JP2005277558A - Image processing method, image processor, computer program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To find past images to be differentially processed efficiently from all past images retained for generating only elapsed differential images beneficial to a diagnosis. <P>SOLUTION: An image processing method comprises a reference image setting process for setting an image that becomes a reference for generating a differential processing image; a search condition setting process for setting a key image that becomes a reference for searching the image of the same patient as a reference image set by the reference image setting process, and setting search conditions in an image based on the photograph date/time of the set key image; an image search process for searching the image of the same patient as the reference image based on search conditions set by the search condition setting process; and a differential image generation process for generating a differential image from an image searched by the image search process and the reference image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for generating a temporal difference image, and more specifically, a radiological image such as a chest X-ray image, and a temporal difference image for a reference image is generated based on preset information. Thus, the present invention relates to a method for generating only a temporal difference image useful for diagnosis.

  The doctor can know the patient's condition by taking an X-ray image of the patient and interpreting the taken image.

  Conventionally, after taking a picture with an X-ray apparatus and developing the film, the image is read using a shaucusten. However, digital X-ray devices have been developed, and X-ray images have been captured by computers as digital data. Therefore, today, an X-ray image is displayed on a computer display and interpreted.

  Therefore, CAD (Computer Aided Diagnosis) is drawing attention. CAD is used to analyze an image taken by X-ray or CT and efficiently detect a portion suspected of having a lesion. In recent years, CAD research has been actively conducted and is expected to contribute to early detection of lesions.

  Various methods are considered for CAD depending on the target image and the detection target. By taking the difference between images obtained by photographing the same part in the CAD, a time difference method is used to obtain an image that emphasizes temporal changes. There is CAD.

  In time-dependent CAD, for example, image analysis is performed on a set of chest X-ray images of the same patient taken at different points in time to obtain anatomically identical positions in each image. One of the images is deformed, and a difference process for each pixel is performed to generate a temporal difference image.

  In the conventional temporal difference image generation method, when a doctor generates a temporal difference image, a set of different images in a time series is selected, and the temporal difference image of the set is generated.

  However, when there are a plurality of images for the same patient, it may be desired to generate a temporal difference image between the latest image and a plurality of past images. At that time, generating time-difference images for all past images is a heavy burden on the doctor and takes a lot of time.

As a method for generating a temporal difference image for avoiding this, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-230517 is a method of automatically generating a specified number of temporal difference images in a time-series order from a plurality of different radiation images. . (See Patent Document 1)
Specifically, at the same time that the radiographic image is taken into the data storage unit, a time-difference image is automatically generated and stored in the data storage unit for all the previously specified sets of radiographic images. In other words, in the present invention, the temporal difference image is generated for all the previously specified sets of images, so that the temporal difference image between the past images is also generated. Therefore, if the designated number is N, N (N-1) / 2 time-difference images are generated.
JP 2002-230517 A

  However, if the time-sequential difference images for the designated number are simply automatically generated in chronological order, the temporal difference images between the images with little change are also generated. As a result, a time-difference image that is meaningless for diagnosis is generated, and the doctor looks through images that are not necessary for diagnosis, increasing the burden of interpretation. In addition, the capacity of the hard disk is also pressed, which causes a waste of processing time.

  Furthermore, there is also a problem that if the specified number is small, it is not possible to reach the past image for which a time difference image is desired to be generated, and if the specified number is increased in order to prevent it, a time difference image between past images is also generated. Assuming that the designated number of images is 20, a considerably large number of temporal difference images as 190 images are generated.

  Therefore, the present invention intends to solve how to find a past image to be subjected to difference processing in order to generate a temporal difference image useful for diagnosis from all the past images held. It is a problem to do.

  In view of the above-described problems, the invention described in claim 1 is the same as the reference image setting step for setting a reference image for generating a difference processed image and the reference image set by the reference image setting step. A search condition setting step for setting a key image serving as a reference for searching for a patient image and setting an image search condition based on the shooting date and time of the set key image, and a search set by the search condition setting step An image search step for searching for an image of the same patient as the reference image based on a condition, and a difference image generation step for generating a difference image from the image searched by the image search step and the reference image It is said.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a reference image setting step for setting an image serving as a reference for generating a difference processed image, and searching for images of the same patient as the reference image set by the reference image setting step A search condition setting step for setting a key image serving as a reference for performing a search, counting the images in order of shooting date and time based on the set key image, and setting a search condition so as to search for an image having a predetermined count value Based on the search condition set by the search condition setting step, an image search step for searching for an image of the same patient as the reference image, and a difference image is generated from the image searched by the image search step and the reference image And a difference image generation step.

