JP2003079618A - Ultrasonic imaging device, and ultrasonic image data processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultrasonic imaging device which can retrieve from stored image data based on retrieving information by providing a storage device of a large capacity which stores ultrasonic image data; and an ultrasonic image data processing system wherein an image server to store the ultrasonic image data is provided, and which can retrieve required image data by the image server based on the retrieving information. SOLUTION: By simply performing a printer operation for image data which is obtained by imaging a subject, header information is added by a CPU 50, and an image data file is automatically formed and stored in a hard disk 60. Also, the image data file having the header information which agrees with the input retrieving information is retrieved in order, and the applicable image data is displayed. Thus, an operator can quickly find the image of the retrieval objective. Therefore, the image data file can be automatically recorded simultaneously with the printing out by a simple operation. Also, the desired image data can be easily retrieved based on the retrieving information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic image pickup apparatus for picking up a part of a subject's body using ultrasonic waves and ultrasonic image data for storing and processing image data picked up by the ultrasonic image pickup apparatus. It relates to a processing system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a diagnosis is made using an ultrasonic imaging apparatus, the ultrasonic imaging apparatus picks up an image of a predetermined portion of the body of a subject, and the obtained image is printed (printed out) on paper.
An ultrasonic diagnostic method for diagnosing a medical condition of a subject based on a printed image is generally performed in medical institutions such as hospitals.

[0003]

By the way, since the conventional ultrasonic imaging apparatus does not have a large-capacity storage device for storing image data, it cannot store the imaged image data. Therefore, there is no choice but to print out the picked-up image on the spot and save the print sheet as a medical examination record. To academically study a particular medical condition,
It is necessary to analyze the ultrasonic images recorded with the progress of the medical condition of the subject one by one. For this reason, we collect all of the printing papers used up to that point, and if necessary, make copies and distribute multiple copies of the necessary materials, or make presentations at academic research meetings. By copying the print paper, deterioration of image quality becomes a problem.

In recent years, there has been manufactured an ultrasonic image pickup device having a storage device for storing image data and having a function of accumulating the picked-up image data. However, in order to store the image data, each operation must be performed one by one, which makes the operation complicated. In addition, if there is no function to quickly search for what is needed from the stored image data and there is no search information such as the data file name, in order to read out what is needed from the stored image data, the image data that has been printed out once Based on the above, there is a disadvantage that it was necessary to search for the necessary image data while comparing it.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a large-capacity storage device, add identification information to captured image data, and store the image data. An ultrasonic imaging apparatus and an ultrasonic device capable of searching based on identification information, storing an image server in which an image server is provided, storing imaged image data in the image server, and searching and outputting necessary image data based on the identification information from the image server. An object is to provide an image data processing system.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an ultrasonic imaging apparatus of the present invention includes an imaging means for imaging a predetermined portion of a subject's body using ultrasonic waves, and the imaging means. Identification information giving means for giving identification information for identifying the image data to the imaged image data, storage means for storing the image data provided with the identification information, receiving search information inputted from the outside A search unit that searches the image data stored in the storage unit based on the search information for image data having identification information that matches the input search information, and outputs the searched image data. Have.

The ultrasonic image data processing system of the present invention further includes an image pickup device for picking up an ultrasonic image and an image server for storing and processing the image data obtained by the image pickup device. In the system, the ultrasonic imaging apparatus includes an imaging means for imaging a predetermined portion of a subject's body using ultrasonic waves, and image data captured by the imaging means for identifying the image data. Identification information giving means for giving identification information, storage means for storing the image data provided with the identification information, and outputting the image data provided with the identification information to a communication path,
The image server further includes interface means for outputting search information input from the outside to the communication path and receiving data from the communication path, and the image server includes server storage means for storing image data and the communication. The image data transmitted from the communication path and the identification information attached to the image data are received and output to the server storage means, and the search information transmitted from the communication path is received, and the server is received. The image data read from the storage means and the identification information attached to the image data are stored in the server storage means based on a server interface for transmitting through the communication path and search information received from the server interface. From the image data, search for image data that has identification information that matches the search information, and search for the searched image data. Serial via the server interface and the communication path and a search means for transmitting to the ultrasonic imaging apparatus.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the communication path is composed of a dedicated or general-purpose data communication line for transferring data between the ultrasonic imaging apparatus and the image server.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the identification information giving means gives a serial number or a random number to the image data as the identification information.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the identification information assigning means is a combination of one or more of a predetermined ID number, a subject name, a date of birth, and an image data capturing date. Information is added to the image data as the identification information.

