JP2007105180A - Image processor, its control method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor capable of imparting optimal accessary information to a prepared composite image and easily managing the composite image, and to provide its control pmethod and a program. <P>SOLUTION: Images to be composed are selected from images held in a storage medium. The composite image of the selected images is prepared. The accessory information of the selected images is compared. Based on the result of comparing, the accessory information is imparted to the composite image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus that creates a composite image from a plurality of images, a control method therefor, and a program.

  In recent medical practice, a modality and a computer are connected via a network, a medical image taken with the modality is transmitted to the computer, and the medical image is managed in a storage device such as an HDD of the computer. In addition, image transmission / reception is also performed between PACS (Picture Archiving & Communicating System).

  Here, the modality means a device capable of acquiring a medical image such as an X-ray imaging apparatus, CT (Computed Tomography), MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging).

  By projecting the medical image stored in the storage device of the computer on the monitor, the doctor can diagnose the medical image as if it was diagnosed with a conventional film. In addition, with the digitization of medical images, it is also possible to create a single combined medical image from a plurality of medical images like a stitch function in a digital camera.

  Further, when creating a combined medical image, it is possible to manage from which image the synthesized image is created by adding information of the original image as information of the synthesized image. .

Patent Document 1 is a reference for this. This Patent Document 1 describes that an identifier of an original image is given when a composite image is created.
JP 2002-185664 A

  However, in a medical image, for example, when an examination is performed, it may occur that reception numbers given as supplementary information of the image do not match. For this reason, when a single combined medical image is created from a plurality of medical images having different reception numbers, it is not possible to determine which original image has a reception number to be assigned to the composite image.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and provides an image processing apparatus, a control method therefor, and a program that can easily manage a composite image by assigning optimal supplementary information to the generated composite image The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, an image processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
An image processing apparatus for creating a composite image from a plurality of images,
Holding means for holding the image and its accompanying information;
Selecting means for selecting an image to be synthesized from images held in the holding means;
Creating means for creating a composite image of the image selected by the selecting means;
A comparison means for comparing the incidental information of the image selected by the selection means;
An image processing apparatus comprising: an adding unit that adds incidental information to the composite image based on a comparison result of the comparing unit.

  Preferably, the adding unit adds the auxiliary information as auxiliary information of the composite image when the auxiliary information of the images selected by the selecting unit matches as a result of the comparison by the comparing unit.

Preferably, the adding unit displays a screen for adding the auxiliary information of the composite image when the auxiliary information of the images selected by the selecting unit does not match as a result of the comparison by the comparing unit. Means and
The adding unit adds the incidental information selected or input via the screen displayed by the display unit as incidental information of the composite image.

  Preferably, the screen for adding the supplementary information of the composite image displays the supplementary information of the image selected by the selection means so as to be selectable as a candidate of supplementary information of the composite image, and displays arbitrary information. An input unit capable of input is provided.

In order to achieve the above object, a method for controlling an image processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
A control method for an image processing apparatus for creating a composite image from a plurality of images,
A selection step of selecting an image to be synthesized from the images held in the storage medium;
A creation step of creating a composite image of the image selected in the selection step;
A comparison step of comparing the incidental information of the image selected in the selection step;
And an adding step of adding incidental information to the composite image based on the comparison result of the comparing step.

In order to achieve the above object, a program according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
A program for causing a computer to execute control of an image processing apparatus that creates a composite image from a plurality of images,
A selection step of selecting an image to be synthesized from the images held in the storage medium;
A creation step of creating a composite image of the image selected in the selection step;
A comparison step of comparing the incidental information of the image selected in the selection step;
Based on the comparison result of the comparison step, the computer is caused to execute an adding step of adding incidental information to the composite image.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image processing apparatus, a control method therefor, and a program that can give optimum supplementary information to a created composite image and manage the composite image more easily.

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

  In the present invention, when creating one composite image from a plurality of original images, the supplementary information to be added to the composite image is acquired from the supplementary information that is input or attached to the original image, and is used. The purpose is to facilitate management of the created composite image.

  FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing the configuration of the image processing apparatus of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, the data holding unit 10 holds, for example, a medical image captured with a modality and incidental information attached to the medical image. Here, the data holding unit 10 is a general storage device such as an HDD (hard disk drive), and in addition to the above data, various data such as an OS, a control program, and various files for controlling the image processing apparatus. Retain data.

  The image held in the data holding unit 10 can be displayed on the display unit 12 by operating the instruction input unit 11. Here, the instruction input unit 11 is a general instruction input device such as a mouse or a keyboard. The display unit 12 is a general display device such as a CRT display or a liquid crystal display.

  In the embodiment described below, a medical image is described as an example of a processing target image. However, the image is not limited to this as long as the image has supplementary information.

  A composite image can be created by operating the instruction input unit 11 with respect to the image displayed on the display unit 12. Specifically, among the images held in the data holding unit 10, a plurality of images are displayed, and an operation screen for creating a composite image from the plurality of images is displayed on the display unit 12. Then, on the operation screen, the instruction input unit 11 is used to select an image to be processed and give a composite image creation instruction. Thereby, the composite image creation unit 13 reads out the image information of the selected image from the images displayed on the display unit 12 from the data holding unit 10, and creates a single composite image obtained by synthesizing them.

  When the composite image is created, the supplementary information adding unit 14 adds the supplementary information determined by the determination unit 15 to the composite image. When the supplementary information is added to the composite image by the supplementary information adding unit 14, the composite image creating unit 13 stores the created composite image in the data holding unit 10.

  Note that the image processing apparatus in FIG. 1 is realized by, for example, a general-purpose personal computer or a terminal such as a workstation. In the following embodiment, as ancillary information of an image, for example, a reception number given at the time of shooting will be described as an example. However, other information related to shooting may be used. The information related to shooting may be any information that can be used in user image management, such as shooting date / time, photographer name, modality (shooting device) name, modality machine number, and the like.

  Hereinafter, the method for adding incidental information by the incidental information adding unit 14 will be described more specifically.

<Embodiment 1>
In the first embodiment, the composite image creating unit 13 creates a composite image, and the supplementary information of the supplementary information adding unit 14 when the supplementary information attached to the plurality of original images used when creating the composite image matches. The giving method will be described.

  When a composite image creation instruction is given to the plurality of images on the operation screen displayed on the display unit 12 via the instruction input unit 11, the composite image creation unit 13 creates a composite image from the data holding unit 10. The image information of the original image necessary for the acquisition is acquired, and a composite image is created.

  When the composite image is created, the supplementary information adding unit 14 acquires the supplementary information attached to the plurality of original images used when creating the composite image from the data holding unit 10. It is judged by the judgment part 15 whether the incidental information of the acquired original image corresponds by comparing incidental information. When the determination unit 15 determines that the acquired incidental information matches, the incidental information adding unit 14 automatically adds the corresponding incidental information as the additional information of the composite image.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 2, two medical images 21 and 22 are displayed on the display unit 12, and the determination unit 15 determines whether the incidental information (acceptance number) of both images matches. To do. When the determination unit 15 determines that the reception numbers of both images match, the supplementary information adding unit 14 automatically adds the information to the composite image as supplementary information of the composite image. In the case of the example in FIG. 2, since the reception numbers of the medical images 21 and 22 are both A-001, it is determined that the reception numbers are the same. Therefore, in this case, the incidental information A-001 is attached information of the composite image 23 of the medical images 21 and 22.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the incidental information of the images to be combined is compared, and when the incidental information matches, the incidental information is given as incidental information of the synthesized image of those images. can do.

<Embodiment 2>
In the second embodiment, the composite image creating unit 13 creates a composite image, and the supplementary information of the supplementary information adding unit 14 when the supplementary information attached to a plurality of original images used when creating the composite image does not match. The giving method will be described.

  When the composite image is created, the supplementary information adding unit 14 acquires the supplementary information attached to the plurality of original images used when creating the composite image from the data holding unit 10. It is judged by the judgment part 15 whether the incidental information of the acquired original image corresponds by comparing incidental information. When the determination unit 15 determines that the acquired supplementary information is different, the supplementary information adding unit 14 adds the information given from the instruction input unit 11 as supplementary information of the composite image.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 3, two medical images 31 and 32 are displayed on the display unit 12, and the determination unit 15 determines whether the incidental information (acceptance number) of both images matches. To do. If the determination unit 15 determines that the reception numbers of the two images do not match, the determination unit 15 displays the incidental information selection / input screen 41 shown in FIG. 4 on the display unit 12. In the case of the example in FIG. 3, since the reception number A-001 of the medical image 31 is the reception number A-002 of the medical image 32, it is determined that the two reception numbers do not match.

