JP2007222325A - Information processing apparatus and method and program for controlling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing apparatus assisting efficiently operations related to diagnosis, and also to provide a method and a program for controlling the apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus detects the outer position of the right thorax, the outer position of the left thorax, the right outer position of the heart, and the left outer position of the heart within a thoracic image to measure a cardio-thoracic ratio. The apparatus then selects a display method from a plurality of display methods on the basis of the measurement result and displays the measurement result on a display section in accordance with the selected display method. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that measures a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image, a control method thereof, and a program.

  Conventionally, by using physical images such as radiographic images and MRI to measure physical quantities of bones, organs, and other structures (anatomical feature size, curvature, etc.), the presence or absence of disease and follow-up Is frequently performed during regular examinations. For example, when diagnosing cardiac hypertrophy, the cardiothoracic ratio is measured using a chest radiation image. The cardiothoracic ratio is a value obtained by dividing the distance from the left side of the heart to the right side of the heart (ie, the heart width) by the distance from the left side of the rib cage to the right side of the rib cage (ie, the rib cage width).

  When calculating the above-mentioned cardiothoracic ratio, doctors, radiographers, and the like conventionally applied a measuring instrument such as a ruler to a chest radiograph formed on a recording medium such as paper or film, Measure the width of the grouped area) and the width of the heart. The cardiothoracic ratio was calculated based on the measured values.

  On the other hand, in recent years, it has become common to digitize an image and handle it as image data, and it is easy to perform various signal processing on the image data. Under such circumstances, it is desired to automatically measure the above-mentioned cardiothoracic ratio.

  Among them, techniques relating to measurement methods for automatically or partially automatically measuring the cardiothoracic ratio have been proposed (Patent Documents 1 to 4, etc.). Here, in Patent Document 3, when detecting the contour line of the cardiothoracic rib (the heart and rib cage together), the detection accuracy value is defined, and the detection accuracy value is small when the detection accuracy value is small. Has been disclosed.

Further, the physical quantities necessary for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio are the heart width and the rib cage width. Many techniques for automatically detecting the heart width and the rib cage width with a computer have been proposed. As a conventional technique of such automatic detection, for example, there is Non-Patent Document 1.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-256993 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-6661 JP 2002-279404 A JP-A-2-220638 “Recognition and Feature Extraction of Pattern Recognition Heart Shadow in Indirect Chest X-ray Photographs” Toriwaki et al., IEICE Transactions '74 / 12 Vol. , 57-DNo. 12pp. 708-715

  Considering the automatic measurement of the cardiothoracic ratio, the measurement may fail. If automatic measurement fails, the doctor will eventually perform measurement manually, which will be troublesome twice. Therefore, even if automatic measurement fails, it is desirable to be able to use where it can be used (has not failed) among the results of automatic measurement. It is also important to take measures to prevent doctors from accidentally using failed measurement results when they fail.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an information processing apparatus, a control method thereof, and a program that can efficiently support a work related to diagnosis.

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
An information processing apparatus for measuring a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
Measuring means for detecting a right thoracic lateral position, a left thoracic lateral position, a cardiac right lateral position, a cardiac left lateral position in the chest image, and measuring a cardiothoracic ratio;
Selection means for selecting one of a plurality of display methods based on a measurement result by the measurement means;
Measurement result display means for displaying a measurement result by the measurement means on a display unit according to the display method selected by the selection means.

Preferably, correction means for correcting the measurement result displayed by the display means,
And a correction result display means for correcting the measurement result according to the correction instruction when the correction instruction by the correction means is input and displaying the correction result on the display unit.

Preferably, the plurality of display methods include:
A success result display method for displaying when the position of the right outer side of the right chest, the outer side of the left rib cage, the right outer side of the heart, and the left outer side of the heart are successfully detected by the measuring means;
And a failure result display method for displaying when at least one of the right thoracic lateral position, the left thoracic lateral position, the cardiac right lateral position, and the cardiac left lateral position fails to be detected by the measuring means.

Preferably, the success result display method is a display method for displaying a value of the cardiothoracic ratio measured by the measuring means,
The failure result display method is a display method that does not display the value of the cardiothoracic ratio measured by the measuring means.

  Preferably, in the failure result display method, when the position detection of the right thoracic outer side position and the left thoracic outer side position by the measuring unit fails, at least one of the right thoracic outer side position and the left thoracic outer side is detected. This is a display method that does not display the distance of the position.

  Preferably, in the failure result display method, when at least one of the position detection of the right outside heart position and the left left heart position by the measuring unit fails, the right outside heart position and the left left heart position are detected. This is a display method that does not display the distance.

Preferably, the failure result display method includes:
Of the right outer rib position, the left outer rib position, the right outer heart position, and the left outer heart position, the marker or auxiliary line corresponding to the position detection failure position corresponds to the position detection failure position. The marker or auxiliary line to be used is a display method for displaying in an identifiable display form.

  Preferably, the correction means calculates a marker position corresponding to a position that has failed in position detection among the right thoracic outer position, the left thoracic outer position, the heart right outer position, and the heart left outer position. to correct.

  Preferably, the correction result display means is configured to correct the right thoracic outer position and the left thoracic outer position obtained by correction when the right thoracic outer position and the left thoracic outer position are corrected by the correcting means. Is displayed on the display unit.

  Preferably, the correction result display means is configured such that when the correction means corrects the left outer left position and right outer right position of the heart, the right outer right position and the left outer left position obtained by the correction. Is displayed on the display unit.

  Preferably, the correction result display means corrects the correction when all of the right thoracic outer position, the left thoracic outer position, the heart right outer position, and the heart left outer position are corrected by the correcting means. The value of the cardiothoracic ratio measured from the right thoracic outer side position, the left thoracic outer side position, the heart right outer side position, and the heart left outer side position obtained by the above is displayed on the display unit.

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
An information processing apparatus for measuring a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
Calculating means for detecting a feature quantity used for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio in the chest image, measuring the cardiothoracic ratio, and calculating a measurement accuracy value of the cardiothoracic ratio based on the detected feature quantity;
Display means for displaying the cardiothoracic ratio and the feature quantity on a display unit based on the measurement accuracy value calculated by the calculating means;

Preferably, the display means includes
If the measurement accuracy value calculated by the calculation means is greater than or equal to a threshold value, the cardiothoracic ratio is displayed on the display unit,
When the measurement accuracy value calculated by the calculation means is smaller than the threshold value, the cardiothoracic ratio and the feature amount are displayed on the display unit.

Preferably, setting means for setting the threshold value;
A determination unit for comparing and determining the threshold set by the setting unit and the measurement accuracy value;
The display unit displays the cardiothoracic ratio and the feature amount on a display unit based on a determination result of the determination unit.

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
An information processing apparatus for measuring a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
Detection means for outputting feature information used for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio in the chest image, and detection information indicating success or failure of detection for each feature quantity;
Calculation means for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio based on the feature value output by the detection means;
Based on the detection information detected by the detection means, the display unit displays a feature amount used for calculation by the calculation means and the cardiothoracic ratio on a display unit.

  Preferably, the information processing apparatus further includes input means for inputting a corresponding feature amount when the detection information indicates a detection failure.

  Preferably, the image processing apparatus further includes a correction unit that corrects the feature amount displayed on the display unit.

  Preferably, the feature amount includes at least one of two points that define the heart width and two points that define the rib cage width.

  Preferably, the feature amount is a part or all of at least one of a contour of a heart and a contour of a rib cage.

In order to achieve the above object, a method for controlling an information processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
A method for controlling an information processing apparatus for measuring a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
A measurement step of detecting a right thoracic lateral position, a left thoracic lateral position, a cardiac right lateral position, a cardiac left lateral position in the chest image, and measuring a cardiothoracic ratio;
A selection step of selecting one of a plurality of display methods based on the measurement result of the measurement step;
A measurement result display step of displaying a measurement result of the measurement step on a display unit according to the display method selected in the selection step.

In order to achieve the above object, a method for controlling an information processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
A method for controlling an information processing apparatus for measuring a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
Calculating a cardiothoracic ratio by detecting a feature amount used for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio in the chest image, and calculating a measurement accuracy value of the cardiothoracic ratio based on the detected feature amount;
A display step of displaying the cardiothoracic ratio and the feature amount on a display unit based on the measurement accuracy value calculated in the calculation step.

In order to achieve the above object, a method for controlling an information processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
A method for controlling an information processing apparatus for measuring a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
A detection step of outputting detection information indicating the success or failure of detection for each feature amount, and the feature amount used for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio in the chest image;
A calculation step of calculating the cardiothoracic ratio based on the feature amount output in the detection step;
A display step of displaying the detection information detected in the detection step, the feature amount used in the calculation in the calculation step, and the cardiothoracic ratio on a display unit.

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 information processing device that measures a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
A measurement step of detecting a right thoracic lateral position, a left thoracic lateral position, a cardiac right lateral position, a cardiac left lateral position in the chest image, and measuring a cardiothoracic ratio;
A selection step of selecting one of a plurality of display methods based on the measurement result of the measurement step;
According to the display method selected in the selection step, the computer executes a measurement result display step of displaying a measurement result in the measurement step on a display unit.