Further, in the present invention, preferably, there is provided compression means for compressing the image data and storing the compressed image data in the storage means.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the ultrasonic imaging apparatus further includes a printing unit that prints the image data and the identification information added to the image data.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the printing means prints the image data input from the interface and the identification information added thereto.

Further, in the present invention, preferably, when the ultrasonic image pickup device receives a print command for printing the image data picked up by the image pickup means, the image picked up by the image information giving means. The image processing apparatus further includes control means for adding identification information to the data, outputting the image data to which the identification information is added to the printing means for printing, and outputting the image data to the storage means for storage.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to the present invention. As illustrated, the ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a probe 10, a scanner 20, a display device (for example, CRT) 30, a display control unit 40, and a CPU 5.
0, a storage device, for example, a hard disk 60 and a printer 70.

The configuration and function of each part of the ultrasonic imaging apparatus of this embodiment will be described below. The probe 10
The electric signal supplied from the scanner 20 is converted into an ultrasonic signal to form a predetermined beam for emission. Further, the ultrasonic signal reflected from the subject is converted into an electric signal and output to the scanner 20.

The scanner 20 generates a drive signal for generating an ultrasonic wave signal and supplies it to the probe 10. The scanner 20 has, for example, an oscillation circuit and the like, and generates an oscillation signal of a predetermined frequency as the drive signal to generate the probe 1
Output to 0. Therefore, the probe 10 generates an ultrasonic signal according to the input drive signal, forms a predetermined beam, and emits the ultrasonic signal. In response to this, the ultrasonic signal reflected from the subject is received by the probe 10, and the received signal is further converted into an electric signal and output to the scanner 20. The scanner 20 receives the electric signal converted by the probe 10 and outputs the electric signal to the display control unit 40 or the CPU 50. The scanner 20 also converts the converted electric signal into a digital signal to generate image data.

Display device (hereinafter referred to simply as CR
A display unit 30 displays the image signal output from the display control unit 40. The display control unit 40 uses the scanner 20.
An image signal for displaying an image is generated in accordance with the received signal sent from the CPU and the control signal from the CPU 50, and CR
Output to T30. In addition, from the scanner 20 analog-
When receiving the digitally converted image data, the display control unit 40 generates an image signal for displaying an image based on the received image data and outputs the image signal to the CRT 30.

The CPU 50 controls the operation of each part of the ultrasonic imaging apparatus and also controls data processing and data transfer. For example, the CPU 50 outputs control signals to the scanner 20, the display control unit 40, the hard disk 60, and the printer 70, respectively, and controls the operations of these parts. Further, the CPU 50 receives the image data from the scanner 20, generates identification information necessary for the image data, adds the identification information to the image data as header information, generates an image data file, and transfers the image data file to the hard disk 60.
Further, when performing a data search, the CPU 50 searches for a search target data file based on the header information of the data file read from the hard disk 60 and the result of comparison with the search information. Then, the found image data file is read from the hard disk 60 and sent to the display control unit 40 for image display, and the image data is sent to the printer 70 for printing out.

The hard disk 60 stores the image data file sent from the CPU 50, and also stores the image data file.
The header information is read from the stored image data file according to the search command sent from the CPU 50, and the CPU
Send to 50. When the CPU 50 determines that the header information and the search information match, the image data file is read and output to the CPU 50.

The printer 70 prints out a screen displaying the image data on a print sheet based on the image data output from the CPU 50.

