JP5314483B2 - Medical image data processing system, medical image data processing method, and medical image data processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten processing time for displaying three-dimensional data of a subject comprising a group of a number of two-dimensional images. <P>SOLUTION: A group file comprising a plurality of two-dimensional data files respectively indicating a plurality of photographed three-dimensional images is received. From a header including image-related information of the two-dimensional data files, relating information to relate the two-dimensional image data files for each three-dimensional image and position information of the two-dimensional image data files are extracted. The extracted image-related information is recorded by the unit of the three-dimensional image. Based on the relating information and the position information, rearranging of the group files and connection of the group files to a single image file are carried out. Either of the single image file and the group file is recorded. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a medical image data processing system, a medical image data processing method, and a program for causing a computer to execute a medical image data processing method for processing medical three-dimensional image data including a group of many two-dimensional images.

  In recent years, processing for displaying three-dimensional image data of a subject consisting of a group of many two-dimensional images acquired by a CT apparatus, an MRI apparatus, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus or the like has been performed.

  Generally, when displaying such 3D image data, a group of 2D image data is read from a recording medium on which the 3D image data is recorded, and the 2D image data is arranged in order of position information on the memory. By performing the process of displaying on the display, it is possible to display in correspondence with the three-dimensional structure of the subject, facilitating grasping of the three-dimensional structure.

  When such 3D image data is large-capacity image data consisting of several gigabytes, the processing time from the user's display request until the image is displayed on the actual screen becomes longer, which affects operability. There is. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a technique for improving the efficiency of the processing procedure of the disk playback device and speeding up the image display of large-capacity data.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-66696

  By the way, a 3D image composed of a group of such 2D images is not only stored in a recording medium of one computer terminal and displayed on the display of the computer terminal itself. In some cases, three-dimensional image data is stored in a storage server via a communication network and displayed on a display of an image processing workstation connected from the server via the communication network.

  However, when the three-dimensional image data is stored in the storage server via the communication network and then displayed, the order of the two-dimensional image data is changed in transmission and reception, and the order may change from the order corresponding to the position information. . In addition, other 3D image data may be transmitted and received at the same time, and 2D image data of different 3D image data may be mixed and transmitted. In such a case, when an image display request is made from the image processing workstation, processing for rearranging the two-dimensional image data in the order of the position information and displaying it takes a processing time, and a response from the display request to the display. There was a problem that time delay occurred.

  In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a medical image data processing system, a medical image data processing method, and a medical image data processing program for shortening the processing time for displaying 3D image data of a subject consisting of a group of many 2D images. Is intended to provide.

  The medical image data processing system according to the present invention includes a receiving means for receiving a group file composed of a plurality of two-dimensional image data files each indicating a plurality of photographed three-dimensional images, and image-related information of the two-dimensional image data file. Image-related information extracting means for extracting association information for associating the two-dimensional image data file for each of the three-dimensional images and position information of the two-dimensional image data file, and the image-related information extracting means First recording means for recording image-related information in units of three-dimensional images, rearrangement of the group files based on the association information and the position information, and connection for connecting the group files to one image file A recording control means for performing the recording, and a second recording for recording any one of the one image file and the group file. It is characterized in further comprising a means.

  The medical image data processing method according to the present invention receives a group file composed of a plurality of two-dimensional image data files each indicating a plurality of photographed three-dimensional images, and from a header including image-related information of the two-dimensional image data file. The association information for associating the two-dimensional image data file for each of the three-dimensional images and the position information of the two-dimensional image data file are extracted, and the extracted image-related information is stored in the first recording unit in units of the three-dimensional images. Recording, performing rearrangement of the group file based on the association information and the position information, and connecting the group file to one image file, and the one of the one image file and the group file One of them is recorded on the second recording means.

  According to the medical image data processing program of the present invention, a computer receives reception means for receiving a group file composed of a plurality of two-dimensional image data files each indicating a plurality of photographed three-dimensional images, and an image of the two-dimensional image data file. Image-related information extracting means for extracting association information for associating the two-dimensional image data file for each three-dimensional image and position information of the two-dimensional image data file from a header including related information; and the image-related information extracting means 1st recording means for recording the image related information extracted by the unit of the three-dimensional image, rearrangement of the group file based on the association information and the position information, and the group file into one image file A recording control means for performing connection, and one of the one image file and the group file It is characterized in that the function as a second recording means for recording.

  Here, the header of the two-dimensional image data file includes “image related information” of the two-dimensional image data, and “image related information” includes at least “position information” and “association information” described later. However, the header of the two-dimensional image data file is not limited to “position information” and “association information”, and can include other necessary information.

