JP2003319908A - Medical information radiogram interpretation system using portable medical information photographic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system by which medical information is simply transmitted to a specialized medical doctor from a medical site and the result of interpretation of radiogram (advice) is obtained speedily. <P>SOLUTION: The system comprises: a radiogram interpretation center connected to a network; a portable medical information photographic apparatus which is wirelessly connected with the network to communicate with the radiogram interpretation center; and a contractor's computer connected with the radiogram interpretation center. The photographic apparatus is provided with: a means for photographing a subject at the medical site to generate medical image data; a means for preparing a general purpose medical image file based on the medical image data; and a means for wirelessly transmitting the general purpose medical image file to the network. The radiogram interpretation center is provided with: a means for receiving and storing the general purpose medical image file from the photographic apparatus; and a means for transmitting the received general purpose medical image file to the contractor computer. The contractor computer is provided with a means for displaying the photographic image of the general purpose medical image file from the radiogram interpretation center. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information photographing apparatus for transmitting a medical image to a remote place for interpretation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a DICOM standard medical image file photographed by CT or the like in a remote hospital (contract hospital) is transmitted via a network to an image interpretation center or the like where an image interpretation specialist exists, and a computer in the center is used. There is a medical image interpretation system that receives and displays the image file, an image interpretation specialist reads the image on the computer, and transmits the image interpretation result to the remote hospital (hereinafter, referred to as "conventional route"). ).

[0003]

By the way, in the medical image interpretation system of the above-mentioned conventional route, a computer (dedicated personal computer) in which dedicated software is installed is fixedly installed in a remote hospital, and the computer and various medical devices are connected. Therefore, it is necessary to capture image data from each medical device by the computer, convert the image data into a DICOM standard image file, and then transmit the DICOM standard image file to the image interpretation center. Therefore,
It is indispensable to fixedly install the computer with the above-mentioned dedicated software installed adjacent to the medical equipment, and it is necessary to connect various medical equipment and the above-mentioned personal computer with a line. Since the construction of the system is complicated in connection with the above and the introduction cost of the system is high, a system capable of transmitting medical images more easily has been desired.

In the medical image interpretation system as described above, it takes a relatively long time from a request for image interpretation to a return of the image interpretation result, and in a case where urgent situation is required, a specialist for medical images of several frames is required. There is a problem that it is not always possible to meet the demands of the medical field, such as wanting to hear the above advice immediately.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and it is a case where a medical image can be transmitted using a portable medical information photographing device and there is no equipment such as a dedicated computer. Another object of the present invention is to provide a medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information imaging apparatus, which can easily request interpretation of a medical image from a specialist and obtain an interpretation result in a short time.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is, firstly, according to the present invention, a radiogram interpretation center connected to a network, and a portable radio capable of wirelessly connecting to the network and capable of communicating with the radiogram interpretation center. Type medical information imaging device,
A system comprising a contractor computer connected to the image interpretation center, wherein the portable medical information photographing device is a photographing means for photographing various subjects in a medical field to generate medical image data. The image reading center includes a file creating unit capable of creating a general-purpose medical image file in a general-purpose file format, and a wireless communication unit capable of wirelessly transmitting the general-purpose medical image file to a network. Means for receiving the standardized medical image file and displaying the standardized medical image file for interpretation, and means for receiving and storing the general-purpose medical image file sent from the imaging apparatus via the network. And a means for transmitting the received general-purpose medical image file to the contractor computer, The contractor computer is composed of a medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information imaging device, which is provided with means for displaying on the display the captured image of the general-purpose medical image file sent from the interpretation center. is there.

The network includes the Internet,
MAN, WAN including high-speed broadband network such as ISDN line
Wide area network such as LAN, private network such as LAN,
It includes various wired or wireless networks such as a digital mobile phone network. The various subjects include medical images displayed on a monitor of a medical device, various measurement data, an affected part of a patient, and any medical information that can be directly captured by a camera or a video. The photographing means preferably has a digital camera function or a digital video camera function. The general-purpose medical image file of the above general-purpose file format is
For example, it may be a file composed of a JPEG format still image or an MPEG format moving image. The wireless communication means can be configured by, for example, the communication control unit (34) of the web browser unit (31) of the photographing device (1), the wireless modem (37), the wireless LAN connection adapter (38), and the like. The standardized medical image file is, for example, a DICOM standard medical image file. The means for displaying the standardized medical image file and providing it for image interpretation can be configured by, for example, the image interpretation workstations (48, 49) of the image interpretation center (7). The contractor computer can be composed of a personal computer (4 ') of a contract specialist who is connected to the image interpretation center (7). The means for receiving and storing the general-purpose medical image file and the means for transmitting the general-purpose medical image file to the contractor's computer are configured by, for example, the mail server (43) of the image interpretation center (7) and the storage device (43 '). can do. The means for displaying the photographed image of the general-purpose medical image file of the contractor computer on the display can be configured by web browser software or the like.

Secondly, in the medical information interpretation system using the portable medical information photographing apparatus according to the first aspect, the image interpretation center adds tag information to the received general-purpose medical image file to specify a specific format. Medical treatment using a portable medical information imaging device, which has a computer having a function of converting to a standardized medical image file and a database for storing the standardized medical image file after conversion together with other standardized medical image files It is composed of an information interpretation system.

The tag information can be composed of, for example, DICOM standard tag information (62). The computer having the function of converting to the standardized medical image file can be configured by, for example, the DICOM server (46). With this configuration, it is possible to convert the medical image file of the general-purpose file format received at the image interpretation center (7) into a standardized medical image file of, for example, the DICOM standard, whereby the portable medical information imaging apparatus (1 It is possible to perform centralized management of the medical image file transmitted from (4) together with the DICOM standard medical image file at the image interpretation center (7).

Thirdly, in the medical information interpretation system using the portable medical information photographing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the image interpretation center is connected to an Internet server connected to the Internet and a high-speed broadband network. The portable medical information imaging apparatus comprises an Internet connection means capable of transmitting the general-purpose medical image file to the contractor computer via the Internet server of the image interpretation center, and a high-speed broadband network. A general-purpose medical image file is provided by a high-speed broadband network connecting means capable of transferring the general-purpose medical image file to the file receiving server of the image interpretation center, and is configured by a medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information imaging device. Is.

The high-speed broadband network can be constructed by a network including, for example, an ISDN line. The Internet server is, for example, a mail server (4
3), the file receiving server can be configured by, for example, the FTP server (44). The Internet connection means can be composed of a wireless modem (37), and the high speed broadband network connection means can be composed of a wireless LAN connection adapter (38). With this configuration, various medical information such as image files can be transmitted to the image interpretation center (7) via the high-speed broadband network N, and a security problem when transmitting via the Internet (I) is solved. You can do it.

Fourthly, a photographing means for photographing various subjects in a medical field to generate medical image data, a file generating means for generating a general-purpose medical image file of a general-purpose format based on the medical image data, A portable medical information imaging device having a wireless communication means capable of wirelessly transmitting a general medical image file to a network, and receiving the general medical image file transmitted from the portable medical information imaging device via the network. A medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information imaging apparatus including a contractor computer or a non-contractor computer having a communication unit and a display unit for displaying the medical image file received by the communication unit It is what is done.

The contractor computer is, for example, a personal computer (4 ') of a contract specialist who is connected to the image interpretation center (7), and the non-contractor computer is a personal computer (4) of an uncontract specialist, a portable type carried by the image interpreting doctor. The medical information photographing apparatus (1 ′) and other personal computers having an environment for connecting to the Internet can be used.

Fifth, in the medical information interpretation system using the portable medical information photographing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the portable medical information photographing apparatus uses the general-purpose medical image file at a short distance. Equipped with a short-range wireless interface capable of wireless transmission to a computer located in
It is configured by a medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information imaging device.