In the ultrasonic imaging apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, the hard disk 60 has a large capacity so that a large amount of image data can be stored. For example, one image data output from the scanner 20 is an image of 640 × 480 dots, and an image for one dot, that is, RG for one pixel.
When 1 byte (8 bits) is given to each of the three B colors, the capacity of one image data is 640 × 480.
× 3 = 921,600 bytes. That is, the capacity of one image data is about 921 kB (kilobyte).

If the ultrasonic imaging device takes 30 images per day and the number of working days per year is 250 days, the capacity of image data acquired in one year is 921 kB × 30 ×.
250 = 6,907,500 kB. That is, the image data acquired in one year is about 7 GB (gigabyte). In this way, if the hard disk 60 has a capacity of 7 GB, it is possible to store one year's worth of image data. For example, an ultrasonic imaging apparatus provided with a 30 GB hard disk can store image data for about 4 years. Furthermore, if the image data is compressed and stored using a data compression technique, the data capacity can be reduced. For example, JPEG that is currently commonly used to compress image data
With the method, the capacity of image data can be compressed to about 1/8. For this reason, the image data for 4 years is
If compressed by G method, the capacity is 6,907,500.
kB × 4/8 = 3,453,750 kB, that is, 3.4
It will be 5 GB.

As described above, by compressing the image data, its capacity is greatly reduced. In the above example, by compressing the image data by the JPEG method, the total capacity of the image data for four years becomes 3.45 GB. That is, if the ultrasonic imaging apparatus is provided with the hard disk 60 having this capacity, it is possible to store all the image data for four years. Therefore, for example, in the case of tracking and investigating changes in the medical condition of the subject, by reading the previous image data from the hard disk 60 and printing it out by the printer 70, a clear ultrasonic image is obtained as at the time of imaging. Can be output, which is useful for diagnosing diseases.

If the image data is simply stored in the hard disk 60 as a data file, it becomes difficult to retrieve the necessary image data from a huge amount of data files, so a method for retrieving the necessary image data is necessary. In the ultrasonic imaging apparatus of this embodiment, header information is attached to each piece of image data, and image data search can be realized based on the header information. The header information will be described below.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of the image data file stored in the hard disk 60. As shown, the image data file includes header information and image data. The header information includes information such as the ID number, the name of the subject, the date of birth, the blood type, the imaging date of the image data, and the like. The ID number is, for example, CP
It is a serial number or a random number of the image data generated by U50, or a number obtained by combining an identification number unique to the ultrasonic imaging apparatus with other identification codes or symbols. Personal information such as the name and date of birth of the subject is information that can be acquired from the chart of the subject, and is input to the ultrasonic imaging apparatus by the operator before performing imaging. In addition to inputting the personal information manually, for example, a readable magnetic card held by the subject,
Alternatively, it can be read from an IC card or the like and input to the CPU 50.

The CPU 50 generates the header information shown in FIG. 2 for each image data and adds it to the image data,
An image data file is generated and stored in the hard disk 70. For this reason, each image data file stored in the hard disk 70 includes header information, and this header information provides the CPU 50 with information necessary for later retrieval of image data.

For example, when the name of the subject is known, it is possible to retrieve the image data of the same subject previously imaged from the image data file stored in the hard disk 60 based on the name information. In this case, C
The PU 50 sequentially reads the header information of the image data file from the hard disk 60, compares the name in the header information with the name to be searched, and if the names match, reads the image data file and reads the image data portion. It is taken out and output to the display control unit 40. Therefore, the operator can check the image displayed on the CRT 30 to determine whether or not the image is a search target, and if it is the search target, the operator can output the image to the printer as necessary. If the image data is not the search target, the CPU
The search can be continued by 50.

3 and 4 are flow charts showing the operation at the time of image pickup and retrieval in the ultrasonic image pickup apparatus of this embodiment, respectively. The operation of the ultrasonic imaging apparatus of this embodiment will be described below with reference to these drawings.

First, the operation during image pickup will be described with reference to FIG. Step SA1: Information of a subject is input before imaging. In addition, this information input is, for example, as described above,
Based on the description content of the chart of the subject, the operator manually inputs the information, or the necessary information is read from the readable magnetic card or IC card possessed by the subject to the ultrasonic imaging apparatus.

