JP2019097891A - Ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus and medical image display program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus which can appropriately communicate information represented by a mark added to an ultrasonic image between the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus and another apparatus, without assembling particular implementation into the other apparatus. and a medical image display program which allows for the above communication of information.SOLUTION: The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus of the embodiment comprises a display, a control circuit, and a communication control circuit. The display displays an ultrasonic image which is generated based on a volume data generated from a reflection signal from the ultrasonic wave transmitted to a diagnostic object region inside a subject. The control circuit has a mark adding function which adds the mark to the ultrasonic image. The communication control circuit controls transmission and reception of the ultrasonic image to/from other apparatus. The control circuit further comprises: a region identifying function for identifying the diagnostic object region displayed in the ultrasonic image to which the mark was added; and a focused opinion information adding function for adding the focused opinion information presenting the meaning of the mark based on the region identified by the region identifying function.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The embodiment of the present invention relates to an ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus and a medical image display program.

  BACKGROUND In recent years, when testing a subject, a medical image diagnostic apparatus may be used which collects internal information of the subject and images the inside of the subject based on the collected information to generate a medical image. . As this medical image diagnostic apparatus, an ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus can be mentioned, for example. Among them, the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus receives a reflection signal of ultrasonic waves transmitted toward a region to be diagnosed inside a subject in an examination, and generates an ultrasonic image on the region to be diagnosed.

  Among the generated ultrasound images, for example, an engineer etc. (hereinafter referred to as “medical worker” including a doctor using ultrasound images, etc.,) who has conducted an examination using an ultrasound imaging apparatus A mark is added to an image that has become obsolete or an image that has been determined to be an image suitable for education and for various presentations. This mark is, for example, a very useful mark when referring to an ultrasound image that falls under another opportunity from examination.

  That is, in many cases, a person who performs an examination using an ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus and performs an operation to acquire an ultrasound image is often different from a person who performs diagnosis or the like using an ultrasound image. The former is, for example, an examiner, and the latter is, for example, a radiologist. In addition, in the general workflow of the examination using the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus as described above, it may be desirable to refer to a specific image later. Therefore, the mark that the examiner has added to the ultrasound image with any intention needs to be properly transmitted to the image interpretation doctor as a mark indicating the awareness by the examiner.

  The ultrasound image generated here may be stored in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus which is an imaging apparatus, but, for example, another apparatus such as an image server or the like via a communication network built in a medical institution. May be sent (exported) and saved.

JP, 2009-099011, A

  When an ultrasound image to which a mark is added is exported from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus to another apparatus as described above, it is also conceivable that the mark added to the ultrasound image is not displayed on the other apparatus. If the mark added to the ultrasound image is not displayed on the other device, the examiner may not appropriately communicate the information to the radiologist.

  In addition, even when using a marked ultrasound image as a target of various presentations, for example, for education, it takes time and effort to search and extract an ultrasound image to be targeted if the mark is not displayed. It is not possible to secure the use of quick and accurate ultrasound image.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the object of the present invention is to provide information on the meaning of a mark added to an ultrasonic image by an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus without incorporating a special implementation into another apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus and a medical image display program which can appropriately communicate with other apparatuses.

  The ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus in the embodiment includes a display, a control circuit, and a communication control circuit. The display displays an ultrasonic image generated based on volume data generated from a reflection signal from an ultrasonic wave transmitted to a diagnosis target site inside the subject. The control circuit has a mark addition function of adding a mark to the ultrasound image. The communication control circuit controls transmission / reception to / from another device of the ultrasound image. The control circuit further performs focused opinion information indicating the semantic content of the mark based on the part specifying function for specifying a diagnosis target part displayed on the ultrasound image to which the mark is added and the part specified by the part specifying function. And an attention opinion information adding function of adding

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram functionally showing the overall configuration of an ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus according to a first embodiment. The table which shows an example of the observation point table which shows the relationship between the site | part displayed on the ultrasound image in 1st Embodiment, and the observation point which the mark added to the said ultrasound image represents. Explanatory drawing explaining the flow of export processing in 1st Embodiment. The screen example which shows an example of the screen displayed on the display of the other apparatus which received the ultrasound image with a mark from an ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus in 1st Embodiment. The screen example which shows another example of the screen displayed on the display of the other apparatus which received the marked ultrasound image from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus in 1st Embodiment. Explanatory drawing explaining the flow of an import process in 1st Embodiment. 6 is a flowchart schematically showing a flow of exporting a marked ultrasound image from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus to another apparatus in the embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing in detail the flow of export processing in the first embodiment. The flowchart which shows roughly the flow at the time of importing an ultrasound image with a mark from other devices into an ultrasound diagnostic imaging device in an embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing in detail the flow of import processing in the first embodiment. It is a modified example of 1st Embodiment, Comprising: Explanatory drawing explaining the aspect which adds a delimiter to attention view information at the time of performing export processing. It is a modification of a 1st embodiment, and is an explanatory view explaining the mode which refers to the delimiter attached to the view opinion information at the time of performing import processing. FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram functionally showing the entire configuration of the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus in the second embodiment. 12 is a table showing an example of a label name table showing a relationship between a label displayed on an ultrasound image and a label name represented by the label added to the ultrasound image in the second embodiment. 12 is a flowchart showing in detail the flow of export processing in the second embodiment. Explanatory drawing explaining the flow of export processing in 2nd Embodiment. 12 is a flowchart showing in detail the flow of import processing in the second embodiment. Explanatory drawing explaining the flow of an import process in 2nd Embodiment.

First Embodiment
Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[Configuration of ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus]
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram functionally showing the entire configuration of the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 comprises an ultrasonic probe 2 for transmitting and receiving (transmitting and receiving) ultrasonic waves to a subject, and an apparatus main body to which the ultrasonic probe 2 is detachably connected. It has 3 and.

  The ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 is an example of a medical diagnostic imaging apparatus capable of non-invasively examining a diagnostic target site or the like inside a subject. The ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 transmits ultrasound from the ultrasound probe 2 having a transducer (piezoelectric transducer) at its tip toward the inside of the subject. Then, the transducer of the ultrasonic probe 2 receives the reflected wave generated by the mismatch of the acoustic impedance inside the object. An ultrasound image is generated based on the received signal obtained in this manner.