As the short-distance wireless interface, it is preferable to use, for example, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) standard wireless interface. With this configuration, various files can be wirelessly transmitted to a personal computer located in a short distance, and the medical information can be transmitted from the personal computer to the contract specialist's personal computer (4 ') or the image interpretation center (7). It becomes possible to send.

Sixth, in the medical information interpretation system using the portable medical information photographing device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the photographing means of the portable medical information photographing device is a digital camera function or It has a digital video camera function, and the general-purpose medical image file photographed by the photographing means is a still image or a moving image, and is constituted by a medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information photographing device.

According to this structure, not only a still image but also a moving image can be transmitted to the image interpretation specialist, so that a so-called moving image diagnosis can be promptly received.

Seventhly, in the medical information interpretation system using the portable medical information photographing apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the portable medical information photographing apparatus is a general-purpose used for general-purpose digital photographing equipment. A memory card attachment connector, a general-purpose medical image file photographed by the photographing means, an image-file extracting means capable of selectively extracting any of the general-purpose medical image files in the memory card, and the image-file extracting means. And a mail creation control means for creating a radiogram interpretation request mail including the extracted general-purpose medical image file, wherein the wireless communication means transmits the radiogram interpretation request mail to the contractor computer via the network. It is configured by a medical information interpretation system using a type medical information imaging device.

The general-purpose digital photographing device is preferably a digital camera, a digital video camera or the like.
The mounting connector is the connector (1
1a to 11d) and the like. The memory card can be configured by, for example, a CompactFlash (registered trademark) card (M4) or the like. The image file extracting means can be configured by the image file extracting means (20) of the photographing device (1). The mail creation control means for the image interpretation request mail includes the input means (K) and the document creation control means (3) of the apparatus (1).
2), the mail creation control unit (33) and the like.

Eighthly, in the medical information interpretation system using the portable medical information photographing apparatus according to the seventh aspect, the portable medical information photographing apparatus has a microphone for voice recording,
And a voice file creating means capable of creating a voice file in a general-purpose file format based on a voice signal input from the microphone, and the mail creation control means is capable of creating an image interpretation request mail including the voice file. , A medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information imaging device.

The audio file creating means can be composed of, for example, a recording section (15), an A / D conversion section (16), an audio file creation commanding means (26), a recording switch (27) and the like.

Ninth, in the medical information interpretation system using the portable medical information photographing apparatus according to the seventh or eighth, the mounting connector corresponds to a plurality of types of memory cards used in general-purpose digital photographing equipment. It is configured by a medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information imaging device, which is provided by a plurality of devices.

The above connector is a multimedia card,
It can be constituted by connectors (11a to 11d) corresponding to a general-purpose type memory card which is currently popular such as a PC-ATA card.

In this section, the reference numerals in the embodiments are shown in parentheses in correspondence with the configuration of the present invention, but these are added for convenience in order to clarify the correspondence between the present invention and the embodiments. Of course, the present invention is not limited to these constituent members.

[0025]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 shows the overall construction of a medical information interpretation system using the portable medical information imaging apparatus 1 of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a portable medical information photographing apparatus, which is a medical image displayed on a monitor 3 of various medical devices 2, a trunk of a patient H, a pathological resection, or various materials D (electrocardiogram data, various measurements). A digital camera function capable of directly shooting a still image or a moving image (such as an output paper on which data is graphically displayed), or the camera function by connecting from the base station B of the wireless Internet to the Internet I through the digital mobile phone network I ′. The medical image files etc. taken in the above are transmitted from the Internet I to the personal computer 4'of the contract specialist and the personal computer 4 of the non-contract specialist through the image interpretation center 7, and the high speed broadband such as ISDN line from the access point A of the wireless LAN. A function of connecting to the image interpretation center 7 via LAN via LAN and transmitting the medical image file to the center 7. It is intended to comprise.
In addition, the photographing apparatus 1 is capable of mounting a memory card M in which a medical image file (still image or moving image) recorded by a general-purpose digital camera 6, a general-purpose digital video camera 6 ′, or the like is mounted, and the connectors 11a to 11d. (See FIG. 3), and the function of transmitting the medical image data to the personal computer 4 of the non-contract specialist or the personal computer 4 ′ of the contract specialist in the same manner as above, or the short-range wireless interface 39 (FIG. 3, For example, it has a function of transmitting various files to the personal computer 5 located at a short distance through an interface based on the Bluetooth (registered trademark) standard or the like.

Here, the contract specialist refers to a contractor who contracts with the image interpretation center 7 and owns a personal computer 4'connected to the center 7 through a LAN and is given a mail account by the center 7, The personal computer 4 '(contractor computer) refers to a personal computer installed in the hospital of the contract specialist or the home of the specialist, a portable personal computer carried by the specialist himself. The non-contract specialist is a specialist who is not contracted with the image interpretation center 7, and the personal computer 4 of the non-contract specialist is a personal computer such as a hospital or home of the non-contract specialist who is given an email address from any Internet service provider ISP, or Portable personal computer carried by an uncontracted specialist, portable medical information imaging device 1 '
Etc. means any non-contractor computer.

The personal computer 5 has a near field wireless interface (an interface based on the Bluetooth standard, etc.) capable of receiving various files transmitted from the near field wireless interface 39, and the portable medical information photographing apparatus 1 is provided. It is installed at a position close to (for example, within several meters). The personal computer 5 is provided with well-known web browser software, mail transmission / reception software, FTP client software, etc., and a predetermined Internet service provider ISP by dial-up connection or the like.
The personal computer 5 and the broadband network N are connected to each other via the modem for transmitting the various files received by the interface to the Internet I, and the various data received by the interface are transmitted through the broadband network N. An adapter for transmitting to the image interpretation center 7 (such as a terminal adapter with a built-in DSU if the high-speed broadband network N is an ISDN line) is provided. Therefore, the personal computer 5 has a function of attaching the various files to an electronic mail and transmitting them to the image interpretation center 7, the personal computers 4, 4 ', etc. via the Internet I, and connecting to the broadband network N to provide the FTP. It has a function of transferring the above various files to the image interpretation center 7 by a protocol.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a personal computer of a hospital where an uncontracted specialist exists, or a personal computer at the home of an uncontracted specialist, and the like, which is a medical image file sent from the portable medical information photographing apparatus 1 through the Internet I. What receives and displays (still image or moving image), 4'is a personal computer of a hospital where a contract specialist exists, or a personal computer of the contract specialist's home or the like. From the portable medical information photographing apparatus 1 to the Internet I It receives and displays a medical image file (still image or moving image) sent via. These personal computers 4 and 4 ′ are well-known web browser software, mail transmission / reception software, and still image browsing software capable of browsing still images in JPEG format, for example, movie browsing software capable of browsing moving pictures in MPEG format, etc.
It is provided with at least software for reproducing audio files.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a medical image interpretation center, which is connected to the Internet I by a dedicated line L and is also connected to the high-speed broadband network N via LAN, and is connected from the portable medical information photographing apparatus 1 via the Internet I. Receives the attached e-mail with the attached image file, and sends the e-mail together with the attached file to the contract specialist's personal computer 4'connected to the center 7. Reception and display of a general-purpose image file sent from the information photographing apparatus 1 via the broadband network N, and conversion of the general-purpose image file into, for example, the DICOM standard medical image file format to unify the image files. The management process is performed.

Next, the structure of the portable medical information photographing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. In the figure, 8
Is a known digital camera unit that generates image data (still image or moving image) from a medical image captured by the image capturing unit 8a having the lens R and the like. In this case, a medical image or the like on the monitor 3 of the medical device 2 is directly photographed by operating a photographing start button or the like), and a general-purpose file such as a JPEG format is created by the image file creation unit 8b based on the photographed image data. Format still image file or M
A moving image file in a general-purpose file format such as PEG format is created, and the file is stored in the control unit 1 of the memory card M4 (for example, CompactFlash (registered trademark) card).
The data is stored in the memory card M4 via 2d. In addition, the image file is the image file creation unit 8b.
Is sent to the LCD unit 10 and the photographed still image or moving image of the monitor 3 is displayed on the LCD 10a. It is preferable to use a CCD as an image pickup device of the image pickup unit 8a having 3 million pixels or more in consideration of the case of directly taking a CT image on a CRT monitor.

