JP3290750B2 - Image recording and playback device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording / reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to an image recording / reproducing apparatus applied to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a monitor display screen of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus displays, in addition to an ultrasonic image obtained by ultrasonic scanning,
An image showing where the probe is located on the device under test,
Various data such as diagnostic data are also displayed. Among them, the ultrasonic image is a moving image, and the image showing the data for diagnosis is a still image. Further, the image indicating the position of the probe is a quasi-moving image in which only the probe moves and the other portions are stationary.

[0003] With respect to the above-described mixed images, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 4-224181 proposed by the present applicant discloses an image in which different types of images such as moving images and still images are mixed and reproduced. Is described. The image recording apparatus includes a compression method according to a type of an image, a first area designating unit for designating an area to be compressed using the compression method, and a reproduction method for reproducing the mixed image. In addition, by having a second area designating unit for designating an area to be displayed by expanding an image compressed by each compression method, it is possible to achieve a high compression ratio while suppressing distortion due to compression. I have.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional image recording / reproducing apparatus, at the time of reproduction, the position of each partial image divided by the first area designation section is displayed on the entire screen. Is uniquely determined at the time of recording, and the second
Therefore, when the reproduced image is used by a computer having a window system, it is difficult to handle each partial image individually.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an image recording / reproducing apparatus capable of treating each partial image individually in an image in which a plurality of types of partial images are mixed and displaying the partial image in an arbitrary window on a console screen of a computer having a window system. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing a mixed image in which different types of images including at least a moving image and a still image are mixed. Depending on the type of image, a divided region specifying unit that divides the image into partial images, a plurality of image compression units that respectively perform image compression corresponding to the number of types of the partial images, and each of the partial images compressed by the image compression unit A plurality of image decompressing means for decompressing, a display position specifying means for specifying a display position of each partial image decompressed by the plurality of image decompressing means in synchronization with a video signal inputted from the outside, Provided is an image recording / reproducing apparatus including an input video signal and video signal switching means for switching a video signal of each of the partial images.

[0007]

The image recording / reproducing apparatus having the above-described structure is a frame memory for writing each partial image decompressed during reproduction.
And a display position specifying unit for specifying a position at which each partial image is displayed on a console screen of the host computer,
In addition, a synchronization timing generator for inputting a video signal of a console screen of the host computer and outputting a synchronization timing such as a horizontal and vertical synchronization signal and a pixel clock in synchronization with the video signal is provided. From the synchronization timing and the display position, the reading of the frame memory is controlled so that the data of each partial image matches the specified display position on the console screen, and the data of each partial image is D / A.
By switching an analog switch to which the converted output and the video signal of the console screen are input, each partial image is displayed at a designated position on the console screen.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image recording / reproducing apparatus applied to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

In the first embodiment, an input terminal 11 of the image recording / reproducing device 10 is connected to a video signal output terminal (not shown) of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. The image recording / reproducing device 1
The input terminal 31 of 0 is connected to a video signal output terminal of a console screen of a host computer 40, and the host computer 40 is connected to an external storage device 41 for recording a compressed video signal of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. I have.

An A / D converter 12 for digitizing an input video signal is connected to an input terminal 11 of the image recording / reproducing apparatus 10. The A / D converter 12 includes a moving image compressor 14, A moving image compression unit 15, a still image compression unit 16, and a background color compression unit 17 are connected. Each of the compression units 14 to 17 is connected to a divided area designating unit 13 for designating which part of the image is to be processed. A buffer memory 18 for writing a compressed image signal is connected to an output terminal of each of the compression units 14 to 17.

The data written to the buffer memory 18 is written to an external storage device 41 under the control of the host computer 40.
1 is read out and stored in the buffer memory 18.
Is written to.

The buffer memory 18 is connected to a moving picture extending section 20, a quasi moving picture extending section 21, a still picture extending section 22, and a background color extending section 23. 21, output terminals of the still image decompression unit 22 are connected to selectors 24 to 26, and output terminals of the background color decompression unit 23 are connected to these selectors 24 to 26, respectively. The selector 24
Is connected to a moving image frame memory 28, the selector 25 is connected to a quasi-moving image frame memory 29, and the selector 26 is connected to a still image frame memory 30.

A display area designating section 27 for designating an area to be displayed is connected to the selectors 24-26. A display position designation unit 33 is connected to these frame memories 28, 29, and 30, and the display position designation unit 3
3 is connected to the synchronization signal generator 32.

Each of the frame memories 28, 29,
An output terminal of the display position designation unit 3 is connected to a D / A conversion unit 34, where the read video signal is converted into an analog signal.
3 via an analog switch 35 controlled to be switched to
It is connected to the output end 36 of the image recording / reproducing device 10.

The image recording / reproducing apparatus 1 configured as described above
The image recording / reproducing operation of No. 0 will be described. First, a video signal from an ultrasonic diagnostic device (not shown) is input to an input terminal 11 of the image recording / reproducing device 10. This input signal is A /
After being A / D-converted by the D-converting unit 12, the moving image, the quasi-moving image, the still image, and the background are divided into a moving image The image data is input to the image compression unit 14, the quasi-motion image compression unit 15, the still image compression unit 16, and the background color compression unit 17. Outputs of these compression units 14 to 17 are written in a buffer memory 18 controlled by a controller 19. As described above, the data written in the buffer memory 18 is read by the host computer 40,
It is recorded in the external storage device 41. As described above, the video signal output of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is compressed and recorded.