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 information processing device that measures a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
Calculating a cardiothoracic ratio by detecting a feature amount used for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio in the chest image, and calculating a measurement accuracy value of the cardiothoracic ratio based on the detected feature amount;
Based on the measurement accuracy value calculated in the calculation step, the computer is caused to execute a display step of displaying the cardiothoracic ratio and the feature amount on a display unit.

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 information processing device that measures a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
A detection step of outputting detection information indicating the success or failure of detection for each feature amount, and the feature amount used for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio in the chest image;
A calculation step of calculating the cardiothoracic ratio based on the feature amount output in the detection step;
Based on the detection information detected in the detection step, the computer is caused to execute a feature amount used in the calculation in the calculation step and a display step of displaying the cardiothoracic ratio on a display unit.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the information processing apparatus which can support efficiently the operation | work which concerns on diagnosis, its control method, and a program can be provided.

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

  In the following first and second embodiments, two types of configurations for automatically measuring a cardiothoracic ratio using medical image data captured by an X-ray imaging apparatus and displaying the measurement results will be described.

  First, the functional configuration of the image processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of an image processing apparatus applicable to each embodiment of the present invention.

  The image processing apparatus includes an automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement unit 101, a display method selection unit 102, a measurement result display unit 103, a position correction detection unit 104, and a position correction result display unit 105.

  The automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement unit 101 inputs an automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement command signal and an image to be measured for automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement, performs automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement using these, and outputs an automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result To do.

  The display method selection unit 102 inputs an automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement binary result, which will be described later, selects an optimal display method for the result, and outputs an optimal display method.

  The measurement result display unit 103 inputs an automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result and its display method, performs a quantitative calculation necessary for display, and performs a process of displaying the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result according to the display method, Output the display result.

  The position correction detection unit 104 receives the correction detection signal, detects the correction position, and outputs the correction position.

  The position correction result display unit 105 receives the correction position and the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result, calculates the cardiothoracic ratio again, and outputs the corrected cardiothoracic ratio measurement result.

  Next, a hardware configuration for realizing the image processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of an image processing apparatus applicable to each embodiment of the present invention.

  The image processing apparatus of FIG. 1 can be realized by an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer. In the information processing apparatus 200 in this case, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 202 and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 203 are connected to a bus 201. In addition, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 204, a storage unit 205, an input unit 206, a display unit 207, and a network interface (NIC) 208 are connected to the bus 201.

  The input unit 206 includes a keyboard and a mouse. The display unit 207 is configured with a CRT or LCD. In addition, the display unit 207 is provided with a user interface (operation screen) for inputting information such as various parameters for executing processing to be described later, and displaying processing results for the input.

  Here, the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement unit 101, the display method selection unit 102, the measurement result display unit 103, the position correction detection unit 104, and the position correction result display unit 105 are realized by one software module controlled by the CPU 202. Can do. This software module is stored in the storage unit 205, for example.

  Further, when execution of automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement is instructed based on an operation via the input unit 206, the CPU 202 reads the software module from the storage unit 205 into the RAM 203 and executes it.

  Of course, the image processing apparatus of the present invention can be realized not only on the information processing apparatus but also with dedicated hardware. In this case, each component in FIG. 1 may be realized as dedicated hardware, or may be implemented optimally according to the purpose, for example, partly realized by software. .

<Embodiment 1>
First, the operation flow of the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the user uses the input unit 206 to click the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement button on the operation screen (not shown) displayed on the display unit 207 using the input unit 206. The event that the button is clicked is used as an automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement command signal. As a result, the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement unit 101 inputs the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement command signal and the image to be measured for automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement, and performs automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement processing. Then, an automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result is output (step S301).

  The automated cardiothoracic ratio measurement target image is stored in, for example, the storage unit 205, and the user can select the automated cardiothoracic ratio measurement target image to be processed via the operation screen. is there.

  An algorithm for measuring the automatic cardiothoracic ratio in the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measuring unit 101 is, for example, as follows.

  First, the contours of the rib cage and heart are acquired by edge detection. From these detected edges, four positions necessary for cardiothoracic ratio measurement, that is, a right thoracic outer position, a left thoracic outer position, a right heart outer position, and a left heart outer position, are determined. Moreover, you may use the following as another method.

  For example, “A method and apparatus for automatically calculating and analyzing the heart and lung size of a digital chest radiograph” in JP-A-2-220638 describes an algorithm for measuring the size of the heart and lung. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-6661, “Cardiothoracic Contour Detection Device” describes an algorithm for improving the detection accuracy of the contour of the cardiothoracic.

  The automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result, which is the output of the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measuring unit 101, is the position detection result and the cardiothoracic ratio measurement result of the right chest outer position, the left chest outer position, the right heart outer position, and the left heart outer position. is there.

  Specifically, the position detection result is a position detection binary result indicating success / failure of position detection at each of the four positions of the right thoracic outer position, the left thoracic outer position, the right heart outer position, and the left heart outer position ( For example, success: 1, failure: 0), and the position detection coordinates of the four positions.

  The cardiothoracic ratio measurement result is an automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement binary result (for example, success: 1, failure: 0) indicating success / failure of the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result. Here, there are four positions that determine whether the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement has succeeded or failed: right outer rib position, left rib outer position, right heart outer position, and left heart outer position. Whether all detections were successful.

  If the detection of all four positions is successful, the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement binary result is successful, and if even one place fails, the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement binary result fails. The outputs of the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measuring unit 101 are stored in the RAM 203. As an example in which the position detection of the right thoracic outer position, the left thoracic outer position, the right heart outer position, and the left heart outer position fails, for example, when performing edge detection, if the edge strength is less than a predetermined threshold, the failure is detected. to decide.

  Next, the display method selection unit 102 performs a process of receiving the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement binary result as an input and selecting an optimum result display method for the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result. Then, an optimal display method is output (step S303 or step 304).

  Here, the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement binary result input by the display method selection unit 102 is an automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result that is one of the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement results output from the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement unit 101. It is a measurement binary result.

  The method of selecting the optimum result display method for the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result by the display method selection unit 102 is that the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement has succeeded or failed based on the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement binary result. (Step S302). When the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement binary result indicates success, a display method for displaying the success result is selected from the ROM 204 (step S303).

  On the other hand, if the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement failure is indicated, a display method for displaying the failure result is selected from the ROM 204 (step S304).

  Here, the display method is a display layout, display contents, and the like when displayed on the display unit 207. The optimal display method that is the output of the display method selection unit 102 is the display method for displaying the success result or the display method for displaying the failure result that is selected in the above processing.

  The measurement result display unit 103 inputs an automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result and a display method thereof, and performs a quantitative calculation necessary for display and a process of displaying the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result according to the display method. Then, the display result is output (step S305 or step 306).

  The automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result that is input to the measurement result display unit 103 is an automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result that is an output of the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement unit 101. Since this automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result is stored in the RAM 203, it is read from the RAM 203.

  The display method that is input to the measurement result display unit 103 is a display method that is an output of the display method selection unit 102. The quantitative calculation required for display is calculation of the heart width, the rib cage width, and the cardiothoracic ratio. The chest width and heart width, and the values of the cardiothoracic ratio are calculated from the four position coordinates read from the RAM 203, ie, the right rib cage outer position, the left rib cage outer position, the right heart outer position, and the left heart outer position.

  When the display method is a display method for displaying a success result, the measurement result display unit 103 outputs the image shown in FIG. 4 to the display unit 207 (step S305).

  Specifically, a measurement bar 401 is displayed on the chest image. In addition, the four detection positions of the right thoracic outer position, the left thoracic outer position, the right heart outer position, and the left heart outer position read from the RAM 203 are displayed as markers 402, 403, 404, and 405 on the measurement bar 401. . The auxiliary lines 406, 407, 408, and 409 are plotted perpendicularly to the measurement bar 401 from the respective markers 402, 403, 404, and 405.

  Further, the thoracic width, the heart width, and the values of the cardiothoracic ratio are displayed as a cardiothoracic ratio display 410 including the calculation formula of the cardiothoracic ratio. At that time, the magnification of X-rays is displayed together with the rib cage width and the heart width. By displaying the X-ray magnification rate, it is possible to convert to an accurate length.

  Here, the cardiothoracic ratio display 410 of FIG. 4 has a configuration of (heart width (mm) × magnification rate (%)) (thoracic width (mm) × magnification rate (%)) = cardiothoracic ratio (%). ing.

  On the other hand, when the display method is a display method for displaying a failure result, the measurement result display unit 103 outputs the image shown in FIG. 5 to the display unit 207 (step S306).

  The fact that automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement fails means that any one of the four position detections, that is, the right thoracic lateral position, the left thoracic lateral position, the right cardiac lateral position, and the left cardiac lateral position has failed. Three examples can be considered as display patterns.

  The first example is a case where the measurement result display unit 103 cannot calculate the heart width. This is an example of FIG. 5A in which the position detection of the position outside the right heart has failed. In this case, the measurement result display unit 103 sets the marker 507 representing the outer right heart position at a position clearly different from the outer right heart position, and the auxiliary line 502 plotted based on the marker 507 is also inaccurate. Plotting to position.

