JP2007215642A - X-ray ct apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problems that the setting of a photographing condition is indispensable upon photographing and a protocol corresponding to each specialized department is needed accompanying the increase of the specialized departments of a hospital or the like for an X-ray CT apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: Other than a general or emergency photographing condition protocol, the photographing condition protocols corresponding to the specialized departments of the hospital are made into a database, and photographing desired by the specialized department is quickly and appropriately coped with. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an X-ray CT apparatus that realizes a CT examination corresponding to a requested department of a hospital.

The X-ray CT apparatus performs imaging under predetermined imaging conditions. The imaging conditions are determined by the imaging purpose / imaging site, case, physique, constitution, etc., and the parameters include scan time, slice width, effective field of view (FOV), tube voltage, tube current, and the like.
In many cases, the shooting conditions are determined by the doctor's instructions at the time of shooting, but recently, the shooting conditions have been converted into a protocol in advance, and an appropriate protocol is selected according to the subject and shooting purpose to improve shooting efficiency and appropriateness. , Speeding up, and reducing the burden on the operator.
As examples of protocols, a normal (general) protocol and an emergency protocol such as emergency are known. Patent document 1 is an example. In particular, this document 1 proposes an emergency protocol. For example, imaging conditions at the time of emergency (emergency) when the apparatus is turned off and there is no dedicated operator outside the diagnosis time (nighttime or holiday). Disclose the protocol.
Japanese Patent No. 3191221

Along with advances in medical technology and improvements in diagnostic capabilities, the number of specialized departments that provide medical care and treatment is increasing. In large hospitals, dozens of departments have appeared. As the number of specialized departments increases, the shooting conditions also vary in kind and content, and are becoming more complicated. Therefore, it is not possible to achieve speeding up, optimization, efficiency, and reduction of burden with the increase of such specialized courses only with the conventional normal protocol and emergency protocol.
An object of the present invention is to provide X-ray CT imaging capable of quickly, appropriately and efficiently setting imaging conditions of many specialized departments.

The present invention relates to a department of a hospital department, and a DB unit that sets and registers a protocol of X-ray CT imaging conditions determined according to a subject's part, case, and examination purpose;
A test request department corresponding to the subject, a means for inputting the test request table data including the part / case / test purpose of the test subject,
An examination request department of the inputted examination request table data, a means for retrieving an X-ray CT imaging condition protocol corresponding to the part / case / examination purpose of the subject from the DB unit, and reading the retrieval result;
Means for performing X-ray CT imaging in accordance with the read protocol;
Means for recording examination information at the time of the executed X-ray CT imaging and diagnostic record information after the examination is completed in the DB unit;
An X-ray CT apparatus comprising:

  According to the present invention, it is possible to quickly, appropriately, and efficiently set shooting conditions for many specialized departments.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the X-ray CT apparatus of the present invention. This X-ray CT apparatus includes an image processing unit 1, a personal computer system 2 corresponding to a specialized department, and a CT imaging system 3.
The image processing unit 1 includes an image processing device 10, a console 14, and a display device 13. The image processing device 10 further includes a protocol database (DB) unit 12, an examination execution information DB / image storage unit 11, and an input / output unit 15. Have.
The personal computer system 2 is not only installed for each specialized department, but is also installed for each specialized doctor in the specialized department. Is connected. The personal computer system 2 has a client PC 20 and an inspection request DB unit 21.

  The CT imaging system 3 shows actual imaging hardware, and has an X-ray control unit 30 and a scan unit 31. The scan unit 31 has a scanner body 311 and a table 310.

  The image processing unit 1 is at or near a place where photographing is performed, and the image processing apparatus 10 stores and stores the examination execution information and the photographed image in the storage unit 11. Further, the protocol DB unit 12 has a photographing condition protocol as data. The console 14 is for scanning operation. The display unit 13 is used for instructions such as protocol setting, registration, and reading, and various instructions for image processing, and also displays an operation screen, a protocol, and an image. The input / output unit 15 outputs the shooting condition data 15A and 15B and takes in the shooting data 31A in accordance with the protocol obtained under the instruction of the console 14. The imaging condition data 15A is operation data such as tube current and tube voltage to the X-ray control unit 30, and the imaging condition data 15B is operation data (scan time, slice width, etc.) to the scanner main body 311 and the bed 310. Further, measurement data obtained by photographing is taken into the image processing apparatus 10 as photographing data 31A via the input / output unit 15 and preprocessed or reconstructed, stored in the DB unit 11, or stored in the display unit 13. Is displayed.

  The personal computer system 2 is in the X-ray imaging request source, and the personal computer 20 stores the inspection request data in the inspection request database (DB) unit 21 and searches for inspection execution information and inspection execution information search results (imaging conditions, images) ) Create an inspection request table and send it to the DB unit 11 of the image processing unit 10 as necessary.

  FIG. 2 shows a processing flow from construction of the protocol DB unit 21 to execution of inspection. In the protocol DB construction process S1 in the figure, an imaging condition protocol DB that is an imaging condition candidate is created based on the examination request information and stored in the protocol DB unit 12. The examination request process S2 selects and sets examination request items based on patient examination request information, imaging conditions, and images, and creates an examination request table. The inspection execution process S3 searches and sets imaging condition candidates based on the inspection request table, performs imaging, and registers the imaging conditions and inspection execution information at that time.

  Here, the processing S <b> 1 is performed using the image processing apparatus 10, the console 14, and the display unit 13 of the image processing unit 1. Apart from this, it may be created in cooperation with the personal computer system 2 and the image processing unit 1 with support from the personal computer system 2. The process S2 is a process by the personal computer system 2. The process S3 is a process between the image processing unit 2 and the photographing system 3.