11a to 11d are various memory cards M1
11a is a connector for multimedia cards (registered trademark) (M1), 11b is a connector for smart media cards (registered trademark) (M2), and 11c is a PC-ATA, for example.
Card (M3) connector, 11d is the compact flash (registered trademark) in the digital camera section 8
It is a connector for a card (M4). It should be noted that these connectors 11a to 11d are not limited to the above-mentioned memory cards and can be increased or decreased depending on the degree of popularization of the memory cards. For example, a card connector of another type may be provided, or P that can be called a fact standard
Only the C-ATA connector 11c and the CompactFlash (registered trademark) card connector 11d can be set as necessary. Each of the connectors 11a to 11d reads the image file from each of the memory cards M1 to M4 connected to these connectors and sends the read image file to the operation control unit 9 and various medical treatments sent from the operation control unit 9. A control unit 1 for controlling the writing of image files to each of the cards M1 to M4
2a to 12d are connected.

13 is an RS232C connector, 14 is I /
O interface, and the interface 14
Is for controlling input / output of serial data from the connector 13 to the operation control section 9. A publicly-known general-purpose digital camera 6 or general-purpose digital video camera 6 ′ or another medical device 2 is connected to the connector 13, and an image file (still image or moving image) from the digital camera 6 or the medical device 2 is transferred. It is input as serial data.

Reference numeral 15 is a recording section equipped with a recording microphone Mic, 16 is an A / D conversion section, and the conversion section 16 converts the audio signal recorded by the microphone into digital data.
It is sent to the operation control unit 9.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a D / A converter which converts digital audio data into an audio signal based on the audio file generated by the operation controller 9, and 18 amplifies the audio signal converted by the converter 17 to produce a speaker Sp. Is a sound reproducing unit for reproducing in.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a memory (see FIG. 17), which stores the above-mentioned voice file, image file (still image or moving image), document file, etc., and also stores the mail address, IP address, URL, etc. of the destination of each file. It is something to remember. It is assumed that the mail address, IP address, etc. of the destination are previously input from the input means K and stored in the memory 19.

Next, the function of the operation control section (for example, a one-chip microcomputer) 9 will be described.
In FIG. 3, the function of the operation control unit 9 is shown as a block. In the operation control section 9, the numeral 20 indicates the connector 11 based on the operation of the memory card selection switch 21.
a to 11d and the connector 13, image file extracting means for extracting an image file from the selected memory card M1 to M4 or the medical device 2 or the like and sending it to the memory 19 (see P1 to P3 in FIG. 6), and 22 is a photographing switch The digital camera unit 8 is activated based on the pressing of 23, and the image file (still image or moving image) created by the image file creating unit 8b based on the pressing of the shutter or the like is memorized via the control unit 12d. Image shooting command means (see P1 to P4 in FIG. 7) for issuing a command for writing to the card M4, 24 is a display control means 30 for displaying the image file extracted by the image file extraction section 20 based on the pressing of the image reproduction switch 25. The image data reproduction command means (see P1 and P2 in FIG. 8) to be sent to / Digital audio data input from the D converter 16 converts the audio file such as WAV format, the audio file creation instructing means to be stored in the memory 19 (FIG. 9P1~P4), 28 audio playback switch 29
Voice data reproduction command means (FIG. 10P1 to P3) for reading out a voice file from the memory 19 and sending it to the D / A conversion portion 17 based on the pressing of the image file, and 30 is an image file extracted by the image file extracting means 20. LC
It is a display control means for displaying in the D section 10 (FIG. 8).
(See P3).

Next, the web browser section 31 will be described. The browser unit 31 has a known web browser software 31a, a document creation control unit 32 (see FIGS. 11P1 to P3) having a document creation function configured by document creation software such as an HTML document, and known mail software. Selected communication mode 1 with email creation function, received email and attachment display processing mechanism
4 to 4 (described later), a mail creation control unit 33 (see FIGS. 12P1 to P16) having a function of sending various kinds of files to the communication control unit 34, and the above-mentioned electronic mail by the SMTP protocol based on TCP / IP. For transmitting various files such as a document file, an image file and an audio file by the FTP protocol based on TCP / IP (FIG. 5, e-mail transfer means 34a) and the high speed broadband network N. Function (function of known FTP client software) (FIG. 5, FTP transfer means 34b), function of sending data of various files to the near field wireless interface 39 (FIG. 5, near field wireless transfer means 34c), received Function to send e-mail to mail creation control unit 33 (FIG. 5, reception control means) Communication control unit 34 having a 4d)
And an output unit 35 that writes various files to the memory 19 and sends various files to the LCD unit 10.
And an input unit 36 that receives various files from the memory 19, input means K, and various information from the communication mode selection switch MS.

The mail creation control unit 33 and the communication control unit 34 perform the following control according to the communication modes 1 to 4 set by the communication mode selection switch MS. That is, in the communication mode 1, the electronic mail (attachment file is an image file, a voice file, a document file, etc.) attached by the file created by the mail creation control unit 33 is sent from the wireless modem 37 via the Internet I as a mail address. The communication mode 2 is a mode in which the specified protocol is sent to the personal computer 4'of a contract specialist or the personal computer 4 of a non-contract specialist by the SMTP protocol, and the various files are transmitted from the wireless LAN connection adapter 38 through the high-speed broadband network N by the FTP protocol. In the communication mode 3 in which the image is transferred to the image interpretation center 7, the e-mail attached with the file is transmitted from the wireless modem 37 to the personal computer 4 of the uncontracted specialist by the SMTP protocol via the Internet I, and the various files are transmitted by the FT.
In the communication mode 4, the mode in which the wireless LAN connection adapter 38 transfers to the image interpretation center 7 via the high-speed broadband network N by the P protocol, the various files are sent to the short-distance wireless interface 39, and the interface 3
9 is a mode for transmitting to a personal computer 5 or the like installed in a short distance, and the personal computer 5 can also transmit to the personal computer 4 or the like of the uncontracted specialist by e-mail or the like, or the high speed broadband network by the FTP protocol. It can be transferred to the image interpretation center 7 via N (see P3 to P6 in FIG. 13).

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the function of the communication control unit 34. In modes 1 and 3, an electronic mail transfer means 34a for sending the attached email to the wireless modem 37, and in modes 2 and 3 described above. FTP transfer means 34b for transmitting the file to the wireless LAN connection adapter 38, short range wireless transfer means 34c for transmitting the file and the electronic mail to the short range wireless interface 39 in the mode 4, and receiving the electronic mail via the wireless modem 37. When it does, it is composed of the reception control means 34d for sending the electronic mail to the mail creation control unit 33.

Reference numeral 37 denotes a dial-up connection to the predetermined Internet service provider ISP on the Internet I via the base station B and the digital mobile phone network I'to connect the photographing apparatus 1 and the Internet I. , A wireless modem for transmitting various files sent from the communication control section 34 to the base station B by radio waves, and 38, a dial-up connection via a wireless LAN access point A, and the photographing apparatus 1 and the high-speed broadband. The image reading center 7 is connected to the network N, and various files sent from the communication control unit 34 are transmitted via the broadband network N.
Wireless LAN connection adapter for transferring to, 39 is Bl
It is a short-range wireless interface according to the Bluetooth standard, and the interface 39 is the communication control unit 34.
Various files such as image files transmitted from the computer are wirelessly transmitted to the personal computer 5 located at a short distance. The short-range wireless interface 39 may also be configured by an IrDA standard interface using infrared rays. The wireless LAN is, for example, an optical wireless L based on an infrastructure system.
It can also be configured by AN or the like. In addition to the digital mobile phone network I ′, it is also possible to use a wireless Internet connection of a specific power saving system or the like for the connection with the Internet I.

