JP2008229135A - Radiation image photographing system, radiation image processing device and program thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To confirm the substance constituting a concerned area appearing on a radiation image. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of radiation images are obtained from radiation penetrating the same subject with different energy distributions, and a plurality of component images expressing distributions of a plurality of components with different radiation absorbing characteristics constituting the subject are generated from the radiation images. The component ratio of each component which constitutes each position on the subject is computed from the quantity of the distributed component in the corresponding position on each component image, and the computed component ratio of the component is displayed as correlated to the corresponding position on the component images. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a radiographic imaging system, a radiographic image processing apparatus, and a program thereof for separating specific image components in an image using radiographic images of a plurality of radiations having different energy distributions.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an energy subtraction process for separating a bone part image and a soft part image using a difference in attenuation amount of a substance constituting a subject when two types of high and low energy radiation are transmitted is known. In some cases, this energy subtraction process is used to generate a soft part image from which a bone part has been removed, and to improve the diagnostic performance by observing a shadow appearing on the soft part. However, in the chest image, it is difficult to grasp the anatomical position of the shadow appearing in the soft part because the position of the rib is not known even if the shadow is found by observing only the soft part image.

  Therefore, after separating the soft part image and the bone part image once by energy subtraction processing, the bone part image with reduced contrast is synthesized with the soft part image, thereby making it easy to observe the soft part and confirming the position of the bone part. There has been proposed one that can be used (for example, Patent Document 1).

  Further, the body fat percentage is generated by combining the image of the bone density distribution of the bone part and the image of the body fat percentage distribution of the soft tissue generated from the images irradiated with radiations of different energies into one image. There has been proposed one that makes it easy to understand the relationship between bone density and bone density (for example, Patent Document 2).

Furthermore, a composite image of intermediate energy with arbitrarily changed energy is generated from two images irradiated with X-rays of different energies, and further combined on the same screen so as not to impair the position information of the region of interest. There has been proposed a technique that makes diagnosis possible while changing the image in various ways to improve diagnosis efficiency (for example, Patent Document 3).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-263882 JP 2004-147863 A JP-A-2005-245657

  By the way, the application form of the above-mentioned energy subtraction processing is, as shown in Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2, separating and observing tissues existing at spatially separated positions based on the difference in radiation absorption characteristics. It is to try.

  However, in practice, even if a nodule exists in the soft tissue of the chest, the shadow of the nodule may appear on the soft part image or on the bone part image due to the difference in the material constituting the nodule. is there. Specifically, the nodule does not necessarily appear on the soft part image depending on the amount of blood flow collected in the nodule and whether or not the image is taken using a contrast medium.

  In this way, the appearance of each image after subtraction differs depending on the difference in the nodule substance, so that the substance constituting this shadow is useful information for diagnosis, but information on such a constituent substance is not available. There was nothing to be obtained.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a radiographic image capturing system, a radiographic image processing apparatus, and a program thereof that can confirm a substance constituting a region of interest that appears on a radiographic image.

The radiological image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a plurality of components generated from a plurality of radiographic images obtained by radiation having different energy distributions that have passed through the same subject, and each of the components having different radiation absorption characteristics constituting the subject. Component image storage means for storing a plurality of component images representing the distribution;
Component ratio calculating means for calculating the component ratio of each component constituting each position on the subject from the distribution amount of each component at the corresponding position on each component image;
And a component ratio display unit that displays the calculated component ratio of each component in association with a corresponding position on each component image.

  “Multiple radiographs obtained by radiation with different energy distributions” are designed so that the energy distribution of the radiation transmitted through the subject is different even if the subject is a radiation image obtained by irradiating the subject with radiation having a different energy distribution. The radiation image obtained in this way may be used.

  “Multiple components with different radiation absorption characteristics” means a plurality of components with different radiation absorption characteristics constituting each tissue of a subject through which radiation has passed, and “Component images” are obtained by separating a radiation image into each component. It is an image.