  The ultrasonic probe 2 transmits an ultrasonic wave into the subject by each ultrasonic transducer to scan a scan region, and receives a reflected wave from the subject as a reflection signal. As this scan, for example, there are various scans such as a B mode scan and a Doppler mode scan. The ultrasonic probe 2 is compatible with sector scanning, linear scanning, convex scanning, etc., and is arbitrarily selected according to the diagnosis site.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, although the configuration in which the ultrasound probe 2 is included in the configuration of the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 is described as an example, the ultrasound probe 2 is an essential component in the following description. is not. Therefore, the ultrasound probe 2 may not necessarily be included in the configuration of the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1.

  The device body 3 includes a transmission circuit 31, a reception circuit 32, a signal processing circuit 33, an image processing circuit 34, a display 35, and an input circuit 36. The transmission circuit 31 transmits a drive signal to the ultrasonic probe 2. The receiving circuit 32 receives a reflected signal from the ultrasonic probe 2. The signal processing circuit 33 processes the reflected signal. The image processing circuit 34 generates an ultrasound image. The display 35 displays the generated two-dimensional or three-dimensional ultrasonic image. It also displays the measurement results of the structure. The input circuit 36 receives a signal input by being operated by a medical worker such as an examiner.

  The device body 3 further includes a communication control circuit 37 that controls transmission and reception of signals with other devices (not shown), a storage circuit 38, and a control circuit 39 that controls each unit. Further, these circuits are mutually connected to a bus B so that various signals can be exchanged. The detailed functions of these circuits will be further described below.

  The transmission circuit 31 generates a drive signal for causing the ultrasonic probe 2 to generate an ultrasonic wave, that is, an electric pulse signal (hereinafter referred to as a “drive pulse”) to be applied to each piezoelectric vibrator based on control by the control circuit 39. And transmit the driving pulse to the ultrasonic probe 2. The transmission circuit 31 includes circuits (not shown) such as a reference pulse generation circuit, a delay control circuit, and a drive pulse generation circuit, and the circuits perform the functions described above.

  Further, the receiving circuit 32 receives a reflection signal which is a reception signal from the ultrasonic probe 2, performs phasing addition on the reception signal, and outputs a signal acquired by the phasing addition to the signal processing circuit 33. Do.

  The signal processing circuit 33 generates various data using the reception signal from the ultrasonic probe 2 supplied from the reception circuit 32, and outputs the data to the image processing circuit 34 and the control circuit 39. The signal processing circuit 33 includes, for example, a B mode processing circuit (or a Bc mode processing circuit), a Doppler mode processing circuit, a color Doppler mode processing circuit, etc. (not shown). The B-mode processing circuit visualizes amplitude information of the received signal and generates data based on the B-mode signal. The Doppler mode processing circuit extracts Doppler shift frequency components from the reception signal, and further performs FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) processing or the like to generate data of Doppler signal of blood flow information. The color Doppler mode processing circuit visualizes blood flow information based on the received signal, and generates data based on the color Doppler mode signal.

  The image processing circuit 34 generates a two-dimensional or three-dimensional ultrasonic image on the scan area based on the data supplied from the signal processing circuit 33. For example, the image processing circuit 34 generates volume data on the scan area from the supplied data. Then, from the generated volume data, data of a two-dimensional ultrasound image by MPR processing (multi-section reconstruction method) and data of a three-dimensional ultrasound image are generated by volume rendering processing. The image processing circuit 34 outputs the generated two-dimensional or three-dimensional ultrasonic image to the display 35. The ultrasound image may be, for example, a B mode image, a Doppler mode image, a color Doppler mode image, an M mode image, or the like.

  The display 35 displays various images such as an ultrasonic image generated by the image processing circuit 34 and an operation screen (for example, a GUI (Graphical User Interface) for receiving various instructions from the user) under the control of the control circuit 39. Moreover, the result of automatically measuring the size of the structure can be displayed in an easy-to-understand manner. For example, a liquid crystal display or an organic electroluminescence (EL) display can be used as the display 35.

  The input circuit 36 receives, for example, various input operations by the user such as image display, image switching, mode designation and various settings. As the input circuit 36, for example, a GUI or an input device such as a button, a keyboard, a track ball, or a touch panel displayed on the display 35 can be used.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the display 35 and the input circuit 36 are described as one component of the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1, but the present invention is limited to such a configuration. Absent. For example, the display 35 may be configured not as a component of the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 but separately from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1. Alternatively, the input circuit can be a touch panel using the separate display.

  The communication control circuit 37 has a role of connecting the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 with, for example, a medical diagnostic imaging apparatus (modality) (not shown), a server apparatus, a medical image processing apparatus, etc. ing. The standards concerning information and medical images exchanged with other devices via the communication control circuit 37 and the communication network may be any standards such as DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine). Moreover, in connection with a communication network etc., it does not matter whether it is wired or wireless.

  Note that, hereinafter, a server device or a printer that is different from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 as described above and performs processing of exporting and importing ultrasound images with the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 via the communication network. And other external devices are referred to as "other devices".

  The storage circuit 38 is formed of, for example, a semiconductor or a magnetic disk, and stores programs and data to be executed by the control circuit 39. An observation point table 381 is stored in the storage circuit 38 according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  FIG. 2 is a table showing an example of the observation point table 381. Here, the “observation point table” is a table in which the relationship between the diagnosis target portion displayed in the ultrasound image and the observation point indicated by the mark added to the ultrasound image is set. The observation point table 381 is designed to allow medical personnel to be freely abolished or abolished.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the “mark” has, for example, a function of adding to an ultrasound image to be noticed by a medical worker to make the ultrasound image stand out. Therefore, it differs from the annotation added in the ultrasound image. The addition of the mark to the ultrasound image can be performed at any time, for example, during the examination, when the patient list is displayed after the examination, or at the time of the examination review after the examination.

  In addition, in the aspect of adding a mark to an ultrasound image, a medical worker may manually add a mark to a target ultrasound image. Alternatively, when, for example, a region of interest (ROI) is set in an ultrasound image or measurement processing is performed, a mark is automatically added to the ultrasound image. As well.

  In the table of FIG. 2, an item indicating “site” is shown on the left side of the table, and an item showing “observation point” is shown on the right side. In the table shown in FIG. 2, the diagnosis target site is simply referred to as "site". For example, when the image displayed in the ultrasound image to which the mark is added is identified as "abdomen 1", the ultrasound image indicates that the observation point in the abdomen 1 is "vein". ing. Also, for example, when it is specified that the image displayed in the ultrasound image to which the mark is added is "abdomen 3", the ultrasound image indicates that the observation point in the abdomen 3 is "blood vessel of liver". It shows that there is.

