JP2015099561A - Image input device, image output device, and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent redundant import of medical image data.SOLUTION: An image input device 21 for importing medical image data to a medical image management system 22 determines whether content in a medium 13 storing the medical image data to be imported is the same as content in a medium which has been subjected to import processing. A determination is made whether incidental information of the medical image data read from the medium 13 includes inspection information coincident with inspection information of the medical image data which has been imported in the past. A determination is made whether the medical image management system 22 manages a series of the medical image data stored in the medium 13. On the basis of results of the above three determinations, import processing is executed.

Description

  The present invention relates to export and import of medical image data in a medical image management system.

  When a patient is introduced from a medical institution to another medical institution, medical image data of the patient may be sent to a referral destination medical institution. The referral source medical institution exports the patient's medical image data from the medical institution's medical image management system, and the referral destination medical institution imports the patient's medical image data into the medical institution's medical image management system. . For sending medical image data, media such as USB memory, CD, and DVD and networks are used. Hereinafter, the medical image management system is referred to as “PACS (picture archiving and communication system)”.

  However, the medical image data that is the same as the sent medical image data may already exist in the PACS of the referral medical institution, and in this case, duplicate import of the medical image data occurs. When duplicate imports occur, not only the PACS storage capacity of the referral medical institution is wasted, but there are multiple same medical images when displaying past medical images of the patient, making PACS easier to use. There is a risk of getting worse and confusing the examination.

  Patent Document 1 describes an invention that prevents duplicate import by using a SOP instance UID for identifying medical image data.

  According to the DICOM (digital imaging and communication in medicine) standard, a manufacturer of a modality that generates a SOP (service object pair) instance such as a DICOM file acquires a manufacturer ID. The manufacturer assigns a unique ID to the user of the modality, and based on those IDs, generates a SOP instance UID with a unique modality.

  However, when medical image data is converted to an image format that can be handled by PACS at the time of import, a new SOP instance UID may be generated and imported. When such medical image data is returned from another medical institution, there is a possibility that the SOP instance UID may be different even for equivalent medical image data. As a result, the duplicate import cannot be prevented only by using the SOP instance UID as in the invention of Patent Document 1.

JP 2009-271801 A

  An object of the present invention is to prevent duplicate import of medical image data.

  The present invention has the following configuration as one means for achieving the above object.

  When importing medical image data to a medical image management system, the present invention determines whether or not the content of the media on which the medical image data to be imported is recorded is the same as the content of the previously imported media, Determining whether the incidental information of the medical image data read from the medium in which the medical image data to be imported is recorded has examination information that matches the examination information of the medical image data that has been previously imported; It is determined whether the medical image management system manages a series of medical image data stored in a medium on which medical image data to be recorded is recorded, and the import process is executed based on the results of the three determinations.

  Also, when exporting medical image data managed by the medical image management system, information on the destination of the medical image data and identification information of the medical image data to be exported are input, and the medical image corresponding to the identification information is input. A list of image data is acquired from the medical image management system, and a history database is searched based on the examination information indicated by the supplementary information of the medical image data included in the list and the destination information, and the examination information and When a history that matches the information of the destination is detected, the auxiliary information corresponding to the examination is deleted from the list, and the medical image data acquired from the medical image management system based on the list is exported.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent duplicate import of medical image data.

The figure explaining the data structure of the medical image data based on DICOM specification. The block diagram which shows the example of a relationship between PACS, an image output device, and an image input device. 6 is a flowchart for explaining export processing of the image output apparatus. 10 is a flowchart for explaining import processing of the image input apparatus. 10 is a flowchart for explaining import processing of the image input apparatus. 10 is a flowchart for explaining import processing of the image input apparatus. The figure which shows an example of UI which sets duplication test | inspection conditions.

  Hereinafter, an image input device, an image output device, and their processing according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[Medical image data]
Medical image data is often organized in a hierarchical structure: patient>study>series> image. That is, one patient has a plurality of “examinations”, one examination includes a plurality of “series”, and one series includes a plurality of images. Conversely, one piece of medical image data is included in one combination of patient, examination, and series.

  Since medical image data is usually handled in units of “examination”, when introducing a patient to another medical institution, the medical image data of multiple examinations taken by the referral source medical institution are collected at the same time. Most of them are sent to referral medical institutions.

  The data structure of medical image data (hereinafter referred to as DICOM image data) conforming to the DICOM standard will be described with reference to FIG. DICOM image data is composed of patient information, examination information, incidental information including series information and image information, and actual image data.