  The supplementary information selection / input screen 41 in FIG. 4 is a screen for selecting or inputting supplementary information to be added to the composite image. In FIG. 4, an input menu 42 which is an input unit for inputting information is configured. This includes a reception number A-001 of the medical image 31 and a reception of the medical image 32 as candidates for a reception number to be selected. Number A-002 is displayed. Note that this receipt number candidate acquires the receipt number of the medical image to be synthesized when the supplementary information selection / input screen 41 is displayed, and registers it in the input menu 42. In addition to the registered receipt number, an arbitrary value can be directly input to the input menu 42 by the instruction input unit 11.

  By operating the instruction input unit 11, for example, when the acceptance number A-001 is selected from the input menu 42 of FIG. 4 and the OK button 43 is pressed, the determination unit 15 is selected by the incidental information adding unit 14. Information (reception number A-001) is notified. Thereby, the incidental information adding unit 14 adds the notified information (reception number A-001) as incidental information (reception number) of the composite image.

  For example, when the character string “B-111” is input to the input menu 42 and the OK button 43 is pressed, the determination unit 15 notifies the information (reception number B-111) input to the incidental information adding unit 14. . Thereby, the incidental information adding unit 14 adds the notified information (reception number B-111) as incidental information (reception number) of the composite image. Further, if the button 43 is pressed without inputting anything, the incidental information (reception number) of the composite image becomes empty.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the supplementary information selection / input screen for comparing the supplementary information of the images to be combined and inputting the supplementary information of the composite image even if the supplementary information does not match. Is displayed and the input of incidental information is accepted. Thereby, supplementary information of the composite image can be given.

<Embodiment 3>
In the first and second embodiments, an example in which one composite image is created from two original images and supplementary information is added to the composite image has been described. However, in the image processing apparatus according to the present invention, naturally two images are provided. It is possible to handle a larger number of images. Even if there are more than two original images, the supplementary information suitable for the composite image can be given by the same method as described in the first and second embodiments.

  As described above, it is possible to attach the supplementary information suitable for the composite image by the supplementary information adding unit 14.

  Next, the processing flow of the above embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the image processing apparatus of the present invention.

  In step S51, when the instruction input unit 11 instructs to create a composite image, the composite image creation unit 13 creates a composite image. In step S52, in order to add supplementary information to the created composite image, the supplementary information adding unit 14 acquires the supplementary information of the original image from the data holding unit 10, and the determination unit 15 determines whether the supplementary information matches. Judge whether or not. If it is determined that the incidental information of the original image matches (YES in step S52), the process proceeds to step S53. On the other hand, if it is determined that they do not match (NO in step S52), the process proceeds to step S54.

  In step S53, the supplementary information adding unit 14 adds the supplementary information of the original image used when creating the composite image as the supplementary information of the composite image. In particular, in step S52, if the determination unit 15 determines that the incidental information of the original image matches, the incidental information that matches the original image is automatically added as incidental information of the composite image.

  On the other hand, if the determination unit 15 determines that the supplementary information of the original image does not match, the supplementary information selection / input screen 41 of FIG. 4 is displayed on the display unit 12 in step S54, and the supplementary information to be added to the composite image is displayed. It is determined whether to select from the incidental information of the original image. Here, when the incidental information of the original image is selected (YES in step S54), the process proceeds to step S55. On the other hand, if not selected (NO in step S54), the process proceeds to step S56.

  Note that whether or not there is selection is determined by selecting the incidental information (acceptance number) registered on the input menu 42 in FIG. 4 and then pressing the OK button 43 to add incidental information on the original image. It is judged that it selects from. On the other hand, when an OK button 43 is pressed after an arbitrary value is directly input on the input menu 42 or when nothing is input, it is determined that no selection is made from the incidental information of the original image. .