  Here, if the position detection of the right heart outer side position fails, the accurate heart width cannot be calculated in the measurement result display unit 103. Therefore, in the cardiothoracic ratio display 505, the portion for displaying the heart width is blank. In addition, since the accurate heart width cannot be calculated by the measurement result display unit 103, the cardiothoracic ratio cannot be calculated. Therefore, in the cardiothoracic ratio display 505, the part for displaying the cardiothoracic ratio is also blank. Further, the heart width and the cardiothoracic ratio need only be displayed so that they can be calculated even if they are not blank. For example, a character string such as a “???” mark may be used.

  As an example in which the heart width cannot be calculated by the measurement result display unit 103, an example in which the position detection of the right heart outer position has failed has been described. The values of the heart width and the cardiothoracic ratio in the ratio display 505 are blank. Further, even in the case where position detection has failed for both the left heart outer position and the right heart outer position, the heart width and cardiothoracic ratio values in the cardiothoracic ratio display 505 are blank.

  The second example is a case where the measurement result display unit 103 cannot calculate the rib cage width. This is an example of FIG. 5B in which the position detection of the right thoracic outer side position has failed. In this case, the measurement result display unit 103 sets the marker 514 indicating the right thoracic outer side position to a position clearly different from the right thoracic outer side position, and the auxiliary line 508 plotted based on the marker 514 is also inaccurate. Plotting to position.

  Here, if the position detection of the right thoracic outer side position fails, the accurate thoracic width cannot be calculated in the measurement result display unit 103. Therefore, in the cardiothoracic ratio display 512, the portion for displaying the rib cage width is blank. In addition, since the accurate chest width cannot be measured by the measurement result display unit 103, the cardiothoracic ratio cannot be calculated. Therefore, in the cardiothoracic ratio display 512, the part for displaying the cardiothoracic ratio is also blank. Here, even if the chest width and the cardiothoracic ratio are not blank, it is only necessary to display that the calculation is not possible. For example, a character string such as a “???” mark may be used.

  As an example in which the chest width cannot be calculated in the measurement result display unit 103, an example in which the position detection of the right outer side of the right rib has failed has been given. The values of the thorax width and the cardiothoracic ratio in the ratio display 512 are blank. Further, even in the case where position detection has failed for both the left thoracic outer side position and the right thoracic outer side position, the values of the thoracic width and the cardiothoracic ratio in the cardiothoracic ratio display 512 are blank.

  The third example is a case where the measurement result display unit 103 cannot calculate both the rib cage width and the heart width. That is the example of FIG. First, the position detection of the right thoracic outer side position has failed. In this case, the measurement result display unit 103 sets the marker 521 representing the right thoracic outer position to a position clearly different from the right thoracic outer position, and the auxiliary line 515 plotted based on the marker 521 is also inaccurate. Plotting to position. Furthermore, the position detection of the right heart outer side position has failed. Accordingly, the measurement result display unit 103 sets the marker 522 representing the right heart outer position to a position clearly different from the right heart outer position, and the auxiliary line 516 plotted based on the marker 522 is also an incorrect position. Is plotted.

  Here, if the position detection of the right thoracic outer side position fails, the accurate thoracic width cannot be calculated in the measurement result display unit 103. In addition, if the position detection of the right heart outer side position fails, the measurement result display unit 103 cannot calculate an accurate heart width. Therefore, in the cardiothoracic ratio display 519, the portion for displaying the rib cage width and the heart width is blank. In addition, since the accurate chest width and heart width cannot be calculated in the measurement result display unit 103, the cardiothoracic ratio cannot be calculated. Therefore, in the cardiothoracic ratio display 519, the part for displaying the cardiothoracic ratio is also blank. Here, it is sufficient that the thorax width and the cardiothoracic ratio are displayed so that they can be measured or calculated even if they are not blank. For example, a character string such as a “???” mark may be used.

  As an example in which the measurement result display unit 103 cannot measure the rib cage width and the heart width, an example in which the position detection of the right rib cage outer position and the position detection of the right heart outer position has failed is described, but the present invention is not limited to this. Even in the case where the position detection of the left thoracic lateral position and the position detection of the left cardiac lateral position have failed, the portion of the cardiothoracic ratio display 519 that displays the thoracic width, the cardiac width, and the cardiothoracic ratio is blank.

  In addition, even in the case where the position detection of the left outer rib position and the position detection of the right heart outer position have failed, the position detection of the right rib cage outer position and the position detection of the left heart outer position have failed. The area displaying the rib cage width, heart width, and cardiothoracic ratio is blank.

  Further, in the case of failing to detect all positions of the left rib cage outer position, the right rib cage outer position, the left heart outer position, the right heart outer position, the chest width and heart width of the cardiothoracic ratio display 519, and the cardiothoracic ratio The part that displays is blank.

  As described above, when the display method is a display method for displaying a failure result, the cardiothoracic ratio is not displayed as the output of the measurement result display unit 103. Also, the chest width or heart width that failed to be calculated is not displayed. This is to prevent the user from using the inaccurate cardiothoracic ratio calculated by the measurement result display unit 103 based on the value of the position detection failure in the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement unit 101 by mistake. It is. Here, the value of the position detection failure is any one of the left thoracic outer side position, the right thoracic outer side position, the left heart outer side position, and the right heart outer side position.

  The measurement result display unit 103, when outputting the display result by the display method for displaying the failure result, the position of the left thoracic outer side position, the right thoracic outer side position, the left heart outer side position, the right heart outer side position, which has failed in the detection position. The marker 524 corresponding to is blinked as shown in FIG. Not only the marker 524 but also the auxiliary line 523 may be blinked. The purpose of blinking is to inform the user which position detection is not accurate and to know which position should be corrected by knowing that.

  The display result output by the measurement result display unit 103 is the display result shown in FIG. 4 or FIG.

  Next, operations of the position correction detection unit 104 and the position correction result display unit 105 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The position correction detection unit 104 receives the correction detection signal, detects the correction position, and outputs the correction position (step S307).

  The correction detection signal that is an input of the position correction detection unit 104 represents 4 on the screen displayed by the measurement result display unit 103, representing the left thoracic outer position, the right thoracic outer position, the left heart outer position, and the right heart outer position. This is a signal for detecting an event that any one of the two markers has been instructed and moved.

  The instruction and movement of the marker are realized based on, for example, an operation by a user input unit 206 (for example, a mouse).

  The detection of the correction position of the position correction detection unit 104 is to recognize which of the four markers the user has instructed with the mouse (step S601).

  The correction position, which is the output of the position correction detection unit 104, is the marker that the user has designated with the mouse, the marker name or marker number, the current coordinates of the designated marker, and the coordinates after correction. is there. The outputs of the position correction detection unit 104 are stored in the RAM 203.

  The position correction result display unit 105 receives the correction position and the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result, calculates the cardiothoracic ratio again, and outputs the corrected cardiothoracic ratio measurement result (step S308). The correction position that is an input of the position correction result display unit 105 is a correction position that is an output of the position correction detection unit 104.

  The automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result that is an input of the position correction result display unit 105 is an automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result that is an output of the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement unit 101. Since this automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result is stored in the RAM 203, it is read from the RAM 203.

  The re-calculation of the cardiothoracic ratio means that the heart width, the rib cage width, and the cardiothoracic ratio are calculated again using the correction position corrected by the user and the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result.

  Specifically, first, it is determined whether both the outer left heart position and the outer right heart position have been detected successfully or have been corrected by the user (step S602). The success and failure of the detection of the left heart outer position and the right heart outer position can be understood from the position detection binary result of the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result read from the RAM 203.

  On the other hand, whether or not the correction has been made by the user can be known from the marker name of the correction position, which is an input of the position correction result display unit 105. When it is detected that both the left heart outer position and the right heart outer position have been successfully detected or have been corrected by the user, the position correction result display unit 105 displays the heart width on the display unit 207. It is displayed (step S603).

  The calculation of the heart width can be obtained from the position detection coordinates of the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result read from the RAM 203 and the corrected coordinates read from the RAM 203.

  Next, it is determined whether both the left thoracic outer side position and the right thoracic outer side position are detected successfully or corrected by the user (step S604).

  The success or failure of the detection of the left outer rib position and the right outer rib position can be understood from the position detection binary result of the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result read from the RAM 203. On the other hand, whether or not the correction has been made by the user can be known from the marker name of the correction position, which is an input of the position correction result display unit 105. When it is detected that both the left outer rib position and the right outer rib position have been successfully detected or corrected by the user, the position correction result display unit 105 displays the rib width on the display unit 207. It is displayed (step S605).

  Finally, it is determined whether the left heart outer position, the right heart outer position, the left rib cage outer position, and the right rib outer position are all detected successfully or corrected by the user (step S606). ).

  The success and failure of the detection of the left heart outer position, the right heart outer position, the left thorax outer position, and the right thorax outer position can be understood from the position detection binary result of the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result read from the RAM 203.

  On the other hand, whether or not the correction has been made by the user can be known from the marker name of the correction position, which is an input of the position correction result display unit 105. When the left heart outer position, right heart outer position, left rib cage outer position, and right rib outer position are all detected successfully or corrected by the user, the position correction result is displayed. The unit 105 displays the cardiothoracic ratio on the display unit 207 (step S607).