  Furthermore, the invention described in claim 10 includes a reference image setting step for setting an image serving as a reference for generating a difference processed image, and information regarding whether to generate a difference processed image between the reference images. An information adding step for adding an image, an image searching step for searching for an image of the same patient as the reference image, the information adding step providing information for generating a difference processed image, and the image searching It has the difference image generation process which produces | generates a difference image from the image searched by the process, and the said reference | standard image, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  The invention described in claim 1 sets a key image as a reference for searching for an image of the same patient as the reference image, and sets an image search condition based on the shooting date and time of the set key image, An image that efficiently generates a difference process can be searched.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, a key image serving as a reference for searching for an image of the same patient as the reference image is set, the images are counted in order of photographing date and time based on the set key image, By setting a search condition so as to search for an image that becomes a count value, an image that efficiently generates a difference process can be searched.

  Furthermore, the invention described in claim 10 can identify an image to be subjected to the difference processing in advance by giving the image information regarding whether or not to generate the difference processed image with the reference image. An image that efficiently generates a difference process can be searched.

(First embodiment)
DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram for realizing a temporal difference image generation method according to the present invention.

  The instruction input unit 10 is a general instruction input device such as a mouse or a keyboard. The instruction input device gives instructions to the setting units (11 to 14). The reference image setting unit 11 sets an original image when the temporal difference image generation unit 16 generates the temporal difference image. That is, it is one of the two images necessary for generating the time-difference image. The key image setting unit 12 sets a reference image when the image searching unit 15 searches for past images of the same patient based on the number of searched images.

  The search condition setting unit 13 sets a search period when the image search unit 15 searches for past images of the same patient, or sets the number of searches. Further, the search end condition setting unit 14 sets a search end condition when the image search unit 15 searches for past images of the same patient. Based on the search condition set by the search condition setting unit 13, the image search unit 15 stores past images of the same patient as a search target until the search end condition set by the search end condition setting unit 14 is satisfied. Until there is no more, a past image of the same patient as the reference image stored in the image storage unit 17 is searched.

  The temporal difference image generation unit 16 generates a temporal difference image between the reference image set by the reference image setting unit 11 and the past image found by the search by the image search unit 15. After generating the temporal difference image, the image search unit 15 checks whether the search end condition set by the search end condition setting unit 14 is satisfied, or whether there is no past image of the same patient to be searched. As a result of the confirmation, if it is determined that the search end condition is not satisfied or that a past image of the same patient still exists, the search is repeated based on the search condition again. Then, the search is performed in the same procedure until the search end condition is satisfied or there are no more past images of the same patient.

  The reference image, the key image, and the past image described above are stored in the image storage unit 17. Further, the generated temporal difference image is also stored in the image storage unit 17. The image stored in the image storage unit 17 is displayed on the image display unit 18. Here, the image display unit 18 is a general display device such as a liquid crystal display or a CRT display.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the overall flow of the first embodiment when the search condition is set to the search period in the temporal difference image generation method of the present invention.

  In step S101, a search period necessary for searching for past images by the search condition setting unit 13 (period to be searched once) and a search end condition for ending the search by the search end condition setting unit 14 Set.

  In step S <b> 102, the reference image setting unit 11 sets a reference image that is a source for generating a temporal difference image. In step S103, when the key image setting unit 12 performs a search, a key image that is the starting point of the search period is set.

  In step S104, the image search unit 15 searches for past images of the same patient as the reference image based on the search conditions set in step S101. In step S105, the process branches so that different processes are performed depending on the number of past images found by the search.

  This is because when searching in the search period, a situation occurs in which one past image is found, a plurality of past images are found, or no past image is found.

  Step S106-1 is processing when the number of past images found by the search is one. When there is one search result, the temporal difference image generation unit 16 generates a temporal difference image using a combination of the found past image and the reference image set in step S102. In step S107, the generated temporal difference image is stored in the image storage unit 17.

  Step S106-2 is a process when a past image of the same patient is not found within the search period. If the search result is 0, the time-difference image generation unit 16 generates a time-difference image by combining the newest image among the past images before the search period and the reference image set in step S102. To do. In step S107, the generated temporal difference image is stored in the image storage unit 17.