  Here, the “position information” is information indicating where the 2D image indicated by the 2D image data file is located in the 3D coordinate space. For example, the 3D image is represented in the xyz coordinate system. It can be defined as the coordinates of the xyz coordinate system of a specific point such as the vertex of the two-dimensional image, but is not limited to this, and various ways of indicating the position that can obtain the effect of the present invention can be adopted. . For example, it may be determined by various parameters representing the relative position of the two-dimensional image, such as the distance and angle of the two-dimensional image, and the three-dimensional image may be represented by a coordinate system other than the xyz coordinate system, such as polar coordinates. You may define as a coordinate of the specific point of an image.

  The “association information” includes information that can determine which 3D medical image the 2D image constitutes, and the 2D image that constitutes the 3D medical image to be subjected to image processing of the present invention. Information that can determine whether all the image data is available is included. Information that can determine which 3D medical image the 2D image constitutes is, for example, which 3D medical image includes the image name of the 3D medical image that the 2D image data file configures in the association information. Although it is possible to specify whether the data is a two-dimensional image data file constituting a three-dimensional image, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to specify which three-dimensional image data file constitutes a two-dimensional image data If it is information, it indicates one or several of other information such as the imaging date and time of the 3D image constituting the 2D image, subject information such as the patient name of the patient who is the subject and the imaged part, and the imaged modality. It may be information.

  Information that can be used to determine whether all the two-dimensional image data constituting the three-dimensional medical image is available includes, for example, the size of the three-dimensional medical image and the number of two-dimensional image data files constituting the three-dimensional medical image. Other information may be used as long as it can be determined whether all the two-dimensional image data constituting the three-dimensional medical image is prepared. In addition, the association information is not limited to the above items, but includes various information related to the 3D medical image such as the shooting time, subject information, modality type, 2D image size, or 3D image size. Can do.

  In the “first recording unit” and the “second recording unit”, various media such as a magnetic disk and a semiconductor memory are appropriately used as a recording medium. The first recording unit and the second recording unit may be provided separately, or a single recording medium may be provided to combine both functions.

  Here, when the recording control unit receives the group file, the recording control unit generates a single image file by connecting the group files in the order received based on the association information, and reads the single image file. The group files read based on the position information can be rearranged.

  “Concatenate the group files in the order received based on the association information to generate one image file” means which 3D medical image the 2D image constitutes, and 3D medical image This means that it is determined from the association information whether all the two-dimensional image data constituting the image is prepared, and all the group files constituting the three-dimensional image data are connected to one image file without excess or deficiency. Further, when receiving a group file, the files may be linked each time, or after receiving all the group files, they may be linked to one image file.

  “Perform rearrangement of the group file read based on the position information” means that the group file constituting the three-dimensional image data is represented by x, y, z when the three-dimensional image is represented in the xyz coordinate system. It is preferable that priorities are assigned to the axes, and the group files are arranged in ascending order of coordinate values of the axes with higher priorities. However, the order of rearrangement is not limited to the size of the coordinate value, and any other rearrangement method is appropriately used as long as 2D image data can be arranged in order to facilitate understanding of the 3D image. be able to.

  In addition, the recording control unit stores the received group file in the second recording unit when the group file is received, and based on the association information after a predetermined time has elapsed since the reception of the group file. A group file is read from the second recording means, the group files are rearranged based on the position information, the rearranged group files are connected to generate one image file, and the generated one file is generated. One image file may be recorded in the second recording means.

  “Reorder the group files based on the position information” means that the group constituting the three-dimensional image data is similar to “reorder the group files read based on the position information”. When a file is represented by a three-dimensional image in the xyz coordinate system, priorities may be assigned to the x, y, and z axes, and group files may be arranged in ascending order of coordinate values of images with higher priority axes. preferable. However, the rearrangement reference is not limited to the size of the coordinate value, and any other method can be used as long as the two-dimensional image can be arranged to facilitate grasping of the three-dimensional image. .

  Further, “when the group file is received, the recording control unit stores the received group file in the second recording unit, and based on the association information after a predetermined time has elapsed since the reception of the group file. The group file is read from the second recording means, the group file is rearranged based on the position information, the rearranged group file is connected to generate one image file, and the generated In the case of “recording one image file on the second recording unit”, a process of reading the group file from the second recording unit, generating the one image file, and recording it on the second recording unit. It is desirable to execute in background processing.

  Further, “when the group file is received, the recording control unit stores the received group file in the second recording unit, and based on the association information after a predetermined time has elapsed since the reception of the group file. The group file is read from the second recording means, the group file is rearranged based on the position information, the rearranged group file is connected to generate one image file, and the generated In the case of “recording one image file on the second recording unit”, the process of reading the group file from the second recording unit, generating the one image file, and recording it on the second recording unit is performed. When executed in the ground process, it may be executed in the order of the reception time of the group file.

