JP4393887B2 - Medical diagnostic imaging equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a medical image diagnostic apparatus such as a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus (MRI apparatus) or an X-ray CT apparatus, and more particularly to image data processing.

  In a medical image diagnostic apparatus such as an MRI apparatus or an X-ray CT apparatus, raw data generated by measurement (measurement data at a stage before image reconstruction) is stored for reconstruction and reproduction after image configuration. . This is because, for example, when the image construction result is not preferable, it is possible to construct the image again using the stored raw data.

  For example, Patent Document 1 describes a technique for storing not only raw data but also processing process information of the raw data so that an image can be reconstructed with stored raw data.

The image data processing of the medical image diagnostic apparatus in the prior art will be described.
8 and 9, 1 is a keyboard, 2 is a mouse, 3 is a display, 4 is a magnetic disk for a user interface controller, 5 is a user interface controller (control hardware), and 6 is a user interface controller main unit. Reference numeral 7 denotes a measurement processing control unit (measurement processing hardware), 8 denotes a reconstruction processing control unit (reconfiguration processing hardware), 9 denotes a main memory for the reconstruction processing control unit, and 10 denotes Scanner hardware.

Raw data storage processing in the prior art will be described with reference to FIG.
During data measurement relating to the image of the subject, the reconstruction processing control unit 8 reconstructs the raw data input from the scanner hardware 10 to the reconstruction processing control unit main memory 9 as indicated by an arrow 15. Perform configuration processing and image.

  Next, the user interface control unit 5 receives the imaged data from the reconstruction processing control unit main memory 9 to the user interface control unit main memory 6 as indicated by an arrow 14.

  Thereafter, the user interface control unit 5 causes the display 3 to display the imaging data stored in the user interface control unit main memory 6 as indicated by an arrow 11.

  In parallel with the above-described processing, during data measurement, the user interface control unit 5 converts the raw data stored in the reconfiguration processing control unit main memory 9 as shown by the arrow 13 into the user interface control unit. The data is received in the main memory 6 and stored in the user interface control unit magnetic disk 4 from the user interface control unit main memory 6 as indicated by an arrow 12.

  Next, processing for reconstructing raw data stored in the magnetic disk 4 will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, as shown by an arrow 12, the user interface control unit 5 reads raw data stored in the user interface control unit magnetic disk 4 into the user interface control unit main memory 6, and as shown by an arrow 13. Then, the data is transmitted from the user interface control unit main memory 6 to the reconfiguration processing control unit main memory 9.

  Next, the reconstruction process control unit 8 executes the reconstruction process on the raw data in the reconstruction process control unit main memory 9. Thereafter, as indicated by an arrow 14, the user interface control unit 5 receives the imaged data from the reconstruction processing control unit main memory 9 to the user interface control unit main memory 6.

  Thereafter, as indicated by an arrow 11, the user interface control unit 5 displays the imaging data stored in the user interface control unit main memory 6 on the display 3.

JP-A-10-127622

  As described above, in the raw data storage method in the prior art, during data measurement, the user interface control unit receives the raw data from the reconstruction processing control unit and stores the raw data in the magnetic disk for the user interface control unit. Had gone by.

  Therefore, for example, in a case where images are captured at high speed and are continuously displayed, or in a diagnostic environment where the user interface is frequently operated while displaying images, the user interface control unit performs the raw data transfer process / In parallel with the storage process, it is necessary to execute an image display process and a user interface process.

  However, in the diagnosis environment as described above, there is a problem that raw data transfer processing / storage processing becomes a burden, and image display and user interface processing cannot be handled at high speed.

  This is because the data size of the raw data is very large compared to the display data, and the reception process / storage process imposes a very large burden on the user interface control unit.

  Further, in the prior art, when the reconstruction process is executed again on the raw data, it is necessary to read the raw data from the magnetic disk of the user interface control unit and transmit it to the reconstruction process control unit. In this case, since it is necessary to store raw data and image data together on the magnetic disk of the user interface control unit, access to the magnetic disk is concentrated, and it is necessary to access the magnetic disk. There was a problem that various processes could not be distributed and processed in parallel.

  An object of the present invention is to reduce the burden on the user interface control unit related to storage of raw data during data measurement, and to enable parallel execution of various processes of the user interface control unit in the image reconstruction process. It is to realize a medical image diagnostic apparatus that can be realized.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows.