  Step S106-3 is processing when a plurality of past images of the same patient are found within the search period. When there are a plurality of search results, the time-difference image generation unit 16 generates a time-difference image using a combination of the oldest image among the plurality of found past images and the reference image set in step S102. . In step S107, the generated temporal difference image is stored in the image storage unit 17.

  In step S108, it is determined whether the search end condition set in step S101 is satisfied, or whether there are no more past images of the same patient to be searched. If neither condition is satisfied, the process returns to step S104, and a search is performed again to generate a temporal difference image. If either condition is satisfied, the search is terminated and the generation of the temporal difference image is stopped.

  FIG. 3 shows a specific example in the case where the search condition is set every four months of the search period and the search end condition is set to 10 searches.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when images are taken a total of 12 times from June 2001 to March 2003, it is a heavy burden for the doctor to select a past image for generating a temporal difference image. It is.

  In addition, when time-difference images are simply generated in chronological order, for example, when two images are taken in one month, such as July and August 2002, there is little change. A temporal difference image may be generated.

  Therefore, the search condition is set by the search condition setting unit 13 described above, and only a temporal difference image useful for diagnosis is generated.

  First, a search condition (search period of 4 months) is set by the search condition setting unit 13, and a search end condition (search count 10 times) is set by the search end condition setting unit 14. Further, an image of March 2003 is set as a reference image by the reference image setting unit 11 and a key image is set by the key image setting unit 12.

  Next, since the search condition is set every four months by the search condition setting unit 13, past images from the key image up to four months ago are searched. Since there is only one past image in the four months from '03 / 03, a time difference image ('03 / 03 to '02 / 12 images) is generated by the temporal difference image generation unit 16.

  After the time difference image generation, it is confirmed whether the search end condition (the number of searches 10 times) set by the search end condition setting unit 14 is satisfied, or whether there are no more past images of the same patient, In this case, since the search end condition is not yet satisfied, the search is repeated every four months.

  There are 3 past images in 4 months from '02 / 11. As described above, when a plurality of past images are found by the search, the oldest past image among the plurality of found past images, that is, the time difference image (“02/07 image” and the reference image) is combined. '03 / 03 to '02 / 07) are generated.

  After the time difference image is generated, it is confirmed again whether the search end condition set by the search end condition setting unit 14 is satisfied (the number of searches is 10 times) or there are no more past images of the same patient. In this case, the search end condition is not yet satisfied, so the search is repeated every four months.

  When a past image for four months from '01 / 11 is retrieved, no past image exists within that period in the example of FIG. In such a case, a time-difference image ('03 / 03 to '01 / 06 image) that is a combination of the latest past image, that is, the '01 / 06 image and the reference image, which has an imaged date and time older than the search period. ) Is generated.

  In the example of FIG. 3, the search end condition is set to 10 times. However, when a time difference image with “01/06” is generated, there is no older past image, so the search ends there. . Therefore, finally, five temporal difference images are generated.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the overall flow of the second embodiment when the search condition is set to the search period in the temporal difference image generation method of the present invention.

  In step S201, the search condition setting unit 13 searches for a past image (search period to be searched once) and the search end condition setting unit 14 ends the search. Set conditions.

  In step S <b> 202, the reference image setting unit 11 sets a reference image that is a source for generating a temporal difference image. In step S203, the key image setting unit 12 sets a key image as a starting point of the search period when searching.

  In step S204, the image search unit 15 searches for a past image having a date closest to the end date of the search period set in step S201, and the process branches depending on the number of past images found in the search.

  This is because a plurality of past images having a date closest to the end date of the search period may be found. That is, when the end date of the search period is 2003/02/01, both the image shot on 2003/01/02 and the image shot on 2003/03/03 are both the search period end date 2003. This is because the past image of the date closest to / 02/01 is obtained, and two past images are found by the search. If two images were taken on 2003/01/02, three images are found.

  If only one past image having a date closest to the end date of the search period is found, the process proceeds to step S205-1. In step S205-1, the temporal difference image generation unit 16 generates a temporal difference image using a combination of the found past image and the reference image set in step S202. In step S206, the generated temporal difference image is stored in the image storage unit 17.