K is an input means for inputting characters, numbers, symbols, etc., and is constituted by a ten-key pad or the like, and by selecting the characters, numbers, etc. displayed on the LCD section 10, the characters and numbers can be input. Has been done. The input means K is not limited to a numeric keypad or the like, but may be a pen input means, a handwriting input means,
In addition, known character and numeral input means used for PDAs and the like can be used.

MS is a communication mode selection switch,
It is a switch for selecting the above four communication modes 1 to 4.

Next, the medical image interpretation center 7 connected to the high-speed broadband network N and the Internet I will be described with reference to FIG. The center 7 includes a DICOM image interpretation system 41 that receives and interprets DICOM standard image files via the gateway 40.
And a web server system 42.

The web server system 42 includes a mail server 43 (which also has a web server function) connected to the Internet I by a dedicated line L, and the image file sent via the Internet I. A function of receiving an e-mail attached with the above and storing it in the storage device 43 'of the server 43, and receiving an e-mail from the personal computer 4'of the contract specialist who is LAN-connected to the dedicated line L via the router RT. When a request is made, the function of transferring the above-mentioned e-mail to the above-mentioned personal computer 4'specified by the mail address, and the gateway 40 for the image file and the document file attached to the received e-mail.
It has a function of transferring to the DICOM server 46 via (FIGS. 15P1 to P5).

The DICOM image interpretation system 41
Is usually (conventional route) sent from the dedicated personal computer (see FIG. 1) such as a hospital (contract hospital 70) that has contracted in advance via the high-speed broadband network N by the DI protocol.
FT the COM standard image file and the interpretation request file
The medical image of the received image file is received through the P server 44, displayed on the image interpretation workstations 48 and 49, the medical image is interpreted at the image interpretation workstations 48 and 49, and the image is read to the contract hospital 70. It provides a medical image interpretation service of a conventional route, which returns the interpretation result of the image file by e-mail, FAX, or the like. The dedicated PC for this conventional route is a contract hospital 7
0 is connected to a medical device, and is provided with dedicated software for converting medical image data input from the medical device into a DICOM standard medical image file and transmitting the medical image file to the image interpretation center 7. The DICOM standard image file received through the conventional route is stored and managed in the database 45 of the DICOM server 46.

In the system 41, D is sent from the contract hospital 70 via the high speed broadband network N.
The ICOM standard image files or various files including image files of a general-purpose file format transmitted from the portable medical information imaging apparatus 1 via the high-speed broadband network N are received, and these files are received by the DICOM server 46. The FTP server 46 for sending to the server identifies the file format of the image file in the file sent via the server 44, and stores the image file of the DICOM standard in the database 45 (P7, P8 in FIG. 14), If the image file is a general-purpose image file or a general-purpose image file is sent from the mail server 43, DICOM standard tag information (see FIG. 18, tag information 62) is added to these files and the DICOM is added. The image file 63 of the standard is converted, and the converted image file 63 is stored in the database 45. And paid, a DICOM server to centrally manage with other DICOM standard image data (Fig. 1
4P1-P6). The DICOM server 46 has a function of reading out a specified image file from the database 45 and sending it to the image interpretation workstations 48, 49 when an image file calling command is issued from the image interpretation workstations 48, 49. (Fig. 14P9
~ P11). Reference numeral 47 is a business server that receives the image interpretation request file of the conventional route sent from the high-speed broadband network N, and stores and manages the image interpretation request file in the database 47 ', and 48 and 49 are the DICOM server 4
6 is an image interpretation workstation for displaying image data sent from 6, and 50 is the image interpretation workstation 48,
Designation of a medical image (image of an image file read from the database 45) displayed in 49, voice input processing of an interpretation result, and the like are performed to create an audio file in which the interpretation result is recorded. This is a business-use personal computer that performs storage processing in the business-use server 47. 5
Reference numeral 1 is a report creation personal computer that reads an interpretation result file composed of audio files from the business server 47 and creates a report while listening to the audio. In the conventional route, the created interpretation result report is It is transmitted from the business server 47 to the contract hospital via the high-speed broadband network N or the like by e-mail, FAX, or the like.

In addition, reference numeral 1'in FIG. 1 denotes a portable medical information photographing apparatus having the same configuration as the portable medical information photographing apparatus 1 and is carried by another image interpretation specialist. The photographing device 1'has an e-mail address given by a predetermined provider, and can exchange image files, electronic mails, and the like with the photographing device 1 via the Internet I.

The personal computers, servers, and workstations in the above description have various known peripheral devices such as a display, an input device such as a keyboard, a storage device such as a hard disk, a printer, etc. It is provided with a LAN interface for connection with another computer, a router RT, a connection interface with a hub and the like, a communication modem and the like.

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, the operation of the present invention will be described below.

(1) Communication from the portable medical information photographing apparatus 1 to the personal computer 4'of the contract specialist via the Internet I (communication mode 1) First, the doctor carrying the portable medical information photographing apparatus 1 according to the present invention. (Hereinafter, a doctor who requests image interpretation is referred to as a “requesting doctor”) is displayed on the CT monitor 3, for example.
If you want to ask a specialist about your image,
The CT image on the monitor 3 is directly photographed by the photographing device 1. For example, when the subject is a microscope, the attachment is used to photograph.

When the photographing switch 23 is pressed, the image photographing command means 22 activates the digital camera section 8 (see FIG. 7).
(P1, P2), in this state, the lens R of the digital camera unit 8 is directed toward the monitor 3 and a shutter or the like is pressed to take an image (see P3 in FIG. 7). Then, the CT image is taken by the imaging unit 8a.
The command file 22 is captured by the image file creation unit 8
A file creation command is given to b (P4 in FIG. 7). As a result, the image file creating unit 8b generates an image file of a general-purpose file format (JPEG still image or MPEG moving image) composed of digital data, and the image file is temporarily stored in the memory card M4 via the control unit 12d. Remembered.

On the other hand, when the general-purpose digital camera 6 or digital video camera 6'is used, the CT image displayed on the monitor 3 is photographed by the digital camera 6 or digital video camera 6'and the photographing is performed. The image data (a still image in JPEG format or a moving image in MPEG format) is stored in a memory card M1 attached to the digital camera (in this case, a multimedia card), and the memory card M1 is connected to the connector 11a of the photographing apparatus 1. Mounting. If the memory card is of another type, it is attached to the corresponding connector 11b or 11c.

Next, the patient identification number, the patient name, the patient sex, the patient age, the patient's date, etc. of the CT image, the hospital name, the interpretation request information such as the name of the attending doctor, etc.
That is, various kinds of information corresponding to the tag information of the DICOM standard and image interpretation request information (question items, etc.) are character-input from the input means K. Then, the document creation control unit 32 of the web browser unit 31 creates a document file (for example, a file in HTML format) of the image interpretation request information and stores the image interpretation request document file in the memory 19 via the output unit 35. (See FIGS. 11P1 to P3 and FIG. 17). Note that FIG. 16 shows an example of the description contents of the document file.

When transmitting the image interpretation request information (question etc.) by voice, the recording switch 27 of the photographing apparatus 1 is pressed (P1 in FIG. 9). Then, the audio file creation command means 26 of the operation control unit 9 activates the A / D conversion unit 16 and the recording unit 15 (P2 in FIG. 9), so that when the doctor inputs the image interpretation request information into the microphone Mic by voice. The audio signal is converted into digital audio data by the A / D converter 16, and the audio file creation command means 2
6 creates a WAV format audio file based on the audio data, and stores the audio file in the memory 19 (see FIGS. 9P3, P4 and FIG. 17).

Next, the client doctor operates the memory card selection switch 21 to select which memory card to store the image file to be transmitted. Here, it is assumed that the client doctor selects the memory card M4 of the digital camera unit 8 (FIG. 6P1). Then, the image file extracting means 20 of the operation control unit 9 extracts the image file stored in the memory card M4 of the digital camera unit 8 via the control unit 12d and stores it in the memory 19 (FIG. 6P2,
P3, FIG. 17). When selecting another memory card, the other cards M1 to M3 may be selected by the switch 21.