  (1) The medical image diagnostic apparatus of the present invention is provided with a measurement unit (measurement processing control unit 7, Scanner hardware 10) for measuring diagnostic data (raw data) from a subject, and diagnostic data is supplied from this measurement unit. Image reconstruction processing means (reconstruction processing control unit 8) for configuring the supplied diagnostic data into image data, operation input means (keyboard 1, mouse 2), image display means (display 3), Image display processing control for controlling the operation of the measuring unit in accordance with an operation command from the operation input unit, performing image processing on the image data supplied from the image reconstruction processing unit, and displaying an image on the image display unit Means (user interface control unit 5).

  The medical image diagnostic apparatus of the present invention includes first storage means (reconstruction processing control unit magnetic disk 16) in which diagnostic data before image processing is stored by the image reconstruction means, and the image reconstruction means described above. The reconstruction processing means configures the diagnostic data supplied to the measurement means into image data, supplies the diagnostic data to the image display processing control means, and then stores the diagnostic data in the first storage means.

  (2) Preferably, in the above (1), the diagnostic display selected from the diagnostic data stored in the first storage unit by the image display processing control unit according to the operation input of the operation input unit Second storage means (magnetic disk 4 for user interface control unit) for storing data is provided.

  (3) Preferably, in the above (1), the image display processing control unit controls the measurement data measurement operation by the measurement unit in accordance with the operation command from the operation input unit, and the control operation. In parallel, the image data subjected to the reconstruction processing by the image reconstruction processing means is subjected to image processing in accordance with an operation command, and the image subjected to the image processing is displayed on the display means.

  (4) Preferably, in the above (3), the image display processing control means causes the display means to display an image subjected to image processing, and measures the measurement data measurement operation by the measurement means. Display progress.

  According to the present invention, in the diagnostic data storage process, the image display processing control means eliminates the need to acquire and store diagnostic data during diagnostic data measurement, and the diagnostic data can be stored at an arbitrary timing after measurement. Can be acquired and stored.

  Therefore, during data measurement, the burden on the image display processing control means relating to the storage of diagnostic data is reduced, and various processes of the image display processing control means in the image reconstruction process can be executed in parallel, thereby speeding up the data processing. Therefore, it is possible to realize a medical image diagnostic apparatus capable of performing the above.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an MRI apparatus to which the present invention is applied.
In FIG. 1, a gantry 21 includes a static magnetic field coil 27 that applies a static magnetic field to a subject, a gradient magnetic field coil 28 that applies a gradient magnetic field to the subject, a gradient magnetic field power supply 29, and atoms constituting the biological tissue of the subject. An irradiation coil 26 that repeatedly applies a high-frequency pulse (hereinafter referred to as an RF pulse) that causes an NMR phenomenon to an atomic nucleus in a predetermined pulse sequence, and a receiving coil 25 that detects an echo signal emitted by the NMR phenomenon are provided.

  The measurement control unit 22 includes a transmission system 30 that irradiates the subject with an RF magnetic field by an RF pulse from the irradiation coil 26, and a measurement processing unit 31 for controlling the transmission system 30.

  The reconstruction control unit 23 includes a reception system 32 that receives an echo signal received by the reception coil 5, and a reconstruction processing unit 33 that executes a reconstruction process on the echo signal received from the reception system 32. Is provided.

  Further, the console control unit 24 includes display means (display) 36 for displaying an image, an console 37, a storage device 35 for storing data, and an console processing unit 34 for processing them.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an X-ray CT apparatus to which the present invention is applied.
In FIG. 2, a gantry 41 includes an X-ray tube 45 that outputs a fan-shaped X-ray beam, an X-ray detector 46 that detects X-rays transmitted through a subject, and a gantry that mechanically supports each part in the gantry 41. Part 44.

  The measurement unit 42 includes a high voltage generator 47 that supplies energy necessary to generate an X-ray beam to the X-ray tube 45, an X-ray tube control device 48 that controls driving of the X-ray tube 45, A measurement processing unit 49 for controlling them.

  The reconstruction unit 43 includes a data collection device 50 that collects data obtained by the X-ray detector 46 and a reconstruction processing unit 51 that performs image reconstruction based on the data of the data collection device 50. .

  Further, the operation unit 44 includes display means (display) 54 for displaying images, an operation console 55 for controlling these, a storage device 53 for accumulating data, and an operation console processing unit 52 for processing them. Prepare.

  3 to 5 are explanatory diagrams of data processing in one embodiment of the present invention. The examples shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 are applicable to both the MRI apparatus and the X-ray CT apparatus shown in FIG.

  3 to 5, parts that are the same as the parts shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 are given the same reference numerals. However, in FIGS. 3 to 5, the magnetic disk 16 for the reconstruction processing control unit 8 is provided.