In addition, the program of the present invention allows a computer to generate a plurality of radiation images generated from a plurality of radiation images obtained by radiation having different energy distributions through which radiation is transmitted to the same subject, each having a different radiation absorption characteristic constituting the subject. Component ratio calculating means for calculating the component ratio of each component constituting each position on the subject from the distribution amount of each component at the corresponding position on each component image from a plurality of component images representing the distribution of each component When,
It functions as a component ratio display means for displaying the calculated component ratio of each component in association with the corresponding position on each component image.

  The “corresponding position on the component image” refers to a position corresponding to the structure of the subject in each component image.

Further, the radiographic image processing apparatus further includes an attention position designation means for designating an attention position on the radiation image,
The component ratio calculating means calculates a component ratio of each component at the designated position of interest;
The component ratio display means may display the calculated component ratio of each component in association with the target position.

The radiological image processing apparatus further includes an attention area extraction unit that extracts an attention area from the radiation image,
The component ratio calculating means calculates a component ratio of each component in the extracted region of interest;
The component ratio display means may display a component ratio in the region of interest.

  “Attention area extraction means” is a means to extract an image part that is different from the surrounding tissue, such as abnormal shadows, as an attention area. As a specific example, extraction using an image diagnosis support function by a computer There is something to do.

  Further, the plurality of components constituting the subject may include at least a soft part component, a bone component, and a heavy element component composed of an element having an atomic number higher than that of the bone.

  “Soft tissue component” is a component of connective tissue excluding living bone tissue (bone component), such as fibrous tissue, adipose tissue, blood vessel, striated muscle, smooth muscle, peripheral nerve tissue (ganglion and nerve fiber), etc. Is included.

  Specific examples of the “heavy element component” include iron that is contained in blood, a contrast medium, and a metal that is a material for a guide wire of a catheter embedded in the body.

Furthermore, the radiographic image capturing system of the present invention includes a radiographic image capturing apparatus that obtains N (≧ 2) radiographic images by radiation having different energy distributions that transmit the radiation to the same subject,
According to the difference in radiation absorption characteristics of the M (2 ≦ M ≦ N) components having different radiation absorption characteristics constituting the subject, of the M components constituting the subject from the N radiation images. The radiation image processing apparatus further comprising: a component image generating unit that separates a plurality of components and generates a plurality of component images representing distributions of the separated components. .

  According to the present invention, a component image representing a distribution of a plurality of components having different radiation absorption characteristics constituting a subject is generated from a plurality of radiation images obtained by radiation having different energy distributions, and each position on the subject is configured. By calculating and displaying the component ratio of each component to be performed, it is possible to confirm the component ratio of the component constituting the shadow or the like appearing on the radiographic image and perform an accurate diagnosis.

  In addition, by specifying the position of interest on the radiographic image and calculating the composition ratio of each component at the designated position of interest, it is possible to know the composition ratio of the shadow existing at the position that the image diagnostician is paying attention to. it can.

  Alternatively, a region of interest such as an abnormal shadow is automatically extracted from a radiographic image, and the composition ratio of each component in the extracted region of interest is calculated, so that a region of interest such as an abnormal shadow is automatically extracted. You can know the composition ratio of the shadow.

  By separating the soft tissue component, the bone component, and the heavy element component consisting of elements with an atomic number higher than that of the bone, the soft tissue and the bone tissue can be observed separately. It is possible to observe places where there are many contrasts and to confirm places where many contrast agents are distributed. Furthermore, a catheter or the like embedded in the body can be observed separately from soft tissue or bone tissue.

  The first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, the schematic block diagram of the radiographic imaging system 1 of this invention is shown. The radiographic image capturing system 1 includes a radiographic image capturing device 2 that irradiates a subject to be inspected with radiation and captures radiographic images having different energy distributions, and an image management that stores the radiographic images captured by the radiographic image capturing device 2. An interpretation workstation 4 that calculates a component ratio of components constituting the subject using a component image obtained by separating components having different radiation absorption characteristics using radiation images obtained by radiation of different energy distributions; And a network 5 for connecting them.