Step SA2: An ultrasonic image pickup device picks up an image of a predetermined part of the body of the subject. The operator carries the probe 10 and applies the probe 10 to the imaging target portion of the subject. The ultrasonic signal radiated from the probe 10 is irradiated to the imaging target portion of the subject and reflected, so that the reflected signal is received by the probe 10, converted into an electric signal, and transmitted to the scanner 20. The scanner 20 digitally converts the received signal from the probe 10 to obtain image data.

Step SA3: An image is displayed on the CRT 30 under the control of the display controller 40 based on the image data. Step SA4: Wait for a print instruction. Operator is C
A printout instruction is given by looking at the image displayed on the RT 30. The printout instruction is given by, for example, pressing a print switch provided on the control panel of the image pickup apparatus.

Step SA5: When the print instruction is received, the CPU 50 makes a determination based on the personal information of the subject.
Header information is generated. Step SA6: The generated header information is added to the image data to generate an image data file. Step SA7: Then, the generated image data file is transferred to the hard disk 60, and the hard disk 6
Stored by 0.

Step SA8: The header information and the image data are sent to the printer 70, and the printer 70 prints the header information and the image on a print sheet.

By the above-mentioned image pickup processing, simply by printing the imaged image data, at the same time as printing out, header information is automatically added to the image data and stored in the hard disk 70. In other words, from the operator's point of view, if the user wishes to view the displayed image and leave it as a record, similar to the operation performed by the conventional ultrasonic imaging apparatus, when the print button is pressed, the image displayed on the CRT 30 is displayed. It is output by the printer 70. At the same time as printing, the CPU 50 automatically adds header information to the image data to generate an image data file, which is stored in the hard disk 60. That is, the print output can be obtained by the same print operation as that of the conventional ultrasonic imaging apparatus without the operator performing complicated work, and the image data file to which the header information is attached is recorded on the hard disk 60.

It should be noted that the CRT is simply used without performing the printing operation.
Image data displayed on the hard disk 60
It is also possible to record in. In this case, for example, when the operator presses the recording switch provided on the control panel of the ultrasonic imaging apparatus, the CPU 50 generates the header information and converts the image data into the image data in almost the same manner as the above-described printing. An image data file is automatically generated with attachment. Then, the generated image data file is transferred to the hard disk 60 and stored in the hard disk 60. In this case, printout is not performed.

Next, the operation of searching will be described with reference to FIG. Step SB1: First, search information is input. Here, the search information is, for example, one or a plurality of pieces of information included in the header information of the image data file.
For example, ID number, subject's name, date of birth, blood type,
It is any information such as an image pickup date or a combination of a plurality of information.

Step SB2: The CPU 50 sequentially reads the header information from the image data file stored in the hard disk 60. Step SB3: The CPU 50 compares the read header information with the search information, and if they match, reads the image data from the corresponding image data file. In step SB4, the image data found by the search is transmitted to the display control unit 40, and the image is displayed on the CRT 30. On the other hand, if the header information and the search information do not match, the process returns to step SB2, the next header information is read, and comparison is performed.

Step SB5: The operator determines whether or not the displayed image is a search target. At this time, the CPU 50 waits for an operation instruction from the operator. Step SB6: If the displayed image is a search target,
The operator performs an operation such as pressing a print switch. Then, the image data searched according to the operation of the operator is output to the printer 70, and the image is printed out.

On the other hand, when the displayed image is not the search target, the operator presses the search switch provided on the control panel of the ultrasonic imaging apparatus, for example. In response to this, the CPU 50 reads the header information of the next image data file from the hard disk 60 and compares it with the search information. Then, the processes of steps SB3 to SB5 described above are repeated until the image data to be searched is found.

As described above, in the ultrasonic imaging apparatus of this embodiment, by inputting the search information, the image data file having the header information that matches the search information is searched, so that it is stored in the hard disk 60. It is possible to easily find the desired image data from the huge image data file. For example, by inputting the name and date of birth of the subject, the image data of the subject is sequentially searched, and the images are displayed on the CRT 30.
While looking at the displayed image, the operator can find the image to be searched and print it out.