  Further, for each part of FIGS. 3, 4, and 5, the scanner hardware 10 corresponds to the gantry 21 and 41 in FIGS. 1 and 2. The measurement processing control unit 7 corresponds to the measurement control units 22 and 42 in FIGS. Further, the reconstruction processing control unit 8, the reconstruction processing control unit main memory 9, and the reconstruction processing control unit magnetic disk 16 correspond to the reconstruction control units 23 and 43 in FIGS.

  The user interface control unit 5 and the keyboard 1, mouse 2, display 3, user interface control unit magnetic disk 4, and user interface control unit main memory 6 are connected to the console control units 24 and 44 in FIGS. Equivalent to.

  A method for storing raw data at the time of measurement in one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 3, during data measurement, the reconstruction processing control unit 8 performs reconstruction processing on the raw data input from the scanner hardware 10 to the reconstruction processing control unit main memory 9 as indicated by an arrow 19. To perform imaging.

  Next, the user interface control unit 5 receives the imaged data from the reconstruction processing control unit main memory 9 to the user interface control unit main memory 6 as indicated by an arrow 18. Thereafter, as indicated by an arrow 17, the user interface control unit 5 displays the imaged data in the user interface control unit main memory 6 on the display 3.

  During data measurement in parallel with these processes, the reconstruction process control unit 8 converts the raw data in the reconstruction process control unit main memory 9 into the reconstruction process control unit magnetic field as indicated by an arrow 20. Save to disk 16.

  Next, a method for storing raw data in the magnetic disk 4 of the user interface control unit 5 in an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The raw data stored in the magnetic disk 4 is data determined to be highly important among the raw data stored in the magnetic disk 16.

  In FIG. 4, the user interface control unit 5 executes the acquisition of raw data to the reconstruction processing control unit 8 at an arbitrary timing in a period in which other processes are not busy. When the acquisition of the raw data is executed, the reconstruction processing control unit 8 converts the raw data stored in the magnetic disk 16 for the reconstruction processing control unit into the main memory for the reconstruction processing control unit as indicated by an arrow 20R. 9 is read.

  Thereafter, the user interface control unit 5 receives the raw data of the reconfiguration processing control unit main memory 9 to the user interface control unit main memory 6 as indicated by an arrow 18, and the user interface as indicated by an arrow 12. Raw data from the control unit main memory 6 is stored in the magnetic disk 4 for the user interface control unit.

  Next, a method for executing the reconstruction process again on the raw data stored in the magnetic disk 16 of the reconstruction process control unit 8 in one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 5, the user interface control unit 5 notifies the reconstruction processing control unit 8 that the raw data is designated and the reconstruction processing is executed again. Upon receiving the notification, the reconstruction processing control unit 8 reads the designated raw data from the magnetic disk 16 for the reconstruction processing control unit 8 into the reconstruction processing control unit main memory 9, executes the reconstruction processing, and forms an image. I do.

  Next, the user interface control unit 5 receives the imaged data from the reconstruction processing control unit main memory 9 to the user interface control unit main memory 6 as indicated by an arrow 18.

  Thereafter, as indicated by an arrow 17, the user interface control unit 5 displays the imaged data in the user interface control unit main memory 6 on the display 3.

  Next, in one embodiment of the present invention, the measurement processing control unit 7, the reconstruction processing control unit 8, and the scanner hardware 10 execute measurement processing, and the user interface control unit 5 executes 3D image processing in parallel. A method for this will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 6 is a parallel execution time chart of 3D image processing. In FIG. 6, the user interface control unit 5 starts a measurement process 62 in response to a measurement process execution notification 61 from the user, and notifies the measurement process control unit 7 of a measurement process execution notification 63.

  When notified of the measurement process execution notification 63, the measurement process control unit 7 starts the measurement control process 64 and notifies the scanner hardware 10 of the measurement execution notification 65.

  When the scanner hardware 10 is notified of the measurement execution notification 65, the scanner hardware 10 starts the measurement process 66 and transmits data obtained by the measurement to the reconstruction process control unit 8 by the data transfer 73. When the reconstruction processing control unit 8 receives the data by the data transfer 73, the reconstruction processing control unit 8 starts the raw data storage processing 67 and stores the raw data in the magnetic disk 16 for the reconstruction processing control unit.

  Further, the user interface control unit 5 starts the image processing process 72 in response to the image processing process execution notification 71 from the user in parallel with the measurement process 66 described above. The user interface control unit 5 can be performed by being released from the necessity of performing the raw data storage operation during the execution of the measurement process.