  The calculation of the cardiothoracic ratio can be obtained from the position detection coordinates of the automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement result read from the RAM 203 and the corrected coordinates read from the RAM 203.

  The post-correction cardiothoracic ratio measurement result output by the position correction result display unit 105 includes the newly calculated heart width, ribcage width, cardiothoracic ratio, and the corrected left heart outer position, right heart outer position, left This is a display result in which all positions of the outer ribcage position and the right ribcage outer position are newly displayed again.

  The position correction result display unit 105 stops blinking of the marker corresponding to the position detected to be corrected by the user among the left thoracic outer position, the right thoracic outer position, the left heart outer position, and the right heart outer position. . If not only the marker but also the auxiliary line blinks, the auxiliary line also stops blinking in the same way.

  In this way, when automatic cardiothoracic measurement fails, the cardiothoracic ratio is not displayed unless correction is always performed by the user.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, when the monitor diagnosis is performed using the digital image captured by the X-ray image digital imaging apparatus, the automatic cardiothoracic ratio processing is displayed when the processing is successful and when the processing is unsuccessful. Change the method. Thereby, when automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement fails, it is possible to prevent the user from erroneously using the cardiothoracic ratio displayed as a failure in the automatic cardiothoracic ratio process.

  Further, when the user after the failure manually performs the correction process, by reusing part of the data detected by the automatic cardiothoracic ratio process, the burden on the user can be eased and the diagnosis can be performed with high accuracy.

<Embodiment 2>
In the second embodiment, only the difference of the first embodiment will be described.

  When the measurement result display unit 103 outputs the display result by the display method for displaying the failure result, the marker corresponding to the position where the position detection of the left thoracic outer side, the right thoracic outer side, the left heart outer side, and the right heart outer side has failed is performed. The marker and the color corresponding to the position where the position detection was successful are displayed in different colors.

  For example, a marker for which position detection has failed is set to red, and a marker for which position detection has been successful is set to blue. Here, blue and red are meaningless. Green or black can be anything. Any display form can be used as long as the user can identify whether the position detection has failed or succeeded.

  Further, not only the markers but also the auxiliary lines may be changed in color in the same manner. The reason for changing the color is to inform the user which position detection is inaccurate and to know which position should be corrected by knowing that.

  In the position correction result display unit 105, the position of the marker corresponding to the position detected to be corrected by the user is successfully detected from the positions on the left outer side of the left rib cage, the outer side of the right rib cage, the outer side of the left heart, and the outer side of the right heart. The marker and color corresponding to the position are displayed differently.

  Since the marker corresponding to the position where the position detection was successful was blue in the above, the marker corresponding to the position where the correction was detected by the user is also changed to blue. If not only the markers but also the auxiliary lines are color-coded, the auxiliary lines are similarly changed in color.

  In this way, when automatic cardiothoracic measurement fails, the cardiothoracic ratio is not displayed unless correction is always performed by the user.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, in addition to the effects described in the first embodiment, it is possible to make it easier for the user to visually recognize the position detection failure status and the processing status related to the correction operation. it can.

<Embodiment 3>
The conventional automatic measurement method is not satisfactory because it does not provide the user with a determination material for determining the validity of the automatically measured cardiothoracic ratio.

  There are two situations in which the automatically measured cardiothoracic ratio is not correct. The first situation is that the computer has determined that the cardiothoracic ratio has been automatically measured successfully, but the correct cardiothoracic ratio has not been measured. In order to measure the cardiothoracic ratio, it is necessary to detect the heart width and the ribcage width, and this corresponds to a case where an incorrect heart width or ribcage width is automatically detected. The second situation is that the computer cannot automatically detect the heart width or thorax width. This is a case where the feature quantity necessary for measuring the cardiothoracic ratio could not be extracted, and as a result, the cardiothoracic ratio could not be measured.

  The second case is when the computer can be determined to have failed. In the first case, the user must determine the validity.

  Conventionally, the user cannot acquire information on the feature amount necessary for automatic measurement of the cardiothoracic ratio. The feature amount is, for example, the position of 4 points (heart width (2 points) and ribcage width (2 points)), for example, the outline of the heart and the outline of the rib cage. Although it is possible to acquire a measurement accuracy value, this measurement accuracy value is one index value obtained by comprehensively evaluating information on a plurality of feature amounts, and information for the user to determine the validity of the cardiothoracic ratio Is insufficient.

  Therefore, even if automatic measurement is successful or unsuccessful, the user can measure the chest width and heart rate in the same way as when measuring by applying a ruler to a chest image printed on a recording medium such as paper or film. Each width must be measured. Then, unless the cardiothoracic ratio was calculated based on the measured values, the correctness could not be judged.

  Therefore, in the third embodiment, a configuration that allows the user to easily determine the validity of the automatically measured cardiothoracic ratio will be described.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of an image processing apparatus that realizes automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

  In FIG. 7, the image generation unit 1 detects X-rays transmitted through a subject (not shown), generates a digital image E, and outputs the digital image E. The cardiothoracic ratio measurement unit 2 performs cardiothoracic ratio measurement from the input image E and outputs the measured cardiothoracic ratio. The cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 displays the input cardiothoracic ratio.

  The cardiothoracic ratio measurement unit 2 includes a feature amount automatic detection unit 210, a cardiothoracic ratio calculation unit 220, a threshold setting unit 230, a threshold determination unit 240, and a switching unit 250.

  The feature quantity automatic detection unit 210 analyzes the input image E, detects the feature quantity G necessary for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio, and detects the feature quantity G and whether or not the feature quantity has been correctly detected. Information F is output.

  The cardiothoracic ratio calculation unit 220 calculates a cardiothoracic ratio numerical value H using the input feature quantity G and feature quantity detection information F, the cardiothoracic ratio numerical value H, the feature quantity G, and the calculated cardiothoracic ratio. And a measurement accuracy value J for judging the validity of.

  The threshold setting unit 230 sets a threshold Th for determining the validity of the measurement accuracy value J. The threshold determination unit 240 compares the input measurement accuracy value J with the threshold Th and outputs a control signal for controlling the switching unit 250.

  The switching unit 250 determines whether or not to transmit the input feature amount G to the subsequent cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 by a control signal output by the threshold determination unit 240.

  Next, a detailed configuration of the image generation unit 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the image generation unit according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

  The image generation unit 1 includes an imaging unit 110, a storage unit 120, and a selection unit 130.

  The captured image generated by the imaging unit 110 is stored in the storage unit 120, the image is selected by the selection unit 130, and the image E is output.

  The imaging unit 110 generates and outputs a digital image signal representing a subject (not shown), and includes a sensor 111. The sensor 111 only needs to output a digital image signal. This includes, for example, an X-ray imaging apparatus such as an FPD (Flat Panel Detector) apparatus, a CR (Computed Radiography) apparatus, and a CT (Computed Tomography) apparatus. There are also MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) devices and US (UltraSonic) echo devices. Furthermore, it may be a reading device that digitizes an image printed on a medium such as paper or film.

  Note that the storage unit 120 and the selection unit 130 can be realized by, for example, an external storage device such as a hard disk attached to a computer that controls the photographing unit 110 and an input device such as a mouse and a keyboard. That is, the user may interactively specify the image stored in the external storage device using these input devices, or the image may be automatically selected according to a predetermined rule. Good.

  Next, a detailed configuration of the cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the cardiothoracic ratio display unit according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

  The cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 includes a display object generation unit 310 and a display unit 320.

  The display object generation unit 310 generates a display object for presenting information related to the cardiothoracic ratio to the user. The display unit 320 displays the generated display object.

  Next, a hardware configuration for realizing the image processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of an image processing apparatus applicable to the third embodiment of the present invention.

  The image processing apparatus is realized by a computer 500, for example. An ACC (accelerator) 502, a hard disk 503, a CPU 504, a RAM 505, a ROM 506, a magneto-optical disk 507, a mouse 508, a keyboard 509, a printer 510, and a display device 511 are connected to the computer 500 on a bus 501.

  Furthermore, a plurality of image generation apparatuses 700 and a file server 800 are connected to the computer 500 via a network 600.

  Each step of the flowchart described below is realized by a program. This program is stored in a storage device such as the hard disk 503, the magneto-optical disk 507, the RAM 505, and the ROM 506, for example. The CPU 504 reads out and executes the program, thereby executing various processes described in the flowcharts.

  A plurality of image generation apparatuses 700 are connected on the network 600. This image generation apparatus 700 corresponds to the image generation unit 1 described above. The file server 800 stores a captured image to be processed, and realizes a function equivalent to that of the image generation apparatus 700.

  The cardiothoracic ratio measurement unit 2 and the cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 can be realized by a computer 500 and peripheral devices incorporated therein. As an example, the cardiothoracic ratio measurement unit 2 and the cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 can be realized as programs stored in the display device 511 and the hard disk 503.

  In this case, a program stored in the hard disk 503 is read out to the RAM 505 by a user input via the mouse 508 or the keyboard 509. Then, the CPU 504 sequentially executes the programs in the RAM 505 to realize the processing, and the processing result is displayed on the display device 511. Here, as the display device 511, for example, a CRT monitor, a liquid crystal display, or the like can be used.