FIG. 3 is a detailed example diagram of the process S1. The process S1 includes processes S101 to S110. FIG. 4 shows a display screen for processing.
Process S101 is to select and set each item of request information (request source, part, case, purpose) from the list. This is shown on a screen 501 in FIG. The requester is a specialized department such as surgery or internal medicine, the part is liver, pancreas, ..., the case is liver cancer, ..., the purpose is its findings.

The process S102 searches the DB unit 12 for an existing protocol DB for the request information, and checks whether there is a photographing condition candidate. If there is a photographing condition candidate, it is displayed on the display unit 13 (S103). On the other hand, if there is no shooting condition candidate, a shooting condition setting format is displayed (S104). In step S105, each item of the shooting conditions is selected from the list and set. A display example is shown on a screen 502 in FIG.
After the above setting, in step S106, the registration button 503 shown in FIG. In the case of update (S107), confirmation of overwriting is performed (S108). If it is new or overwritten, it is stored as it is (S109). In the end process S110, the end button 504 in FIG. 4 is clicked.

  FIG. 5 shows a detailed example of the inspection request process S2 of FIG. The purpose of this process is to create an inspection request table (UI) using the screen shown in FIG.

  The examination execution information search screen 601 is displayed in FIG. 6, and patient information (ID, patient name, etc.) is input on this screen (S201). The search button 602 is clicked (S202), and the storage unit 11 of the examination execution information history DB is searched (S203). As a result of the search, if a test has already been performed (S204), a specific example of test execution information (date, requested department, part, case, purpose,...) Is displayed on the screen 603 (S205). When one of these specific examples is selected (for example, January 10), the shooting condition history at that time is displayed on the screen 604 (S206). In the figure, “120 KV, 200 mA, 15 scans, 0.8 sec scan time,...” Is an example. Further, an image such as a thumbnail image is displayed on the screen 605 (S207).

  In step S208 of FIG. 5, from the imaging condition history on the screen 604, an examination request item (request department, part, case, purpose, etc.) table optimal for the current examination is selected from the list 606 previously registered in the DB unit 21.・ Set. Thereafter, by clicking a send button 607, this inspection request table is sent to the image processing unit 1 (S209). Thus, the inspection request process ends.

  FIG. 7 shows a detailed example of the inspection request process S3 of FIG. This process is performed on the shooting condition setting screen shown in FIG. First, patient information (ID, patient name) on the screen 701 is input (S301). Next, a read button 702 is clicked. Thereby, the storage unit 11 is searched and the inspection request table is read (S302). The requested inspection item thus obtained is displayed on the screen 703 as inspection request information (S303).

Further, the execution information history DB in the storage unit 11 is searched (S304), and if an inspection is performed, the history (date, requested department, part, case, purpose,...) Is displayed in the inspection execution information display area 704. (S305). If no inspection is performed, the process jumps to element S308.
When the history on the screen 704 is selected, the shooting conditions are detected and displayed on the screen 705 (S306). At the same time, an image taken at that time, for example, a thumbnail image is also read and displayed on the screen 711 (S307).

  A check 707 is added to the inspection request item in the screen 703 and the search button 708 is clicked (S308), and a narrow-down search is performed on the protocol DB 12 for the checked item (S309), and the imaging condition candidates 709 are displayed (S309). S310). When the protocol search is not performed, a protocol list is displayed (S311).

  The photographing condition candidate displayed on the screen 709 is selected, the setting button 710 is clicked, and the photographing condition is set (S312). At this time, it is also possible to change and set the shooting conditions. The changed protocol is registered in the DB unit 12 as a new protocol.

X-ray CT imaging is performed under the imaging conditions set in S312 and a projection image is acquired (S314). The inspection execution information is registered in the storage unit 11 together with the imaging conditions (S315).
Thus, the process of FIG. 7 ends.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of the contents of the protocol DB section. The data group 400 is a data group of protocol group names, and is composed of three sections: an emergency protocol, a part name protocol, and a requested department protocol.

  A data group 401 is a detailed example of the requested department, which is one of the features of this embodiment, and indicates surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, orthopedics,. Actually, for example, there are a plurality of departments such as brain surgery and cardiac surgery as surgery, and there are cases in which the total count reaches 10.

  The data group 402 is an example of a protocol DB corresponding to the requested department. As an example of surgery, there are preoperative examination and postoperative follow-up for a liver cancer case, and examples of different imaging conditions are shown. It is. In this figure, an example of the photographing condition is not shown, but it is the same as that shown in FIG.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a CT apparatus system of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the whole flow from protocol construction of this invention to test implementation. FIG. 3 is a detailed flowchart example of a process S1 of FIG. The screen for implementation of process S1 is shown. It is an example of a detailed flow of process S2 of FIG. The screen for implementation of process S2 is shown. FIG. 3 is a detailed flowchart example of a process S3 of FIG. The screen for implementation of process S3 is shown. It is a specific example figure of a protocol database.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image processing unit 2 Client personal computer system 3 Imaging system 11 Inspection execution information DB and image storage part 12 Protocol database 311 CT scanner

Claims (1)

DB department that is set according to the requested department of the hospital and sets and registers the protocol of the X-ray CT imaging conditions determined according to the part / case / examination purpose of the subject;
A test request department corresponding to the subject, a means for inputting the test request table data including the part / case / test purpose of the test subject,
An examination request department of the inputted examination request table data, a means for retrieving an X-ray CT imaging condition protocol corresponding to the part / case / examination purpose of the subject from the DB unit, and reading the retrieval result;
Means for performing X-ray CT imaging in accordance with the read protocol;
Means for recording examination information at the time of the executed X-ray CT imaging and diagnostic record information after the examination is completed in the DB unit;
X-ray CT system.

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