  In the patient information, information for identifying the patient, such as the patient ID, name, date of birth, and sex, is recorded. In the examination information, examination instance UID for identifying the examination, examination date and time, reception or examination number, and information related to the examination such as a doctor in charge are recorded. In the series information, information on a series (unit) of medical image data for each modality generated in one examination, such as a series instance UID that identifies the series, a modality, an examination part, and a series number, is recorded. In the image information, information related to medical image data such as an SOP instance UID for identifying an image and an image number is recorded.

[System configuration]
The block diagram of FIG. 2 shows an example of the relationship between the PACS, the image output device, and the image input device.

  The image output device 11 of the medical institution 10 is a device (exporter) for exporting medical image data of a patient managed by a medical image management system (PACS) 12. The image output apparatus 11 can be realized by supplying an export program to a computer device such as a personal computer.

  The image input device 21 of the medical institution 20 is a device (importer) for importing medical image data into the PACS 22. The image input device 21 is realized by supplying an import program to a computer device such as a personal computer.

  FIG. 2 shows an example in which an exporter is arranged in the medical institution 10 and an importer is arranged in the medical institution 20, but an exporter and an importer may be arranged in each of the medical institutions 10 and 20.

  For the exchange of medical image data between the image output device 11 and the image input device 21, for example, an external network 14 such as a media 13, a regional medical cooperation network, or a VPN via the Internet is used.

Image Output Device Export processing of the image output device 11 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The export process is a process executed by the microprocessor (CPU) of the image output apparatus 11 using the RAM as a work memory, and FIG. 3 corresponds to one export process.

  The operator of the image output apparatus 11 operates the user interface (UI) provided by the image output apparatus 11 to identify the destination information (for example, hospital name) of the medical image data and the medical image data to be exported. Enter information about the patient ID and examination. Then, it instructs to export medical image data.

  The image output apparatus 11 inputs identification information of medical image data to be exported and an export instruction (S11). Then, a list of medical image data corresponding to the identification information (hereinafter referred to as a delivery list) is acquired from the PACS 12 via the local area network (LAN) 16 (S12). Note that the delivery list includes additional information of medical image data corresponding to the identification information.

  Next, the image output apparatus 11 performs a filtering process (S13-S15), which will be described later, based on information on the destination and information on the inspection obtained from the supplementary information of the delivery list. Hereinafter, the information on the destination and the information on the inspection are referred to as “export information”. The export information may be a hash value of a hospital name and an examination instance UID, for example.

  Next, the image output apparatus 11 acquires medical image data from the image server 17 of the PACS 12 based on the delivery list (S16), and records the acquired medical image data on the medium 13 as DICOM image data (S17). Alternatively, when the user designates transmission of DICOM image data, the image output device 11 transmits the DICOM image data to the destination image input device 21 via the external network 14 (S17).

  When the recording or transmission of the DICOM image data to the medium 13 is completed, the image output device 11 creates export information from the information of the destination and the incidental information of the delivery list (S18). Then, the created export information is recorded in the history database (history DB) 15 as an export history of DICOM image data that has been recorded or transmitted (S19), and the export process is terminated.

  The filtering process is started after the delivery list is acquired in step S12. The image output apparatus 11 searches the history DB 15 based on the export information (S13), and determines whether there is an export history that matches the export information (S14). If an export history that matches the export information is not detected, the process proceeds to step S16. If a matching export history is detected, the incidental information corresponding to the examination indicated by the export information is deleted from the delivery list (S15), and the process proceeds to step S16.

  In step S16, medical image data is acquired from the image server 17 based on the incidental information of the delivery list. Accordingly, the medical image data corresponding to the supplementary information deleted by the filtering process in steps S13 to S15 is not acquired in step S16. As a result, it is possible to avoid duplicate delivery (duplicate export) in which medical image data that has already been sent is sent again to the same destination, and to reduce the possibility of duplicate import occurring at the destination medical institution.

Image Input Device The image input device 21 has the following three functions for preventing duplicate import.

  The first function determines whether or not the media content is the same as the previously imported media content, and issues a warning if the content is the same. This is a response to the case where the operator mistakenly sets the imported media in the drive of the image input device 21 or the case where the same medical image data as previously imported medical image data arrives from the sender. .

  The second function is to determine whether the incidental information of DICOM image data read from the media has examination information that matches the examination information of the previously imported medical image data. Issue a warning. This includes the medical image data of the imported examination when the second or subsequent medical image data is sent for the same patient by the exporter of the medical institution 30 that does not have a function like the image output device 11. This is to cope with the high possibility that

  The third function queries the PACS 22 for information on the DICOM image data series read from the media, and issues a warning if the PACS 22 manages medical image data of the same series. This is to avoid duplicate import of medical image data already imported to PACS 22 by another importer. Also, medical image data managed by the PACS 22 may be exported and sent to the medical institution 20 again via another medical institution, in order to avoid duplicate import in such a case.