  When a plurality of past images having a date closest to the end date of the search period are found as in the example described above, the process proceeds to step S205-2. In step S205-2, the temporal difference image generation unit 16 determines whether the temporal difference is obtained by combining any one of the plurality of past images found or all the past images found and the reference image set in step S202. Generate an image. In step S206, the generated temporal difference image is stored in the image storage unit 17.

  In step S207, it is determined whether the search end condition set in step S201 is satisfied, or whether there are no more past images of the same patient to be searched. If neither condition is satisfied, the process returns to step S204, and a search is performed again to generate a temporal difference image. If either condition is satisfied, the search is terminated and the generation of the temporal difference image is stopped.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an overall flow when the search condition is set so as to hit an image that is a multiple of 4 when the search condition is counted retroactively from the key image in the temporal difference image generation method of the present invention. .

  In step S301, the search condition setting unit 13 sets a count number necessary for searching for past images, and the search end condition setting unit 14 sets a search end condition for ending the search.

  In step S <b> 302, the reference image setting unit 11 sets a reference image that is a source for generating a temporal difference image. In step S303, the key image setting unit 12 sets a key image that is the starting point of the count when the search is performed.

  In step S304, based on the search conditions set in step S301, the image search unit 15 searches for past images of the same patient as the reference image. Then, in step S305, the process branches so that different processing is performed depending on whether a past image that is a multiple of 4 is found by counting backward from the key image.

  Step S306-1 is a process in the case where a past image that is a multiple of 4 is found. When a past image corresponding to the search condition is found, a temporal difference image is generated by a combination of the found past image and the reference image set in step S302. In step S307, the generated temporal difference image is stored in the image storage unit 17.

  Step S <b> 306-2 is processing when a past image that is a multiple of 4 is not found. If no past image is found in the number of search images, a temporal difference image is generated by combining the oldest past image among the past images to be searched and the reference image set in step S302. In step S307, the generated temporal difference image is stored in the image storage unit 17.

  In step S308, it is determined whether the search end condition set in step S301 is satisfied, or whether there are no more past images of the same patient to be searched. If neither condition is satisfied, the process returns to step S304, and a search is performed again to generate a temporal difference image. If either condition is satisfied, the search is terminated and the generation of the temporal difference image is stopped.

  FIG. 6 shows a specific example in the case where the search condition is counted from the key image and is set to a multiple of 4, and the search end condition is set to 10 searches.

  First, the search condition setting unit 13 sets search conditions, and the search end condition setting unit 14 sets search end conditions. Further, an image of March 2003 is set as a reference image by the reference image setting unit 11 and a key image is set by the key image setting unit 12.

  Next, since the search condition is set to a multiple of 4 by the search condition setting unit 13, the fourth past image counting back from the key image to the past, that is, the '02 / 07 image is the image search unit. 15 is searched. Then, a temporal difference image ('03 / 03 to '02 / 07 image) is generated by the temporal difference image generation unit 16 by a combination of the searched past image and the reference image.

  After the time difference image generation, it is confirmed whether the search end condition (the number of searches 10 times) set by the search end condition setting unit 14 is satisfied, or whether there are no more past images of the same patient, In this case, since the search end condition is not yet satisfied, the search is repeated every fourth frame from the '02 / 07 image that is the target when generating the time difference image, and the eighth image from the key image is obtained. Search for.

  When the fourth past image (the 12th image from the key image) is searched from the '02 / 01 image, the fourth past image does not exist in the example of FIG. In such a case, the time difference image ('03 / 03 to '01 / ') is a combination of the oldest past image, that is, the oldest past image, that is, the '01 / 06 image, and the reference image, which is newer than the search number. 06 image).

  In the example of FIG. 6, the search end condition is set to 10 times. However, when a time difference image with “01/06” is generated, there is no older past image of the same patient, so search is performed there. Ends. Therefore, finally, three temporal difference images are generated.

(Fourth embodiment)
In the first to third embodiments, an example has been described in which the key image is set as the latest image and the search is performed retroactively from the new image in time series, but the present invention is not necessarily in that form. Not only. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the search may be performed from the oldest image to the newer in time series.

  FIG. 7 shows a specific example in the case where the search condition is set for every 4 search sheets or the search period is set for every 4 months, and the search end condition is set to 10 times for the search.

  First, the search condition setting unit 13 sets search conditions, and the search end condition setting unit 14 sets search end conditions. Further, an image of March 2003 is set as a reference image by the reference image setting unit 11 and a key image is set by the key image setting unit 12.