  “Execute in order from oldest reception time of group file” means that “read the group file from the second recording unit, generate the one image file and record it in the second recording unit” is not performed. This means that when there are a plurality of 3D images, the processing is executed in order of the oldest time when one of the 2D image data files constituting the 3D image is received, but the present invention is not limited to this. The processing may be executed in order of the oldest time when reception of all the two-dimensional image data constituting the three-dimensional image is completed.

  The predetermined time is preferably 3 minutes or more and 10 minutes or less.

  Further, the position information may be a coordinate value of a specific point on the two-dimensional image indicated by the two-dimensional image data file when the three-dimensional image is shown in a three-dimensional coordinate system.

  As described above, “the coordinate value of a specific point on a two-dimensional image” is defined as the coordinates of a specific point such as a vertex of the two-dimensional image by representing the three-dimensional image in an xyz coordinate system. For example, in the case of a three-dimensional image composed of n rectangular two-dimensional image files, the vertices P0, P1,... Pn-1 with the smallest coordinate values of the X axis and the Y axis may be determined as specific points. (See FIG. 4) Other arbitrary points of the two-dimensional image file may be selected and determined appropriately.

  Furthermore, the association information may include a file name of the two-dimensional image data file and the number of files of the two-dimensional image data file.

  The size of the one image file is preferably 1 gigabyte or more.

  Furthermore, the medical image data processing system may further include a CT imaging apparatus that captures the three-dimensional image.

  According to the medical image data processing system, method, and program according to the present invention, a group file composed of a plurality of two-dimensional image data files each representing a plurality of photographed three-dimensional images, from a header including the image-related information, The association information for associating the two-dimensional image data file for each three-dimensional image and the position information of the two-dimensional image data file are extracted, the extracted image-related information is recorded in units of three-dimensional images, and based on the association information and the position information. The group file is rearranged and the group file is connected to one image file, and either one of the image file or the group file is recorded, so that the group file is transmitted as one image file. 2D image data representing a plurality of 3D images can be transmitted together, and 2D images can be transmitted. It is possible to prevent the order of data are exchanged, it is possible to shorten the processing time required for rearrangement of the 2-dimensional images when displayed.

  Here, when the group file is received, the group files are linked in the order of reception based on the association information to generate one image file, and when the one image file is read, the group file is read based on the position information. When the group files are rearranged, the group file can be transmitted as one image file, and two-dimensional image data representing a plurality of three-dimensional images are transmitted together. The order of the two-dimensional image data can be prevented from being changed, and the processing time required for rearranging the two-dimensional images at the time of display can be shortened.

  In addition, when the group file is received, the received group file is stored, and after a predetermined time has elapsed since the reception of the group file, the group file is read based on the association information, and the group file is arranged based on the position information. When the group files that have been rearranged and rearranged are combined to generate one image file and the generated one image file is recorded, the group file is transmitted as one image file. It is possible to prevent a mixture of two-dimensional image data representing a plurality of three-dimensional images from being transmitted and to change the order of the two-dimensional image data, and to rearrange the two-dimensional images at the time of display. The required processing time can be shortened.

  In addition, when the group file is read, a single image file is generated, and the process of recording the image file is executed as a background process, the received group file is saved as it is, so the time required for recording is extended. Therefore, the rearranged file can be read as it is and displayed without being rearranged, so that the processing time required for rearranging the two-dimensional images can be shortened. Furthermore, since the process is performed in the background process, the delay of the conventional process is not hindered.

  In addition, when the group file is read out, one image file is generated, and the recording process is executed in the background process, if the group file reception time is executed in order from the oldest, the oldest three-dimensional image is processed. It is possible to prevent the old three-dimensional image from being left unprocessed.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a three-dimensional medical image processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram which shows the image processing function of the server of FIG. The figure which shows the example of the image related information management database The figure which shows the example of the reference point of a two-dimensional image A flowchart for explaining a flow of image processing when a two-dimensional image data file is received in the first embodiment. The flowchart for demonstrating the flow of the image processing at the time of transmitting the data of the three-dimensional image V in 1st Embodiment. A flow diagram for explaining a flow of image processing when a two-dimensional image data file is received in the second embodiment FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of image processing when processing a two-dimensional image data file in an idle state in the second embodiment. Flow chart for explaining the flow of image processing when transmitting data of a three-dimensional image V in the second embodiment

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a hardware configuration diagram showing an overview of a three-dimensional medical image processing system. As shown in the figure, in this system, a modality 1, an image storage server 2, and an image processing workstation 3 are connected via a network 9 in a communicable state.

  The modality 1 acquires a three-dimensional medical image V representing a subject, and specifically includes a CT apparatus, an MRI apparatus, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and the like.

  The image storage server 2 is a computer that stores and manages a three-dimensional medical image V acquired by the modality 1 and a medical image generated by image processing at the image processing workstation 3 in an image database. And database management software (for example, ORDB (Object Relational Database) management software).