  In FIG. 2, the table shows the case where the diagnosis target site is "abdomen" as an example. However, since the diagnosis target site naturally covers the entire body of the subject, it is shown in the table of FIG. Although not, each diagnosis target site and the observation target corresponding to the diagnosis target site are set in association with each other.

  The control circuit 39 controls each part of the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 in an integrated manner. The control circuit 39 causes the display 35 to display the ultrasound image generated by the image processing circuit 34. The control circuit 39 also receives an operation instruction from the operator via the input circuit 36 as an input signal, and controls each circuit so that a desired operation is performed.

  The control circuit 39 executes a part specifying function, a focused opinion information adding function, a mark adding function, and a focused opinion information confirmation function. Among these, the "part identification function" and the "interested opinion information addition function" are functions used when exporting an ultrasound image to which a mark is added from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 to the other apparatus 5. On the other hand, the “mark addition function” and the “interested opinion information confirmation function” are functions used when importing an ultrasound image transmitted from the other device 5 in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1. In the following, the functions of the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 will be described separately for export processing and import processing.

  First, it is a function related to export processing for transmitting an ultrasound image to which a mark is added from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 to the other apparatus 5. The “site specifying function” extracts an ultrasound image to which a mark is added, and identifies a site (diagnosis target site) displayed in the ultrasound image to which the mark is added. Note that existing technology can be used for the function of specifying a site.

  That is, when exporting the ultrasound image acquired in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 to another apparatus, the control circuit 39 adds a mark from the ultrasound image to be exported using the part specifying function. Extract the ultrasound image.

  Here, the reason that the control circuit 39 extracts the ultrasound image to which the mark is added by using the site specifying function is that even if a medical worker adds a mark to the ultrasound image for some reason by looking at the ultrasound image. This is because the processing corresponding to the phenomenon that the mark disappears (is not displayed) in another device by exporting the mark added to the ultrasound image to the other device. Then, in order to appropriately transmit information added to the ultrasonic image to which the mark has been added by the medical worker adding the mark, to another person in contact with the ultrasonic image.

  The control circuit 39 extracts the ultrasound image to which the mark is added based on the mark from among the ultrasound images to be exported, and then the ultrasound image to which the extracted mark is added is captured and Identify the area to be diagnosed. Note that various known techniques can be used, for example, as a method of specifying a diagnosis target site captured in an ultrasound image.

  The focused opinion information addition function in the control circuit 39 is a function of adding focused opinion information to the ultrasonic image instead of the mark added to the ultrasonic image. That is, information representing the semantic content of a mark not displayed on another device is newly added to the ultrasound image as focused opinion information. And since a mark is added when medical staff sees an ultrasound image and judges that it will become basic information, for example in preparation of a radiography report, the same meaning is also applied to focused opinion information. It is loaded.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the flow of export processing in the first embodiment. In FIG. 3, the functions on the “ultrasound image diagnostic apparatus 1” are shown on the left side, and the functions on the “other apparatus 5” are shown on the right side. Further, in the “ultrasound imaging diagnostic apparatus 1”, two ultrasound images are shown. The ultrasonic image on the left side is a mark-added ultrasonic image extracted by using the part specifying function in the control circuit 39.

  The extracted ultrasound image shows an ultrasound image at the center. Although the diagnostic target site is displayed in the ultrasound image originally, the display of the diagnostic target site is omitted for convenience of illustration. Moreover, the mark added by the medical worker is displayed on the upper right of the ultrasound image. Here, the marks are shown in hatched circles. However, the form of the display, such as the shape and color of the mark, is not particularly limited, and can be freely set.

  The control circuit 39 adds information represented by the added mark to the ultrasound image as attention opinion information using the observation point table 381 using the attention opinion information addition function. That is, the site identification function identifies the diagnostic target site displayed in the target ultrasound image. Here, the case where the region to be diagnosed is identified as the abdomen, in particular, the “abdominal 3” will be described as an example.

  Looking at the observation point table 381 shown in FIG. 2, when the part shown in the ultrasound image is “abdomen 3”, the observation point of the medical worker who saw the ultrasound image is “blood vessels of the liver”. It can be seen that it is. That is, the mark added to the ultrasonic image acquired in the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 3 is a part of “abdomen 3” and has “a blood vessel of a liver” as an observation point Show that. Therefore, the region and the observation point are added to the ultrasound image as focused opinion information.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the control circuit 39 generates “abdomen 3” and “liver blood vessel” as text data as “interested opinion information” by the noted opinion information adding function. Then, the generated view opinion information is stored, for example, in a standard tag of DICOM. Here, the “standard tag of DICOM” corresponds to, for example, an image comment (Image Comments), a study description (Study Description) or the like.

  By storing text data in a standard tag in this manner, the text data stored in the standard tag can be extracted and displayed even in other devices that can not display the mark added to the ultrasound image. It becomes possible.

  In FIG. 3, under the ultrasound image on the right side shown in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1, the characters "abdomen 3" and "liver blood vessels" are included as text data stored in the standard tag. It is shown. As described above, the control circuit 39 extracts and identifies the ultrasonic image to which the mark is added using the part specifying function, and grasps it by referring to the observation point table 381 in the standard tag of the ultrasonic image. Information on the part and the observation point is stored as text data.

  Furthermore, the control circuit 39 exports the ultrasound image to which the view opinion information is added in this way to the other apparatus 5 through the communication control circuit 37.

  The ultrasound image is exported from the ultrasound imaging diagnostic apparatus 1, and the other apparatus 5 that receives (imports) the ultrasound image causes the display 51 to display the ultrasound image, and also displays the focused opinion information. . In FIG. 3, characters of “abdomen 3” and “blood vessels of liver”, which are attention opinion information, are displayed below the ultrasound image.

  Moreover, the mark added in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 is not displayed on the ultrasound image. This is because the mark can not be displayed on the other device 5. However, even if the mark added to the ultrasonic image as described above can not be displayed on the ultrasonic image, the information indicated by the mark can be displayed as text data. The intention of the medical worker who has added a mark using the device 1 is appropriately transmitted to the person who operates the other device 5.