  The program for realizing the present invention need not be limited to being stored in the hard disk 503. For example, it may be stored in a magneto-optical disk 507 connected to the computer 506 as an external storage device or a file server 800 connected via the network 600. Alternatively, the cardiothoracic ratio measurement unit 2 and the cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 may be partially or wholly realized as a dedicated ACC 502 attached to the computer PC.

  The hardware configuration of the third embodiment is not limited to the configuration illustrated in FIG. 10, and may be configured as illustrated in FIG. 11, for example. In the configuration shown in FIG. 11, the computer 500 is directly connected to the image generation apparatus 700 and can directly input an image. In addition, the computer 500 can incorporate the image generation apparatus 700.

  Next, an operation flow of the image processing apparatus according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the image processing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

  The trigger for starting this process is that the image generating unit 1 outputs the image E and the image E is input to the cardiothoracic ratio measuring unit 2.

  First, the cardiothoracic ratio measuring unit 2 inputs an image E (step S110). Next, the feature quantity automatic detection unit 210 analyzes the input image E and detects a feature quantity G necessary for cardiothoracic ratio calculation. Then, the feature amount G and feature amount detection information F indicating whether or not the feature amount G has been correctly detected are output (step S120).

  Here, the feature quantity necessary for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio is, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, points (B) and (C) for determining the maximum width of the heart, and the maximum width of the rib cage width. Points (A) and (D). Since the cardiothoracic ratio is a ratio between the maximum width of the heart and the maximum width of the ribcage, the cardiothoracic ratio can be calculated using these four points. A feature amount detection method will be described later.

  Next, the cardiothoracic ratio calculation unit 220 calculates a cardiothoracic ratio numerical value H using the feature quantity G and feature quantity detection information F necessary for the cardiothoracic ratio (step S130). Then, the cardiothoracic ratio calculation unit 220 outputs the calculated cardiothoracic ratio numerical value H, the feature amount G, and the measurement accuracy value J for determining the validity of the calculated cardiothoracic ratio. Here, the cardiothoracic ratio value H is a ratio of the maximum width of the heart and the maximum width of the rib cage.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the feature amounts are points (B) and (C) for determining the maximum width of the heart, and points (A) and (D) for determining the maximum width of the rib cage width. In this case, the maximum width of the heart is the distance between the perpendicular passing through point (B) and the perpendicular passing through point (C). Moreover, the maximum width of the rib cage width is a distance between a perpendicular passing through the point (A) and a perpendicular passing through the point (D).

  In the third embodiment, it is assumed that the top and bottom of the subject correspond to the top and bottom of the image, but this assumption may not be satisfied. For example, when the top and bottom of the subject have an inclination of 10 degrees with respect to the top and bottom of the image, the point (A), the point (B), the point (C), and the point (D) are not perpendicular lines. A), a point (B), a point (C), and a distance from a straight line with a 10 degree inclination passing through the point (D) must be calculated. Alternatively, the image may be rotated in advance so that the top and bottom of the subject coincide with the top and bottom of the image.

  The measurement accuracy value is an index value indicating whether or not a plurality of feature amounts have been correctly detected. The determination of whether the cardiothoracic ratio is correct depends on information on how accurately the feature quantity used to calculate the cardiothoracic ratio can be detected.

  Therefore, it is convenient to comprehensively determine the feature amount detection information F related to each feature amount and consider a certain index value. This index value is a measurement accuracy value. It is assumed that the measurement accuracy value is large when the feature amount is detected with high accuracy, and the measurement accuracy value is small when the feature amount is not detected with high accuracy. When the measurement accuracy value is large, it can be determined that the calculated cardiothoracic ratio is correct. On the other hand, when the measurement accuracy value is small, it can be determined that the calculated cardiothoracic ratio is not correct.

As shown in FIG. 13, the measurement accuracy value is calculated using points (B) and (C) for determining the maximum width of the heart, and points (A) for determining the maximum width of the rib cage as shown in FIG. And the point (D) is a total of 4 points, it is calculated as follows. For example,
XA. . . . . 1 if the point (A) is detected successfully, 0 if the detection fails.
XB. . . . . 1 if the point (B) is detected successfully, 0 if the detection fails.
XC. . . . . 1 if point (C) is detected successfully, 0 if detection fails
XD. . . . . 1 if the point (D) is detected successfully, 0 if the detection fails.
Using the value
Measurement accuracy value = XA * 25 + XB * 25 + XC * 25 + XD * 25
Thus, a calculation method in which the minimum value = 0 and the maximum value = 100 can be considered. The calculation of the measurement accuracy value is not limited to this example, and any value may be used as long as it indicates whether or not the feature amount has been detected with high accuracy.

  Next, the cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 displays a display object including the cardiothoracic ratio using the cardiothoracic ratio numerical value H (step S140). For example, FIG. 14 shows a display object for displaying the cardiothoracic ratio value, the maximum width of the heart, and the maximum width of the rib cage together with the image E. As described above, the display unit 320 displays the display object together with the image E on the image E.

  Next, the threshold determination unit 240 compares the predetermined threshold Th set in advance by the threshold setting unit 230 with the measurement accuracy value J output from the cardiothoracic ratio calculation unit 220 in step S130, and the switching unit 250 A control signal for controlling is output (step S150). In the case of the minimum value 0 and the maximum value 100 of the measurement accuracy values described above, the predetermined threshold Th is 0 to 100, but includes 101 as will be described later.

  The switching unit 250 determines whether or not to transmit the feature amount G output from the cardiothoracic ratio calculation unit 220 in step S130 to the subsequent cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 based on a control signal output from the threshold determination unit 240.

  When the measurement accuracy value J is smaller than the predetermined threshold Th, the threshold determination unit 240 outputs a control signal for transmitting the feature amount G to the subsequent cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3. When the measurement accuracy value J is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold Th, a control signal for preventing the feature amount G from being transmitted to the subsequent cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 is output. If the measurement accuracy value J is smaller than the predetermined threshold Th, the process proceeds to step S160. If the measurement accuracy value J is greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold Th, the process is terminated.

  Next, the display object generation unit 310 of the cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 determines whether or not the feature amount G is input. If the feature amount G is input, a display object for displaying the feature amount is displayed. Generate (step S160).

  For example, when the feature quantity is a point for determining the maximum width of the heart width and a point for determining the maximum width of the rib cage width as shown in FIG. 13, they are displayed as shown in FIG. 15. That is, the cardiothoracic ratio and the feature points (A), (B), (C), and (D) are displayed.

  On the other hand, when the feature amount G is not input, the feature amount display is not performed, and the display is as shown in FIG. That is, the display state of FIG. 14 is maintained.

  As described above, the measurement accuracy value J is an index value for determining the validity of whether the cardiothoracic ratio is correct. Even if the measurement accuracy value J is the highest value, it cannot necessarily be stated that the automatic measurement of the cardiothoracic ratio has been performed correctly, but it is correct if the feature amount detection algorithm and the cardiothoracic ratio calculation algorithm are operating well. It can be said that there are many cases. That is, the algorithm sometimes fails. Therefore, Embodiment 3 uses an apparatus that automatically measures the cardiothoracic ratio in order to save the user from measuring the cardiothoracic ratio.

  If possible, the user would not take much time to use the auto-measured cardiothoracic ratio as it is for interpretation interpretation, but the algorithm sometimes fails, so the auto-measured cardiothoracic ratio cannot be fully trusted.

  Here, according to the configuration of the third embodiment, by setting the predetermined threshold Th, when the measurement accuracy value J is equal to or greater than the threshold Th, the automatically measured cardiothoracic ratio is trusted, and the measurement accuracy value J is the threshold. If it is smaller than Th, an interpretation method that does not trust the automatically measured cardiothoracic ratio is possible. Further, even if the auto-measured cardiothoracic ratio is not trusted, since the feature quantity necessary for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio is displayed, it is possible to immediately determine whether or not the automatically measured cardiothoracic ratio is correct.

  If it can be determined that it is correct, the user uses the displayed cardiothoracic ratio for interpretation. On the other hand, if it cannot be determined to be correct, the user measures the chest width and the heart width in the same way as when measuring by applying a ruler to the chest image printed out on a recording medium such as paper or film. Then, the cardiothoracic ratio is calculated based on the measured value. If the algorithm is not trusted, the predetermined threshold Th may be set higher.

  If the algorithm cannot be trusted at all, the cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 always displays both the cardiothoracic ratio and the feature quantity by setting the predetermined threshold Th larger than the maximum value of the measurement accuracy value J. .

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, when the measurement accuracy value of the cardiothoracic ratio is larger than the predetermined threshold, the cardiothoracic ratio is displayed. When the measurement accuracy value of the cardiothoracic ratio is smaller than the predetermined threshold, The cardiothoracic ratio and the feature quantity for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio necessary for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio are displayed.

  In addition, the user can set the predetermined threshold value small when it is determined that the cardiothoracic ratio automatic measurement method is reliable, and can set the predetermined threshold value large when it is determined that it is not reliable. Thereby, the user can acquire information on the feature amount for easily determining whether or not the automatically measured cardiothoracic ratio is not reliable. In addition, when the automatically measured cardiothoracic ratio can be trusted, only the cardiothoracic ratio is displayed, and the feature amount information unnecessary for interpretation is not displayed, so that the user can smoothly perform the interpretation work.