If the image pickup date is known, the images picked up on the same day can be sequentially displayed by inputting the image pickup date into the ultrasonic image pickup device, so that the operator can see the image displayed on the CRT 30. , You can find the required image data. Further, for example, if the ID number is known, the target image data can be uniquely found from the hard disk 60.

As described above, according to the ultrasonic imaging apparatus of the present embodiment, the CPU 50 can operate the printer only on the image data obtained by imaging the subject, and the CPU 50 can make the ID number and the personal information of the subject. The header information generated based on is added to the image data, and the image data file is automatically generated. Since the image data file is stored in the hard disk 60, only by inputting the search information including the ID number and the personal information of the subject, the image data files having the header information corresponding to the search information are sequentially searched, Since the image to be displayed is displayed, the operator can find the image to be searched based on the displayed image. As described above, the image data file is automatically recorded on the hard disk 60 at the same time as the printout by the same print operation as that of the conventional ultrasonic imaging apparatus.
Since desired image data can be easily searched based on the header information, the recorded image data can be easily used. Further, it is needless to say that the image data file can be recorded without printing out the imaged image data, and the recorded image data file can be searched in the same manner.

Second Embodiment FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the ultrasonic image data processing system according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, the ultrasonic image data processing system according to this embodiment includes an ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100, an image server 200, and a communication line 300.

The ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100 has substantially the same configuration as the ultrasonic imaging apparatus disclosed in the above-described first embodiment of the present invention, but in this embodiment, the communication line 300 is used.
An interface circuit is added to communicate with the image server 200 via the.

The image server 200 includes the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 10
An image data file including image data and header information captured by 0 is stored, and an image having header information matching the search information from the stored image data file is stored based on the search information input from the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100. The data file is searched and the corresponding image data file is transferred to the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100.

The communication line 300 is composed of a dedicated or general-purpose communication line. For example, the communication line 300 is
It is configured by a dedicated data communication line connected between the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100 and the image server 200. Alternatively, the communication line 300 may be a local network or a wide area network which is commonly used at present, for example,
It can also be configured by the Internet.

The ultrasonic image data processing system of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is composed of one ultrasonic image pickup device and one image server, but the present embodiment is not limited to this structure. Alternatively, for example, one image server can be shared by a plurality of ultrasonic imaging devices. In this case, the plurality of ultrasonic imaging devices are connected to the image server 200 via the communication line 300.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 respectively show an ultrasonic imaging apparatus 1
00 and a configuration of an image server 200. Hereinafter, the configurations and functions of the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100 and the image server 200 will be described with reference to these drawings.

As shown in FIG. 6, the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100
Is composed of an imaging device 110 and an interface 120. The imaging device 110 has substantially the same configuration as the ultrasonic imaging device according to the first embodiment of the present invention described above. The imaging device 110 captures an image of a subject and acquires image data. The captured image is CRT3
Displayed at 0. When the print instruction or the data recording instruction is received, the CPU 50 generates the header information, adds the generated header information to the image data, and generates the image data file. In addition, in the imaging device 110 of the present embodiment, the generated image data file is output to the interface 120.

The interface 120 is used for the image pickup device 11.
Image data file generated by the communication channel 30
It is transmitted to the image server 200 via 0. Further, when performing a search, the interface 120 uses the imaging device 11
The search information generated by 0 is transmitted to the image server 200 via the communication path 300. In the image server 200, based on the received search information, the stored image data file is searched for an image data file having header information that matches the search information, and the image data is read from the corresponding image data file and the communication path is read. It transmits to the ultrasonic imaging device 100 via 300. At this time, the interface 120 of the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100 uses the communication path 3
The image data is received from 00 and output to the imaging device 110.

As shown in FIG. 7, the image server 200 is
It is composed of a storage device 210, a control device 220, and an interface 230. Hereinafter, each component will be described.

The storage device 210 has an interface 23.
The image data file input from 0 is stored. In the present embodiment, the storage device 210 provided in the image server 200 stores a large amount of image data,
It is composed of a large-capacity storage device, for example, a large-capacity hard disk.