  The image processing workstation 3 is a computer that performs image processing on the three-dimensional medical image V acquired from the modality 1 or the image storage server 2 in response to a request from the interpreter and displays the generated image. In particular, it includes an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse for inputting a request from a radiogram interpreter, a main recording device having a capacity capable of storing the acquired three-dimensional medical image V, and a display for displaying the generated image. .

  The storage format of image data and communication between devices via the network 9 are based on a protocol such as DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine).

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing portions related to the medical image processing function of the image storage server 2 in the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the image storage server 2 includes a receiving unit 10 that receives a two-dimensional image data file via the network 9 in response to a request from the modality 1 or the image processing workstation 3, and the acquired two-dimensional image. Image-related information extraction means 30 for extracting the association information and position information of the image data file from the header of the two-dimensional image data file, and an image-related information management database 20 for recording the image-related information acquired by the image-related information extraction means 30 A recording control means 40 for controlling recording of a group of two-dimensional images representing the three-dimensional medical image V, a memory 50 (not shown) for reading data of the three-dimensional medical image V, and data of the three-dimensional medical image V. In response to a request from the recording means 60 to be stored and the modality 1 or the image processing workstation 3, it is transmitted via the network 9. And an image transmission unit 70 for transmitting a three-dimensional medical image V Te. Here, the image related information management database 20 corresponds to a first recording unit, and the recording unit 60 corresponds to a second recording unit. As the image-related information management database 20 and the recording means 60, recording media such as a hard disk and a flash memory are used as appropriate. The image related information management database 20 and the recording means 60 may be provided separately, but in the present embodiment, it is assumed that both functions are combined on the same recording medium.

  The three-dimensional medical image V in this embodiment is formed by slicing a three-dimensional image and dividing it into two-dimensional images. Each two-dimensional image has an x-axis in the left-right direction of the subject, a y-axis in the front-back direction, It is defined by a three-dimensional coordinate system with the vertical direction as the z axis. Each two-dimensional image has a reference point Pi (0 ≦ i ≦ n−1) serving as a reference indicating a three-dimensional position in the subject of each two-dimensional image. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, in the case of a three-dimensional image composed of n rectangular two-dimensional images, the reference points of the two-dimensional image are the vertices P0, P1,. -1 can be determined as the reference point, but is not limited thereto, and a specific point of the two-dimensional image may be arbitrarily selected and determined as appropriate.

  In the header of each 2D image data file, position information indicating where the 2D image is located in the 3D coordinate space, which 3D image the 2D image data file constitutes, In addition, association information indicating at least information indicating whether or not all the two-dimensional image data constituting the three-dimensional medical image V is prepared is included. In the embodiment described below, the header of the two-dimensional file includes at least the position information as the coordinate value of Pi (0 ≦ i ≦ n−1) of the vertex of the two-dimensional image data file described above, and 2 as the image related information. It is assumed that at least the file name of the three-dimensional image data file and the number of two-dimensional image files constituting the three-dimensional medical image V are included.

  Here, the predetermined character from the beginning of the file name of the two-dimensional image data is, for example, a character that can determine a specific three-dimensional medical image V when there are a plurality of three-dimensional medical images V, V ′, V ″. Specifically, the file names of the two-dimensional image data files constituting the three-dimensional medical image V photographed by CT are CT001_0001.xxx, CT001_0002.xxx, ..., MRI. The file names of the two-dimensional image data files constituting the three-dimensional medical image V ′ are MRI01_0001.xxx, MRI01_0002.xxx,..., So that the two-dimensional image data is based on the first five characters of the file name. It can be determined which 3D image the file comprises.

  Further, the number of two-dimensional image data files is used as information for determining whether all the two-dimensional image data constituting the three-dimensional medical image V is prepared. However, the image related information of the present invention is not limited to this, and it is possible to determine which 3D image the 2D image data file constitutes, and the 2D image constituting the 3D medical image V. Other information may be used as long as it can be determined whether all the data is available. In addition to the above, the header includes various information related to the three-dimensional image such as shooting time, subject information, modality type, number of two-dimensional images, image size of the two-dimensional image or three-dimensional image. be able to.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of image-related information data of a three-dimensional image extracted from the above-described header and registered in the image-related information management database 20. As shown in FIG. 3, each piece of data in the image-related information management database 20 includes a value on a three-dimensional coordinate of a reference point Pi (0 ≦ i ≦ n−1) of each two-dimensional image as position information. The related information includes the name of an image file that constitutes the three-dimensional medical image V, and the number of image files that constitute the three-dimensional medical image V as the image-related information. Further, a flag F (not shown) indicating whether or not the image processing of the present invention has already been performed is provided as necessary. However, the image related information of the present invention is not limited to this, and it is possible to determine which 3D image the 2D image data file constitutes, and the 2D image constituting the 3D medical image V. Other information may be used as long as it can be determined whether all the data is available. Further, the 3D image data registered in the image related information management database 20 further includes shooting time, subject information, modality type, number of 2D images, 2D image or 3D image size, etc. Various information regarding the three-dimensional image can be included.