  A network 5 is a local area network that connects the above apparatuses in a hospital. When the interpretation workstation 4 is also installed in another hospital or clinic, the network 5 may be configured by connecting local area networks of each hospital via the Internet or a dedicated line. In any case, it is desirable that the network 5 can realize high-speed transfer of image information such as an optical network.

  The radiographic imaging device 2 includes a radiation irradiation unit that irradiates radiation and a radiation detector such as an FPD (flat panel detector) that detects radiation transmitted through the subject, and captures the same subject by using radiation with different energy distributions. A function of acquiring the obtained radiographic image is provided. Specifically, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-245657, radiation of different energy spectrum is irradiated to the same subject by changing the tube voltage of the radiation irradiation unit, and radiographic images are respectively captured by the detector. To do. The radiographic image capturing apparatus 2 preferably has a transmission function compliant with DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine), and transmits the captured radiographic image to the image management server 3. Hereinafter, when referring to radiographic images having different energy distributions of the radiation transmitted through the subject, the radiographic image is described as an energy image).

  The image management server 3 is preferably connected to the radiographic image capturing apparatus 2 via the network 5 and has a function of receiving a radiographic image captured by the radiographic image capturing apparatus 2 in conformity with DICOM. The radiographic image is stored in a format that complies with DICOM, along with information on the imaging date, the modality (radiographic imaging apparatus, MRI apparatus, CT apparatus, etc.). If the modality is a radiography system, the modality information includes radiography information (imaging conditions such as the configuration of the tube voltage / accumulative phosphor sheet and additional filter, imaging protocol, imaging sequence, imaging technique, and use of contrast agent And time elapsed after injection / used dye, radionuclide, radiation dose, etc.). Further, the image management server 3 is installed with database management software, and is configured to have a function of searching for a radiation image using various information attached to the stored radiation image. When the image management server 3 receives an image browsing request from the interpretation workstation 4 via the network 5, the image management server 3 searches for the stored image and transmits the extracted image to the requesting interpretation workstation 4.

  When an operation for requesting browsing of an image to be interpreted is performed by a user such as an image diagnostician or the like, the interpretation workstation 4 transmits a viewing request to the image management server 3 and acquires a radiological image necessary for interpretation. Then, the radiation image is displayed on the monitor screen.

  In addition, a radiographic image processing program is installed in the interpretation workstation 4, and the radiographic image processing program is executed to function as a radiographic image processing apparatus. This radiation image processing program is stored in an information storage medium such as a CD-ROM or distributed and installed via a network such as the Internet.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the image interpretation workstation (radiation image processing apparatus) 4 generates a component image that represents the distribution of each component separated from the energy image into components having different radiation absorption characteristics. Means 41; component image storage means 42 for storing the generated component image; attention position specifying means 43 for specifying the position of interest; component ratio calculating means 44 for determining the component ratio of each component constituting each position on the subject; And a component ratio display means 45 for displaying the calculated component ratio of each component on the monitor screen of the display device 40 in association with the position of interest on each component image.

  The component image generation means 41 separates each component constituting the subject from the energy image obtained by photographing with the radiation image photographing device 2 according to the difference in the radiation absorption characteristics of the components having different radiation absorption characteristics constituting the subject. Then, a component image representing the distribution of each separated component is generated. Specifically, it is divided into a soft element component, a bone component, and a heavy element component composed of an element having an atomic number higher than that of bone.

  When the radiographic imaging apparatus 2 performs imaging while changing the tube voltage, the soft part (shaded area) is shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b) due to the difference in the radiation absorption characteristics of the components contained in a large amount of the transmitted tissue. ) And the amount of radiation transmitted through the bone (without shading) is different, so the pixel value is different. By utilizing this difference in absorption characteristics, as shown in FIGS. 3C and 3D, it is possible to separate into component images of components constituting each tissue of a plurality of tissues constituting the subject.