  If it is determined to select from the supplementary information of the original image, the supplementary information selected by the instruction input unit 11 is selected as supplementary information to be added to the composite image in step S55. When the incidental information is selected, the determination unit 15 notifies the incidental information adding unit 14 of the selected incidental information, and the process proceeds to step S53. In step S53, the incidental information adding unit 14 adds the incidental information of the original image selected in step S55 as incidental information of the composite image.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the supplementary information is not selected from the original image, the supplementary information input by the instruction input unit 11 is input as supplementary information to be added to the composite image in step S56. When the incidental information is input, the determination unit 15 notifies the incidental information adding unit 14 of the input incidental information, and the process proceeds to step S57. In step S57, the incidental information adding unit 14 adds the incidental information input in step S56 as incidental information of the composite image.

  As described above, according to the present invention, supplementary information suitable for a composite image can be given to a composite image created from a plurality of original images, and the composite image can be created from which original image. It is easy to grasp whether the image has been processed, and it becomes easy to manage the composite image. Along with that, it will also speed up diagnosis.

  Although the embodiment has been described in detail above, the present invention can take an embodiment as a system, apparatus, method, program, storage medium, or the like. Specifically, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices, or may be applied to an apparatus composed of a single device.

  In the present invention, a software program (in the embodiment, a program corresponding to the flowchart shown in the drawing) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is directly or remotely supplied to a system or apparatus. In addition, this includes a case where the system or the computer of the apparatus is also achieved by reading and executing the supplied program code.

  Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. In other words, the present invention includes a computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

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

  Examples of the recording medium for supplying the program include a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, and an optical disk. Further, as a recording medium, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R), etc. is there.

  As another program supply method, a browser on a client computer is used to connect to an Internet home page. Then, the computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file including an automatic installation function can be downloaded from a homepage of the connection destination to a recording medium such as a hard disk. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. Let It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the key information and install the program on a computer.

  Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the computer executing the read program. Further, based on the instructions of the program, an OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can be realized by the processing.

  Further, 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. Thereafter, the CPU of the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

1 is a system diagram showing a configuration of an image processing apparatus of the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the process of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the process of Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the incidental information selection / input screen of Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing flow of the image processing apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Data holding part 11 Instruction input part 12 Display part 13 Composite image creation part 14 Attached information provision part 15 Judgment part

Claims (6)

An image processing apparatus for creating a composite image from a plurality of images,
Holding means for holding the image and its accompanying information;
Selecting means for selecting an image to be synthesized from images held in the holding means;
Creating means for creating a composite image of the image selected by the selecting means;
A comparison means for comparing the incidental information of the image selected by the selection means;
An image processing apparatus comprising: an adding unit that adds incidental information to the composite image based on a comparison result of the comparing unit. The appending means appends the supplementary information as supplementary information of the composite image when the supplementary information of the images selected by the selection means matches as a result of the comparison by the comparison means. The image processing apparatus according to 1. The adding unit includes a display unit that displays a screen for adding the auxiliary information of the composite image when the auxiliary information of the image selected by the selecting unit does not match as a result of the comparison of the comparing unit.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adding unit adds the incidental information selected or input via the screen displayed by the display unit as incidental information of the composite image. . The screen for adding the supplementary information of the composite image is an input unit that displays the supplementary information of the image selected by the selection unit as a candidate for supplementary information of the composite image and can input arbitrary information. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: A control method for an image processing apparatus for creating a composite image from a plurality of images,
A selection step of selecting an image to be synthesized from the images held in the storage medium;
A creation step of creating a composite image of the image selected in the selection step;
A comparison step of comparing the incidental information of the image selected in the selection step;
A control method for an image processing apparatus, comprising: an adding step of adding auxiliary information to the composite image based on a comparison result of the comparison step. A program for causing a computer to execute control of an image processing apparatus that creates a composite image from a plurality of images,
A selection step of selecting an image to be synthesized from the images held in the storage medium;
A creation step of creating a composite image of the image selected in the selection step;
A comparison step of comparing the incidental information of the image selected in the selection step;
A program causing a computer to execute an adding step of adding incidental information to the composite image based on a comparison result of the comparing step.

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