  Next, the flow of processing the three-dimensional medical image V by the medical image data processing system of the present invention, particularly the image storage server 2 and the image processing workstation 3, will be described.

  In the first embodiment of the present invention, first, when the image receiving means 10 of the image storage server 2 stores the three-dimensional medical image V in response to a request from the interpreter, the three-dimensional medical image of the patient to be interpreted. V is received from modality 1 via network 9.

  Here, when receiving the three-dimensional medical image V, the image related information extracting means 30 extracts the position information and the association information of each 2D image data file from the file name and each 2D image data file, and manages the image related information management. Register in the database 20. Further, the recording control means 40 connects the two-dimensional image data files based on the image related information in the order of reception of the two-dimensional image data constituting the three-dimensional medical image V when one of the three-dimensional medical images V is received. The file Z is stored in the recording means 60.

  For example, when there are a plurality of three-dimensional medical images V, V ′, and V ″, the two-dimensional image data file is linked from a part of the two-dimensional image data file name in the image-related information. It is possible to determine whether the files are two-dimensional image data files constituting V, V ′, and V ″, and connect the files in units of three-dimensional medical images V. When the files are connected, all the two-dimensional coordinate data constituting the three-dimensional image V are included in one image file based on the number of two-dimensional coordinate files constituting the three-dimensional image V in the image-related information. As described above, two-dimensional image data files can be connected without excess or deficiency. However, the above-described determination based on the image-related information of the present invention is not limited to this, and it can be determined which 3D image the 2D image data file constitutes, and the 3D medical image V is configured. Any other method may be used as appropriate as long as it can determine whether all the two-dimensional image data to be prepared is available.

  Next, when transmitting the three-dimensional medical image V to the image processing workstation 3 in response to a request from the radiogram interpreter, the recording control unit 40 reads the file Z from the recording unit 60 and stores the position of the image related information management database. Based on the coordinate value of the information Pi (0 ≦ i ≦ n−1), the two-dimensional image data is rearranged according to the position information and arranged on the memory 50. For the rearrangement according to the position information, for example, the two-dimensional image data constituting the three-dimensional medical image V is rearranged in ascending order of the x coordinate value of Pi (0 ≦ i ≦ n−1). Two-dimensional image data files having the same x coordinate value of Pi (0 ≦ i ≦ n−1) are rearranged in the order of ascending y coordinate values, and the y coordinate value of Pi (0 ≦ i ≦ n−1) is the same. A method of rearranging the two-dimensional image data file in ascending order of the z coordinate value can be applied. Thereafter, the image transmission means 70 transmits the rearranged data of the three-dimensional medical image V as one image file Z to the image processing workstation 3 via the network.

  In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the image storage server 2 performs both image rearrangement and image connection according to the position information. The rearrangement may be performed on the memory of the image processing workstation 3 after transmitting the three-dimensional image data from the image storage server 2 to the image processing workstation 3 via the network.

  As described above, by storing the two-dimensional image data of the three-dimensional medical image V as one image file Z, the order of the images is not changed when the images are received via the network. In particular, when the file Z is an image file of 1 gigabyte or more, the load of the image rearrangement processing time is large, so that an effect of shortening the image processing time can be obtained.

  Further, when the image storage server 2 transmits a two-dimensional image data file of another three-dimensional medical image V ′ at the same time as the data of the three-dimensional medical image V, the three-dimensional medical image V and other data are also transmitted. Since the two-dimensional image data file of the three-dimensional medical image V ′ is not mixed, an effect of shortening the image processing time can be obtained. In this case, since the two-dimensional image data files of the three-dimensional medical image V and the three-dimensional medical image V ′ are not mixedly recorded on the recording medium, the three-dimensional medical image V is read from the recording medium 60. Time can be shortened.

  As a second embodiment of the present invention, when receiving a three-dimensional medical image V, the image-related information extraction unit 30 registers the position information and association information of each two-dimensional image in the image-related information management database 20. To do. When storing the three-dimensional medical image V in response to a request from the radiogram interpreter, the recording control unit 40 stores the respective data in the image storage server 2 in the order of reception of the two-dimensional image of the three-dimensional medical image V. Next, when a predetermined time T has elapsed since the examination of the two-dimensional image data file (for example, T = 3 minutes), if there is no image processing request to the image storage server 2 for a predetermined time (idle state) The recording control means 40 confirms from the image-related information management database 20 whether or not the 3D medical image V that is the object of the image data processing of the present invention exists, and selects the 3D medical image V that is the object.

