easier and faster access to archived images, but does not solve the problem of reducing the storage volume required to archive a

set of images.

  The object of the invention is to remedy these drawbacks by proposing a method for archiving and communicating images, which takes into account the fact that images can be derived from other images while saving time and space by compared to

current processes.

  This objective is achieved with a process for archiving and communicating images, comprising: archiving of images from various image sources, - management of a database associated with these archived images, this data comprising in particular of

  descriptions of said archived images.

  According to the invention, the method further comprises an image management comprising: a generation of data specific to calculation or processing operations carried out by image calculation means on said archived images, this specific data, called expressions -images, then being entered into the database, management of associations between archived images and calculated images and associations between archived or calculated images and other data stored in said database, and a summary on request of calculated images, from archived images and image-expressions

  associates registered in the database.

  Thus, with the archiving and communication method according to the invention, it becomes possible to have access to a large number of images derived from an original without having to store all of these images and without carrying out an operation of compression which would then require decompression with loss of information. Only the original images are stored, the image expressions associated with the calculated images

  just being entered into the database.

  In a particular version of the invention, the archived images intended to be calculated or processed are accessed from an image archiving system according to a pre-established communication protocol, such as the

  DICOM standard used in medical imaging.

  According to another aspect of the invention, a system is proposed for archiving and communicating images, implementing the method according to the invention, comprising: means for archiving images originating from various image sources, and means for managing a database associated with these archived images, this data comprising in particular

  descriptions of said archived images.

  This system is characterized in that it further comprises image management means comprising: means for generating data specific to calculation or processing operations carried out by image calculation means on said archived images, these specific data then being registered in the database, means for managing associations between archived images and calculated images and associations between archived or calculated images and other data stored in said database, and means to synthesize calculated images on request, from archived images and data

  specific entries in the database.

  In a first configuration of a system according to the invention, the archiving means are directly coupled to an imaging system, for example a

  medical imaging equipment or a digitizer.

  In a second configuration, the archiving means are directly coupled to a system for receiving images transmitted via a network of

communication such as the Internet.

  The database management means can advantageously be included within a system

general or dedicated information.

  The image management means are generally but not limited to the image calculation or processing means and communicate on the one hand with the information system via a first communication protocol, for example SQL, and on the other hand, with the archiving means via a second communication protocol such as the DICOM communication standard

used in medical imaging.

  the image management means, the image calculation means and the image supply means can for example be implemented within a workstation

graphic.

  The present invention can be implemented in medical imaging and in many industrial, scientific, commercial or artistic fields involving the storage and manipulation and manipulation of images. We can also cite the domain

  graphic arts or technical documentation.

  Another field of application concerns the identification of postal addresses and more generally the analysis and processing of handwritten documents such

only checks.

  Other features and advantages of the invention

  will appear further in the description below. To the

  attached drawings given by way of non-limiting examples: - Figure 1 is a block diagram of an archiving and communication system according to the invention; - Figure 2 illustrates the essential steps of the archiving and communication method according to the invention; - Figure 3 schematically illustrates an implementation of an archiving and communication system in a local network environment; and FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the implementation of an archiving and communication system in a context of collecting images on a network such as the Internet. We will now describe, with reference to FIG. 1, the structure of an image archiving and communication system S according to the invention. This archiving and communication system S comprises a work station SG, for example of the graphics station type, connected, on the one hand, to an imaging system SA including an imaging equipment EI and an archiving equipment AR, and on the other hand, to an information system SI including a relational database BD and a basic management system of

SB data.

  The communications and data transfers between the imaging system SA and the workstation SG can be carried out by conforming to a communication protocol P1 dedicated to the application sector concerned, for example the DICOM standard in the medical field, while that data exchanges between the information system SI and the workstation SG are carried out using a second communication protocol P2, integrating for example the SQL standard widely used in the field of management systems

database.

  The workstation SG includes a control and processing unit UC, in practice the central unit of a microcomputer, a display unit VI, for example a high resolution graphic screen, a software processing module. image TI and an IM image management module implementing the characteristic functions specific to the present invention. The IM image management module includes a GE function for generating image expressions associated with images calculated from original images subjected to processing (filtering, modification, merging, etc.) , a GA function for managing associations between images, in particular between original and calculated images, and a CI function for recalculating or synthesizing images on request from original images and image-expressions associated with calculated images including consultation is requested. The IM image management module can be built, by way of nonlimiting example, around an existing software core such as the ASTERIX software core (Acquisition, Storage, Processing and Exploitation in Radiology and eXploratory Imaging) developed at the Laboratory of Computer Science from the Ecole Polytechnique (France). The general principle implemented in this software kernel has been described in particular in the article "An image management kernel for the design of relational and

  pictorial data bases "by P.Chassignet in Magnenat-

  Thalmann D., "Computer generated images-state of the

  art ", Proc of Graphics Interface, 1985.

  The archiving and communication method according to the invention comprises, with reference to FIG. 2, phases (I) for managing the calculated images and for recording expression-images in the relational database, and phase (II) of synthesis of images calculated in response to consultation requests. Thus, by considering for example an original IO image coming from any source of images and obtained and archived in any format, this original IO image is subjected to various treatments carried out from the workstation, either by the operator of the source, either by a user of this image, or even automatically. These treatments lead to obtaining calculated images ICl,., ICi,., ICn. With the method according to the invention, only the original image IO is stored in the form of an archived document IA containing all the graphic data constituting the original image, while the calculated images will be kept in the form

  of image expressions which are in fact programs-

  images. The generation of these image expressions from image calculations implements techniques

  specific known mathematics, for description

  which the skilled person can in particular

  refer to the article by P. Chassignet cited above.