After that, the requesting doctor carries out a process of creating an electronic mail (interpretation request mail) from the input means K. That is, the requesting doctor uses the input means K to create a mail (for example, the LCD 10a).
(Operations such as pressing the mail composition button displayed above)
Then, the mail creation control unit 33 starts up and the LCD
An electronic mail is created by the doctor inputting a mail document on the screen 10a (FIGS. 12P5 and P6). still,
At this time, the e-mail address of the destination (personal computer 4'of the contract specialist) in the memory 19 (this e-mail address consists of the domain of the image interpretation center 7 and the e-mail account of the personal computer 4'of the contract specialist "*** @ ○○ ○ .or.j
p ”(see FIG. 17), the mail creation control unit 33 recognizes the mail address (P6 in FIG. 12).
Next, the requesting doctor operates the input means K to select a document file (interpretation request information), an image file (CT image), and a voice file (interpretation request information) that he / she wants to attach to an e-mail and transmit (FIG. 12P7). ). In this case, it is assumed that the requesting doctor has designated all the document file, image file, and audio file. Then, the mail creation control unit 33 reads out the document file, the image file, and the voice file from the memory 19 (FIG. 17) based on the operation of the inputting means K of the requesting doctor, and sends each file to the electronic mail. An e-mail for transmission is created by adding it as an attached file (FIG. 12P8).

Next, the client doctor selects the communication mode selection switch M
Specifies the communication mode of S. In this case, it is assumed that the communication mode 1 is designated (FIG. 12P9). Then, the mail creation control unit 33 recognizes that it is the mode 1 (see FIG. 12).
P10), the mail address of the destination is extracted from the memory 19 and added to the electronic mail, and the electronic mail is sent to the electronic mail transfer means 34a of the communication control unit 34 (P11 in FIG. 12).

The communication control unit 34 (e-mail sending means 34a) confirms that the receiving operation is not performed (FIG. 13).
P1), the e-mail with the file attachment sent from the creation control unit 33 is transmitted from the wireless modem 37 to the Internet I via the base station B and the digital mobile phone network I ′ by the SMTP protocol (P3 in FIG. 13). As a result, the e-mail attached to the file will be sent to the wireless modem 37
Then, it is transmitted to the Internet I and transmitted to the mail server 43 of the image interpretation center 7 designated by the domain of the address via a predetermined provider ISP of the Internet I. The mail server 43 stores the received e-mail in the storage device 43 ′ of the server 43 (P1 and P2 in FIG. 15), and attaches the attached files (image files and document files) of the e-mail via the gateway 40. And transfers it to the DICOM server 46 (FIG. 15P3).

When the contract specialist, who is the destination of the electronic mail, accesses the mail server 43 with the known mail software of his / her personal computer 4'and performs the reception processing of the electronic mail, the mail server 43 receives the electronic mail. The e-mail can be received by the personal computer 4 ′ by transferring the e-mail to the personal computer 4 ′ specified by the mail account (P4 and P5 in FIG. 15). In the personal computer 4 ', the electronic mail can be displayed on the display by the mail software, and the attached image file can be displayed on the display by the known image file browsing software and the known document creation software. That is, the CT image taken by the requesting doctor can be displayed on the display of the personal computer 4 '. Further, by operating the personal computer 4'to open the audio file, the audio of the audio file can be reproduced by the known audio reproduction software. The contract specialist reads the image while looking at the CT image displayed on the display, reads the image by referring to the document file or the voice file, and immediately informs the requesting doctor of the read result by telephone or FAX. can do. In addition, the interpretation result is
An electronic mail is created on the personal computer 4'using the mail software, and the portable medical information imaging device 1 of the requesting doctor is created.
By specifying the e-mail address, the e-mail can be returned to the portable medical information imaging device 1 via the Internet I.

When the interpretation result is sent by e-mail, the requesting doctor performs an e-mail receiving operation using the input means K of the portable medical information imaging apparatus 1 (FIG. 12P).
1), the mail creation control unit 33 performs a process of receiving the electronic mail from a predetermined provider ISP on the Internet I (FIG. 12P2). As a result, the e-mail is received by the communication control unit 34 (reception control means 34d) of the portable medical information imaging apparatus 1 (FIGS. 12P2, 13P1 and P1).
2), the mail creation control unit 32 displays the electronic mail on the LCD
It is displayed on 10a (FIGS. 12P3 and P4). Therefore, the client doctor can see the image finding of the specialist on the LCD 10a of the portable medical information imaging apparatus 1. If the contracted doctor is waiting near the personal computer 4, the image interpretation result can be received quickly in a very short time.

On the other hand, DICOM which has received the general-purpose image file and document file from the mail server 43.
The server 46 displays the received image file and document file (see FIG. 16) on the display (FIG. 14P).
1, P2). Here, while looking at the document file, the operator uses the DICOM tag information "patient identification number, patient name, patient gender, patient age, patient birthday, hospital name, etc."
DICOM tag information 62 (see FIG. 18) such as
Input to the DICOM server in association with the M tag number (P3 in FIG. 14). Then, the DICOM server 46 adds the DICOM tag information 62 'consisting of the DICOM tag number and the DICOM tag to the image file 61 of the general-purpose format and the image file 6 according to the DICOM standard.
3 (see FIG. 14P4 and FIG. 18). That is, as a result, the general-purpose image file 61 is converted into the DICOM standard image file 63 including the DICOM tag 62 ′ and the image data 61. After that, the DICOM server 46 stores the DICOM-converted DICOM image file 63 in the database 45 (FIG. 13P5). Therefore, when a past image file (DICOM standard) of the patient already exists in the database 45, an image file sent from the portable medical information imaging apparatus 1 using tag information such as patient name as a keyword, The past image files can be centrally managed according to the DICOM standard, and the image files photographed by the photographing device 1 can be D
It can be reliably managed based on the ICOM standard.
In addition, it is possible to search by the same method as other DICOM standard image files, and further, the past D of the same patient can be searched.
When the ICOM standard image file is already stored in the database 45, it can be compared with the past image information of the patient at the time of image interpretation at the center 7.

As mentioned above, according to such an embodiment,
By using the portable medical information imaging device 1 to easily capture a specific medical image at the medical site and send it to the contract specialist through the image interpretation center 7, you can immediately request the image interpretation. You can get advice quickly. Further, since the image interpretation center 7 converts the image file 61 of the general-purpose format photographed by the photographing apparatus 1 into the DICOM standard image file 63 and manages it, the medical image file photographed by the photographing apparatus 1 is converted. DI of conventional route as DICOM image file
The effect that it can be centrally managed together with the COM image file can be obtained.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, the doctor (requesting doctor) in the medical field can immediately receive the advice about the medical image, and the image reading center 7 surely manages the image file as the DICOM standard image file. It is possible to obtain the effect of being able to.

Further, the mail address of the personal computer 4 of a non-contract specialist other than the contract specialist (FIG. 17, *** @ △△)
△. ne. By specifying jp), it is possible to directly transmit a medical image from the portable medical information photographing apparatus 1 to the personal computer 4 of the hospital or home of an uncontracted specialist without going through the image interpretation center 7. The transmission from the photographing device 1 to the personal computer 4 is basically the same as the transmission to the mail server 43 (communication mode 1) in the above (1), and the transmission operation of the electronic mail of the photographing device 1 (FIG. 12P5). ), The email address of the personal computer 4 is designated, an electronic mail including various attachments such as the medical image file is transmitted to the personal computer 4 via the Internet I, and the personal computer 4 similarly downloads the document file and the image file. It can be displayed on a display, and a sound file can be reproduced by a predetermined sound reproduction software. Therefore, an uncontracted specialist reads an image on the personal computer 4 at home or in the hospital while looking at the medical image displayed on the display, and similarly to the above, the interpretation result is promptly sent to the portable medical information imaging apparatus 1 by e-mail or the like. You can reply to.