  When a search is performed from the oldest past image to the newer in time series, first, the time difference image between the key image ('01 / 06 image) and the reference image ('03 / 03 to '01 / 06). Image) and then start the search.

  When the search condition is set to every four sheets by the search condition setting unit 13 (FIG. 7A), the fourth past image counted from the key image, that is, the '02 / 02 image is the image search unit. 15 is searched. Then, a temporal difference image ('03 / 03 to '02 / 02 image) is generated by the temporal difference image generation unit 16 by a combination of the searched past image and the reference image.

  After the time difference image generation, it is confirmed whether the search end condition (the number of searches 10 times) set by the search end condition setting unit 14 is satisfied, or whether there are no more past images of the same patient, In this case, since the search end condition is not yet satisfied, the search for every fourth image is repeated again from the '02 / 02 image that is the target when the time-difference image is generated.

  When the fourth past image is searched from the '02 / 08 image, the fourth past image does not exist in the example of FIG. In such a case, a time-difference image ('03 / 03) is a combination of the latest past image, ie, the '02 / 12 image and the reference image, which has an imaged date and time older than the number of searched images except for the reference image. ~ '02 / 12 image).

  In the example of FIG. 7 (a), the search end condition is set to 10 times. However, when a temporal difference image with the '02 / 12 image is generated, a newer same patient except for the reference image is generated. Since no past image exists, the search ends there. Therefore, finally, four temporal difference images are generated.

  When the search condition is set every four months by the search condition setting unit 13 (FIG. 7B), past images from the key image up to four months later are searched. There is no past image in the four months from '01 / 06. In such a case, a time-difference image ('03 / 03 to '01 / 11) is a combination of the oldest past image, that is, the oldest past image that is newer than the search period, that is, the '01 / 11 image and the reference image. Image).

  After the time difference image generation, it is confirmed whether the search end condition (the number of searches 10 times) set by the search end condition setting unit 14 is satisfied, or whether there are no more past images of the same patient, In this case, since the search end condition is not yet satisfied, the search is repeated every four months.

  Since there is one past image from '01 / 10 to 4 months, a temporal difference image ('03 / 03 to '02 / 02 image) by combining that image, that is, a combination of the '02 / 02 image and the reference image. ) Is generated by the temporal difference image generation unit 16.

  After the time difference image is generated, it is confirmed again whether the search end condition set by the search end condition setting unit 14 is satisfied (the number of searches is 10 times) or there are no more past images of the same patient. In this case, the search end condition is not yet satisfied, so the search is repeated every four months.

  There are 3 past images in 4 months from '02 / 06. As described above, when a plurality of past images are found by the search, the most recent past image among the plurality of past images found, that is, the time difference image (“02/09” image and the reference image are combined). '03 / 03 to '02 / 09) are generated.

  In the example of FIG. 7B, the search end condition is set to 10 times. However, when a time difference image with the '02 / 12 image is generated, a new past image other than the reference image is displayed. Since it does not exist, the search ends there. Therefore, finally, six temporal difference images are generated.

  When a search is performed in such an embodiment, the same past image can be found every time unless the search condition is changed. Therefore, even if there is a newly taken image, it is possible to generate a time-difference image for the same past image every time.

(Fifth embodiment)
As described above, the reference image set by the reference image setting unit 11 and the key image set by the key image setting unit 12 in the embodiment described above may be set manually by the user. The captured image may be automatically set when the image storage unit 17 captures the captured image.

(Sixth embodiment)
FIG. 8 is a system configuration diagram for realizing the temporal difference image generation method according to the present invention. The instruction input unit 101 is a general instruction input device such as a mouse or a keyboard. The instruction input device gives instructions to the setting units (102 to 103).

  The reference image setting unit 102 sets an original image from the instruction input unit 101 when the temporal difference image generation unit 106 generates a temporal difference image. That is, it becomes one of the two images necessary for generating the temporal difference image.

  In addition, the difference image generation information setting unit 103 sets an image to be subjected to difference processing with the reference image set by the reference image setting unit 102. Information set in the difference image generation information setting unit 103 is stored in the difference image generation information storage unit 104.

  The difference target image search unit 105 searches for the difference target image from the images stored in the image storage unit 107 based on the information stored in the difference image generation information unit 104. The temporal difference image generation unit 106 generates a temporal difference image between the reference image set by the reference image setting unit 102 and the past image found by the search by the difference target image search unit 105.