  If the feature quantity necessary for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio is any or all of the four points of the heart width (2 points) and the rib cage width (2 points), the algorithm for feature quantity detection is: This is a feature point detection algorithm. This is simpler and faster than the contour detection algorithm. Therefore, in addition to the effect that the user can obtain a sufficient amount of information to determine the validity of the cardiothoracic ratio, the time required for cardiothoracic ratio measurement is short, and therefore the interpretation time can be shortened.

<Embodiment 4>
In the fourth embodiment, only differences from the third embodiment will be described.

  First, the operation flow of the image processing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  The operation flow of the image processing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment is basically the processing contents shown in FIG. 13, but the feature amount of the image to be processed is different from that of the third embodiment. Therefore, here, the difference will be mainly described.

  After the process of step S110 in FIG. 12, the feature amount detection information F is output (step S120). For example, as shown in FIG. 17, the feature amount necessary for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio is a line (C) for determining the outline of the heart, a line (A) and a line for determining the outline of the thorax. (B).

  If the contour can be detected, it is easy to measure the maximum width of the heart and the maximum width of the thorax. Since the cardiothoracic ratio is a ratio between the maximum width of the heart and the maximum width of the ribcage, the cardiothoracic ratio can be calculated using these three contour lines. The feature amount detection method may be a known method as described in the prior art.

  Next, the cardiothoracic ratio calculation unit 220 calculates a cardiothoracic ratio numerical value H using the feature quantity G and feature quantity detection information F necessary for the cardiothoracic ratio (step S130). The cardiothoracic ratio calculation unit 220 outputs the calculated cardiothoracic ratio numerical value H, the feature amount G used in the calculation, and the measurement accuracy value J for determining the validity of the calculated cardiothoracic ratio.

  As shown in FIG. 17, when the feature amount is a line (C) for determining the outline of the heart, a line (A) and a line (B) for determining the outline of the thorax, The maximum width is the maximum length among the lengths of the line segment (C) that cuts the horizontal line. The maximum width of the thorax width is the maximum length among the lengths of the line segment that cuts the horizontal line between the line segment outside the line (A) and the line segment outside the line (B).

As shown in FIG. 17, the measurement accuracy value is calculated using a line (C) for determining the outline of the heart, a line (A) and a line (B) for determining the outline of the thorax. If there is, calculate as follows. For example,
XA. . . . . If the line (A) can be detected without interruption, 0 is detected. If part of the line (A) is detected, 0.5 is detected.
XB. . . . . If the line (B) can be detected without interruption, 0 is detected, and if part is interrupted, 0.5 is detected.
XC. . . . . If the line (C) can be detected without interruption, 0 is detected, and if part is interrupted, 1.0 is detected.
Using the value
Measurement accuracy value = -XA-XB-XC
Thus, a calculation method in which the minimum value = −2 and the maximum value = 0 is conceivable. The calculation of the measurement accuracy value is not limited to this example, and any value may be used as long as it indicates whether or not the feature amount has been detected with high accuracy.

  Then, the process of step S140-step S160 is performed. In this case, the predetermined threshold Th is −2 to 0 and 1.

  In step S160, for example, when the feature quantity is a line for determining the outline of the heart and a line for determining the outline of the thorax as shown in FIG. 17, they are displayed as shown in FIG.

  As described above, according to the fourth embodiment, the feature amount necessary for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio is a part of one or both of the outline of the heart and the outline of the thorax, or all of the outline. If so, the user can obtain a sufficient amount of information to determine the validity of the cardiothoracic ratio. Therefore, it is possible to determine the validity without taking time, and it is possible to shorten the interpretation time as compared with the conventional method.

<Embodiment 5>
Conventional automatic measurement methods are not satisfactory because they do not take into account the work burden on the user when automatic measurement fails.

  There are two situations in which automatic measurement has failed. The first situation is that the computer has determined that the cardiothoracic ratio has been automatically measured successfully, but the correct cardiothoracic ratio has not been measured. In order to measure the cardiothoracic ratio, it is necessary to detect the heart width and the ribcage width, and this corresponds to a case where an incorrect heart width or ribcage width is automatically detected. The second situation is that the computer cannot automatically detect the heart width or thorax width. This is a case where the feature quantity necessary for measuring the cardiothoracic ratio could not be extracted, and as a result, the cardiothoracic ratio could not be measured.

  In either case, since the automatic measurement has failed, the user must measure the correct heart width and rib cage width. That is, it is necessary to manually determine the feature amount necessary for measuring the cardiothoracic ratio. This feature amount is, for example, the position of 4 points (heart width (2 points) and rib cage width (2 points)). Or the outline of the heart and the outline of the thorax.

  In the conventional method, when automatic measurement fails, among the features necessary for measuring the cardiothoracic ratio, even if all of the feature values fail or some of them fail, Was only informed that automatic measurement failed. Therefore, the user has to give all the feature values again for measurement, and this work has been a big problem as a work burden on the user.

  Therefore, in the fifth embodiment, a configuration that allows the user to manually adjust the cardiothoracic ratio when the automatic measurement of the cardiothoracic ratio has failed without placing a work burden on the user will be described.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of an image processing apparatus that realizes automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

  The basic configuration of the image processing apparatus (the image generation unit 1, the cardiothoracic ratio measurement unit 2, and the cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3) is the same as that in FIG.

  In FIG. 19, the cardiothoracic ratio measurement unit 2 includes a feature quantity automatic detection unit 210 a, a cardiothoracic ratio calculation unit 220 a, and a feature quantity 260.

  The feature amount automatic detection unit 210a analyzes the input image E, detects the feature amount G1 necessary for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio, and detects the feature amount G1 and whether or not the feature amount has been correctly detected. Information F is output.

  The cardiothoracic ratio calculation unit 220a calculates the cardiothoracic ratio numerical value H and the characteristic amount G using the input feature amount G1 and the input G2 as necessary, and the cardiothoracic ratio numerical value H and feature amount G Is output.

  The feature amount input unit 260 inputs a feature amount G2 input from the user.

  The detailed configuration of the cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 of the fifth embodiment is different from the configuration of FIG. 9 of the third embodiment only in the input content from the cardiothoracic ratio measuring unit 2 as shown in FIG. The configuration is the same.

  The hardware configuration for realizing the image processing apparatus is the same as that shown in FIGS.

  Next, an operation flow of the image processing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing an operation flow of the image processing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

  The trigger for starting this process is that the image generating unit 1 outputs the image E and the image E is input to the cardiothoracic ratio measuring unit 2.

  First, the cardiothoracic ratio measuring unit 2 inputs an image E (step S210). Next, the feature quantity automatic detection unit 210a analyzes the input image E and detects a feature quantity G1 necessary for cardiothoracic ratio calculation. Then, the feature amount G1 and feature amount detection information F indicating whether or not the feature amount G1 has been correctly detected are output (step S220).

  Here, the feature quantity necessary for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio is calculated by, for example, the calculation method described in the case of FIG. 13 described in the third embodiment.

  The greatest feature of the fifth embodiment is that the feature amount automatic detection unit 210a outputs feature amount detection information F indicating whether or not these feature amounts have been correctly detected to the subsequent stage. The feature amount detection information F includes information indicating whether detection has succeeded or failed for each feature amount. With this configuration, when automatic feature amount detection fails, the manual detection work load is reduced.

  Next, the cardiothoracic ratio calculation unit 220a calculates the cardiothoracic ratio using the feature quantity G1 necessary for the cardiothoracic ratio (step S230). Then, the cardiothoracic ratio calculation unit 220a outputs the calculated cardiothoracic ratio numerical value H and the feature amount G. Here, the cardiothoracic ratio value H is a ratio of the maximum width of the heart and the maximum width of the rib cage. The feature amount is as described in FIG. 13 of the third embodiment.

  Next, the cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 displays a display object including the cardiothoracic ratio using the feature quantity G, the feature quantity detection information F, and the cardiothoracic ratio numerical value H (step S240). For example, FIG. 22 shows a display object for displaying the cardiothoracic ratio numerical value, the maximum width of the heart, the maximum width of the rib cage, the auxiliary line indicating the heart width, and the auxiliary line indicating the rib cage width together with the image E. As described above, the display unit 320 displays the display object together with the image E on the image E.

  As shown in FIG. 23, when the displayed auxiliary line is moved in the horizontal direction by the input unit 206, the display object can calculate the cardiothoracic ratio value and the heart width in real time. A function of updating the display of the maximum width and the maximum width of the rib cage width may be provided.

  The display method of the display object displays the cardiothoracic ratio numerical value and all the feature amounts when all the feature amounts are correctly detected. If the feature amounts are two points for determining the maximum width of the heart and two points for determining the maximum width of the rib cage width, for example, a display object is displayed as shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, when the automatic detection of the feature amount fails, only the feature amount that has been successfully detected is displayed without displaying the cardiothoracic ratio numerical value. In this case, it is preferable to display a message indicating the number of feature quantities that have failed to be detected or the number that has been successfully detected as the feature quantity detection information.

