JP2006110007A - Apparatus for confirming connection between apparatuses used for medical image communication system and method for confirming connection between apparatuses - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve working efficiency of installation, maintenance or the like by facilitating confirmation of connection between apparatuses conforming to the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine. <P>SOLUTION: An apparatus S for confirming connection comprises a database S1 storing in advance various information necessary to conform to the DICOM and an information processing apparatus S2 having an operation simulating function F1 or the like for performing simulation of an operation of a medical image communication system on the basis of registration data of the database S1. When apparatuses A and B are connected and image data is transmitted from the apparatus A to the apparatus B, the function F1 determines whether the connection is good or bad by generating and comparing an OUTPUT of the apparatus A and a predicted INPUT of the apparatus B by referring to the conformance statement of the apparatus A. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a medical image communication system in which apparatuses are connected in accordance with DICOM (digital imaging and communications in medicine), which is a standard for digital images and communication in medical use, and particularly facilitates confirmation work of DICOM connection. For technology.

  Conventionally, in a medical information processing system, when connecting digital image equipment such as a scanner, a server, a printer, and a viewer, it is performed in accordance with the DICOM standard. In this case, before the connection test, first, a DICOM Conformance Statement (hereinafter referred to as CS) of the connected equipment is exchanged between manufacturers, and the worker uses a manual method to check the connection status by checking the contents. A method of confirming that an expected result is obtained by a connection test in which actual devices are connected to each other is adopted.

  However, in practice, the connection test is rarely successful, and it takes a lot of time to check the connection, such as repeated trial and error and partial modification of the software.

An outline of a medical information processing system that conforms to the DICOM standard is described in the prior art of Patent Document 1.
JP 2001-206703 A.

  As described above, in the conventional medical image communication system, a great amount of time is spent for checking the connection between apparatuses, and the work efficiency of installation, maintenance, and the like is extremely poor.

  The present invention solves the above-described problems, makes it possible to relatively easily check the connection between devices, and can greatly improve the work efficiency of installation, maintenance, etc. It is an object of the present invention to provide a confirmation device and a connection confirmation method between the devices.

  In order to achieve the above object, an inter-device connection confirmation device for medical image communication system and an inter-device connection confirmation method according to the present invention provide communication between communication terminal devices conforming to a digital digital image and communication standard. When connecting, a prediction data generating means or step for generating input and output prediction data in the device to be confirmed with reference to a database in which detailed information of the standard is registered is compared with the input and output prediction data. It is characterized by comprising operation simulation means or steps for performing an operation simulation of the system by checking consistency and determining whether or not connection is possible based on the check result.

  Further, the information processing apparatus further comprises device search means or a step of searching for connectable devices that satisfy a specified operation condition with reference to information of communication terminal devices compliant with the standard registered in advance in the database.

  The information processing apparatus further includes definition document creation support means or a step for supporting a procedure for creating / updating registration information or various definition documents of the connected device in the database.

  Further, the information processing apparatus further comprises registration information error detecting means or a step for detecting an error of registration information for the device to be confirmed in the database and checking its normality.

  Further, the apparatus further comprises connection test management means or a step for planning and managing a connection test of the connected device.

  The standard is DICOM (digital imaging and communications in medicine), and DICOM conforming detailed information is registered in the database.

  According to the present invention, an inter-device connection confirmation device for a medical image communication system capable of relatively easily performing connection confirmation between devices and dramatically improving work efficiency such as installation and maintenance, and the like. An inter-device connection confirmation method can be provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a medical image communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A, B, C, and D are communication terminal devices compliant with the DICOM standard, and these are connection confirmation devices through a network. Connected to S.

  The connection confirmation device S includes a database S1. In the database S1, various information for conforming to the DICOM standard such as CS, DICOM definition document, operation definition document, connection record data, test communication data collection, and the like is stored in advance. The database S1 stores status information indicating the connection / communication state between devices by monitoring the connection / communication status of each of the communication terminal devices A to D constantly or periodically.

  The connection confirmation device S includes an information processing device S2. The information processing device S2 creates / updates an operation simulator function F1 that performs operation simulation, a search function F2 that searches for connectable devices, and CSs and various definition documents for connected devices based on registration data in the database S1. A definition document creation support function F3 for supporting the procedure, a CS error detection function F4 for detecting a CS error for each device and checking its normality, and a connection test management function F5 for planning and managing a connection test .

