JP2011134341A - Medical image inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a medical image inspection device which smoothes a series of works from inspection to diagnosis. <P>SOLUTION: The medical image inspection device determines whether stored medical image files meet an inspection skip condition and transmits, to an external device, image files subjected to image processing for inspection and image files determined to meet the inspection skip condition. The inspection skip condition includes at least one of a modality division for distinguishing whether inspection should be skipped by type of devices generating image files, an incidental information division for distinguishing whether inspection should be skipped with respect to image conditions included in incidental information of image files, a device division for distinguishing whether inspection should be skipped by device generating image file, and image type division for distinguishing whether inspection should be skipped by image type. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a medical image inspection apparatus for examining (maintaining) a medical image generated by a medical image inspection apparatus.

  In order to actually use an image taken with a medical device for diagnosis, it is necessary to perform image processing such as image rotation, correction of incidental information, gamma processing, series editing, and the like. In order to collectively perform these processes (image detection processes) before diagnosis, a medical image inspection apparatus (image detection apparatus) is used. The image inspection process is performed after the image is captured and before being stored in the image server.

  In the flow of data between each device from when an inspection image is captured by the modality to when it is stored in the image server, the inspection image captured by the modality is transmitted to the imaging device, and the imaging device is sent to the technician. Submit an image request. The engineer who has received the image inspection request performs image inspection processing on the target inspection image, and then the image inspection inspection image is transmitted to the image server.

  When an image inspection apparatus is used, an image inspection process must be performed after an image is captured and stored in an image server. For this reason, it may take more time than necessary due to waiting for image detection before starting diagnosis such as inspection that does not require image inspection or inspection that requires urgent diagnosis.

JP 2004-171386 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a medical image inspection apparatus that facilitates a series of operations from examination to diagnosis.

  The present invention includes a means for inputting a medical image file, an image storage means for storing the input image file, an unexamined list storage means for storing an unexamined list, and an unexamined image list. Means for performing image processing for image inspection on an arbitrary image file in accordance with an operator instruction; means for determining whether or not the input image file satisfies an image detection omission condition; and the input image The file is registered in the unexamined list, and the image file that has undergone image processing for the image inspection and the image file that is determined to satisfy the inspection omission condition are substantially deleted from the unexamined list. Means for controlling the unexamined image list storage means, an image file that has undergone image processing for the image detection, and an image file that has been determined to satisfy the image omission condition are external devices. Means for controlling the image storage means for transmission, and the image omission condition is a modality classification for distinguishing the presence or absence of omission for each type of device that generates the image file, Ancillary information classification for distinguishing whether or not image inspection is omitted with respect to image conditions included in the accompanying information, device classification for distinguishing whether or not image detection is omitted for each device that generates the image file, and whether or not image detection is omitted for each image type It is characterized by comprising at least one of the image type classifications to be distinguished.

The figure which shows an example of the connection environment of the medical image inspection apparatus by embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the structure of the medical image inspection apparatus of FIG. The figure which shows an example of the condition setting screen by the condition setting assistance part of FIG. The figure which shows the operation | movement procedure by this embodiment. The figure which shows the operation | movement between apparatuses at the time of emergency by this embodiment. The figure which shows the operation | movement between apparatuses when an image is imaged by the image interpretation apparatus side in the emergency by this embodiment. The figure which shows the image server equipped with the medical image examination function as a modification of this embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The medical image inspection apparatus 3 according to the present embodiment is an electronic device such as a LAN or a WAN for a plurality of types of modalities 1 serving as image generation apparatuses, a radiation department information management system (RIS) 20, and an image server 2. Connected via communication line. Modality 1 includes X-ray diagnostic equipment, X-ray computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging equipment (MRI), ultrasonic diagnostic equipment, gamma camera, SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography), PET (positron emission tomography) ) Is exemplified. The radiation department information management system 20 is a system that efficiently promotes the work of the radiation department, and generates and accepts inspection orders, records and transmits inspection accounting information, and other consumables inventory management such as films. In charge of a wide variety of processing. A plurality of image interpretation devices (image viewers) 21 are connected to the image server 2 via electronic communication lines such as LAN and WAN. The image server 2 stores a plurality of image files and provides the image files in response to a request from the image interpretation device 21.