  FIG. 4 is a screen example showing an example of a screen displayed on the display 51 of the other apparatus 5 which has received the marked ultrasound image from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 in the first embodiment. The display 51 is largely divided into upper and lower areas.

  Among them, in the upper part, an ultrasound image imported from the ultrasound imaging apparatus 1 by the other device 5 is shown for each patient. Six items of “patient ID”, “patient name”, “examination date”, “examination type”, “number of images”, and “modality” are shown in the upper display area from the left.

  Here, the “number of images” indicates the number of ultrasound images imported from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 by the other device 5. Moreover, since all the columns of "modality" are shown as "UL (ultrasound imaging diagnostic apparatus)", here, all the images imported by the other apparatus 5 are obtained by the ultrasound imaging diagnostic apparatus 1 It is.

  When displaying the ultrasound image imported by the other device 5 on the display 51, the patient displayed in the upper display area is selected. The selected patient may, for example, be colored to distinguish visually from the non-selected patient. In FIG. 4, in the upper display area, the patient ID is indicated by being colored in the column indicating the patient of “000003”, it can be understood that the patient is selected.

  At the lower part of the display 51, on the left side, detailed information on each ultrasound image imported by the other device 5 is shown. This display area is an area displayed in the upper display area, for example, displayed by selecting a patient ID. Therefore, in FIG. 4, among the ultrasound images imported by the other device 5, the information on the patient with the patient ID “000003” is shown.

  The lower display area is divided into five items from the left: “image number (not shown in FIG. 4)”, “image date / time”, “type”, “size” and “image comment”. Various information is displayed. Among these, the column of "image comment" is a column indicating the focused opinion information added to the ultrasonic image.

  Then, when any of the information related to each ultrasound image shown on the left side of the lower display area is selected, the selected ultrasound image is displayed in the right display area. Then, the selected ultrasound image is displayed, for example, by being colored, so as to indicate that it has been selected. Here, it is shown that the ultrasound image of which the image number is "10" is selected, and the ultrasound image of the image number 10 is displayed on the right side of the lower display area.

  Then, in the ultrasound image displayed in FIG. 4, for example, the mark as shown in FIG. 3 is not displayed. On the other hand, "abdomen 3" and "blood vessels of the liver" which are "interested opinion information" are displayed as image comments in the displayed ultrasonic image.

  As described above, although the mark added to the ultrasonic image in the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 is not displayed in the other apparatus 5, the noted opinion information stored in the standard tag as "image comment" instead of the mark. Is displayed. Therefore, the intention of the medical worker who added the mark to the ultrasonic image in the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 is appropriately transmitted also to the person who saw the corresponding ultrasonic image in the other apparatus 5.

  In the screen example shown in FIG. 4, among the plurality of ultrasound images, the ultrasound image to which the focused opinion information (image comment) is attached is displayed on the upper level so that it can be understood even when looking at "image number". ing. Normally, various information of each ultrasonic image is displayed in the order of image number, but it is also possible to display information of an ultrasonic image to which attention opinion information is added in this way.

  FIG. 5 is a screen example showing another example of the screen displayed on the display 51 of the other apparatus 5 that has received the marked ultrasound image from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 in the first embodiment. Specifically, FIG. 5 is an example of a screen displayed on the display 51 when, for example, the image interpretation doctor uses the other device 5 to create an image interpretation report.

  In the screen example shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of items are provided on the left side of the screen as a “finding input field”. Here, four items “patient ID”, “patient name”, “image comment”, and “abnormality finding” are provided. However, the items to be displayed are not limited to these four, and the setting of the display target items can be freely performed. Further, on the right side of the screen, an ultrasound image is displayed as a "representative image".

  Among the items in the “finding input column”, the “image comment” column displays text data (interested opinion information) stored in a standard tag of an ultrasonic image displayed as a representative image. Then, with reference to the representative image and the view opinion information added to the representative image, the image interpretation doctor inputs an “abnormality finding” column to create an image interpretation report.

  Next, the function regarding the import process in which the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 receives the ultrasound image to which the view opinion information is added from the other apparatus 5 will be described. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the flow of import processing in the first embodiment.

  For medical staff, for example, there is a demand for wanting to use an ultrasound image acquired in the past for medical examination, and for using it for conference presentation or education. In such a case, it may be necessary to import the ultrasound image once exported from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 to the other apparatus 5 and stored in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 from the other apparatus 5 again. Come.

  In FIG. 6, in the other device 5 shown on the right side, focused opinion information displayed as an ultrasonic image and text data is displayed. That is, since the mark added to the ultrasound image can not be displayed in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 in the other apparatus 5 as in the above, the mark is not displayed in the ultrasound image also in FIG. And as attention opinion information, the character of "abdomen 3" which shows "the site | part", and "the blood vessel of the liver" which shows an "observation point" is shown.

  As described above, when the ultrasound image is imported from the other device 5 to the ultrasound imaging apparatus 1, the control circuit 39 first focuses on the ultrasound image to be imported using the "interested opinion information confirmation function". It is confirmed whether it is an ultrasound image to which opinion information is added.

  Specifically, the control circuit 39 confirms whether the observation point table 381 includes text data corresponding to the noted opinion information stored in the standard tag of the ultrasonic image to be imported. If it is determined that the standard tag includes the view opinion information, it can be considered that a mark has been originally added to the ultrasound image in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1.

  In FIG. 6, it is shown that attention opinion information is added to the ultrasonic image shown on the left side of the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus 1. The ultrasound image is an ultrasound image imported from the other device 5 and is confirmed by the control circuit 39 using the focused opinion information confirmation function.

  If it is confirmed in the control circuit 39 that the attention opinion information is added to the imported ultrasonic image, then a mark is added to the corresponding ultrasonic image using the “mark addition function”. That is, the “mark addition function” is a function to add a mark to be displayed together when displaying an ultrasound image in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1. In FIG. 6, in the ultrasonic image shown on the right side of the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus 1, marks added using the mark adding function are displayed together with the ultrasonic image.

  As described above, when importing an ultrasound image from another device 5, the control circuit 39 confirms whether or not the focused opinion information is added to the ultrasound image to be imported, and The corresponding mark is added to the ultrasonic image again. By performing such processing, it is possible to reliably add a mark to the ultrasound image diagnostic device 1 and display the ultrasound image even if it is an ultrasound image imported from the other device 5.