  FIG. 2 shows the format structure of the DICOM. This DICOM is composed of a DICOM tag (DICOM Tag) based on a group (Group) and an element value (Element VR), a length of a value field (Value Length), for example, an area (Value Field) in which values such as a patient name and an image are entered. A sequence of data elements.

  An example of the above group is shown in FIG. Here, the DICOM standard group number is an even number, and the private tag has an odd group number. The tag is expressed by, for example, four digits in hexadecimal notation, and can specify, for example, the patient name, date of birth, modality, pixel data, and the like.

  Hereinafter, the information processing function provided in the connection confirmation device S, which is a feature of the present invention, will be described.

(1) Operation simulator function F1
The processing flow of the function F1 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the designation input of the connection device is received (step S11), the database S1 is referred to for the CS of each of the connection source and the connection destination, and the predicted output value Dout and the connection destination when predetermined data is input to the connection source device. A predicted input value Din of the device is obtained (step S12). Here, the predicted output value Dout and the predicted input value Din are compared (step S13). If they match, it is determined that introduction is possible (step S14). If they do not match, it is determined that introduction is not possible (step S14). S15), the respective determination results are displayed (step S16), and the series of processes is terminated.

  For example, when the device A and the device B are connected and the image data is to be transmitted from the device A to the device B, the function F1 refers to the CS of the device A and sets the OUTPUT of the device A and the expected INPUT of the device B. Generate and associate both, and determine whether connection is possible. For example, it is assumed that the CS of the device A has a description that the patient ID (identification code) is transmitted and the patient name is not transmitted. Further, it is assumed that the CS of the apparatus B has a description that the patient ID and the patient name are essential. When the OUTPUT of the device A and the INPUT of the device B created from the above information are matched, a result of “connection is not possible” can be obtained before actual connection.

  Similarly, operation simulator processing is performed for connection between device A and device C, and connection between device C and device D, and if these can be introduced, they are displayed as shown in FIG. The worker can easily confirm whether the device can be connected.

(2) Search function F2
The processing flow of this function will be described with reference to FIG. First, when a keyword is input as a condition (step S21), corresponding devices that meet the keyword condition are listed with reference to the database S1 (step S22). Subsequently, it is determined whether or not a condition is added (step S23). If there is an addition, the process returns to step S21. If there is no addition, an instruction to select a device is given (step S24), and the series of processing ends.

  For example, when it is desired to newly connect a device, this function searches and narrows down a list of devices that meet the operating conditions from the device information registered in the database S1. For example, if the condition “Japanese can be used” is selected, only Japanese-compatible devices are listed. When the condition “US (Ultra Sound) image can be used” is selected, only devices that support US images are listed.

  In the above description, the device is narrowed down after performing a keyword search. However, the device may be narrowed down before searching. In this case, it is possible to simply remove those that do not satisfy the conditions first, and to shorten the search time.

(3) Support function F3
The processing flow of the function F3 will be described with reference to FIG. First, when there is a CS / definition document new / update designation (step S31), the navigation program registered in advance is read, and the input of items necessary for CS and definition document creation is sequentially explained (step S32). When the input of all items is completed (step S33), the CS or definition document is created / updated according to the respective input items (step S34), and the series of processing ends.

  This function F3 shows the creation procedure, entry contents, entry points, and the like when, for example, a CS or various definition documents of a connected device are newly created or updated. The user can create CS and various definition documents by inputting necessary (required) contents according to the navigation of this function. The CS and definition document created here are stored in the database S1.

(4) CS error detection function F4
The flow of processing of this function F4 will be described with reference to FIG. First, when the inspection information is input (step S41), the CS of the database S1 is referred to and compared (step S42), and it is determined whether there is any contradiction (step S43). If there is a contradiction, the inconsistency is pointed out and notified (step S44), and if there is no contradiction, normality is notified (step S45), and the series of processing ends.

  The function F4 checks whether the CS of the device A is correct when the image data and inspection information actually output from the device A are input, and if there is a contradiction between the actual output value and the description of the CS, It is to notify the contradiction. For example, it is described in the CS of apparatus A that “the patient name is not set”, but when the patient name exists in the actual image data, the user can be notified of this.