  In the above description, the case where DICOM image data is exchanged by the medium 13 will be described, and the following description will be made assuming that DICOM image data is exchanged by the medium 13. However, the same applies when DICOM image data is exchanged via the external network 14. In the above description, “media content” may be replaced with “content received from an external network” and “read from media” may be replaced with “received from an external network”.

  The import processing of the image input device 21 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4A to 4C. The import process is a process executed by the microprocessor (CPU) of the image input device 21 using the RAM as a work memory, and FIGS. 4A to 4C correspond to one import process.

  The operator of the image input device 21 sets the medium 13 in the drive of the image input device 21, operates the UI provided by the image input device 21, and instructs the import of medical image data.

  When the import instruction is input (S31), the image input device 21 determines the format of the medium 13 (S32). Specifically, it is determined whether or not a DICOMDIR file exists in the root folder of the medium 13. If the DICOMDIR file exists, it is determined as PDI media, and if the DICOMDIR file does not exist, it is determined as non-PDI media. The PDI media is a media that conforms to the PDI (portable data for imaging) integration profile proposed by the IHE (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise) project.

  Next, the image input device 21 calculates a hash value from the medium 13 (S33). In the case of PDI media, the hash value of the DICOMDIR file is calculated. In the case of non-PDI media, text data including the folder name and creation date / time for the folder at the root of the media 13 and the file name, creation date / time, and file size is created for the file at the root. Then, the hash value of the text data is calculated. Note that the folder used for creating text data is limited to, for example, a maximum of 10 folders, and the file is limited to, for example, a maximum of 10 files. In addition, an algorithm such as MD5 (message digest algorithm 5) may be used to calculate the hash value.

  Next, the image input device 21 acquires the used capacity of the medium 13 as the medium size (S34). Then, the history DB 25 is searched based on the hash value and the media size (hereinafter, media information) (S35), and it is determined whether there is a media history that matches the media information (S36).

  If no media history that matches the media information is detected, the image input device 21 records the media information as a media history in the history DB 25 (S37), and advances the process to step S40.

  On the other hand, when a media history matching the media information is detected, the image input device 21 displays a notification dialog in the UI including a warning message such as “This media has been read before. Do you want to continue importing?” Display (S38). Then, the operator's instruction indicating whether or not the import process can be continued is determined (S39). When the import is instructed, the process proceeds to step S40, and when the import stop is instructed, the import process is terminated. To do.

  As described above, the processing from step S32 to S39 corresponds to the first duplicate import prevention function.

Next, the image input device 21 reads content from the media 13 (S40), and creates an import list that lists medical image data inspections and series to be imported from the media 13 based on the supplementary information (S41). Further, for each inspection in the import list, text data including the following information is created based on the supplementary information, and a hash value (hereinafter referred to as inspection hash value) of the text data corresponding to each inspection is calculated (S42).
Inspection instance UID
Series instance UID
Number of series images

  Next, the image input device 21 searches the history DB 25 based on the inspection hash value (S43), and determines whether or not an inspection hash value history that matches the inspection hash value is recorded (S44).

  When a matching examination hash value history is detected, the image input device 21 determines that the medical image data of the examination corresponding to the examination hash value has already been imported, and sets the import flag of the import list corresponding to the examination. Reset (S45).

  At the beginning of the creation of the import list, the import flag corresponding to each inspection is in a set state. The image input device 21 resets the import flag corresponding to the examination determined to cause duplicate import according to the determination in step S44, and prohibits the import of medical image data of the examination.

  As described above, the processing from steps S40 to S45 corresponds to the second duplicate import prevention function.

  Next, the image input device 21 repeats the import process including the determination as to whether or not the import has been completed for each series in which the import flag is included in the inspection in the set state based on the import list. First, the examination information and series information stored in the image server 27 of the PACS 22 are queried using the patient ID and examination date of the processing target series as keys (S46), and whether or not the inquiry result is returned from the image server 27. Determine (S47).

The inquiry destination image server 27 has a DICOM query / retrieve SCP (service class provider) function, and when there is information corresponding to the inquiry, returns one or more of the following information as the inquiry result.
Inspection information: Inspection instance UID
Inspection date
Inspection time
Inspection number
Number of series Series information: Series instance UID
Modality
Inspection site
Series number
Number of images

  When the inquiry result is returned, the image input device 21 compares the inspection information and series information of the processing target series with the inspection information and series information included in the inquiry result (S48). When the comparison result satisfies the duplicate inspection condition described later (S49), it is determined that the series to be processed has been imported, and the transmission flag of the import list corresponding to the series is reset (S50).