Specifically, a method for generating a component image when three energy images are taken while changing the tube voltage will be described. The log exposure amount of each energy image is E _n (n = 1, 2, 3), the attenuation coefficient for each component of each image is α _n , β _n , γ _n, and the component amount of each component of each image is t _{If s} (soft part component), t _b (bone component), and t _h (heavy element component), they can be expressed as the following formulas (1), (2), and (3).

_{E 1 = const1-α 1 ·} t s -β 1 · t b -γ 1 · t h ··· (1)
_{E 2 = const2-α 2 ·} t s -β 2 · t b -γ 2 · t h ··· (2)
_{E 3 = const3-α 3 ·} t s -β 3 · t b -γ 3 · t h ··· (3)
Here, log exposure E _n of the energy image is obtained by logarithmically converting the amount of radiation is irradiated through the subject to a radiation detector when photographing an object. Further, constn is the logarithm of the radiation dose of each energy, and can be obtained by estimation from the distribution of the logarithmic exposure dose En or estimation from the imaging conditions.

Therefore, when En '= constn−En, as can be seen from the above equations (1), (2), and (3), the three simultaneous equations expressed by the attenuation coefficients αn, βn, and γn of each component constituting the subject are Each component amount can be obtained by solving, and the soft part component image Is, the bone component image Ib, and the heavy element component image Ih are expressed by the following formula (4).

  That is, by performing the load subtraction process on the three energy images, each pixel is separated into the components constituting each pixel from the three energy images including information on the three components as shown in FIG. Three component images can be generated.

The optimum load subtraction coefficient w _mn (m = s, b, h n = 1, 2, 3) in the load subtraction process varies from pixel to pixel due to the effect of beam hardening. In addition, the attenuation coefficients α _n , β _n , and γ _n of one tissue are affected by the amount of components of the tissue different from itself, and monotonously decrease as the amount of components of the different tissue increases. However, it is not possible to know the amount of tissue components at each location of the site where imaging was performed. Therefore, for example, as shown in JP-A-2002-152593, the attenuation coefficients α _n , β _n , and γ _n may be adjusted depending on the logarithmic dose difference between energy images having different energy distributions. . Simply, the attenuation coefficient depends on the logarithmic dose E _n of one of the radiation image α _n, β _n, may be determining the γ _n. According to this, the expressions (1) to (3) are expressed as the following expression (5).

E _n = constn−α _n (E _n ) × ts−β _n (E _n ) × tb−γ _n (E _n ) × th (5)
Therefore, load subtraction factor w _mn in separating the image of each component, the logarithmic radiation amount E _n-dependent attenuation factor is adjusted by alpha _n, beta _n, it may be determined in accordance with the gamma _n. That is, the load subtraction coefficient w _mn can be determined according to the difference between the radiation energy distribution obtained by capturing each energy image and the radiation absorption characteristics of the components constituting the subject. Specifically, it can be obtained in advance by experiments.

The load subtraction coefficient w _mn when actually obtaining each component image by the load subtraction process varies depending on the maximum value, peak value, and average value on the tube voltage and the spectrum distribution of radiation. Therefore, the load subtraction coefficient w _mn used for the load subtraction processing is based on information regarding the imaging conditions of the energy image input from the user interface when generating this component image, the DICOM standard, or a device manufacturer's original standard. It can be determined according to incidental information regarding the imaging conditions of each energy image attached.

Further, the load subtraction coefficient w _mn is determined by preparing a table for combinations according to imaging information including information on energy distribution at the time of imaging of each of the three energy images, and referring to this table. A method, a method of determining by executing a program that implements a function for the load subtraction coefficient w _mn for each image, using the imaging information of each of the three energy images as an input, and the like are conceivable.