  Here, for example, the part specifying function of the control circuit 39, the focused opinion information adding function, the mark adding function, and the focused opinion information confirmation function are stored in a predetermined memory or storage circuit 38 etc. For example, medical image display It is also possible to realize by causing a processor to execute a program such as a program. Here, the term "processor" in this specification means, for example, a dedicated or general purpose central processing unit (CPU) arithmetic circuit (circuitry), or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (For example, Simple Programmable Logic Device (SPLD), Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), and Field Programmable Gate Array (FP)) It means the circuit of A)) and the like.

  The processor realizes functions by reading and executing a program stored, for example, in the memory circuit 38 or directly incorporated in the processor circuit. The recording circuit for storing the program may be provided individually for each processor, or, for example, may be one for storing a program corresponding to the function performed by the signal processing circuit 33 in FIG. Furthermore, the configuration of the memory circuit 38 shown in FIG. 1 may be employed. For the configuration of the storage circuit, for example, a storage device such as a general random access memory (RAM) such as a semiconductor or a magnetic disk or a hard disc drive (HDD) is applied.

[Operation]
Next, a process of exporting an ultrasound image to which a mark is added from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 to the other apparatus 5 will be described using FIGS. 7 and 8. 9 and 10, the flow of the process of the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 importing the ultrasound image to which the view opinion information is added from the other apparatus 5 separately from the export processing will be described. Do.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart schematically showing the flow of exporting a marked ultrasound image from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 to the other apparatus 5 in the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing in detail the flow of export processing in the embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 7, first, an inspection or the like using the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 is performed. That is, the subject is photographed and its internal information is acquired (ST1). An ultrasound image is generated using each circuit in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 described above using the acquired information. The medical worker looks at the generated ultrasound image and appropriately adds a mark to the ultrasound image (ST2).

  When a medical worker adds a mark to an ultrasonic image at this stage, for example, the mark adding function of the control circuit 39 described above can be used. In addition, the ultrasound image may be marked using a configuration or function other than the mark addition function.

  Then, the generated ultrasound image is transmitted to the other device 5 at a predetermined timing. Here, export processing in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 is started (ST3). First, the control circuit 39 checks an ultrasound image to be exported using the part specifying function (ST31 in FIG. 8). This is to confirm the presence / absence of the marked ultrasonic image in the ultrasonic image exported to the other device 5.

  The control circuit 39 starts the process of extracting the ultrasonic image to which the mark is added (ST32), and when the ultrasonic image to which the mark is added is extracted (YES in ST33), the control circuit 39 is extracted next. The diagnosis target site (imaging site) displayed in the ultrasound image is specified (ST34).

  When the control circuit 39 identifies the diagnosis target portion displayed in the ultrasound image, the control circuit 39 refers to, for example, the observation point table 381 stored in the storage circuit 38 using the focused opinion information addition function. The observation point associated with the part displayed in the ultrasound image is grasped (ST35).

  When the observation point related to the part shown in the ultrasound image is grasped, the control circuit 39 generates the part and the observation point as the focused opinion information using the focused opinion information addition function. Then, it is stored as text data in a standard tag of an ultrasound image (ST36). Then, it is confirmed whether or not the processing of specifying the region, grasping of the observation point, and addition of attention opinion information has been performed on all ultrasound images to which marks have been added (ST37).

  As a result, if there remains an ultrasound image to which no view opinion information has been added (NO at ST37), the process returns to step ST34 again to perform the series of processes described above. On the other hand, when attention opinion information is added to all ultrasound images to which a mark is added (YES in ST37), the other device 5 of the export destination is confirmed (ST38). Then, the ultrasound image is exported (ST 39).

  As a result of confirming the ultrasound image to be exported, if the ultrasound image to which the mark is added can not be extracted (NO in ST33), the ultrasound image to which the focused opinion information is attached is Since there is no such process, the process of adding the noted opinion information described above is omitted, and the export destination is checked (ST 38) and exported (ST 39). The above is the flow of processing for exporting an ultrasound image from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 to the other apparatus 5.

  Next, a process in which the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 imports an ultrasound image from the other device 5 will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart schematically showing the flow of importing a marked ultrasound image from another device 5 to the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 in the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing in detail the flow of import processing in the embodiment.

  First, for example, a medical worker selects an ultrasound image to be imported from the other device 5 to the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 via the input circuit 36 of the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 (ST4). The control circuit 39 receives the selection signal of the ultrasonic image through the input circuit 36 and confirms which other device 5 is stored. Then, an ultrasound image acquisition request is transmitted to the other apparatus 5 storing the target ultrasound image (ST5).

  When receiving the acquisition request from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1, the other apparatus 5 extracts the corresponding ultrasound image and transmits it to the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1. In the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1, reception of an ultrasound image to be an object from the other apparatus 5 is started (ST6). Thus, the ultrasound image diagnostic apparatus 1 starts ultrasound image import processing (ST7).

  The detailed flow of the import process is shown in FIG. First, the control circuit 39 confirms the standard tag of the imported ultrasound image using the focused opinion information confirmation function (ST71).

  That is, as described above, attention opinion information is added to the ultrasound image in place of the mark, so whether or not the mark can be added can be determined by confirming the presence or absence of the attention opinion information. For example, when text data of "abdomen 3" indicating "site" and "liver blood vessel" indicating "observation point" is included as a result of checking the standard tag, the ultrasound image is marked Can be added.

  The control circuit 39 refers to the observation point table 381 stored in the storage circuit 38 using the noted opinion information confirmation function (ST72), and confirms whether or not the noted tag information is included in the standard tag. To do (ST 73). As a result, when the observation point table 381 includes text data on "part" and "observation point" configured as attention opinion information (YES in ST73), the control circuit 39 uses the mark addition function. A mark is added to the target ultrasound image (ST74).

  Note that the process of adding the mark here is not the process of restoring the mark originally added to the ultrasound image in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 during the import process. The mark is newly added based on the view opinion information added to the imported ultrasonic image.

  On the other hand, if the standard tag does not include the view opinion information, no mark is added to the ultrasound image. Therefore, since it is impossible to add a mark (NO in ST73), the process proceeds to processing for the next ultrasonic image without adding the mark to the ultrasonic image.

  That is, in this way, the processing of confirming the presence or absence of focused opinion information on the ultrasonic image imported from the other device 5 using the observation point table 381 and adding a mark or not adding a mark When the processing is done, next, the control circuit 39 confirms whether or not the processing described above has been performed on all the imported ultrasound images (ST75).