  When the comparison result does not match the duplicate inspection condition or when the inquiry result is not returned from the image server 27, the image input device 21 determines that the series to be processed is not imported. Then, the medical image data of the series is transmitted to the image server 27 (S51).

  Next, the image input device 21 determines whether or not the processing of steps S46 to S51 has been performed for all the series included in the inspection whose import flag is set (S52). If there is an unprocessed series, the series to be processed is changed, and the process returns to step S46.

  As described above, the processing from step S46 to S51 corresponds to the third duplicate import prevention function.

  When the processing of steps S46 to S51 is completed for all series included in the examination in which the import flag is set, the image input device 21 determines whether there is transmitted medical image data (S53). If there is no transmitted medical image data, the import process ends. If there is transmitted medical image data, an examination hash value is calculated (S54), the calculated examination hash value is recorded in the history DB 25 as an examination hash value history (S55), and the import process is terminated.

  That is, the image input device 21 calculates the inspection hash value in the same manner as in step S42 based on the information on the inspection in which the import flag is in the set state and the information in the inspection in which the transmission flag is in the set state. Update history DB25.

● Duplicate inspection conditions Figure 5 shows an example of a UI for setting duplicate inspection conditions.

  Depending on the operation of the medical institution and the type of importer, the examination instance UID and series instance UID may be changed to import medical image data, or the examination date may be changed to the import date. Therefore, it is necessary to set the duplicate examination condition according to the circumstances of the medical institution where the image input device 21 is installed.

  The operator or the installer of the apparatus operates the UI shown in FIG. 5 to set information and a combination of information used for the duplicate inspection condition among the information included in the inquiry result returned from the image server 27.

  The “matching condition 1” example shown in FIG. 5 uses “inspection instance UID”, “inspection date”, and “number of series” among the inspection information items as duplicate inspection conditions, and “series instance UID” among the series information items. An example in which “number of images” is used as a duplicate inspection condition is shown. In other words, for the selected item, the inspection information and series information of the series of interest is compared with the inspection information and series information included in the query results, and if all of the selected items match, the duplicate inspection condition is satisfied. Judged as imported.

  The UI shown in FIG. 5 can set three overlapping inspection conditions (matching conditions 1 to 3), and any one of these matching conditions or a radio for enabling the use of these matching conditions in combination. A button is provided. For example, in the example of FIG. 5, as “matching condition 2”, “examination date” and “number of series” are selected from the items of inspection information, and only “number of images” is selected from the items of series information. When the use of “matching condition 2” is set by the radio button, if “inspection date”, “number of series”, and “number of images” match according to the above comparison, it is determined that the duplicate inspection condition is satisfied and the import has been completed.

  As described above, the import processing of medical image data to the PACS 22 is controlled by the three duplicate import prevention functions to prevent duplicate import. Therefore, compared to prevention of duplicate import based on SOP instance UID, duplicate import can be prevented more reliably.

Import List The import list is displayed on the UI of the image input device 21, and the operator can check the status of the import flag for each examination and the status of the transmission flag for each series at any time. The operator can change the status of the import flag for each examination and the status of the transmission flag for each series by operating the UI as necessary.

  For example, it is possible to cancel the import prohibition state of medical image data of examinations and series prohibited from being imported by the image input device 21 by operating the UI, and cause the image input device 21 to perform import processing of the medical image data. Is possible.

  Alternatively, it is possible to change the import permission state of medical image data of examinations and series that were not prohibited from being imported by the image input device 21 by operating the UI, and prohibit the import processing of the medical image data. For example, a series with a large number of images, such as a thin slice, can be excluded from import targets.

[Modification]
FIG. 2 shows an example in which the history DB 15 exists on the LANs 16 and 26 independently of the image output device 11 and the history DB 25 independently of the image input device 21, respectively. However, the history DB 15 may exist in the image output device 11 and the history DB 25 may exist in the image input device 21.

  The export history recorded in the history DB 15 can include information such as the export date and time, the operator who instructed the export, the sending method, and the filtering result.

  The history DB 25 can record the result of the import process as an import history. The import history can include information such as a link to the media history and the inspection hash value history, an inquiry result, an operator who instructed the import, and a delivery method (reception method).