  In principle, the medical image inspection apparatus 3 is generated in the modality 1 and enters the image server 2, that is, before the image file can be provided to the image interpretation apparatus 21 at any time, the density (gradation) of the image file is reflected in the image. Patient information such as patient's name, identification number, gender, address, etc. and examination information such as examination type and device type, as well as maintenance of images such as the orientation of the patient, imprint of left and right marks, film orientation (front and back) Is arranged between the modality 1 and the image server 2 in order to maintain them as necessary.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the communication unit 5 of the medical image examination apparatus 3 is connected to the modality 1, the radiation department information management system 20, and the image server 2 via the interface 4 directly or via an electronic communication line. Connected. The medical image inspection apparatus 3 includes a control unit 6, an image storage unit 7, an image management unit 8, an emergency condition determination unit 9, a display unit 10, an image detection omission condition determination unit 11, an image together with the communication unit 5 and the interface 4. A processing unit (image detection processing unit) 12, an undetected list management unit 13, an undetected list storage unit 14, a condition setting support unit 15, and an input device 16 are provided. The image storage unit 7 is provided for storing image files under the management of the image management unit 8. The emergency condition determination unit 9 is provided to determine whether the image file satisfies the emergency condition based on the incidental information. The imaging omission condition determination unit 11 is provided to determine whether the image file satisfies the omission condition, based on incidental information. The condition setting support unit 15 is provided to assist the operator in setting the emergency condition and the imaging omission condition by operating the mouse or keyboard of the input device 16.

  The unexamined list storage unit 14 is provided for storing an unexamined list under the management of the unexamined list management unit 13. Although details will be described later, the unexamined image list management unit 13 registers the input image file in the unexamined image list. This unexamined list is displayed on the display unit 10 together with an appropriate message in order to urge the technician for image verification. An image file designated from the displayed unexamined list is displayed on the display unit 10, and image processing (image processing) is performed in the image processing unit 12 in accordance with the operation of the input device 16 by the image technician.

  The unexamined list management unit 13 substantially deletes the image file that has undergone image processing for image inspection from the unexamined list. Note that the fact that an image file that has already been examined is substantially deleted from the unexamined list may be to delete the data entity from the unexamined list or leave the data entity in the unexamined list. For example, a process for setting an imaged flag for distinguishing between unexamined and already imaged and not appearing in the unexamined list may be performed.

  In addition, the unexamined list management unit 13 substantially erases the image file determined by the unexamined condition determination unit 11 to satisfy the unexamined condition from the unexamined list. It should be noted that substantially erasing an image file determined to satisfy the inspection omission condition from the unexamined list may be to delete the data entity from the unexamined list, or to the unexamined list. May be, for example, a process for setting an already-examined flag and not appearing in the unexamined list for identifying omission of omission while leaving the data entity.

  Further, the unexamined image list management unit 13 waits until image processing for image detection is performed for deletion from the unexamined list of the image file determined to satisfy the emergency condition by the emergency condition determination unit 9. In other words, the unexamined image list management unit 13 maintains the image file determined to satisfy the urgent condition while being registered in the unexamined image list until it is subjected to the image inspection process. The unexamined image list management unit 13 sets an emergency flag for an image file determined to satisfy the emergency condition, and distinguishes it from other files on the unexamined image list.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a condition setting screen provided on the display unit 10 by the condition setting support unit 15. The condition setting screen is divided into an imaging omission condition setting area and an emergency condition setting area. The image-exclusion condition setting area is classified into a modality category, an accompanying information category, a device category, and an image type category. The device classification can be replaced with an AE title classification as an identifier for specifying the other party in DICOM communication. In this case, a plurality of AE titles may be associated with the same apparatus. In this case, for example, a station name (Station Name) indicating an installation location can be specified.

  A plurality of corresponding condition items are listed together with check boxes in each category, and the checked items are set as the imaging omission conditions. Within a category, multiple condition items can be set, and logical sums are applied to them. That is, for example, when both CT and MRI are checked, image inspection is omitted regardless of whether the image file is an image derived from CT or an image derived from MRI. On the other hand, a logical product is applied between the sections. That is, for example, when the CT and the image pitch (representing the reconstruction slice pitch, not the scan slice pitch) with different sections are checked, the image file is an image derived from CT, and the image pitch is the specified thickness (mm When the following conditions are satisfied, the image file is omitted from the image inspection.