The controller 220 controls the operations of the storage device 210 and the interface 230. Further, at the time of search, the control device 220 receives the search information input from the interface 230, sequentially reads the header information of the image data file from the storage device 210, compares the header information with the search information, and when they match. The image data is read from the relevant image data file and transferred to the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100 via the interface 230.

The interface 230 is the communication path 300.
Receive the image data file sent via
Output to the storage device 210. Further, at the time of search, the search information transmitted via the communication path 300 is received and output to the control device 220. Then, according to the search result of the control device 220, the image data read from the image data file corresponding to the search information is transmitted to the communication path 300.

As described above, in the ultrasonic image data processing system of this embodiment, the image data obtained by the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100 is transferred to the image server 200 and stored in the image server 200. Then, at the time of search, the search information input by the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100 is transferred to the image server 200, and the image server 20
At 0, the corresponding image data file is searched based on the comparison result of the search information and the header information of the stored image data file.

That is, the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100 of this embodiment
In the image server 2, the image data obtained by imaging is acquired.
Since the data is transferred to and stored in 00, it is not necessary to provide a large-capacity data storage device, and it is not necessary to execute comparison processing for searching by the CPU. Therefore, the configuration of the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100 itself can be simplified and the cost of the apparatus can be reduced. Further, by centrally managing the image data file of the picked up ultrasonic waves in the image server, the image data file can be used by a large number of users, and the image server 200 is provided with a powerful control device 220. Thus, the image data can be searched at high speed and the time required for the search can be shortened.

Next, the overall operation of the ultrasonic image data processing system of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart. FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are flowcharts showing the operations at the time of imaging and searching, respectively. The operation at the time of image capturing and search will be described below with reference to these drawings.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the operation at the time of image pickup. In FIG. 8, steps SC1 to SC
7 is an operation in the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100, and steps SC8 to SC9 are operations of the image server. Step SC1: First, the information of the subject is input before the imaging. Here, the subject information is input manually by an operator based on the description content of the chart of the subject as described above, or a readable magnetic card held by the subject or Necessary information is read from the IC card to the ultrasonic imaging device. Furthermore, in the ultrasonic image data processing system according to the present embodiment, for example, when the information regarding the subject is registered in the image server 200 in advance, the subject information can be acquired from the image server 200.

Step SC2: An ultrasonic image pickup device picks up an image of a predetermined part of the body of the subject. The analog image signal obtained by imaging is converted into a digital signal by analog / digital conversion, and image data is obtained.

Step SC3: An image is displayed on the CRT 30 under the control of the display controller 40 based on the image data. Step SC4: Wait for a print instruction. Operator is C
A printout instruction is given by looking at the image displayed on the RT 30. The printout instruction is given by, for example, pressing a print switch provided on the control panel of the image pickup apparatus.

Step SC5: When the print instruction is received, the CPU 50 makes a determination based on the personal information of the subject.
Header information is generated. Step SC6: The generated header information is added to the image data to generate an image data file.

Step SC7: The generated image data file is output to the interface 120 and transmitted by the interface 120 to the image server 200 via the communication path 300.

Step SC8: In the image server 200, first, the communication path 30 is set by the interface 230.
Image data files are received from 0. Step SC9: The received image data file is transferred to the storage device 210 and written in the storage device 210.

By the above-mentioned processing, the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 1
An image data file generated based on the image data captured by the image sensor 00 is transferred to the image server 200 and recorded in the storage device 210 of the image server 200. In addition,
In the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100, it is possible to simply transmit the image data displayed on the CRT 30 to the image server 200 and record it in the storage device 210 without performing a printing operation. In this case, for example, the ultrasonic imaging device 10
By pressing the recording switch provided on the control panel of the ultrasonic imaging apparatus by the operator of 0, the CPU 50 generates header information and attaches it to the image data in the same manner as in the above-described print processing. Image data file is automatically generated. And
The generated image data file is transmitted to the image server 200 via the communication path 300 and stored in the hard disk 210 of the image server 200. In this case, the captured image data is output to the image server 20 without printout.
It can be transferred to 0 and recorded.