  Next, the recording control means 40 acquires the two-dimensional image data file name constituting the three-dimensional medical image V from the association information in the image-related information management database 20, and each two-dimensional image constituting the three-dimensional medical image V. A data file is read onto the memory 50 without excess or deficiency, and each two-dimensional image data is rearranged based on the position information of the image-related information management database 20, and the rearranged two-dimensional image data is connected to form one image file. Z is generated, and the file Z is stored in the image storage server 2. The method of rearranging each two-dimensional image data based on the position information is the same as in the first embodiment.

  Here, in the second embodiment, in addition to the data exemplified in the first embodiment, the flag F indicating whether the rearrangement of the three-dimensional medical image V is completed in the data of the image related information management database 20. Further prepare. The recording control unit 40 updates the data of the three-dimensional medical image V with the flag F = 1 indicating whether the rearrangement has been completed for the data of the three-dimensional medical image V in the image-related information management database 20.

  Next, when displaying the three-dimensional medical image V in response to a request from the radiogram interpreter, the two-dimensional image data in the file Z is in the order rearranged according to the position. The file Z can be read from the storage server 2 and displayed on the memory of the image processing workstation 3 without changing the order.

  In the second embodiment, as described above, when the two-dimensional image data of the three-dimensional medical image V is rearranged and saved as one image file Z during the idle period, the three-dimensional medical image is used. Since it is not necessary to rearrange the two-dimensional images when displaying the image V, the time required for display is reduced. Further, when saving, the time required for saving is not extended because the data is saved in the order received.

  Further, since such background processing is given priority over other requests required for the image storage server 2, if there is a new interrupt request such as a command or reset to the image storage server 2, the background processing is interrupted. Then, the image storage server 2 performs the normal processing, so that the recording control processing of the present invention for shortening the image processing time can be performed only in the idle state without reducing the processing speed of the conventional processing. .

  In the second embodiment, it is preferable to set the time T, which is an index of the start time of the image processing of the present invention, to a value not less than 3 minutes and not more than 10 minutes. When transferring data over a network, even if the transfer of 2D file data takes time due to various reasons such as network congestion and load on the data transmission side or data reception side, This is because all the two-dimensional image data files constituting the three-dimensional medical image V can be sufficiently transferred in a general hospital environment.

  In the second embodiment, when there are a plurality of three-dimensional medical images V, V ′, V ″ that have not been subjected to the image processing of the present invention in the recording means 60, the priority order is based on the image related information. For example, if the image-related information includes the order in which the 3D medical images are received, the oldest 3D medical images are received or the 3D medical images are displayed. Image processing can be executed in order of reception time, and if the image-related information includes the size of the 3D medical image, the image is rearranged from the small 3D medical image that finishes the background processing earlier. By performing the above, it is possible to execute the image processing of the present invention by selecting an image with a fast rearrangement time, which is necessary for the image-related information used when determining the priority order. Broadcast is included in the two-dimensional image data file header, it is preferred that information can be extracted from the header of the 2-dimensional image data file.

  In addition, information indicating the readout frequency can be included in the image-related information, and a three-dimensional medical image with a high readout frequency can be rearranged with priority. Furthermore, according to the user's request, it is possible to include the type of modality in the image-related information, and execute the image processing by increasing the priority of the CT image, for example, according to the type of modality. As described above, when priority is set according to a user request and a file to be subjected to image processing is selected, a three-dimensional medical image V having a large user request can be preferentially processed. Therefore, operability can be improved.

  In the second embodiment, the flag F indicating whether the image processing of the present invention has been completed in the image related information management database 20 is further performed as another embodiment for image rearrangement and image connection. Information indicating the progress may be recorded. For example, a numerical value indicating the processing status of image processing is provided step by step, and when the data of the 3D medical image V is not processed, F = 0, and when the 2D image data file is read, F = 1, 2D image F = 2 when the data files are rearranged, F = 3 when the two-dimensional image data files are connected, and F = 4 when the two-dimensional image data files are saved (processing completed). The flag may be recorded in the image related information management database 20.

  Thus, for example, it is possible to record how far the image processing of the present invention has progressed and use the failure of the image processing as a priority index.

  Next, the operation of the characteristic part of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. The present invention is set to automatically execute the image processing program of the present invention when the image storage server 2 receives the two-dimensional data file of the three-dimensional medical image V. FIG. 5A shows the flow of image processing when receiving a two-dimensional data file of the three-dimensional medical image V, and FIG. 5B shows the flow of image processing when transmitting data of the three-dimensional medical image V.

First, as shown in FIG. 5A, when the image storage server 2 has a request to save a two-dimensional image data file, the image receiving means 10 receives the two-dimensional image data file (ST101).
Image-related information is extracted from the received two-dimensional image data file by the image-related information extracting unit 30. Based on the extracted image-related information, the received two-dimensional image data file is not registered in the image-related information management database 20. If the 3D medical image V is to be constructed (Y in ST102), the data of the 3D medical image V is newly registered in the image related information management database 20 (ST103).