  In addition, when generating a component image, it is necessary to calculate a weighted sum for each pixel between pixels representing the same position of the subject of the three energy images, but the subject is not an energy image captured at the same time but between the energy images. If the position of the image is shifted, a structure such as a marker or a rib cage in each image is detected, and alignment between the images is performed by a known linear / nonlinear conversion based on the detected structure. It may be.

  Alternatively, when an energy image is acquired by irradiating the subject's chest three times with radiation, a radiation imaging apparatus (see, for example, JP-A-2005-012248) having an instruction unit for instructing the timing of breathing of the subject is used. It is also possible to make the coordinates of the pixels coincide with each other without aligning the images when the component images are generated by photographing and matching the respiratory phases in the three images.

  In the above description, the case where the three component images are separated from the three energy images has been described. However, in order to generate N component images, if N energy images are used, the Nth order simultaneous equations are solved. Can be separated into component images. In other words, in order to generate a component image representing the distribution of M (two or more) different components, it is possible to separate each component by using more N energy images than M.

  The component image storage means 42 is an auxiliary storage device such as a memory on the computer of the image processing device 4 or a hard disk provided in the computer, and stores the generated component image.

  The attention position designation means 43 displays an energy image on the monitor screen and accepts designation of a position from which the component ratio of each component is to be known from the user. Specifically, for example, the position where the user points to the subject of the energy image displayed on the monitor screen with a pointing device such as a mouse is received. The designated position may be one point on the image, or may be a circular or rectangular area centered on the designated point. Or the area | region enclosed using the mouse | mouth etc. may be sufficient. The position is preferably specified by displaying one of the energy images and specifying the position, but it may be specified on the component image.

  The component ratio calculation unit 44 obtains the ratio of each component (for example, bone, soft part, heavy element, etc.) from the pixel value of the pixel at the corresponding position of the component image stored in the component image storage unit 42. As shown in FIG. 5, when one point is designated by the attention position designation unit 43, the component ratio of each component is calculated from each component image at the position corresponding to the designated point. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6, when a circle or rectangle area centered on a designated point, or an area enclosed using a mouse is designated, each component image existing in the designated area The component ratio of the components in the region may be obtained from the sum or average value of all the pixel values.

  In addition, when a circle or rectangle area centered on the specified point or an area surrounded by a mouse is specified, pixels that have a pixel value that is significantly out of the pixels existing in this area on the energy image Is a background image other than a tumor in many cases. For example, the composition ratio may be obtained by excluding pixels that are greatly deviated from the average pixel value of the pixels in the region. In addition, when you want to observe a small tumor that exists in a large tumor, you can observe the composition ratio of only small tumors excluding the large tumor in the background when you set an area surrounding the small tumor. .

  The composition ratio display means 45 displays the composition ratio of each component in association with the corresponding position on each component image. The composition ratio obtained from the pixel at the position on each corresponding component image is displayed numerically as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 at the position specified by the energy image displayed on the monitor screen. The composition ratio may be displayed numerically, but may be displayed using a pie chart as shown in FIG. Or a bar graph etc. may be sufficient as long as it can confirm by visual recognition.

  Next, the image interpretation workflow using the radiographic imaging system 1 of the present invention and the data flow at that time will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the radiographic image capturing apparatus 2 changes the tube voltage to shoot a subject, and shoots three energy images I ₁ , I ₂ , and I ₃ . The captured energy images I ₁ , I ₂ , and I ₃ are stored in the image management server 3 with the patient information of the subject, the imaging region, the imaging date, and the imaging information at the time of imaging, attached (S101).

The medical information system is accessed to interpret the energy images I ₁ , I ₂ , and I ₃ taken by the diagnostic imaging doctor. User authentication based on a user ID / password for access, biometric information such as a fingerprint, etc. is performed at the interpretation workstation 4 (S102).