  The feature amount is two points for determining the maximum width of the heart width and two points for determining the maximum width of the rib cage width, and automatic detection of the two points of the left point of the heart and the left point of the rib cage If is successful, for example, it is displayed as shown in FIG. Here, the left and right are reversed, but in a medical image, the left and right are often reversed and displayed. Therefore, the display method as shown in FIG. 25 may be used. If the display method does not reverse the left and right, the display is performed after the left and right in FIG.

  The reason why the display method as shown in FIG. 24 or FIG. 25 is possible is that feature amount detection information F indicating whether or not the feature amount has been correctly detected is output by the feature amount automatic detection unit 210a, and the cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 It is because it is input to. In the conventional configuration, only the function of outputting the cardiothoracic ratio numerical value if the measurement is successful and not outputting the cardiothoracic ratio numerical value if the measurement fails is provided. Cannot be realized.

  Therefore, in the past, “(1) Since the feature quantity for determining whether the cardiothoracic ratio is correct is not displayed, it is very difficult for the user or the program to determine whether the cardiothoracic ratio is correct.” There is a problem. In addition, “(2) When it is determined that the cardiothoracic ratio is not correct or when the calculation of the cardiothoracic ratio fails, all the feature quantities must be input when inputting the correct feature quantities. The work burden is large. ”

  In the fifth embodiment, for the problem (1), since the feature value used when the cardiothoracic ratio is calculated is displayed, it can be easily determined whether the calculated cardiothoracic ratio is correct. In addition, for the problem (2), even if automatic calculation of the cardiothoracic ratio fails, feature quantities that have been successfully detected automatically are displayed. I'll do it. Therefore, the work load can be reduced as compared with the conventional method.

  Next, cardiothoracic ratio validity information for determining whether or not the cardiothoracic ratio calculation is correct is input (step S250). The input of the cardiothoracic ratio validity information means that, for example, when the user sees the displayed display object and finds that the detected feature amount is incorrect, the input is performed via the input unit 206. To do. Alternatively, when a device capable of determining the validity of the cardiothoracic ratio is configured, the cardiothoracic ratio validity information may be input from the device.

  Here, the device that can determine the validity of the cardiothoracic ratio is, for example, that a user away from the place where the image processing apparatus is installed monitors the contents of the cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 via a network line. . Then, based on the monitoring result, it is conceivable to input the rib cage ratio correctness information information through a network line. If the cardiothoracic ratio validity information is not input, it may be determined that information indicating that the cardiothoracic ratio is valid is input.

  Next, using the input cardiothoracic ratio validity information, it is determined whether the cardiothoracic ratio is correct (step S260). If the cardiothoracic ratio is correct, the process is terminated. On the other hand, if the cardiothoracic ratio is not correct, the feature quantity G2 of the cardiothoracic ratio is input from the feature quantity input unit 260 (step S221).

  As described above, for example, when the user observes the displayed cardiothoracic ratio object in step S250 and finds that there is an error in the detected feature quantity, the feature quantity is used to correct the feature quantity. Input.

  In the input method, for example, when the feature amount is a point for determining the maximum width of the heart width and the maximum width of the rib cage width as shown in FIG. The point is selected and moved to the position to be corrected.

  Or, when the display object has a perpendicular line passing through the feature point as an auxiliary line as shown in FIG. 23, the auxiliary line is moved in the horizontal direction via the input unit 206 as shown in FIG. Thus, a method of correcting the position of the feature point may be used.

  In addition, when the feature amount is a line for determining the outline of the heart and a line for determining the outline of the rib cage as shown in FIG. 17, after the line to be corrected is selected on the display unit 320. The shape of the characteristic line is corrected by tracing the corrected line through the input unit 206.

  When the automatic detection of the feature quantity of the cardiothoracic ratio fails and the necessary feature quantity is insufficient, for example, the user inputs the missing feature quantity.

  For example, when the feature amount is a point for determining the maximum width of the heart width and the maximum width of the thorax width as shown in FIG. 13, the input unit 206 is insufficient on the display unit 320. Specify the position of the point.

  In addition, when the feature amount is a line for determining the outline of the heart and a line for determining the outline of the rib cage as shown in FIG. The feature line shape is input by tracing the missing feature line via the input unit 206. If the missing feature line is the contour line of the rib cage, the entire shape of the contour lines of both lungs may be input, or a part of the contour lines of both lungs, for example, the contour lines outside the lungs You may enter only.

  If the feature value of the cardiothoracic ratio is input, the cardiothoracic ratio is calculated using the feature value input by the cardiothoracic ratio calculation unit 220a as in the case of automatic detection (step S230). Then, the cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 displays the cardiothoracic ratio (step S240). The cardiothoracic ratio display unit 3 already has the feature quantity and feature quantity detection information at the time of automatic detection. In this case, the cardiothoracic ratio is displayed using the feature quantity input this time. It is preferable that information at the time of automatic detection can be displayed using the feature amount at the time of automatic detection and the feature amount detection information.

  As described above, according to the fifth embodiment, along with the cardiothoracic ratio numerical value, the feature quantity for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio and whether or not the detection has succeeded or failed individually for each feature quantity. Is output. In order to determine whether or not the cardiothoracic ratio value is correct, it is only necessary to determine whether or not the feature amount used when calculating the cardiothoracic ratio is correct.

  In the fifth embodiment, since the feature amount used when the cardiothoracic ratio is calculated is displayed, it can be easily determined whether the cardiothoracic ratio calculated by the user or the external device is correct. Furthermore, even if the automatic calculation of the cardiothoracic ratio has failed, the feature quantity that has been successfully detected is displayed. For this reason, if only the feature amount that has failed to be detected is input, all the feature amounts necessary for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio can be input, and the work burden on the user or the external device can be reduced.

  In addition, if the feature quantity necessary for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio is any or all of the four points of the heart width (2 points) and the rib cage width (2 points) and the automatic detection fails, the user Alternatively, it is only necessary to designate a maximum of four points without the external device giving the contour of the heart and the contour of the rib cage. Therefore, the work burden on the user's correction work is light. When the point where the heart width becomes the maximum width and the point where the thorax width becomes the maximum width can be easily determined, this way of providing the feature amount provides a light and high-accuracy cardiothoracic ratio measurement.

<Embodiment 6>
In the sixth embodiment, only differences from the fifth embodiment will be described.

  First, the operation flow of the image processing apparatus according to the sixth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  The operation flow of the image processing apparatus according to the sixth embodiment is basically the processing content shown in FIG. 21, but the feature amount of the image to be processed is different from that of the fifth embodiment. Therefore, here, the difference will be mainly described.

  After the process of step S210 in FIG. 21, the feature amount detection information F is output (step S220). For example, as shown in FIG. 17, the feature quantity necessary for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio is a line (C) for determining a cardiac contour line, a line (A) and a line ( B).

  If the contour can be detected, it is easy to measure the maximum width of the heart and the maximum width of the thorax. Since the cardiothoracic ratio is a ratio between the maximum width of the heart and the maximum width of the ribcage, the cardiothoracic ratio can be calculated using these three contour lines. The feature amount detection method may be a known method as described in the prior art.

  Next, the cardiothoracic ratio calculation unit 220a calculates a cardiothoracic ratio numerical value H using the feature amount G1 necessary for the cardiothoracic ratio. The cardiothoracic ratio calculation unit 220a outputs the calculated cardiothoracic ratio numerical value H and the feature amount G1 used in the calculation (step S230).

  Here, the feature quantity necessary for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio is calculated by, for example, the calculation method described in the case of FIG. 17 described in the fourth embodiment.

  Then, the process of step S240-step S260 and step S221 is performed. As described above, according to the sixth embodiment, when the feature amount necessary for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio is a part or all of at least one of the contour lines of the heart and the rib cage and the automatic detection fails. A user or an external device can give a feature value based on the definition of the cardiothoracic ratio. Therefore, the cardiothoracic ratio can be accurately measured.

(Measurement position detection)
Here, detection of the right thoracic outer position, the left thoracic outer position, the left heart outer position, and the right heart outer position, and determination of failure / success in detection will be briefly described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 27, the pixel values in the horizontal direction of the lung are acquired sequentially from a predetermined position (for example, I, II, III...) From the upper part to the lower part. As shown in (a1) of FIG. 27, a depression exists in the lung field, and the depression gradually becomes smaller toward the lower portion. At point A, the width of the depression becomes almost zero.

  A result of performing binarization processing using a predetermined height threshold value (luminance threshold value) in order to obtain a position that becomes almost zero is shown in (a2). (Al is 3 locations in (a1), but (a2) shows binarized values corresponding to 6 locations). As is clear from this figure, the width d gradually decreases toward the lower part, and after passing through the position of the point A, the width d disappears. An intermediate position of the width d is a candidate point for the point A.

  In the detection of the point A, after the width d becomes smaller than the predetermined threshold D, a position where the width d immediately before the width d becomes 0 is not 0 is detected as the point A. Therefore, if the width d does not become smaller than the threshold D due to some abnormality and the width d becomes 0, it can be considered that the detection of the point A has failed. The same applies to the point D.

  Next, detection of point B will be described.