According to such an embodiment, it is possible to directly make an image interpretation request to an image interpretation specialist, and to obtain advice and the like more promptly regarding medical images and the like.

(2) Transmission from the portable medical information imaging apparatus 1 to the personal computer 4 of the non-contract specialist and the image interpretation center 7 (communication mode 3) Next, various files such as the above image files are transmitted to the personal computer 4 of the non-contract specialist. The case of transmitting to both the image interpretation centers 7 will be described. If an image file or the like is sent only to a non-contract specialist, the image file will not be stored in the image interpretation center 7. Therefore, in Mode 3, the image file will be saved even if the image file is transmitted to a non-contract specialist. This is to be managed by the image interpretation center 7.

First, the operation is the same as the above (1) until an image file, a sound file and a document file are created (FIGS. 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12P5 to P5.
8). In this case, the domain (ΔΔΔ.ne.jp) of the mail address is the mail server of a predetermined provider other than the image interpretation center 7. Then, in step P9 of FIG. 12, the communication mode 3 is designated by the mode selection switch MS.

Then, the mail creation control unit 33 recognizes that the communication mode 3 is set (FIG. 12P14), and the memory 19
From the e-mail address (in this case, the address of the non-contracted specialist “***@ΔΔΔ.ne.jp”) and the IP address of the FTP server 44 of the image interpretation center 7 (see FIG. 17).
And each file such as an image file is read, and each file (image file, document file, voice file, etc.) is attached to the e-mail, the e-mail address is added to the e-mail, and the e-mail is sent to the communication control unit 34. At the same time as sending to the electronic mail transfer means 34a, the above files and IP addresses are sent to the FTP transfer means 34b (FIG. 12P15). Then, the communication control unit 34
The electronic mail transmitting means 34a sends the electronic mail to the wireless modem 37 by the SMTP protocol, and the FT
The P transfer means 34b sends each file to the wireless LAN connection adapter 38 by the FTP protocol (FIG. 13P).
5). This allows the wireless modem 3 to operate in the same manner as (1) above.
An electronic mail is transmitted from 7 to the personal computer 4 of an uncontracted specialist through the base station B, the digital mobile phone network I ′ and the Internet I, and the image file, the document file and the voice file are accessed from the wireless LAN connection adapter 38. It is transmitted to the image interpretation center 7 through the high-speed broadband network N via the point A (P5 in FIG. 13).

On the personal computer 4 of the non-contract specialist, the above-mentioned e-mail and various files can be browsed in the same manner as (1) (communication mode 1), and the non-contract specialist can read the interpretation result by e-mail, FAX, telephone, etc. Can immediately give advice to the requesting doctor, and the requesting doctor can quickly receive advice about the image data.

At the image interpretation center 7, the FTP server 44 receives the above files via the router RT and sends the files to the DICOM server 46. The DICO
Of the received files, the M server 46 detects whether the image file is a DICOM standard file or a general-purpose file based on whether the DICOM tag information 62 ′ is present in the data frame of the image file (FIG. 14P6). ,
In FIG. 18), since the DICOM tag information 62 ′ does not exist in this case, it is recognized as a general-purpose image file, and the received image file and document file are displayed on the display (P2 in FIG. 14). After this, the DICOM tag information 62 is added to the image file and the image file is converted into the image file 63 according to the DICOM standard (FIGS. 14P3, P4, FIG. 18) by the same process as the above (1). After that, the DICOM server 46
The converted DICOM standard image file 63 is stored in the database 45 (P5 in FIG. 13). If the received image file is a conventional route DICOM standard image file, the DICOM tag information 62 ′ on the data frame is displayed.
Is recognized as a DICOM standard image file, and the image file is stored in the database 45.
(FIGS. 14P7 and P8).

Therefore, according to the communication mode 3, the doctor on the spot (requesting doctor) directly requests the personal computer 4 or the like of the medical specialist who is a non-contractor for the medical image, without going through the image interpretation center 7. In addition to being able to immediately receive advice from the uncontracted specialist, the general-purpose format image file can be centrally managed as a DICOM standard image file at the image interpretation center, as in the communication mode 1. It is possible to obtain the effect of.

(3) Communication from the portable medical information imaging apparatus 1 to the FTP server 44 of the image interpretation center 7 (communication mode 2) Next, in the above communication (1) and (2), since the Internet I is used, security is maintained. If there is concern about the point, the image capturing apparatus 1 and the image interpretation center 7 may be LAN-connected via the high-speed broadband network N, and the image file may be directly transmitted only to the image interpretation center 7 by the FTP protocol.

In this case, the client doctor may specify the communication mode 2 by the mode selection switch MS in step P9 of FIG. 12 after creating various files by the same operation as the above (1). Then, the mail creation control unit 3
3 recognizes that it is the communication mode 2 (see FIG. 12P1).
2) The IP address of the FTP server 44 is extracted from the memory 19, various files including image files, audio files, document files, etc. are read out and these data are sent to the FTP transfer means 34b of the communication control unit 34. (FIG. 12P13). FTP of the communication control unit 34
The transfer means 34b sends the various files sent from the control unit 33 to the wireless LAN connection adapter 38 by the FTP protocol (P4 in FIG. 13). The connection adapter 38 transmits the various files to the high-speed broadband network N via the access point A, and the various files are transferred to the FTP server 44 of the image interpretation center 5 via the broadband network N. . When the FTP server 44 receives the various files via the high speed broadband network N, the FTP server 44 transfers these various files to the DICOM server 46.

After that, the operation after the DICOM server 46 receives the various files is the same as the operation of (2) (communication mode 3), and the server 46 adds the DICOM tag to the general-purpose image file. Information 62
Is added and converted into a DICOM standard image file 63 and stored in the database 45 (P6 and P in FIG. 14).
2 to P5). After that, interpretation is performed by the procedure of the conventional route.

That is, when the DICOM server 46 receives an image file call command from the image interpretation workstations 48 and 49 (FIG. 14P9), the designated image file (in this case, DICOM-formatted transferred from the image pickup apparatus 1 is converted into DICOM). An image file 63 is read out and the read image file is transferred to the image interpretation workstations 48 and 49 (P10 and P11 in FIG. 14). As a result, the CT image sent from the imaging apparatus 1 is displayed on the display of the image interpretation workstations 48 and 49, so that the image interpretation specialist can perform image interpretation while looking at the image. The image interpretation result can be transmitted by the image interpretation doctor to the portable medical information imaging apparatus 1 of the requesting doctor by e-mail or the like, and other FA
It can be transmitted to the requesting doctor by X, telephone, etc.

With this configuration, the image data is transferred to the IS
Since the data can be transmitted via the high-speed broadband network N such as a DN line, the security problem in transmitting various files via the Internet I can be cleared, and the speed of the communication mode 1 is as high as that of the communication mode 1. Although not obtained, it is possible to make an image interpretation request at an arbitrary location using the portable medical information imaging apparatus 1 and obtain an image interpretation result.

(4) Transmission from the portable medical information photographing apparatus 1 to the personal computer 5 arranged in close proximity (communication mode 4) In this case, the requesting doctor sets the communication mode 4 by the mode selection switch MS in step P9 of FIG. specify. Then, the mail creation control unit 33 recognizes that the communication mode 4 is set (FIG. 12P14), reads various files including the image file (image file, document file, voice file, etc.) from the memory 19 to read the communication control unit 3
4 to the short-range wireless transfer means 34c (Fig. 12P1).
6).

The short-distance wireless transfer means 34c of the communication control unit 34 sends the files to the short-distance wireless interface 39 (FIG. 13P6), whereby the files are transmitted from the interface 39 to Bluetooth.
Based on the standard, packets are transmitted to the personal computers 5 arranged close to each other. The various files transmitted by the packet are received by the short-range wireless interface of the personal computer 5 and stored in the storage device or the like of the personal computer 5.
After that, the various files can be attached to the electronic mail from the personal computer 5 and transmitted to the contractor's personal computer 4 ′ or the non-contractor's personal computer 4 or the like via the image interpretation center 7, or the personal computer 5 It is also possible to transfer each of the above files to the image interpretation center 7 through the high speed broadband network N based on the FTP protocol.