Next, referring to FIG. 9, the operation at the time of image data search will be described. Step SD1: First, in the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100, search information is input. Here, the search information is
It consists of information contained in the header information of the image data file. For example, ID number, subject's name, date of birth,
It is any information such as an image pickup date or a combination of a plurality of information.

Step SD2: Next, the input search information is transferred to the image server 20 via the interface 120.
Sent to 0.

Step SD3: In the image server 200, the search information is received by the interface 230. Further, the received search information is output to the control device 220.

Step SD4: The control device 220 sequentially reads the header information from the image data file stored in the storage device 210. Step SD5: The control device 220 compares the read header information with the search information to determine whether they match.

Step SD6: If the header information and the search information match, the image data is read from the corresponding image data file and transmitted to the ultrasonic imaging apparatus via the interface 230. On the other hand, when the header information and the search information do not match, the header information of the next image data file is read from the storage device 210, and the matching determination is performed.

Step SD7: In the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100, the image data transmitted by the interface 120 is received and output to the imaging apparatus 110. Step SD8: Then, the image pickup apparatus 110 displays an image corresponding to the received image data on the CRT.

Step SD9: The operator determines whether or not the displayed image is a search target. Step SD10: When the displayed image is a search target, the operator operates the print switch or the like. In response, the displayed image is printed by the printer.

On the other hand, when the displayed image is not the target of the search, the operator gives an instruction to continue the search. In response to this, the imaging device 110 generates an instruction signal for continuing the search and transmits it to the image server 200 via the interface 120. Then, the image server 200
Then, when the instruction to continue the search is received, step SD4 to
The process of SD6 is repeated.

By the processing described above, the search information is transmitted to the image server 200, and the image server 200 reads the header information from the image data file and searches for the desired image data based on the result of comparison with the search information. Therefore, by providing the image server 200 with the control device 220 capable of executing high-speed search processing, the search of the image data file can be realized at high speed, and the processing load on the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100 can be significantly reduced. That is, the configuration of the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100 can be simplified and a low-cost imaging apparatus can be realized.

As described above, according to the ultrasonic image data processing system of this embodiment, the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 10
An image data file in which header information is attached to the image data obtained by image capturing is generated, the image data file is transferred to the image server 200 via the communication path 300, and recorded in the storage device 210 of the image server 200. It When performing image data search, the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100
The search information acquired by is transmitted to the image server 200 via the communication path 300, and based on the comparison result between the search information in the image server 200 and the header information of the image data file read from the storage device 210, the desired image data file Is read, the image data is read from the image data file having the header information that matches the search information, and is transmitted to the ultrasonic imaging apparatus 100 via the communication path 300. Thus, by providing the image server 200 with a large-capacity storage device 210, ultrasonic image data can be centrally managed in the image server 200, and the image server 200 can be controlled with a high-speed search function. Device 22
By providing 0, high-speed search processing can be realized. Further, even when the captured image data is not printed out, the image data is sent to the image server 200 and stored in the storage device 21.
Can be stored at zero. Needless to say, the image data file thus stored can also be searched using the search information as described above.

[0076]

As described above, according to the ultrasonic imaging apparatus and ultrasonic image data processing system of the present invention, the operator can perform a simple operation to print out the picked-up ultrasonic image data. , The image data file with the header information attached is automatically generated and recorded in the storage device, so the desired image data can be easily searched based on the header information, and the stored image data can be easily used. can do. Further, according to the ultrasonic image data processing system of the present invention, by providing an image server having a large-capacity storage device and a high-speed search function, and connecting to the ultrasonic imaging device via a communication path, The image data captured by the sound wave imaging device is sent to the image server and can be centrally managed by the image server. Further, since the desired image data file can be searched at high speed based on the search information transferred from the image pickup apparatus, the time required for the search can be shortened and the convenience can be improved. Further, by providing the image server, there is an advantage that the configuration of the ultrasonic imaging apparatus can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image data file.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation at the time of image pickup by the ultrasonic image pickup apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation at the time of searching in the ultrasonic imaging apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an ultrasonic image data processing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an ultrasonic imaging apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image server.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation at the time of image capturing.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation at the time of search.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 ... Ultrasonic imaging device, 10 ... Probe, 20 ... Scanner, 30 ... Display device, 40 ... Display control unit, 5
0 ... CPU, 60 ... Hard disk, 70 ... Printer,
110 ... Imaging device, 120 ... Interface, 200
... image server, 210 ... storage device, 220 ... control device,
230 ... interface.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Shinichi Amamiya             127, 4-7 Asahigaoka, Hino City, Tokyo             GE Yokogawa Medical System Co., Ltd.             Within F-term (reference) 4C301 EE10 LL13                 4C601 EE07 LL09 LL11