  The reference image, the difference target image, and the past image described above are stored in the image storage unit 107. Further, the generated temporal difference image is also stored in the image storage unit 107.

  The image stored in the image storage unit 107 is displayed on the image display unit 108. Here, the image display unit 108 is a general display device such as a liquid crystal display or a CRT display. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the overall flow of the temporal difference image generation method of the present invention. In this flow, the difference target image is set in advance in the difference image generation information setting unit.

  Here, the setting in the difference image generation information setting unit may be set at the first reference time of each captured image, or may be set using a tool that sets a plurality of images at an arbitrary time point. Good. In FIG. 10, the state in which difference image generation information is set at the time when a past image is captured is indicated by a broken line.

  In step S <b> 401, the reference image setting unit 102 sets a reference image that is a source for generating a temporal difference image.

  In step S402, based on the information on the difference target image stored in the difference image generation information storage unit 104, the difference target image search unit 105 searches for past images of the same patient as the reference image.

  In step S403, a difference image is generated by performing a difference process between the past image found by the search and the reference image set in step S401.

  In step S404, the temporal difference image generated in step S403 is stored in the image storage unit 107.

  In step S405, it is confirmed whether there is an image that has not been subjected to the difference process for the difference target image found in step S402. If there is an image for which the difference process has not been performed, the process returns to step S403, and the corresponding image is processed. To perform difference processing. When the difference process is performed on all the images to be subjected to the difference process, the temporal difference image generation process ends.

  FIG. 10 shows how the temporal difference image is generated in this embodiment.

  FIG. 10 shows that a patient has taken a total of four times in the past from February 2002 to January 2003, and a new image (image e) was taken in June 2003.

  Also, as described above, difference image generation information is set when each image is obtained, and here, images in February 2002 and October 2002 (images a and c) are preliminarily targeted for difference. Set as image. This setting content is written as the difference image generation information in FIG.

  Based on the difference image generation information, the difference target image search unit searches for an image that is set when the difference process is executed. In FIG. 10, since the images a and c are set to execute the difference processing, the images a and c are searched as the difference target images, and the difference image between the two images and the reference image e is retrieved. Is generated.

  In the present embodiment, the execution / non-execution of the difference processing for each image is stored as a table different from the image itself as the difference image generation information. However, the difference processing is executed for each image. Any method can be used as long as it can store the difference image generation information as supplementary information of the image in the header area of the X-ray image.

  In the embodiment, the latest image is set as the reference image, and a difference image from the past image is generated. However, the past image can be set as the reference image. FIG. 11 shows how a difference image is generated in the present embodiment. FIG. 11 shows that a certain patient has taken a total of five times from February 2002 to June 2003.

  After the fifth shooting, the difference image generation information is set as shown in FIG. 11, and the image c taken in October 2002 is set as a reference image. At this time, when the difference image generation process is performed, based on the difference image generation information, the images a and e become the difference target images with respect to the reference image c, and a difference image is generated.

  In addition, when a difference process with a new image is performed using a past image as a reference image, the meaning of the generated difference image is different from a case where a difference process with a past image is performed using a new image as a reference. .

  In other words, when the tumor in the image becomes smaller from the image a to the image e and the patient is recovering, if a difference image from the past image is generated with the reference image as e, The surrounding area is displayed in a whitish color indicating recovery. On the other hand, the image obtained by the difference process from the image e using the image c as the reference image has a larger tumor than the image e, and the periphery of the lesion is displayed in black.

(Seventh embodiment)
In the difference image generation information setting means, it is possible to generate the difference image with a plurality of patterns by setting the conditions for generating the difference image in a plurality of stages.

  That is, in the embodiment, in order to set the presence or absence of the difference processing, in the temporal difference image generation processing, it is determined whether or not the difference processing is performed on a certain image and the temporal difference image is generated. In this embodiment, since the presence / absence of difference processing is set for each stage of the difference target image, the difference processing is performed under certain conditions, but the difference processing is not performed under certain conditions. Become.

  FIG. 12 shows how the temporal difference image is generated in the present embodiment.

  FIG. 12 shows that a patient has taken a total of four times in the past from February 2002 to January 2003, and this time in June 2003, a new image (image e) was taken. .