  When completing the image processing 72, the user interface controller 5 notifies the reconstruction processing controller 8 of a reconstruction execution notification 68. When the reconfiguration processing control unit 8 is notified of the reconfiguration execution notification 68, the reconfiguration processing control unit 8 executes the reconfiguration processing 69 on the raw data stored in the reconfiguration processing control unit magnetic disk 16, and the reconfiguration processing 69. The transmitted data is transmitted to the user interface control unit 5 by the image transfer processing 70.

Next, FIG. 7 shows an example of a user interface display screen used at the time for the image processing process 72 executed in parallel with the above-described measurement process.
In FIG. 7, the user presses a data selection button 82 and a process selection button 83 on the display screen to determine data used for image processing and the type of processing to be executed, and presses a processing start button 84 to perform image processing. Let it run.

  The processed result image is displayed in the processed image display area 81. Further, the user can execute the above-described image processing operation while confirming the measurement process progress status by the measurement process progress status display progress bar 85.

  Note that the progress bar 85 of the measurement process progress status is such that the display color of the displayed bar gradually changes as the measurement process progresses.

  In this way, raw data (diagnosis data) can be measured while executing an image processing operation. This is because the reconstruction processing control unit 8 stores raw data in the magnetic disk 4. This is possible for the first time by reducing the burden on the user interface control unit 5.

  As described above, according to one embodiment of the present invention, during the data measurement, the reconstruction processing control unit 8 stores the raw data before the image configuration processing on the magnetic disk 16 for the reconstruction processing control unit 8. Thus, the control unit 5 is freed from raw data storage processing during the data measurement period, and data processing such as image display and user interface processing can be performed at high speed.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an MRI apparatus to which the present invention is applied. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an X-ray CT apparatus to which the present invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the flow of the image data / raw data at the time of measurement in one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the method of preserve | saving raw data in the magnetic disk of a user interface control part in one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the method of performing a reconstruction process again with respect to the raw data preserve | saved at the magnetic disk of the reconstruction process control part in one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the method of performing execution of a measurement process in parallel with execution of 3D image processing by user interface control in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the user interface display screen used about the image processing process performed in parallel with a measurement process in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the flow of the image data / raw data at the time of measurement in a prior art. It is a figure which shows the flow of the image data / raw data when performing a reconstruction process again with respect to raw data in a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

1 keyboard 2 mouse 3 reconfiguration control unit 4 magnetic disk for user interface control unit 5 user interface control unit 6 main memory for user interface control unit 7 measurement processing control unit 8 reconfiguration processing control unit 9 main memory for reconfiguration processing control unit DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Scanner hardware 16 Magnetic disk for reconstruction process control parts 21 Gantry 22 Measurement control part 23 Reconfiguration process control part 24 Console control part 24
41 Gantry 42 Measurement unit 43 Reconfiguration unit 44 Operation unit 81 Processed image display area 82 Data selection button 83 Process selection button 84 Process start button 85 Measurement process progress display progress bar

Claims (5)

Measuring means for measuring diagnostic data from a subject, diagnostic data supplied from the measuring means, image reconstruction processing means for configuring the supplied diagnostic data into image data, operation input means, and image display And an image for causing the image display means to display an image by controlling the operation of the measuring means in accordance with an operation command from the means and the operation input means, performing image processing on the image data supplied from the image reconstruction processing means In a medical image diagnostic apparatus comprising display processing control means,
A first storage unit disposed inside the medical image diagnostic apparatus and storing diagnostic data before image processing by the image reconstruction processing unit;
Second storage means that is arranged inside the medical image diagnostic apparatus and stores diagnostic data selected from the diagnostic data stored in the first storage means by the image display processing control means. When,
The image reconstruction processing means configures diagnostic data supplied from the measuring means into image data, supplies the data to the image display processing control means, and supplies the diagnostic data to the first storage means. In accordance with an instruction from the image display processing control means , the image reconstruction processing means reads the selected diagnostic data among the diagnostic data stored in the first storage means, and A medical image diagnostic apparatus, wherein the diagnostic display data read by the reconstruction processing means is stored in the second storage means by the image display processing control means .   2. The medical image diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image display processing control unit displays the image processing and the image subjected to the image processing independently of the control of the measurement operation of the diagnostic data by the measuring unit. A medical image diagnostic apparatus characterized by being displayed on a means.   3. The medical image diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display unit displays the image that has undergone image processing and the display of the measurement progress of the measurement operation of the diagnostic data by the measurement unit on the same screen. A medical image diagnostic apparatus as a feature.   The medical image diagnostic apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the medical image diagnostic apparatus is a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus.   The medical image diagnostic apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the medical image diagnostic apparatus is an X-ray CT apparatus.

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