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup unit for picking up a predetermined portion of a subject's body using ultrasonic waves, and identification information for giving image data picked up by the image pickup unit identification information for identifying the image data. Of the image data stored in the storage means, based on the search information, the adding means, the storage means for storing the image data to which the identification information is added, the search information input from the outside, and the An ultrasonic imaging apparatus comprising: a search unit that searches for image data having identification information that matches the search information and outputs the searched image data. 2. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the identification information giving means gives a serial number or a random number to the image data as the identification information. 3. The identification information giving means uses information obtained by combining one or more of a predetermined ID number, a name of a subject, a date of birth, and an imaging date of image data as the identification information. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 1, which is added to data. 4. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a compression unit that compresses the image data and stores the compressed image data in the storage unit. 5. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage means is a hard disk. 6. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a printing unit that prints the image data and the identification information added to the image data. 7. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the printing unit prints the image data output by the searching unit and the identification information added thereto. 8. When the print command for printing the image data picked up by the image pickup means is received, the identification information giving means is caused to give identification information to the picked-up image data,
7. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a control unit that outputs the image data to which the identification information is added to the printing unit to print the image data and outputs the image data to the storage unit to store the image data. 9. An ultrasonic image data processing system, comprising: an image pickup device for picking up an ultrasonic image; and an image server for storing and processing image data acquired by the image pickup device, wherein the ultrasonic image pickup device comprises: An image pickup means for picking up a predetermined portion of the body of the subject using ultrasonic waves; A storage unit that stores the image data to which the identification information is added, and the image data to which the identification information is added are transmitted via a communication path, and the search information input from the outside is also transmitted via the communication path. The image server has an interface unit for transmitting and receiving data from the communication path, and the image server transfers the image data via a server storage unit for storing the image data. Based on the server interface that receives the received data and outputs the data to the server storage unit, and that transmits the image data read from the server storage unit through the communication path, and the search information received from the server interface. Retrieval means for retrieving image data having identification information that matches the retrieval information among the image data stored in the server storage means and transmitting the retrieved image data via the server interface and the communication path. An ultrasonic image data processing system having: 10. The ultrasonic image data processing system according to claim 9, wherein the communication path is composed of a dedicated or general-purpose data communication line for transferring data between the ultrasonic imaging apparatus and the image server. . 11. The ultrasonic image data processing system according to claim 9, wherein the identification information giving means gives a serial number or a random number to the image data as the identification information. 12. The identification information assigning means uses information obtained by combining one or more of a predetermined ID number, a name of a subject, a date of birth, and an image pickup date of image data as the identification information. The ultrasonic image data processing system according to claim 9, which is applied to data. 13. The ultrasonic image data processing system according to claim 9, further comprising compression means for compressing the image data and storing the compressed image data in the storage means. 14. The ultrasonic image data processing system according to claim 9, wherein the ultrasonic imaging apparatus further comprises a printing unit that prints the image data and the identification information added to the image data. 15. The ultrasonic image data processing system according to claim 14, wherein the printing means prints the image data input from the interface and the identification information added thereto. 16. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus, when receiving a print command for printing the image data picked up by the image pickup means, causes the identification information giving means to give identification information to the picked-up image data, 15. The ultrasonic image data processing system according to claim 14, further comprising control means for outputting the image data to which the identification information is added to the printing means for printing and for outputting to the storage means for storage.