  As a result, when the presence or absence of the mark addition has not been confirmed for all the imported ultrasound images (NO in ST75), the process returns to step ST72 to check whether the mark can be added. .

  When the above-described process is completed for all the imported ultrasonic images (YES in ST75), the import process in the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 is completed.

  Then, the ultrasound image imported from the other device 5 is displayed on the display 35 as shown in FIG. 6 (ST8 in FIG. 9). In addition, in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1, the ultrasound image is displayed in a form in which a mark is added, and the focused opinion information is not displayed. In addition, with regard to text data indicating the view opinion information stored in the standard tag, it may be stored in the standard tag as it is even after the mark is added to the ultrasonic image, or even if it is deleted. good.

  By performing the processing as described above, it is possible to appropriately exchange information indicated by the mark added to the ultrasonic image by the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus with another apparatus without incorporating a special mounting into the apparatus. It is possible to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus and a medical image display program.

(Modified example of the first embodiment)
As described above, in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1, the information indicated by the mark added to the ultrasound image is stored in the standard tag as focused opinion information and exported to the other apparatus 5. However, in the standard tag, much information may be included in addition to the noted opinion information. As described above, when much information including the view opinion information is stored in the standard tag, the view opinion information is grasped when the ultrasound image exported from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 is displayed on the other device 5. In some cases, it may be difficult to display the

  On the contrary, also in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 which has imported an ultrasound image including focused opinion information from another apparatus 5, the focused opinion information is checked to determine whether to add a mark again. If a lot of information is included in the tag, the confirmation also becomes difficult.

  Furthermore, for example, there is also a case where the observation point table 381 stored in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 is changed after adding attention opinion information to the ultrasound image and transmitting it to the other device 5.

  In addition, it is considered that the observation point table usually has different stored contents for each ultrasound imaging apparatus. Therefore, if the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus to which attention opinion information is added and exported to the other device 5 and the ultrasound diagnostic imaging device importing the ultrasound image from the other device 5 are different, setting of the observation point table to be stored It is fully conceivable that the contents differ. The ultrasound image to which the view opinion information is added is exported and imported among the plurality of ultrasound image diagnostic apparatuses that store different observation point tables in this manner, and in particular, the view opinion in the ultrasound image diagnostic apparatus that is imported It is possible that information may be taken to different meanings.

  Therefore, for example, even if much information is included in the standard tag so that the above-mentioned inconvenience does not occur, attention opinion information is immediately extracted and displayed, or a mark is added. In order to facilitate confirmation, processing is performed to further add a delimiter before and after the focused opinion information.

  FIG. 11 is a modification of the first embodiment, and is an explanatory view illustrating an aspect of adding a delimiter to focused opinion information when performing export processing. FIG. 12 is a modification of the first embodiment, and is an explanatory diagram for explaining an aspect of referring to the delimiter added to the view opinion information when performing the import process.

  In the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 of FIG. 11, as described above, the control circuit 39 identifies the diagnosis target site imaged in the ultrasound image using the site identification function, and identifies the identified diagnosis target site. On the basis of the processing of adding attention opinion information to an ultrasonic image with reference to the observation point table 381 using the attention opinion information addition function is shown.

  When the control circuit 39 adds attention opinion information to the ultrasonic image, it also adds a delimiter. Here, the “delimiter character” is a character added before and after the focused opinion information, and is a character indicating the beginning and the end of the focused opinion information. Any character can be adopted as a delimiter. In the example shown in FIG. 11, [#] is added in front of the text data of "abdomen 3 liver of blood vessel" which is the noted opinion information, while the character of "/ #" is added at the end of the text data. Is added as a delimiter.

  That is, among the data stored in the standard tag, the view opinion information is separated from the data stored in the other standard tag by [#] and [/ #], and sandwiched between [#] and [/ #] Indicates that the text data to be sent is the opinion of interest.

  Therefore, text data (opinion information of interest) including these delimiters is stored in a standard tag and exported from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 to the other apparatus 5. The other device 5 that has received the ultrasound image from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging device 1 extracts text data sandwiched between [#] and [/ #] from within the standard tag and causes the display 51 to display it as focused opinion information. .

  Note that, in FIG. 11, focused opinion information in a state of being extracted from within the standard tag in the other device 5 is displayed. Therefore, delimiters [#] and [/ #] are shown before and after the view opinion information. However, for example, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, when the focused opinion information is displayed on the display 51 in the other device 5, the delimiters “#” and “/ #” are not displayed.

  On the other hand, when importing an ultrasound image from the other device 5 into the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1, the control circuit 39 of the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 uses the delimiter character as the target opinion information stored in the standard tag. To extract. Therefore, in the above description, the control circuit 39 uses the focused opinion information confirmation function to determine whether the content of text data indicating the focused opinion information stored in the standard tag is included in the observation point table 381 We confirmed the presence or absence of focused opinion information based on whether or not it was not. However, when the delimiter is used, the presence or absence of the view opinion information can be confirmed on the basis of the delimiter, so that it is not necessary to refer to the observation point table 381.

  Note that, in FIG. 12, the extracted noted opinion information is shown below the ultrasound image. However, as described above, the noted opinion information including these delimiters is only checked to determine whether or not the mark is to be added, and is displayed on the display 35 of the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 I will not.

  As described above, when adding attention opinion information instead of a mark in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1, by adding delimiters such as [#] and [/ #] together before and after the attention opinion information, Also in the standard tag stored, the view opinion information can be quickly extracted and confirmed without being buried in many data.

Second Embodiment
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, the same components as those described in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description of the same components will be omitted.

  In the first embodiment described above, the case where one mark is added to the ultrasonic image is described as an example. However, it is also possible to add a plurality of the marks to, for example, one ultrasonic image for each purpose. In the second embodiment, the case where a medical worker adds a plurality of marks to an ultrasonic image as described above will be described as an example.

  FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram functionally showing the entire configuration of the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1A in the second embodiment. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus 1A in the second embodiment differs from the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 in the first embodiment in the configuration of the apparatus main body. Specifically, in addition to the observation point table 381, a label name table 382 is also stored in the storage circuit 38 of the device main body 3A.

  FIG. 14 is a table showing an example of a label name table 382 showing the relationship between the label displayed in the ultrasound image and the label name represented by the label in the second embodiment. is there. Here, the “label name” is a name representing the content that the mark added to the ultrasound image means.