  Here, a difference execution level is set in advance for images captured in the past. The difference execution level is an index that indicates whether or not to perform difference processing on an image in stages, and here, it is expressed in three stages of 1, 2, and 3 for convenience. In the present embodiment, when the difference process is always performed, the difference execution level is set to 3, and the possibility of performing the difference process becomes lower as the difference execution level is lowered.

  That is, if a certain image is very important as a reference image, the difference execution level is set to 3 and a difference image is always generated. On the other hand, if the image is not so important, the difference execution level is set to 1. Thus, generation of unnecessary difference images can be suppressed. When performing the difference processing, by specifying the difference execution level, it is possible to select an image to be subjected to the difference processing and an image not to be performed according to the difference execution level assigned to each image.

  The difference image generation information in FIG. 12 shows a state in which a difference execution level is given to four past images.

  When the difference processing is performed on the image captured in June 2003 at the difference execution level 2, the difference processing is performed with reference to the information written in the difference image generation information. When differential processing is performed at differential execution level 2, images a, c, and d having differential execution levels set to 2 or higher are retrieved and are subjected to differential processing. And the difference image of each image is produced | generated between these images searched as a difference object, and the reference | standard image e.

  In the present embodiment, the differential execution level is indicated by a numerical value in three stages. However, any method may be used as long as the generation condition of the differential image can be specified for each stage.

(Eighth embodiment)
As described above, the reference image set by the reference image setting unit 102 in the embodiment described above may be manually set by the user, or the photographed image is taken into the image storage unit 107. At this time, it may be set automatically.

(Other embodiments)
A function equivalent to the above-described mixed reality video storage / playback apparatus may be realized by a system including a plurality of devices. A software program that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied directly from a recording medium or to a system or apparatus having a computer that can execute the program using wired / wireless communication. The present invention includes a case where an equivalent function is achieved by a computer executing the supplied program.

  Accordingly, the program code itself supplied and installed in the computer in order to implement the functional processing of the present invention by the computer also realizes the present invention. That is, the computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention is also included in the present invention.

  In this case, the program may be in any form as long as it has a program function, such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to the OS.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, a magnetic recording medium such as a flexible disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD- There are optical / magneto-optical storage media such as RW, and non-volatile semiconductor memory.

  As a program supply method using wired / wireless communication, a computer program forming the present invention on a server on a computer network, or a computer forming the present invention on a client computer such as a compressed file including an automatic installation function A method of storing a data file (program data file) that can be a program and downloading the program data file to a connected client computer can be used. In this case, the program data file can be divided into a plurality of segment files, and the segment files can be arranged on different servers.

  That is, the present invention includes a server device that allows a plurality of users to download a program data file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to the user, and key information for decrypting the encryption for the user who satisfies a predetermined condition is obtained via, for example, a homepage It is also possible to realize the program by downloading it from the computer and executing the encrypted program using the key information and installing it on the computer.

  In addition to the functions of the above-described embodiments being realized by the computer executing the read program, the OS running on the computer based on the instruction of the program is a part of the actual processing. Alternatively, the functions of the above-described embodiment can be realized by performing all of them and performing the processing.

  Furthermore, after the program read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board or The CPU of the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can also be realized by the processing.

The system block diagram of the time difference image generation method by this invention The flowchart explaining the operation | movement of the difference image generation of 1st Embodiment. The figure explaining the difference image generation of 1st Embodiment The flowchart explaining the operation | movement of the difference image generation of 2nd Embodiment. The flowchart explaining the operation | movement of the difference image generation of 3rd Embodiment. The figure explaining the difference image generation of 3rd Embodiment The figure explaining difference image generation of a 4th embodiment The system block diagram of the time difference image generation method by this invention The flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the time difference image generation of 6th Embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining temporal difference image generation according to the sixth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining temporal difference image generation according to the sixth embodiment. The figure explaining the time-lapse difference image generation of the seventh embodiment

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Instruction input part 11 Standard image setting part 12 Key image setting part 13 Search condition setting part 14 Search end condition setting part 15 Image search part 16 Time difference image generation part 17 Image storage part 18 Image display part 101 Instruction input part 102 Reference image Setting unit 103 Difference image generation information setting unit 104 Difference image generation information storage unit 105 Difference target image search unit 106 Time difference image generation unit 107 Image storage unit 108 Image display unit