  If the received two-dimensional image data file constitutes the three-dimensional medical image V already registered in the image-related information management database 20 (N in ST102), the received two-dimensional image as the three-dimensional medical image data The image related information of the data file is added to the image related information management database 20 (ST104). The image related information is also added to the image related information management database 20 in the same manner for the newly registered 3D medical image data in ST103 (ST104).

  Until the reception of all the two-dimensional image data files constituting the three-dimensional medical image V is completed, the above steps ST101 to ST104 are repeated (N in ST105). When reception of all the two-dimensional image data files constituting the three-dimensional medical image V is completed (Y in ST105), the two-dimensional image data files are connected in the order of reception to generate one image file Z (ST106). The file Z is stored in a recording medium (ST107).

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5B, when a transmission request for data of the three-dimensional medical image V for displaying the file comes from the image processing workstation 3 to the image storage server 2, the recording control means 40 Then, referring to the position information in the image related information management database 20 (ST111), the file Z is read from the recording medium 60 onto the memory 50 (ST112), and the two-dimensional image data for each two-dimensional image of the file Z is position information. These are rearranged to the addresses on the memory 50 according to (ST113).

  Then, the image transmission means 70 transmits the data of the file Z for which the arrangement has been completed to the image processing workstation 3 that has requested transmission (ST114).

  Next, the operation of the characteristic part of the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C. In the present invention, when the image storage server 2 receives a two-dimensional image data file, the image processing program of the present invention is automatically executed. 6A shows a flow of image processing when a two-dimensional image data file of the three-dimensional medical image V is received, FIG. 6B shows a flow of processing when the image storage server 2 is in an idle state, and FIG. 6C shows a three-dimensional medical image. The flow of image processing when data of image V is transmitted is shown.

First, as shown in FIG. 6A, when there is a request to save image data in the image storage server 2, the image receiving means 10 receives a two-dimensional image data file (ST201).
Image-related information is extracted from the received two-dimensional image data file by the image-related information extracting unit 30. Based on the extracted image-related information, the received two-dimensional image data file is not registered in the image-related information management database 20. If the 3D medical image V is to be constructed (Y in ST202), the data of the 3D medical image V is newly registered in the image related information management database 20 (ST203).

  If the received two-dimensional image data file constitutes the three-dimensional medical image V already registered in the image-related information management database 20 (N in ST202), the received two-dimensional image as the three-dimensional medical image data Are added to the image-related information management database 20 (ST204). At this time, a flag F indicating that the image processing of the present invention has been completed is initialized as F = 0 (unprocessed). The image related information is also added to the image related information management database 20 in the same manner for the newly registered 3D medical image data in ST203 (ST204). Up to this point, the flow is the same as ST101 to ST104 in FIG. 5A.

  The recording control means 40 saves the two-dimensional image data file on the recording medium 60 as separate files in the order of reception (ST205).

  As shown in FIG. 6B, when a predetermined time has elapsed after receiving a two-dimensional image data file (Y in ST211), data of a three-dimensional medical image V that has not been subjected to the image processing of the present invention (the image processing of the present invention is performed). It is investigated whether or not the data indicating the three-dimensional medical image V in which the flag indicating completion is F = 0 (unprocessed) is registered in the image-related information management database 20 (ST212). When a two-dimensional image data file is received and a certain time has not elapsed (N in ST211), or when the corresponding three-dimensional medical image V does not exist in the image-related information management database 20 (N in ST212), either In this case, the process returns to step ST211.

If the corresponding three-dimensional medical image V exists in the image related information management database 20 (Y in ST212), the three-dimensional medical image V to be subjected to image processing is selected according to the determination of the predetermined priority (ST213). As described above, here, the target three-dimensional medical image V can be selected by applying various indices for determining the priority order.
Next, the image related information of the target three-dimensional medical image V is acquired from the image related information management database 20 (ST214). Specifically, the two-dimensional image file name constituting the target three-dimensional medical image V is acquired, and the two-dimensional image data file of the target three-dimensional medical image V is read from the recording unit 60 onto the memory 50. (ST215).

  If the image storage server 2 receives an interrupt request such as another command or reset, the image processing is interrupted and normal operation is performed (Y in ST216). If the idle state continues (N in ST216), the read two-dimensional image data is arranged on the memory 50 in the order corresponding to the position in accordance with the position information of the data registered in the image related information management database 20. Change (ST217). Thereafter, the rearranged two-dimensional image data are connected to generate one image file Z (ST218).