  In the table of FIG. 14, an item indicating “mark” is shown on the left side of the table, and an item indicating “label” is shown on the right side. For example, when the mark added to the ultrasound image is a "mark having a horizontal line pattern", a "report" corresponds to the "label name". Here, the label name "report" indicates that the ultrasound image to which the "mark having a horizontal line pattern" is added is an image to be attached and referred to at the time of creation of the report.

  Similarly, when the mark added to the ultrasound image is a “mark having a pattern of vertical lines”, “academics” corresponds as the “label name”. Here, the label name "academy" means that the ultrasonic image to which the "mark having the pattern of vertical lines" is added is an image that you want to use or use for presentation in the society. Represent. Furthermore, when the mark added to the ultrasonic image is a "mark having a checkered pattern", "education" corresponds as the "label name". Here, the label name "education" indicates that the ultrasonic image to which the "mark having a checkered pattern" is added is, for example, an image to be referred to in hospital education such as training or study session.

  In FIG. 14, a table is shown by taking three marks as an example, but naturally, any number of marks may be set. In addition, it is possible for medical staff to freely change the mark.

  An observation point table 381 is also stored in the storage circuit 38 of the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1A. Therefore, when the control circuit 39 uses the part specifying function to grasp the diagnosis target site and the observation point related to the diagnosis target site from the ultrasound image, as described above, the observation point table 381 is used.

[Operation]
Next, a process of exporting an ultrasound image to which a mark is added from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1A to the other apparatus 5 will be described using FIGS. 15 and 16. Further, the flow of processing for the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1A to import an ultrasound image to which attention opinion information is added from the other device 5 is described separately from the export processing using FIG. 17 and FIG. 18. Do.

  First, the flow of export processing will be described. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing in detail the flow of export processing in the second embodiment. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the flow of export processing in the second embodiment.

  Note that when the export process and the import process described later are described, the flow roughly showing each process shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 9 is as described in the first embodiment. The explanation is omitted here.

  When the export process in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1A is started, the control circuit 39 confirms the ultrasound image to be exported using the part specifying function (ST41 in FIG. 15).

  The control circuit 39 starts the process of extracting the ultrasonic image to which the mark is added (ST42), and when the ultrasonic image to which the mark is added is extracted (YES in ST43), The diagnosis target site (imaging site) displayed in the ultrasound image is specified (ST44).

  When the control circuit 39 identifies the diagnosis target portion displayed in the ultrasound image, the control circuit 39 refers to, for example, the observation point table 381 stored in the storage circuit 38 using the focused opinion information addition function. The observation point associated with the site displayed in the ultrasound image is grasped (ST45). Here, the case where the region to be diagnosed is identified as the abdomen, in particular, the “abdominal 3” will be described as an example.

  When the observation point associated with the part shown in the ultrasound image is grasped, the control circuit 39 grasps the label name (ST46). That is, the label name table 382 is similarly referred to using the focused opinion information addition function, and it is grasped which label name the mark added to the ultrasound image indicates.

  Referring to FIG. 16, the ultrasonic image in the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus 1A has three marks. Referring to the label name table 382 shown in FIG. 14 which label names these three marks represent, “marks having a horizontal line pattern” are “report” and “marks having a vertical line pattern” are “ "Academy" and "mark with checkered pattern" represent "education" respectively. That is, the ultrasound image shown in FIG. 16 is an image to be attached and referred to at the time of creating a report, and is an image to be used or used for presentation at a society, and in-hospital education such as training or study sessions Means that the image you want to refer to.

  Then, the control circuit 39 generates a part, an observation point, and a label name as attention opinion information using the attention opinion information addition function. Then, it is stored as text data in a standard tag of ultrasound image (ST47). As described above, here, the region to be diagnosed is the "abdomen 3". Therefore, referring to the observation point table 381, the observation point is "the blood vessel of the liver". Further, as described above, the label names are "report", "academy" and "education".

  Then, it is confirmed whether or not the processing of specifying the region, grasping of the observation point, and addition of attention opinion information has been performed on all ultrasound images to which marks have been added (ST 48). As a result, if there remains an ultrasound image to which no attention opinion information has been added (NO in ST48), the process returns to step ST44 again to perform the series of processes described above. On the other hand, when attention opinion information is added to all ultrasound images to which a mark is added (YES in ST48), the other device 5 at the export destination is confirmed (ST49), and the other device 5 is selected. The ultrasound image is exported (ST50).

  In addition, as a result of confirming the ultrasound image to be exported, if the ultrasound image to which the mark is added can not be extracted (NO in ST 43), the ultrasound image to which the focused opinion information is attached is Because there is no such process, the process of adding the noted opinion information described above is omitted, and the export destination confirmation (ST49) and export (ST50) flows. The above is the flow of processing for exporting an ultrasound image from the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 to the other apparatus 5.

  The other device 5 that has received the exported ultrasound image extracts the view opinion information from within the standard tag and causes the display 51 to display it. Here, as shown in FIG. 16, not only the “site (abdominal 3)” and the “observation point (blood vessel of the liver)” but also the “report”, “academy”, and "Education" is also displayed.

  Next, processing in which the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 makes an ultrasound image in-walk from the other apparatus 5 will be described. FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing in detail the flow of import processing in the second embodiment. FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the flow of import processing in the second embodiment.

  When ultrasound image import processing is started in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus 1A, the control circuit 39 first confirms the standard tag of the imported ultrasound image using the focused opinion information confirmation function (ST81). .

  For example, as a result of confirming the standard tag, for example, when text data of "report", "academy", and "education" are included, a mark can be added to the ultrasonic image.

  The control circuit 39 refers to the label name table 382 stored in the storage circuit 38 using the noted opinion information confirmation function (ST 82), and confirms whether or not the indicated opinion information is included in the standard tag. To do (ST 83). As a result, when the label name table 382 includes text data on "report", "society", and "education" configured as focused opinion information (YES in ST83), the control circuit 39 adds a mark. A mark is added to a target ultrasound image using a function (ST84).

  In addition, the process which adds a mark here adds a mark which each label name shows. Therefore, in the case of "report", "mark having a horizontal line pattern", in the case of "academy", "mark having a vertical line pattern", and in the case of "education", "mark having a checkered pattern". Further, as described above, the process of adding a mark is to newly add a mark based on the focused opinion information added to the imported ultrasound image.