On the personal computer 4'of the image interpretation specialist, the image interpretation specialist performs image interpretation in the same manner as in (1) above, and transmits the image interpretation result to the imaging apparatus 1 owned by the requesting doctor by e-mail, or by fax, telephone or the like. The client can promptly receive advice by contacting the requesting doctor. In the image interpretation center 7, the image file is converted into DICOM and D
It can be centrally managed as image data of the ICOM standard.

According to this structure, by arranging the personal computer 5 equipped with the above-mentioned short-distance wireless interface at a short distance, various files can be easily transmitted wirelessly to the personal computer 5, and after that, Various files can be transmitted to a desired destination on the personal computer 5, and the interpretation result can be quickly obtained.

(5) Transmission from the portable medical information photographing apparatus 1 to the portable medical information photographing apparatus 1'Next, the operation when a plurality of doctors each have the portable medical information photographing apparatus 1 will be described. To do. In this case, in the memory 19 of the photographing apparatus 1, a doctor who wants to send an image file in advance has a mail address (*** @ × xxx.
or. jp, see FIG. 17). The requesting doctor who wants to request image interpretation captures a CT image or the like by the same operation as in (1) above, creates an e-mail with the document file, image file, voice file, etc. attached (FIGS. 12P5 to P8), and By designating the e-mail address of the device 1 ′, the transmission operation is performed in the communication mode 1 (FIGS. 12P9 to P11). As a result, the electronic mail can be transmitted via the Internet I to the portable medical information imaging apparatus 1 ′ of the same configuration owned by the image interpretation specialist. When the image interpretation specialist performs an e-mail receiving operation on the imaging apparatus 1 ′ (P1 in FIG. 12), the received e-mail is transmitted to the communication control unit 34 (reception control means 34 of the apparatus 1).
The document file and the image file are analyzed by the mail creation control unit 33 via d) and the LCD via the output unit 35.
The document and the captured CT image are sent to the unit 10 and displayed on the LCD 10a of the LCD unit 10 (FIG. 13).
P1, P2, FIG. 12P2-P4).

Therefore, the image interpretation specialist who possesses the device 1'has the C displayed on the LCD screen of his imaging device 1 '.
Interpretation can be performed by referring to the T image and the interpretation request document. When transmitting the interpretation result by e-mail, the interpretation result is entered by characters and the e-mail creation processing is performed (FIG. 12P5), and the interpretation result is described by the mail creation control unit 33 by the same procedure as in (1) above. An e-mail is created (FIG. 12P6). After that, the image interpretation doctor may select the communication mode 1 (FIG. 12P9). Then, similar to (1) above, the electronic mail is transferred to the portable medical information imaging device 1 of the doctor designated by the communication control unit 34.

When the requesting doctor performs a mail receiving operation using the input means 37 of his / her portable medical information photographing apparatus 1 (FIG. 1).
2P1), similar to (1) above, the mail creation control unit 33
Performs reception processing of the electronic mail from a predetermined provider ISP on the Internet I (FIG. 12P2). As a result, the e-mail is received by the communication control unit 34 (reception control unit 34d) of the portable medical information imaging apparatus 1 (FIG. 13).
P1, P2), the mail creation control unit 32 displays the electronic mail on the LCD unit 10, and the voice file and the like are stored in the memory 19
(FIGS. 12P3 and P4). Therefore, the doctor determines the interpretation finding of the specialist by the portable medical information imaging apparatus 1
You can see it quickly. If a voice file is attached to the above-mentioned e-mail as an image finding, the requesting doctor may press the voice reproduction switch 29 (Fig. 10P).
1). Then, the voice data reproduction command means 28 reads the voice file received from the memory 19 (see FIG. 10).
P2), the voice data of the voice file is converted to D / A converter 1
7 (FIG. 10P3). As a result, the conversion unit 1
The audio signal converted in 7 is the speaker S of the audio reproducing unit 18.
It is reproduced from p and the interpretation finding can be heard by voice.

According to such a configuration, if a plurality of doctors each have the portable medical information photographing apparatus 1, they can request an image interpretation anytime, anywhere, regardless of location by transmitting / receiving image data and the like and electronic mail. It is possible to obtain the effect of being able to receive the advice of a specialist doctor very quickly.

In the above embodiment, the portable medical information photographing apparatus 1 has the digital camera section as an example. However, instead of the digital camera section, a so-called digital video cassette is used to record a moving image, and an arbitrary time is taken. A digital video camera unit having a function of recording a still image or a moving image of a predetermined time on the memory card may be provided. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the image interpretation request information is attached to the email as a document file, but the contents of the document file (FIG. 16) may be directly described in the email. Moreover, although the said communication mode demonstrated the embodiment provided with communication mode 1-4, the structure which has any one of each communication mode 1-4 independently, and any two or more of each communication mode 1-4. It is also possible to adopt a configuration having any one of the three configurations, that is, the communication modes 1 to 4.

As described above, according to the present invention, medical information such as medical images photographed by the portable medical information photographing apparatus 1 is electronically transmitted to the image interpretation specialist (contract specialist or non-contract specialist, or other image interpretation specialist). Since it is configured so that it can be sent by e-mail, etc., even if there is no equipment such as a dedicated personal computer for sending medical images, the image displayed on the monitor such as CT at any medical site, etc. Since various information can be directly captured and medical images can be immediately sent to the image interpretation specialist, and the results of image interpretation by the specialist can be obtained in a short time, it is possible to respond sufficiently to changes in the patient's condition over time. It's what you get advice on.

Further, instead of transmitting from the dedicated personal computer fixedly installed and connected to the medical equipment to the image interpretation center as in the prior art, it is possible to request the image interpretation directly from the portable medical information imaging apparatus 1 which can be carried by the doctor. Therefore, it is possible to make an interpretation request anytime, anywhere, at any place, at any time. In addition, a personal computer 4'of the contracted image interpretation specialist's home or hospital connected to the image interpretation center 7,
Alternatively, if the personal computer 4 of the uncontracted specialist or the image interpretation specialist carries the portable medical information imaging apparatus 1 ',
Since the image interpretation request can be directly made to the imaging apparatus 1 ′, the image interpretation result can be obtained in an extremely short time, and the image interpretation request system that matches the needs of the medical field can be constructed. That is, according to the system of the present invention, "specialist advice" corresponding to "one or several key images" can be obtained extremely quickly in a medical field, and thereby, appropriate medical treatment can be performed promptly. The effect of being able to do is obtained.

Further, the image data can be easily transmitted by simply photographing the monitor screen such as CT and other various information as if it were a camera, and the troublesome operation of the dedicated personal computer or the operation of the dedicated device such as the scanner is performed. It is possible to immediately issue an interpretation request for any subject with an extremely simple operation anytime, anywhere without the need of a technician or the like.

Also, a document file or a voice message can be transmitted together with the image data, and the interpretation result can be received by an electronic mail with a voice file.

Further, since the four communication mode selection switches are provided and the destination can be selected in accordance with each of the modes 1 to 4, it is possible to transmit the medical image data and the like by an extremely simple operation. Have an effect.

At the image interpretation center 7, the medical image data of the general-purpose format photographed by the photographing apparatus 1 is DICOMed.
Since the data is converted into the standard, it is possible to promptly obtain the advice of a specialist, and at the same time, the medical image file taken by the image taking apparatus 1 is DICOed at the image interpretation center 7 at the DICO.
It can be centrally managed as an M image.
When there is a DICOM image file (past data) of the same patient at the time of image interpretation of the medical image taken by the image taking apparatus 1 in 1., the past file can be compared and referred to, and the image taking apparatus can be used at the time of image reading of the conventional route. It is also possible to compare and refer to the medical image taken in No. 1, and thereby more appropriate interpretation can be performed.