(5) Connection test plan management function F5
When actually conducting a connection test between apparatus A and apparatus B, test items and test procedures (connection test meter) are presented before the test. In addition, the user makes a plan on the system when the test item is executed. Furthermore, after the test is started, the progress of the connection test can be displayed, such as how far the connection test has progressed and the delay, by inputting the connection test result. The final connection result (Pass or Fail) between the devices A and B is stored in the database S1.

  The connection confirmation device S having the above functions F1 to F5 is arranged on the network, and when connecting each communication terminal device to the network, the connection confirmation of the connection confirmation device S is received to easily determine whether the DICOM connection is appropriate. It can be confirmed, and maintenance work can be performed in a relatively short time.

  In the above embodiment, the database S1 is arranged in the connection confirmation device S, but may be provided outside the connection confirmation device S. Moreover, it is more effective if the environment can be accessed from the outside by arranging it on the network or setting the sharing so that information can be shared. Further, although the connection confirmation device S performs the connection confirmation on the network, it may be used alone and individually connected to the connected device to cope with it. Further, the connection confirmation device S alone (stand-alone) may be handled without connecting to the connected device.

  Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments as they are, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a medical image communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the format structure of DICOM used for the system of FIG. The figure which shows the example of the group in the format of FIG. The flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the operation simulator function in the server of the system of FIG. The figure which shows the example of a display of the processing result of the operation simulator function of FIG. The flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the search function in the server of the system of FIG. The flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the definition document preparation assistance function in the server of the system of FIG. The flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the CS error detection function in the server of the system of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

A, B, C, D ... Communication terminal device S ... Connection confirmation device S1 ... Database S2 ... Information processing device F1 ... Operation simulator function F2 ... Search function F3 ... Definition document creation support function F4 ... CS error detection function

Claims (12)

Used in medical image communication systems that connect communication terminal devices compliant with medical digital image and communication standards,
Prediction data generation means for generating input and output prediction data in the device to be confirmed with reference to a database in which detailed information of the standard is registered;
And an operation simulation means for comparing the input and output prediction data to check consistency and determining whether or not connection is possible based on the check result, thereby performing operation simulation of the system. Inter-connection confirmation device.   The apparatus further comprises a device search means for searching for a connectable device that satisfies a specified operation condition by referring to information of a communication terminal device compliant with the standard registered in advance in the database. The inter-device connection confirmation device described.   2. The inter-device connection confirmation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising definition document creation support means for supporting a procedure for creating / updating registration information or various definition documents of the connected device in the database.   2. The inter-device connection confirmation device according to claim 1, further comprising registration information error detection means for detecting an error in registration information for the device to be confirmed in the database and checking its normality.   2. The inter-device connection confirmation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising connection test management means for planning and managing a connection test of the connected device.   2. The inter-device connection confirmation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the standard is DICOM (digital imaging and communications in medicine), and DICOM conforming detailed information is registered in the database. Used in medical image communication systems that connect communication terminal devices compliant with medical digital image and communication standards,
A prediction data step for generating input and output prediction data in the device to be confirmed with reference to a database in which detailed information of the standard is registered;
And an operation simulation step of performing an operation simulation of the system by comparing the input and output prediction data to check consistency and determining whether connection is possible based on the check result. Connection confirmation method.   The apparatus further comprises a device search step of searching for connectable devices that satisfy a specified operation condition with reference to information of communication terminal devices that conform to the standard registered in advance in the database. The inter-device connection confirmation method described.   8. The inter-device connection confirmation method according to claim 7, further comprising a definition document creation support step for supporting a procedure for creating / updating registration information or various definition documents of connected devices in the database.   8. The inter-device connection confirmation method according to claim 7, further comprising a registration information error detection step of detecting an error of registration information for the device to be confirmed in the database and checking its normality.   8. The inter-device connection confirmation method according to claim 7, further comprising a connection test management step for planning and managing a connection test of the connected device.   8. The inter-device connection confirmation method according to claim 7, wherein the standard is DICOM (digital imaging and communications in medicine), and DICOM conforming detailed information is registered in the database.

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