  Here, when the image storage server 2 receives an interrupt request again such as another command or reset, the image processing is interrupted and a normal operation is performed (Y in ST219). If the idle state continues (N in ST219), the file Z is stored in the recording medium 60 (ST220). Thereafter, a flag F = 1 (image processed) indicating that the image processing of the present invention has been completed is recorded in the data of the three-dimensional medical image V in the image-related information management database 20 (ST221). Steps ST213 to ST221 are repeated as long as there is 3D medical image data in which the flag indicating that the image processing of the present invention has been completed is F = 0 (unprocessed) (ST212).

  In this embodiment, the step of determining whether or not to interrupt the image processing in response to the interrupt request of ST216 and ST219 is performed twice in ST216 and ST219.

  The time T for judging whether or not the predetermined time T has been reached since the reception of the two-dimensional data file is preferably set to 3 to 10 minutes.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6C, when a transmission request for data of the three-dimensional medical image V for displaying a file comes from the image processing workstation 3 to the image storage server 2 (ST231), recording control is performed. The means 40 reads the file Z from the recording medium 60 (ST232), and transmits it to the image processing workstation 3 that made the transmission request (ST233).

  As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, it has been described that one image management server 2 processes image data. However, a plurality of servers connected via a network are operated in cooperation with each other. It may be.

The above function may be executed by appropriately reading a program having a function of performing image data processing of the present invention in any one of the modalities 1, the image management server 2, and the image processing workstation 3. A program having the above functions is distributed via a recording medium or a network and installed in a computer.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Modality 2 Image storage server 3 Image processing workstation 9 Network 10 Image reception means 20 Image related information management database 30 Image related information extraction means 40 Recording control means 50 Memory 60 Recording medium 70 Image transmission means _Pi Reference point

Claims (12)

Receiving means for receiving a group file composed of a plurality of two-dimensional image data files each indicating a plurality of photographed three-dimensional images;
Image-related information extracting means for extracting association information for associating the two-dimensional image data file for each of the three-dimensional images and position information of the two-dimensional image data file from a header including image-related information of the two-dimensional image data file. When,
First recording means for recording the image related information extracted by the image related information extracting means in units of the three-dimensional image;
Based on the association information and the position information, recording control means for performing rearrangement of the group file and connection for connecting the group file to one image file;
A medical image data processing system comprising: a second recording unit that records either one of the one image file and the group file. The recording control means includes
Upon receiving the group file, the group files are connected in the order received based on the association information to generate one image file,
The medical image data processing system according to claim 1, wherein when the one image file is read, the group files read based on the position information are rearranged. The recording control means includes
When receiving the group file, the received group file is stored in the second recording means,
After a predetermined time has elapsed since the reception of the group file, the group file is read from the second recording unit based on the association information,
Based on the position information, rearrange the group files, connect the rearranged group files to generate one image file,
The medical image data processing system according to claim 1, wherein the generated one image file is recorded in the second recording means.   4. The medical image according to claim 3, wherein the process of reading out the group file from the second recording unit, generating the one image file, and recording it in the second recording unit is executed as a background process. Data processing system.   The process of reading the group file from a second recording unit, generating the one image file, and recording the image file in the second recording unit is executed in order of the reception time of the group file. 4. The medical image data processing system according to 4. The medical image data processing system according to any one of claims 3 to 5 , wherein the predetermined time is not less than 3 minutes and not more than 10 minutes. The position information is a coordinate value of a specific point on a two-dimensional image indicated by the two-dimensional image data file when the three-dimensional image is shown in a three-dimensional coordinate system. The medical image data processing system according to any one of the above. The medical image data processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein the association information includes a file name of the two-dimensional image data file and the number of files of the two-dimensional image data file. The medical image data processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 8 , wherein the size of the one image file is 1 gigabyte or more. The medical image data processing system, the medical image data processing system according to any one of claims 1 9, further comprising a CT image capturing apparatus for capturing the 3-dimensional image. Receiving a group file consisting of a plurality of two-dimensional image data files each indicating a plurality of photographed three-dimensional images;
From the header including the image related information of the two-dimensional image data file, extract association information for associating the two-dimensional image data file for each three-dimensional image and position information of the two-dimensional image data file,
The extracted image related information is recorded in the first recording / recording means in units of the three-dimensional image
Based on the association information and the position information, the group files are rearranged, and the group files are linked to one image file.
One of the one image file and the group file is recorded in a second recording unit, and the medical image data processing method is characterized in that: Computer
Receiving means for receiving a group file composed of a plurality of two-dimensional image data files each indicating a plurality of photographed three-dimensional images;
Image-related information extracting means for extracting association information for associating the two-dimensional image data file for each of the three-dimensional images and position information of the two-dimensional image data file from a header including image-related information of the two-dimensional image data file. When,
First recording means for recording the image related information extracted by the image related information extracting means in units of the three-dimensional image;
Based on the association information and the position information, recording control means for performing rearrangement of the group file and connection for connecting the group file to one image file;
A program that functions as a second recording unit that records one of the one image file and the group file.

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