Since not only still images but also moving image files can be transmitted, so-called moving image diagnosis can be easily performed.

Further, the portable medical information photographing apparatus 1 of the present invention
Is a mounting connector for various memory cards, RS232C
Since it has a connector, it can capture medical image files taken by a general-purpose digital camera etc. and recorded on a memory card, or data of general-purpose digital cameras and other medical devices, and send this information to an image interpretation specialist. It is possible to provide a highly versatile device.

Regarding the present invention, the following items will be further disclosed. 1. The portable medical information photographing apparatus (wireless communication means) uses the Internet (I) as a communication mode for transmitting at least a general-purpose medical image file, and transmits the file via the mail server (43) of the image interpretation center (7). Mode for transmitting the file to the contractor computer (4 ') or using the Internet (I) without passing through the image interpretation center (7) to the non-contractor computer (4).
Communication mode 1 including a mode of transmitting the file to the image interpretation center (7) using the high speed broadband network (N), and a mode of transmitting the file to the Internet (I) Interpretation Center (7)
Communication mode 3 in which the file is transmitted to the non-contractor computer (4, etc.) without using the high speed broadband network (N), and the file is transmitted to the image interpretation center (7) using a high speed broadband network (N), and the file is a short-range wireless interface. A medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information imaging apparatus, which has four communication modes of mode 4 for transmitting to (39). 2.
In the system 1 above, the portable medical information imaging apparatus is at least one of the four communication modes 1 to 4.
A medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information imaging device that has two communication modes. 3. In the system of 1 above, the portable medical information imaging device is 4
A medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information imaging apparatus, which has at least any two or more communication modes among the four communication modes 1 to 4. 4. In the system of 1 above, the portable medical information photographing device uses any one of the four communication modes 1 to 4 for medical treatment using the portable medical information photographing device. Information interpretation system.

[0096]

As described above, according to the present invention, the medical information such as the medical image taken by the portable medical information photographing apparatus can be transmitted to the personal computer of the image interpretation doctor. Even if there is no equipment such as a personal computer for transmitting medical images, it is possible to directly take an image of the CT monitor or other various information at any time and at any time, and immediately send it to the image interpretation specialist. The effect is that the advice of a specialist can be obtained in a short time.

Further, it is possible to promptly obtain the advice of a specialist and to centrally manage medical images taken by the portable medical information imaging apparatus as standardized medical images at the image interpretation center.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information imaging apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the same photographing device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the image pickup apparatus of the above.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image interpretation center of the same system.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a communication control unit of the photographing device of the above.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of an image file extracting means of the same apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of an image capturing instruction means of the same apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of image data reproduction command means and display control means of the same apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of a voice file creation command means of the same apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of an audio data reproduction command means of the same apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of a document creation control unit of the same apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of a mail creation control unit of the same apparatus.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of a communication control unit of the same apparatus.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of a DICOM server of the image interpretation center of the system.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the mail server of the above center.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the contents of a document file.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing stored contents of a memory of the same apparatus.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of converting a general-purpose image file into a DICOM standard image file.

[Explanation of sign]

I Internet N high speed broadband network 1,1 'Portable medical information imaging device PC of 4 non-contract specialists 4'Contract specialist PC 7 Interpretation center 8 Digital camera section 8a Imaging unit 8b Image file creation section 11a to 11d connectors 20 Image file extraction means 26 Audio file creation command means 27 recording switch 33 Mail creation control unit 34 Communication control unit 37 wireless modem 38 Wireless LAN connection adapter 39 Short-range wireless interface 43 Mail server 44 FTP server 45 database 48, 49 Interpretation workstation 62, 62 'DICOM tag information 63 DICOM standard image data M1 to M4 memory card Mic microphone

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Takashi Kobayashi             2-17-6 Suzaku, Dazaifu City, Fukuoka Prefecture (72) Inventor Tsuruo Matsuda             2-21-5 Tsukinoura, Onojo City, Fukuoka Prefecture F-term (reference) 4C093 AA26 CA32 FG19 FH02 FH06                       FH07

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An image interpretation center connected to a network, a portable medical information imaging apparatus wirelessly connectable to the network and capable of communicating with the image interpretation center, and a contractor computer connected to the image interpretation center. The portable medical information imaging apparatus is a system that comprises an imaging means for imaging various subjects in a medical field to generate medical image data,
The image reading center includes a file creating unit capable of creating a general-purpose medical image file in a general-purpose file format based on the medical image data, and a wireless communication unit capable of wirelessly transmitting the general-purpose medical image file to a network. Means for receiving a standardized medical image file of a specific format via the device and displaying the standardized medical image file for interpretation, and receiving the general-purpose medical image file sent from the imaging device via the network. And a means for transmitting the received general-purpose medical image file to the contractor computer, wherein the contractor computer displays on the display the captured image of the general-purpose medical image file sent from the image interpretation center. A medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information imaging device equipped with Temu. 2. The medical information interpretation system using the portable medical information imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the interpretation center adds tag information to the received general-purpose medical image file and standardizes medical information in a specific format. Medical information interpretation using a portable medical information imaging device, which has a computer with a function to convert to an image file and a database that stores the converted standardized medical image file together with other standardized medical image files system. 3. The medical information interpretation system using the portable medical information imaging apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the interpretation center is a file connected to an Internet server connected to the Internet and a high-speed broadband network. The portable medical information imaging apparatus comprises a receiving server, and the general-purpose medical image file can be transmitted to the contractor's computer via the Internet server of the image interpretation center by an internet connection means and a high-speed broadband network. A medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information imaging device, comprising: a high-speed broadband network connection means capable of transferring a general-purpose medical image file to a file receiving server of the image interpretation center. 4. A photographing means for photographing various subjects in a medical field to generate medical image data, a file generating means capable of generating a general-purpose medical image file in a general-purpose format based on the medical image data, and the general-purpose medical treatment. A portable medical information imaging device having a wireless communication means capable of wirelessly transmitting an image file to a network, and a communication means for receiving a general-purpose medical image file transmitted from the portable medical information imaging device via the network. And a medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information imaging device comprising a contractor computer or a non-contractor computer having a display unit for displaying the medical image file received by the communication unit. 5. The medical information interpretation system using the portable medical information imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the portable medical information imaging apparatus locates the general-purpose medical image file at a short distance. Medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information imaging device, which has a short-range wireless interface capable of wireless transmission to a computer. 6. A medical information interpretation system using the portable medical information photographing device according to claim 1, wherein the photographing means of the portable medical information photographing device is a digital camera function or a digital video. A medical information interpretation system using a portable medical information imaging device, which has a camera function, and the general-purpose medical image file captured by the imaging means is a still image or a moving image. 7. A medical information interpretation system using the portable medical information photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the portable medical information photographing apparatus is a general-purpose memory card used in a general-purpose digital photographing apparatus. Mounted connector, an image file extracting means capable of selectively extracting any one of the general-purpose medical image file photographed by the photographing means and the general-purpose medical image file in the memory card, and the image file extracting means. And a mail creation control means for creating an image interpretation request mail including a general medical image file, the wireless communication means transmitting the image interpretation request mail to the contractor computer via the network. Medical information interpretation system using medical information imaging device. 8. The medical information interpretation system using the portable medical information photographing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the portable medical information photographing apparatus uses a microphone for voice recording and an audio signal input from the microphone. And a voice file creating means capable of creating a voice file of a general-purpose file format on the basis of the above, wherein the mail creation control means is capable of creating an image interpretation request mail including the voice file. Medical information interpretation system used. 9. The medical information interpretation system using the portable medical information imaging apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the plurality of mounting connectors correspond to a plurality of types of memory cards used in general-purpose digital imaging equipment. A medical information interpretation system that uses a portable medical information imaging device.