  In the emergency condition setting area, three items, a comment tag as image supplementary information, a private tag as image supplementary information, and order information from the RIS (radiation department system) 20 are listed together with check boxes. Initially, all items of comment tag, private tag, and order information are checked. In this case, any one of the comment tag, private tag, and order information indicates “emergency”. If it is attached, it shall be treated as an emergency as satisfying the emergency conditions. When any item of the comment tag, the private tag, and the order information is unchecked for some reason, the item is excluded from the object for determining whether or not the emergency code is attached.

  FIG. 4 shows an operation procedure of the medical image inspection apparatus 3 according to the present embodiment. First, when an image file is generated in a certain modality 1, the image file is input to the medical image inspection apparatus 3 via the interface 4 and the communication unit 5 (S11), and an image is controlled under the control of the image management unit 8. It is stored in the storage unit 7 (S12). At the same time, the identification number assigned to the input image file by the unexamined list management unit 13 is registered in the unexamined list in the unexamined list storage unit 14 (S13). The emergency condition determination unit 9 determines whether or not the image file satisfies the emergency condition based on the incidental information of the image file or the order information acquired from the RIS 20 (S14). When the urgent condition is not satisfied, the image detection omission condition determination unit 11 determines whether or not the image file satisfies the image omission condition based on the incidental information of the image file (S15). When the image inspection omission conditions are not satisfied, the undetected list management unit 13 waits for reception of an image detection completion signal for the image file from the image processing unit 12 or the control unit 6 (S16). When the image completion signal is received, that is, when the image file inspection is completed, the identification number of the image file is deleted from the undetected list in the undetected list storage unit 14 (S17). As described above, the identification number of the image file may be deleted from the unexamined list, and the unexamined and unexamined are identified while leaving the identification number in the unexamined list. For example, an image detection flag may be set and not appear in the undetected list. When the image detection is completed, the image management unit 8 attaches an image detection flag to the image file that has undergone the image detection process, and transmits the image file to the image server 2 via the communication unit 5 and the interface 4 (S18). Instead of transmitting the image file that has undergone the image processing, an image processing data file that defines the content of the image processing may be transmitted together with the original image file. Typically, the image management unit 8 substantially deletes the image file from the image storage unit 7 together with transmission to the image server 2.

  Returning to S <b> 14, the emergency condition determination unit 9 determines that the image file satisfies the emergency condition based on the comment tag, private tag, and order information acquired from the RIS 20, that is, acquired from the comment tag, private tag, and RIS 20. When it is determined that at least one of the ordered information is attached with a code indicating an emergency, as shown in the procedure in FIG. The file is immediately transmitted to the image server 2 via the communication unit 5 and the interface 4 with an urgent flag attached (S19). As a result, the waiting time due to the image inspection process can be eliminated in an emergency, and an image file can be immediately placed on the image server 2 to generate a state that can be taken out from the image interpretation device 21 at any time.

  Note that, together with the transmission of the image file to the image server 2, the image management unit 8 does not delete the original image file that has not undergone the image inspection process from the image storage unit 7, and the original image file that has not undergone the image inspection process. The image file is maintained as recorded in the image storage unit 7. Further, the unexamined list management unit 13 registers the identification number of the image file determined to satisfy the emergency condition by the emergency condition determination unit 9 without deleting it from the unexamined list in the unexamined list storage unit 14. To keep. Thereby, even if it is an urgent image file, until the image detection is completed (S16), an image inspection request can be transmitted to the image technician. When the image detection is completed, the image file is deleted from the undetected list and transmitted to the image server 2 with the image detection completed flag in S17 and S18 as usual. The image server 2 holds both the unexamined original image file attached with the urgent flag and the imaged image file attached with the detected flag.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, after an unexamined image file was sent to the image server 2 in an emergency, the undetected image in the image server 2 was subjected to an image detection process at the time of diagnosis by a doctor. In this case, the image file that has been imaged by the doctor is stored in the image server 2, and the image file that has been imaged by the doctor is sent to the image inspection device 3, and the image storage unit 7 stores the image file that has been imaged by the doctor. Stored with the flag to represent. The image storage unit 7 typically stores both an image file that has been imaged by a doctor and an image file that has not been imaged.