Next, the host computer 40 reads the data recorded in the external storage device 41 and writes it in the buffer memory 18. The data read from the buffer memory 18 is input to the moving image decompression unit 20, the quasi-moving image decompression unit 21, the still image decompression unit 22, and the background color decompression unit 23, and each of the partial images is decompressed. The outputs of the moving image decompressing unit 20, the quasi moving image decompressing unit 21, and the still image decompressing unit 22 are input to the selectors 24 to 26 together with the output of the background color decompressing unit 23. The selectors 24 to 26 perform switching according to the designation of the display area designating section 27 for designating the area for displaying the output of each of the decompression sections 20 to 22 and the area for displaying the background color in each of the partial images. An image is a moving image frame memory 28, a quasi-moving image frame memory 29, a still image frame memory 30
Is written to.

On the other hand, a video signal of a console screen of the host computer 40 is input from an input terminal 31, and a horizontal / vertical synchronization signal, a pixel clock and the like are output by a synchronization timing generator 32. The display position designation unit 33 determines the position where each partial image should be displayed on the console screen,
From the synchronization timing, reading of the frame memories 28 to 30 for each partial image is controlled, and the analog switch 35 is switched so that each partial image is displayed at a designated position on the console screen. As described above, the compressed and recorded video signal of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is expanded and reproduced / displayed at a designated position on the console screen of the host computer.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a video signal (console screen) from the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. This screen is
In this embodiment, an ultrasonic image 1 obtained by ultrasonic scanning, which is treated as a moving image, and a probe position image indicating which position of a movable probe position (x mark), which is treated as a quasi-moving image, is in the human body 2, a diagnostic data image 3 treated as a still image, and portions other than the images 1, 2, and 3, and are recorded as a representative one background color image 4 in this embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which the video signal shown in FIG. 2 is divided into each partial image in the console screen by the divided area designating section. In FIG. 4, in the partial image 1 shown in FIG. 3, the display area designating section 27 shown in FIG. 1 divides the output of the moving image decompressing section 20 into an area for displaying and a background color for displaying. An example is shown below. In FIG. 4, the shaded area is the area for displaying the background color.

In the above example, the partial images 2 and 3 consist only of the areas for displaying the outputs of the decompressing sections 21 and 22. Next, FIG.
0 shows an example of a console screen. In this figure, the position of the window in which each partial image is to be displayed is transmitted to the display position specifying unit 33 through the controller 19, and read out from each frame memory together with the synchronization timing from the synchronization timing generator 32 as described above. Is controlled and the analog switch 35 is switched, so that the specified partial image is displayed in the window of the console screen.

As described above, according to the image recording / reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment, it is possible to achieve a high compression ratio while suppressing distortion due to compression of a mixed image of different types of images, and to set an area according to the type of image. Each of the divided partial images can be displayed in a window on a console screen of a computer, and an image having a more suitable user interface can be recorded and reproduced. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various modifications and applications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0022]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, in an image in which a plurality of types of partial images are mixed, each partial image is individually handled and an arbitrary window on a console screen of a computer having a window system is provided. It is possible to provide an image recording / reproducing apparatus which can be displayed in the inside.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image recording / reproducing apparatus applied to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus as a first embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a video signal (console screen) from an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example in which the video signal shown in FIG. 2 is divided for each partial image by a divided region designation unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example in which, in the partial image 1 shown in FIG. 3, an output of a moving image decompression unit is divided into a region to be displayed and a background color to be displayed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a console screen of the host computer shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ultrasonic image, 2 ... Probe position image, 3 ... Data image, 4 ... Background color image, 10 ... Image recording / reproducing apparatus, 11, 31 ... Input terminal, 12 ... A / D converter,
13: divided area designating unit, 14: moving image compressing unit, 15: semi-moving image compressing unit, 16: still image compressing unit, 17: background color compressing unit, 18: buffer memory, 19 ...
Controller, 20: moving picture decompressing section, 21: quasi moving picture decompressing section, 22: still picture decompressing section, 23: background color decompressing section, 24, 25, 26 ... selector, 27: display area specifying section, 28: moving picture Image frame memory, 29 ...
Frame memory for quasi-moving images, 30: Frame memory for still images, 32: Synchronous timing generator, 33: Display position designation unit, 34: D / A conversion unit, 36: Output terminal, 35: Analog switch, 40: Host Computer, 41: external storage device.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI H04N 5/91 G06F 15/66 330J // H04N 7/18 H04N 5/91 Z (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ G09G 5/00-5/42 G06F 3/14-3/153 H04N 5/91 A61B 8/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image recording / reproducing apparatus which records / reproduces a mixed image in which different types of images including at least a moving image and a still image are mixed, and designates a divided area for dividing the mixed image into partial images according to the type of image. A plurality of image compression means for performing image compression, respectively, corresponding to the number of types of the partial images, a plurality of image decompression means for respectively decompressing each of the partial images compressed by the image compression means, Display position specifying means for specifying a display position of each partial image decompressed by the plurality of image decompressing means in synchronization with the extracted video signal; a video signal input from the outside and a video signal of each of the partial images And a video signal switching means for switching the image signal.