  The image-expressions XI1,., XIi,., XIn corresponding to the computed images IC1,., ICi,., Icn, are then registered and stored in the relational database in the form of alphanumeric data occupying a memory space considerably smaller than what the calculated images would have occupied if

  they had been kept in full.

  During phase (II) of synthesis of an image calculated at the request of a user of the archiving and communication system according to the invention, the image management module GI processes a request for access to a image calculated HERE by recovering, on the one hand, the image

  original archived IA and, on the other hand, the expression-

  image XIi associated with the calculated image concerned. From this information collected, the image associations management module will provide a reconstruction or synthesis of the calculated image ICi which can then be

  viewed by the system user.

  Hospital or medical centers can advantageously be equipped with an archiving system and - 9 -

  communication according to the invention in a customer-oriented approach

  server, as shown in Figure 3.

  Inside the hospital center, several work stations and consultation SG, .., SGi implementing the method according to the invention can be linked within a first local network Rl to the imaging system SA provided with a AR storage unit and function as "client" workstations in relation to the system

  SA imagery operating as an "image server" station.

  Each SG workstation and consultation is also connected via a second local network R2 to an information system SI including a UB unit hosting the base

  relational data containing the expressions-

  images. This information system can be the general information system of the hospital center or it can be an information system specific to image management or medical document operations. It can also host other databases containing

  information of all kinds on the patients treated.

  The present invention can also, with reference to FIG. 4, be implemented for the management of images collected on a plurality of sites Sl,..., SN image servers, accessible on the Internet network. It is then possible to design an archiving and communication system S ′ according to the invention comprising a station CL for access and navigation on the Internet making it possible to search, collect and store in an archiving unit AR images of any nature and of any format, an image management station SG, and a station SB hosting a relational database BD intended to contain in particular the image expressions associated with the calculated images. The Internet access stations CL, of image management SG and of basic management SG are all connected to the local network R of an information system SI. It goes without saying that it is possible to provide, within the framework of the present invention, variants of the configuration which has just been described, for example a compact configuration in which a single station integrates the function of Internet access and collection of images, the database management function and the

image management function.

  Of course, the invention is not limited to the examples which have just been described and numerous modifications can be made to these examples without departing from the scope.

of the invention.

  It should be noted that the method according to the invention can be implemented in any image storage system, in particular for video games or the cinema. Furthermore, by image is meant more broadly any electronic document likely to be subject to graphic processing. It can be for example a photographic photograph but also synthetic images

  or pages in HTML or other format.

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Claims (14)

  1. Method for archiving and communicating images, comprising: an archiving of images (IO) coming from various image sources, and a management of a database (BD) associated with these archived images (IA), these data including   in particular descriptions of said archived images,   characterized in that it further comprises an image management comprising: a generation of data specific to calculation or processing operations carried out by image calculation means on said archived images, this specific data called image-expressions (XI1, XIi, XIn), then being entered in the database (BD), management of associations between archived images (IA) and calculated images (IC) and associations between archived or calculated images and d other data stored in said database, and a synthesis on request of calculated images (IC), from archived images (IA) and associated image expressions (XIl, XIi, XIn) registered in the database data (BD).   2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the archived images (IA) intended to be calculated or processed are accessed from an image archiving system (AR) according to a protocol pre-established communication (Pl).   3. Method according to claim 2, implemented for the archiving and communication of medical images, - 12- characterized in that the communication protocol is conforms to the DICOM standard.   4. Method according to one of the preceding claims,   characterized in that the database (BD) is of relational type. 5. System (S) for archiving and communicating images, implementing the method according to any one of   previous claims, comprising:   means (AR) for archiving images (IO) from various image sources (EI), means (SB) for managing a database (BD) associated with these archived images, this data comprising   in particular descriptions of said archived images,   characterized in that it further comprises image management means (GI) comprising: means (GE) for generating data specific to calculation or processing operations carried out by image calculation means (TI ) on said archived images (IA), these specific data called image-expressions then being entered in the database (BD), means (GA) for managing associations between archived images (IA) and calculated images (IC ) and associations between archived or calculated images and other data stored in said database (BD), and means (CI) for synthesizing calculated images (IC) on request, from archived images (IA ) and image expressions entered in the database data (BD).   - 13- 6. Archiving and communication system (S) according to claim 5, characterized in that the archiving means (AR) are directly coupled to a system imaging (EI).   7. Archiving and communication system (S ') according to claim 5, characterized in that the archiving means (AR) are directly coupled to a system (CL) for collecting images transmitted via a network of   communication, especially the Internet.   8. Archiving and communication system according to one   claims 6 or 7, characterized in that the   management means (SB) of the database (BD) are   included in an information system (IS).   9. Archiving and communication system (S) according to claim 8, characterized in that the image management means (GI) are linked to the image calculation or processing means (TI) and communicate on the one hand with the information system (SI) via a first communication protocol (Pl) and on the other hand with the archiving means (AR) via a second communication protocol (P2). 10. Archiving and communication system (S) according to   any one of claims 5 to 9, characterized in   what the image management means (IM), the image calculation means (TI) and the image synthesis means are implemented within a workstation graphic (SG). - 14-   11. Application of the archiving and communication system according to any one of claims 5   to 10 for image management in hospitals.   12. Application of the archiving and communication system according to any one of claims 5   to 10, for the recognition of postal addresses.   13. Application of the archiving and storage system   communication according to any one of claims 5   to 10, for the analysis of handwritten documents.   14. Application of the archiving system and   communication according to any one of claims 5   to 10, for electronic document management.