  As described with reference to FIG. 27, as shown in FIG. 28, the pixel values in the horizontal direction of the lung are acquired from a predetermined position in order (for example, I, II, III...) From the top to the bottom. I will do it. As shown in (a1) of FIG. 28, the distance d from the center of the body axis to the lung field increases relatively rapidly as the point B is approached, and then decreases rapidly.

  In order to obtain this position, the result of binarization processing using a predetermined height threshold (brightness threshold) is shown in (a2). In (a1), there are three places, but (a2) shows the value after binarization corresponding to five places). In (a2), the left end of the width d is a candidate point for point B, and the width d is the distance from the center of the body axis. The relationship between the position of the horizontal line and the width d is shown in (a3).

  In (a3), it is determined whether the position B is detected successfully or unsuccessfully, depending on whether there is a position where the maximum value exists. The same applies to point C.

  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.

It is a figure which shows the function structure of the image processing apparatus applicable to each embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the image processing apparatus applicable to each embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement flow of the image processing apparatus of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display result of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display result of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement flow of the position correction of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the image processing apparatus which implement | achieves the cardiothoracic-ratio automatic measurement of Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the image generation part of Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the cardiothoracic ratio display part of Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the image processing apparatus applicable to Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the image processing apparatus applicable to Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement flow of the image processing apparatus of Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display result of Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display result of Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display result of Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display result of Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display result of Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display result of Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the image processing apparatus which implement | achieves the cardiothoracic-ratio automatic measurement of Embodiment 5 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the cardiothoracic ratio display part of Embodiment 5 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement flow of the image processing apparatus of Embodiment 5 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display result of Embodiment 5 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the correction method of Embodiment 5 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display result of Embodiment 5 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display result of Embodiment 5 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display result of Embodiment 5 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the detection of the measurement position in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the detection of the measurement position in embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Automatic cardiothoracic ratio measurement part 102 Display method selection part 103 Measurement result display part 104 Position correction detection part 105 Position correction result display part 200 Information processing apparatus 201 Bus 202 CPU
203 RAM
204 ROM
205 Storage Unit 206 Input Unit 207 Display Unit 208 Network Interface 209 Network

Claims (25)

An information processing apparatus for measuring a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
Measuring means for detecting a right thoracic lateral position, a left thoracic lateral position, a cardiac right lateral position, a cardiac left lateral position in the chest image, and measuring a cardiothoracic ratio;
Selection means for selecting one of a plurality of display methods based on a measurement result by the measurement means;
An information processing apparatus comprising: a measurement result display unit that displays a measurement result obtained by the measurement unit on a display unit according to a display method selected by the selection unit. Correction means for correcting the measurement result displayed on the display means;
The correction result display means for correcting the measurement result in accordance with the correction instruction when the correction instruction by the correction means is input and displaying the correction result on the display unit. The information processing apparatus described. The plurality of display methods include:
A success result display method for displaying when the position of the right outer side of the right chest, the outer side of the left rib cage, the right outer side of the heart, and the left outer side of the heart are successfully detected by the measuring means;
And a failure result display method for displaying when at least one of the right thoracic lateral position, the left thoracic lateral position, the heart right lateral position, and the heart left lateral position has failed to be detected by the measuring means. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. The success result display method is a display method for displaying the value of the cardiothoracic ratio measured by the measuring means,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the failure result display method is a display method that does not display a value of the cardiothoracic ratio measured by the measuring unit. The failure result display method displays a distance between the right outer side of the right chest and the outer position of the left rib cage when at least one of the positions of the right outer side of the right rib and the outer side of the left rib is unsuccessful. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the display method is a non-display method. The failure result display method does not display the distance between the right outer right heart position and the left outer left heart position when at least one of the positions of the right outer right heart position and the left outer left heart position by the measuring unit fails. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the information processing apparatus is a display method. The failure result display method is:
Of the right outer rib position, the left outer rib position, the right outer heart position, and the left outer heart position, the marker or auxiliary line corresponding to the position detection failure position corresponds to the position detection failure position. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the marker or auxiliary line to be displayed is a display method for displaying in an identifiable display form. The correction means corrects the position of a marker corresponding to a position in which position detection has failed among the right outer rib position, the left outer rib position, the right outer heart position, and the left outer heart position. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2. The correction result display means displays the distance between the right outer rib position and the left outer rib position obtained by correction when the right outer rib position and the left outer rib position are corrected by the correcting means. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information processing apparatus displays the information on a part. The correction result display means displays the distance between the right outside heart position and the left outside heart position obtained by correction when the left outside heart position and the right outside heart position are corrected by the correcting means. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information processing apparatus displays the information on a part. The correction result display unit is configured to correct the right side obtained by correction when the right side of the right rib cage, the left side of the left rib cage, the right side of the right heart, and the left side of the heart are corrected by the correcting unit. 3. The information processing according to claim 2, wherein a value of a cardiothoracic ratio measured from an outer position of the rib cage, an outer position of the left rib cage, an outer right position of the heart, and an outer left position of the heart is displayed on the display unit. apparatus. An information processing apparatus for measuring a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
Calculating means for detecting a feature quantity used for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio in the chest image, measuring the cardiothoracic ratio, and calculating a measurement accuracy value of the cardiothoracic ratio based on the detected feature quantity;
An information processing apparatus comprising: a display unit configured to display the cardiothoracic ratio and the feature amount on a display unit based on the measurement accuracy value calculated by the calculation unit. The display means includes
If the measurement accuracy value calculated by the calculation means is greater than or equal to a threshold value, the cardiothoracic ratio is displayed on the display unit,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein when the measurement accuracy value calculated by the calculation means is smaller than a threshold value, the cardiothoracic ratio and the feature amount are displayed on the display unit. Setting means for setting the threshold;
A determination unit for comparing and determining the threshold set by the setting unit and the measurement accuracy value;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the display unit displays the cardiothoracic ratio and the feature amount on a display unit based on a determination result of the determination unit. An information processing apparatus for measuring a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
Detection means for outputting feature information used for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio in the chest image, and detection information indicating success or failure of detection for each feature quantity;
Calculation means for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio based on the feature value output by the detection means;
An information processing apparatus comprising: a feature quantity used for calculation by the calculation means based on detection information detected by the detection means; and display means for displaying the cardiothoracic ratio on a display unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising an input unit configured to input a corresponding feature amount when the detection information indicates a detection failure. The information processing apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising a correcting unit that corrects the feature amount displayed on the display unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the feature amount includes at least one of two points that define a heart width and two points that define a rib cage width. The information processing apparatus according to claim 12 or 19, wherein the feature amount is a part or all of at least one of a contour of a heart and a contour of a thorax. A method for controlling an information processing apparatus for measuring a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
A measurement step of detecting a right thoracic lateral position, a left thoracic lateral position, a cardiac right lateral position, a cardiac left lateral position in the chest image, and measuring a cardiothoracic ratio;
A selection step of selecting one of a plurality of display methods based on the measurement result of the measurement step;
A control method for an information processing apparatus, comprising: a measurement result display step for displaying a measurement result in the measurement step on a display unit according to the display method selected in the selection step. A method for controlling an information processing apparatus for measuring a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
Calculating a cardiothoracic ratio by detecting a feature amount used for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio in the chest image, and calculating a measurement accuracy value of the cardiothoracic ratio based on the detected feature amount;
A control method for an information processing apparatus, comprising: a display step of displaying the cardiothoracic ratio and the feature amount on a display unit based on the measurement accuracy value calculated in the calculation step. A method for controlling an information processing apparatus for measuring a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
A detection step of outputting detection information indicating the success or failure of detection for each feature amount, and the feature amount used for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio in the chest image;
A calculation step of calculating the cardiothoracic ratio based on the feature amount output in the detection step;
A control method for an information processing apparatus, comprising: a detection step of detecting information detected in the detection step; a feature amount used for calculation in the calculation step; and a display step of displaying the cardiothoracic ratio on a display unit. A program for causing a computer to execute control of an information processing device that measures a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
A measurement step of detecting a right thoracic lateral position, a left thoracic lateral position, a cardiac right lateral position, a cardiac left lateral position in the chest image, and measuring a cardiothoracic ratio;
A selection step of selecting one of a plurality of display methods based on the measurement result of the measurement step;
A program that causes a computer to execute a measurement result display step of displaying a measurement result of the measurement step on a display unit in accordance with the display method selected in the selection step. A program for causing a computer to execute control of an information processing device that measures a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
Calculating a cardiothoracic ratio by detecting a feature amount used for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio in the chest image, and calculating a measurement accuracy value of the cardiothoracic ratio based on the detected feature amount;
A program that causes a computer to execute the display step of displaying the cardiothoracic ratio and the feature amount on a display unit based on the measurement accuracy value calculated in the calculation step. A program for causing a computer to execute control of an information processing device that measures a cardiothoracic ratio from a chest image,
A detection step of outputting detection information indicating the success or failure of detection for each feature amount, and the feature amount used for calculating the cardiothoracic ratio in the chest image;
A calculation step of calculating the cardiothoracic ratio based on the feature amount output in the detection step;
A program that causes a computer to execute, based on detection information detected in the detection step, a feature amount used for calculation in the calculation step and a display step of displaying the cardiothoracic ratio on a display unit.