  Returning to FIG. 4, when it is determined in S15 that the image detection omission condition determination unit 11 satisfies the image omission condition, the unexamined list management unit 13 stores the unexamined list storage unit 14. The identification number of the image file is deleted from the unexamined list (S20). As described above, the identification number of the image file may be deleted from the unexamined list, and the unexamined and unexamined are identified while leaving the identification number in the unexamined list. For example, an image detection flag may be set and not appear in the undetected list.

  In addition, the image management unit 8 deletes the identification number of the image file from the unexamined list, and the image management unit 8 attaches an image omission flag to the image file to be omitted from the image via the communication unit 5 and the interface 4. It transmits to the server 2 (S21). Typically, the image management unit 8 substantially deletes the image file to be omitted from the image storage unit 7 together with the transmission to the image server 2.

  In this way, by deleting the image file determined to satisfy the image omission conditions from the unexamined list, the image engineer performs the image inspection process even though the image analysis process is essentially unnecessary. It is possible to eliminate the useless work that is performed. In addition, although the image processing is essentially unnecessary, it is not sent to the image server 2 until the image processing is received, so that the situation in which the image interpretation work is delayed is eliminated, and the image can be immediately read. Can be generated.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when urgent diagnosis is necessary, the image can be postponed, and the image file can be placed on the server and immediately taken out for diagnosis. A series of operations can be facilitated. At this time, since the state registered in the unexamined list is maintained, it is possible to prevent omission of the image detection. In addition, when the image processing is essentially unnecessary, the image processing can be omitted, and the workload of the image technician can be reduced.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the image server 23 can be equipped with the above-described image detection function. When the image inspection process is performed, after the image inspection process is performed, there are two inspection images that have already been imaged and are not imaged in the image server 23. An image inspection flag is provided to distinguish between the two. After that, when the inspection process is performed and changes are made to the inspection image, select whether to save both of the inspections that have already been detected or to overwrite one of them, and save the inspection result To do.

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

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Modality, 2 ... Image server, 3 ... Medical image inspection apparatus, 4 ... Interface, 5 ... Communication apparatus, 6 ... Control part, 7 ... Image storage part, 8 ... Image management part, 9 ... Emergency condition determination part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Display part, 11 ... Examination omission condition determination part, 12 ... Image processing part, 13 ... Unexamined list management part, 14 ... Unexamined list storage part, 15 ... Condition setting assistance part, 16 ... Input device.

Claims (4)

Means for inputting a medical image file;
Image storage means for storing the input image file;
Unexamined list storage means for storing an unexamined list;
Means for performing image processing for image inspection according to an operator instruction for an arbitrary image file on the unexamined image list;
Means for determining whether or not the input image file satisfies an imaging omission condition;
The input image file is registered in the unexamined list, and the image file subjected to the image processing for the image detection and the image file determined to satisfy the image omission condition are stored in the unexamined list. Means for controlling said unexamined list storage means for substantially erasing from;
Means for controlling the image storage means to transmit an image file subjected to image processing for image inspection and an image file determined to satisfy the image omission conditions to an external device;
The inspection omission conditions include a modality classification that distinguishes whether or not image omission is performed for each type of device that generates the image file, and an auxiliary that distinguishes whether or not image omission is included in the image conditions included in the incidental information of the image file. It is composed of at least one of an information category, a device category that distinguishes whether or not image detection is omitted for each device that generates the image file, and an image type category that distinguishes whether or not image detection is omitted for each image type. A medical image inspection apparatus characterized by the above. The medical image imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the incidental information classification includes a numerical condition for omitting the imaging with respect to the pitch or the number of images included in the image file. The medical image inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus classification includes a condition for distinguishing whether or not image detection is omitted for each installation location of the apparatus that generates the image file. The medical type according to claim 1, wherein the image type classification includes a condition for distinguishing whether or not to omit image detection for each secondary capture, RGB image, and 3D creation image of the image file. Image inspection device.

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