  On the other hand, when the standard tag does not include the focused opinion information of the label name, the mark of the label name is not added to the ultrasound image. Therefore, since it is impossible to add a mark (NO in ST83), the process shifts to processing for the next ultrasonic image without adding the mark to the ultrasonic image.

  That is, in this manner, the label name table 382 is used to confirm the presence / absence of focused opinion information on the ultrasound image imported from the other device 5 and the process of adding a mark or not adding a mark When the processing is done, next, the control circuit 39 confirms whether or not the processing described above has been performed for all the imported ultrasound images (ST85).

  As a result, when the presence or absence of the mark addition has not been confirmed for all the imported ultrasound images (NO in ST85), the process returns to step ST82 to check whether the mark can be added. .

  When the above-described process is completed for all the imported ultrasonic images (YES in ST85), the import process in the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus 1A is completed.

  Here, the case where the label name is added as the noted opinion information is taken as an example, but for example, although the label name is not added, “site” and “observation point” are added as the noted opinion information In this case, as described above, referring to the observation point table 381, a mark is added to the ultrasonic image.

  By performing the processing as described above, it is possible to appropriately exchange information indicated by the mark added to the ultrasonic image by the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus with another apparatus without incorporating a special mounting into the apparatus. It is possible to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus and a medical image display program.

  In particular, even when marks representing a plurality of label names are attached, attention opinion information is added to the ultrasonic image by referring to the label name table as appropriate, or a mark is made based on the attention opinion information. It becomes possible to add.

(Modification of the second embodiment)
As described above, the relationship between the mark and the label name in the label name table 382 can be appropriately changed by the medical staff. Therefore, for example, it is also conceivable that the label name table 382 is changed after export of the information of interest including the label name to the other apparatus after adding the noted opinion information. In this case, since the label name table has been changed, even if an ultrasound image is received from another device and import processing is performed, a mark representing an appropriate label name can not be grasped from the view opinion information.

  It is also conceivable that an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus different from the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus which has exported the ultrasonic image to which the view opinion information is added imports the ultrasonic image from another apparatus. In this case, there is no problem as long as the ultrasound image diagnostic apparatus that has performed the export process and the ultrasound image diagnostic apparatus that has performed the import process have the same label name table, but if different label name tables are provided. Similarly, even if an ultrasound image is received from another device and import processing is performed, a mark representing an appropriate label name can not be grasped from the view opinion information.

  Therefore, label identifiers for identifying marks are associated in advance and stored in the label name table. In this case, although the relationship between the mark and the mark identifier is one to one, although the mark and the label name are associated, the association is not absolute. When the export process is performed, not only the label name but also the label identifier is included as focused opinion information.

  By performing such processing, even if the relationship between the mark and the mark identifier is maintained, even if the label name is changed or the label name is different for each ultrasound imaging apparatus, the situation occurs. When the import processing is performed in the ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus, it is possible to reliably grasp the mark from the view opinion information and add it to the ultrasound image.

  According to at least one embodiment described above, the information represented by the mark added to the ultrasonic image by the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus is properly exchanged with another apparatus without incorporating a special implementation into the apparatus. It becomes possible to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus and a medical image display program that make it possible.

  While certain embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in other various forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof as well as included in the scope and the gist of the invention.

Reference Signs List 1 ultrasound image diagnostic apparatus 2 ultrasound probe 3 apparatus main body 31 transmission circuit 32 reception circuit 33 signal processing circuit 34 image processing circuit 35 display 36 input circuit 37 communication control circuit 38 storage circuit 381 observation point table 382 label name table 39 control circuit

Claims (12)

A display for displaying an ultrasonic image generated based on volume data generated from a reflection signal from an ultrasonic wave transmitted to an area to be diagnosed inside a subject;
A control circuit having a mark addition function of adding a mark to the ultrasonic image;
A communication control circuit for controlling transmission / reception to / from another device of the ultrasonic image;
The control circuit
A part specifying function for specifying the part to be diagnosed which is displayed in the ultrasound image to which the mark is added;
A focused opinion information adding function that adds focused opinion information indicating the meaning content of the mark based on the diagnosis target site specified by the site specifying function;
An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus comprising: The ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus further includes a storage circuit,
The ultrasound image diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage circuit includes an observation point table that stores the diagnosis target site and the observation point of the diagnosis target site in association with each other.   The control circuit refers to the observation point table as the noted opinion information using the noted opinion information adding function when exporting the ultrasonic image to which the mark is added to the other device. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein information on a diagnosis target site and the observation point is added.   The ultrasound image diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the storage circuit includes a label name table storing label names of the marks added to the ultrasound image.   The control circuit refers to the label name table as the noted opinion information using the noted opinion information adding function when exporting the ultrasonic image to which the mark is added to the other device. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a label name is added.   6. The control circuit adds the focused opinion information to the ultrasound image by storing the focused opinion information in a standard tag of DICOM, according to any one of claims 1 to 5. Ultrasound imaging system.   The ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the control circuit adds delimiters indicating the beginning and the end of the focused opinion information to the focused opinion information and stores the result in the standard tag.   The control circuit confirms whether or not the focused opinion information is added to the imported ultrasonic image when importing an ultrasonic image from the other device, and the focused opinion information is added. The mark according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the mark indicating the content indicated by the focused opinion information is added to the ultrasonic image using the mark adding function. Ultrasound imaging system. In the ultrasound imaging system,
When an ultrasound image is exported from the ultrasound imaging apparatus to another apparatus,
Identifying a region to be diagnosed which is displayed in the ultrasound image to which the mark is added;
Adding noted opinion information indicating the meaning content of the mark;
The medical image display program characterized by performing the process containing A.   At the time of adding the noted opinion information, information of the observation target site indicated by the mark and the observation point of the diagnosis target site, or a label name is added as the noted opinion information. The medical image display program according to 9. In the ultrasound imaging system,
When importing an ultrasound image from another device to the ultrasound diagnostic device,
Checking whether focused opinion information is added to the imported ultrasound image;
And adding a mark representing the content indicated by the noted opinion information to the ultrasonic image using a mark addition function, when the noted opinion information is added.
The medical image display program characterized by performing the process containing A.   12. The medical image display program according to claim 11, wherein when the mark is added, the mark indicating the content indicated by the focused opinion information is selected and added.