When the user authentication is successful, an examination (interpretation) target image list based on the image diagnosis order issued by the ordering system is displayed on the display. The image diagnostician uses the input device such as a mouse to select the examination (image diagnosis) of the energy images I ₁ , I ₂ , and I ₃ to be interpreted from the examination image list. The image interpretation workstation 4 makes a browsing request to the image management server 3 using the image IDs of the selected images I ₁ , I ₂ , and I ₃ as search keys, performs a search according to this request, and performs the image management server. 3 from interpretation target energy image I _1, I _2, I ₃ of the image file (for convenience, represented by the same reference numerals I and image) acquires, those image files to the image interpretation workstation 4 that has transmitted the request I _1, I _2, to send the I _3. The image interpretation workstation 4 receives the image files I ₁ , I ₂ , and I ₃ and stores them in the hard disk (S103).

The interpretation workstation 4 analyzes the contents of the diagnostic imaging order, and obtains component images I _s , I _b , and I _h obtained by separating the components of the soft part, bone, and heavy element from the received images I ₁ , I ₂ , and I _3. A process to be generated, that is, a program that causes the interpretation workstation 3 to function as a radiation image processing apparatus according to the present invention is started.

First, the component image generating means 41 calculates attenuation coefficients α _n and β _n corresponding to the tube voltage of each photographing information and the radiation absorption characteristics of each component from the information attached to each image file I ₁ , I ₂ , I _3. , Γ _n are used to generate component images I _s , I _b , I _h and store them in the hard disk (component image storage means 42) (S104).

Next, the attention position designation means 43 displays _one of the energy images I ₁ , I ₂ , and I ₃ on the monitor screen, and the image diagnostician uses the mouse to indicate the location where the shadow appears. The point is received (S105), and the component ratio calculation means 44 calculates the component ratio of the designated point from the component images I _s , I _b , I _h stored in the hard disk (S106). As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, the composition ratio obtained by the composition ratio display means 45 is displayed on the monitor screen. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6, a circle centered on the point designated by the attention position designation means 43 is designated, and the component ratio calculation means 44 obtains the composition ratio of the area within the circle, and the composition ratio display means The composition ratio obtained in 45 is displayed on the monitor screen (S107).

  By displaying the component ratio of the component at the target position instructed in this way, the proportion of the component can be known at a glance and the characteristics of the tumor can be estimated.

  In the above description, the case where different energy spectra are acquired by irradiating the same subject with radiation having different energy spectra by changing the tube voltage has been described, but any method can be used as long as radiation images having different energy distributions can be obtained. For example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-225541, a radiation source emits radiation having the same energy distribution, and a filter having different characteristics is disposed between the radiation source and the subject. A plurality of radiation images having different characteristics may be obtained by changing the energy distribution of the radiation applied to. Alternatively, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-263982, the detection side is devised, and a filter that absorbs radiation energy is sandwiched between two stimulable phosphor sheets, so that the characteristics can be obtained by one irradiation. A plurality of different radiation images may be obtained.

  As described above, the characteristics of the shadow being observed can be inferred from the component ratio of each component, but the amount of contrast medium concentrated on the lesion is estimated from the component ratio of each component, or the bone component It is also possible to estimate the amount of calcium from the composition ratio and use it for diagnosis of osteoporosis.

When such a filter is used, it is preferable that the attenuation coefficients α _n , β _n , and γ _n when generating the component image are experimentally obtained in advance for each filter.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, the same components as those of the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in an interpretation workstation (radiation image processing apparatus) 4a.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the interpretation workstation (radiation image processing apparatus) 4a includes a component image generation means 41, a component image storage means 42, an attention area extraction means 46 for extracting an attention area from an energy image, The component ratio calculating means 44 for the component ratio of each component constituting the region of interest, and the component ratio for displaying the calculated component proportion of each component on the monitor screen of the display device 40 in association with the region of interest on each component image Display means 45.