Claims (16)

A reference image setting step for setting an image serving as a reference for generating a difference processed image;
Search condition setting for setting a key image as a reference for searching for an image of the same patient as the reference image set in the reference image setting step, and setting an image search condition based on the shooting date and time of the set key image Process,
Based on the search condition set by the search condition setting step, an image search step for searching for an image of the same patient as the reference image,
An image processing method comprising: an image searched by the image search step; and a difference image generation step of generating a difference image from the reference image.   In the search condition setting step, the search period is divided into a plurality of search sections at a predetermined time interval based on the photographing date and time of the set key image, and the image search step is the same patient as the reference image from each of the plurality of search sections. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein a search condition is set so as to search for an image.   The search condition setting step divides a search period into a plurality of search sections at a predetermined time interval with reference to the photographing date and time of the set key image, and the image search step is the same patient as the reference image from each of the plurality of search sections. The image processing method according to claim 2, wherein a search condition is set so as to search for an image having the oldest shooting date and time.   Among the plurality of search sections, when there is no image of the same patient as the reference image in a predetermined search section, the image search step is performed from the images of the search sections adjacent to the predetermined search section, The image processing method according to claim 3, wherein an image of the same patient as the reference image and having the latest photographing date is searched.   The search condition setting step divides a search period into a plurality of search sections at a predetermined time interval with reference to the shooting date and time of the set key image, and the image closest to the date on which the image search step becomes the partition of the search section. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein a search condition is set so as to search. A reference image setting step for setting an image serving as a reference for generating a difference processed image;
A key image serving as a reference for searching for an image of the same patient as the reference image set in the reference image setting step is set, the images are counted in order of photographing date and time using the set key image as a reference, and a predetermined count value A search condition setting step for setting a search condition so as to search for an image to be
Based on the search condition set by the search condition setting step, an image search step for searching for an image of the same patient as the reference image,
An image processing method comprising: an image searched by the image search step; and a difference image generation step of generating a difference image from the reference image.   7. The image search process according to claim 6, wherein when there is no image having the predetermined count value, the image search step searches for an image of the same patient as the reference image and having the oldest shooting date and time. Image processing method.   8. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the reference image setting step sets the image having the latest photographing date and time as a reference image.   9. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the search condition setting step sets the reference image as a key image. A reference image setting step for setting an image serving as a reference for generating a difference processed image;
An information providing step for giving information on whether to generate a difference processed image between the reference image and the image;
An image search step for searching for an image of the same patient as the reference image, and an image to which information for generating a difference processed image is given by the information adding step;
An image processing method comprising: an image searched by the image search step; and a difference image generation step of generating a difference image from the reference image.   The information regarding whether or not to generate the differential processing image provided by the information providing step is assigned one of a plurality of level values, and the image search step is an image of the same patient as the reference image, and is designated The image processing method according to claim 10, wherein an image in a range including the set level value is searched. Reference image setting means for setting an image serving as a reference for generating a difference processed image;
Search condition setting for setting a key image as a reference for searching for an image of the same patient as the reference image set by the reference image setting means, and setting an image search condition based on the shooting date and time of the set key image Means,
Based on the search condition set by the search condition setting means, an image search means for searching for an image of the same patient as the reference image;
An image processing apparatus comprising: an image searched by the image search means; and a difference image generation means for generating a difference image from the reference image. Reference image setting means for setting an image serving as a reference for generating a difference processed image;
A key image serving as a reference for searching for an image of the same patient as the reference image set by the reference image setting means is set, the images are counted in order of photographing date and time using the set key image as a reference, and a predetermined count value Search condition setting means for setting a search condition so as to search for an image to be,
Based on the search condition set by the search condition setting means, an image search means for searching for an image of the same patient as the reference image;
An image processing apparatus comprising: an image searched by the image search means; and a difference image generation means for generating a difference image from the reference image. Reference image setting means for setting an image serving as a reference for generating a difference processed image;
Information giving means for giving information on whether to generate a difference processed image between the reference image and the image;
An image search means for searching for an image of the same patient as the reference image and provided with information that a difference processed image is generated by the information providing step;
An image processing apparatus comprising: an image searched by the image search step; and a difference image generation unit that generates a difference image from the reference image.   A program for causing a computer to execute the image processing method according to claim 1, 6 or 10. A computer-readable recording medium storing the program according to claim 15.

Images