  In addition, when DICOM image data is received via the external network 14, it is received instead of media information instead of media information, reception history instead of media history, and media size instead of media information. Use data size.

  As media 13 for sending medical image data, SD (trademark) memory card, USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, CD (Compact Disc), DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), BD (Blu-ray (registered trademark)) Recording media such as Disc) can be used.

Claims (15)

An image input device for importing medical image data into a medical image management system,
First determination means for determining whether the content of the media on which the medical image data to be imported is recorded is the same as the content of the previously imported media;
Second determination for determining whether the supplementary information of the medical image data read from the medium on which the medical image data to be imported is recorded has examination information that matches the examination information of the previously imported medical image data Means,
Third determination means for determining whether or not the medical image management system manages a series of medical image data stored in a medium on which the medical image data to be imported is recorded;
An image input apparatus comprising: a control unit that executes the import process based on a determination result of the first to third determination units.   The first determination unit performs the determination by calculating a hash value from the content of the media on which the medical image data to be imported is recorded, and searching a history database based on the media information including the hash value. Item 2. The image input device according to Item 1.   3. The image input device according to claim 2, wherein the first determination unit records the media information in the history database when the media information is not detected from the history database.   3. The user interface for issuing a warning when the first determination unit detects the media information from the history database and inputting an instruction to determine whether or not to continue the import process. 3. The image input device described in 3. In addition, based on the incidental information, having a creation means for creating an import list that lists the examination and series of medical image data to be imported from the medium on which the medical image data to be imported is recorded,
The second determination means performs the determination by calculating a hash value from information regarding the number of images in the inspection, series, and series for each inspection in the import list, and searching a history database based on the hash value. Item 2. The image input device according to Item 1.   When the second determination unit detects a history that matches the hash value from the history database, the second determination unit resets the import flag of the import list corresponding to the examination of the hash value, and the medical image corresponding to the examination 6. The image input device according to claim 5, wherein data import is prohibited. The third determination means inquires the medical image management system for information on a series to be processed for each series of the import list in which the import flag is included in the set state examination,
The examination information and series information included in the inquiry result returned from the medical image management system is compared with the examination information and series information of the processing target series to determine whether or not the processing target series has been imported. 7. The image input device according to claim 5 or 6.   When the third determination unit determines that the processing target series has been imported, the third determination unit resets the import flag of the import list corresponding to the processing target series and prohibits the import of medical image data of the series. The image input device according to claim 7.   The control means is read from the media determined not to be the same as the content of the previously imported media, and the import flag is included in the set state inspection, and the medical images of the series determined not to be imported 9. The image input device according to claim 8, wherein the image input device transmits data to the medical image management system.   When there is medical image data transmitted to the medical image management system, the control unit includes information on the examination in which the import flag is set, and information on the series in which the transmission flag is included in the examination. 10. The image input device according to claim 9, wherein a hash value is calculated from the image data and the hash value is recorded in the history database. An image output device for exporting medical image data managed by a medical image management system,
Input means for inputting medical image data destination information and identification information of medical image data to be exported;
Obtaining means for obtaining a list of medical image data corresponding to the identification information from the medical image management system;
Search means for searching the history database based on the information of the examination indicated by the supplementary information of the medical image data included in the list and the information of the destination,
When a history that matches the information of the inspection and the information of the destination is detected, a deletion unit that deletes incidental information corresponding to the inspection from the list;
And an output unit that exports medical image data acquired from the medical image management system based on the list. An image input method for importing medical image data into a medical image management system,
The first determination means determines whether or not the content of the media on which the medical image data to be imported is recorded is the same as the content of the previously imported media,
Whether there is inspection information that matches the inspection information of the medical image data previously imported in the incidental information of the medical image data read from the medium on which the medical image data to be imported is recorded by the second determination means Determine
A third determination unit determines whether or not the medical image management system manages a series of medical image data stored in a medium in which the medical image data to be imported is recorded;
An image input method in which the control means executes the import processing based on the determination results of the first to third determination means. An image output method for exporting medical image data managed by a medical image management system,
The input means inputs the medical image data destination information and the identification information of the medical image data to be exported,
The acquisition means acquires a list of medical image data corresponding to the identification information from the medical image management system,
The search means searches the history database based on the examination information indicated by the supplementary information of the medical image data included in the list and the information on the destination,
When a history that matches the information of the examination and the information of the destination is detected, the deletion unit deletes the incidental information corresponding to the examination from the list,
An image output method in which an output unit exports medical image data acquired from the medical image management system based on the list.   12. A program for causing a computer to function as each unit of the image input device or the image output device according to claim 1.   15. A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 14 is recorded.

Images