  The attention area extraction unit 46 extracts the attention area from the energy image. Specifically, display one of the energy images on the monitor screen, let the user specify the point on the shadow for which you want to know the composition ratio of each component, and remove the abnormal shadow that exists around the specified point. Extract using the CAD function. Specifically, for example, the contour is extracted using snakes. In addition, the contour may be extracted using a level set method or a graph cut method.

  The component ratio calculation means 44 calculates the component ratio of each component from the component image at the position corresponding to the extracted contour.

  The composition ratio display means 45 displays the component ratio in the extracted contour on the monitor screen.

  The image interpretation workflow using the radiographic imaging system 1 of the present embodiment and the data flow at that time are almost the same as those of the above-described embodiment, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In the above description, the attention area extraction unit extracts the shadow existing around the specified point. However, when only one shadow appears, the attention area such as the shadow is extracted from the entire image. You may make it detect and extract automatically.

  In each of the embodiments described above, the case where the component image generating unit is provided on the interpretation workstation has been described. However, the component image generating unit is provided in the radiographic image capturing apparatus, and the component image divided into each component is stored in the image management server. In this manner, the interpretation workstation may determine the component ratio of the component from the component image received from the image management server.

Schematic configuration diagram of radiographic imaging system 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a radiation image processing apparatus according to a first embodiment. The figure for demonstrating the method of isolate | separating a component image from a radiographic image The figure for demonstrating the method of isolate | separating three component images from three radiographic images Example of component ratio display (part 1) Example of component ratio display (part 2) Example of component ratio display (part 3) Flow chart showing workflow of image interpretation using radiographic imaging system and data flow at that time Schematic block diagram of the radiographic image processing apparatus of 2nd Embodiment

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Radiographic imaging system 2 Radiographic imaging apparatus 3 Image management server 4, 4a Interpretation workstation 5 Network
40 display devices
41 Component image generation means
42 Component image storage means
43 Attention position designation means
44 Component ratio calculation means
45 Component ratio display means
46 Region of interest extraction means

Claims (6)

Stores a plurality of component images generated from a plurality of radiation images obtained by radiation having different energy distributions transmitted through the same subject, each representing a distribution of a plurality of components having different radiation absorption characteristics constituting the subject. Component image storage means for
Component ratio calculating means for calculating the component ratio of each component constituting each position on the subject from the distribution amount of each component at the corresponding position on each component image;
A radiographic image processing apparatus comprising: a component ratio display unit that displays the calculated component ratio of each component in association with a corresponding position on each component image. It further comprises attention position designation means for designating the attention position on the radiation image,
The component ratio calculating means calculates a component ratio of each component at the designated position of interest;
The radiographic image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the component ratio display unit displays the calculated component ratio of each component in association with the target position. A region of interest extraction means for extracting a region of interest from the radiation image;
The component ratio calculating means calculates a component ratio of each component in the extracted region of interest;
The radiation image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the component ratio display means displays a component ratio in the region of interest.   5. The radiographic image processing according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of components constituting the subject includes at least a soft part component, a bone component, and a heavy element component composed of an element having an atomic number higher than that of the bone. apparatus. A radiographic imaging device that obtains N (≧ 2) radiographic images by radiation of different energy distributions that transmit radiation to the same subject;
According to the difference in radiation absorption characteristics of the M (2 ≦ M ≦ N) components having different radiation absorption characteristics constituting the subject, of the M components constituting the subject from the N radiation images. The radiation image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a component image generating unit that separates a plurality of components and generates a plurality of the component images representing distributions of the separated components. A radiographic imaging system characterized by that. Computer
From a plurality of component images that are generated from a plurality of radiation images obtained by radiation having different energy distributions that transmit radiation to the same subject, each representing a distribution of a plurality of components having different radiation absorption characteristics constituting the subject. Component ratio calculating means for calculating a component ratio of each component constituting each position on the subject from a distribution amount of each component at a corresponding position on each component image;
A program for causing the calculated component ratio of each component to function as a component ratio display means for displaying the component ratio in association with a corresponding position on each component image.

Images