JP5430272B2 - Medical image management system and image management server - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a medical image management system, particularly to a management system for images acquired by an endoscope, an electronic endoscope apparatus, and an image management server.

  In general, in order to diagnose or treat the inside of a patient's body cavity, an electronic endoscope that images the inside of the body cavity with a solid-state imaging device provided at the distal end and light for illuminating an observation site in the body cavity are electronically viewed. 2. Description of the Related Art An electronic endoscope apparatus including an electronic endoscope processor that supplies an image to a mirror, processes an image signal generated by the electronic endoscope, and outputs the processed image signal to a monitor is widely known and put into practical use. In such an electronic endoscope apparatus, the illumination light supplied from the processor is irradiated from the tip of the electronic endoscope toward the body cavity, and the reflected light reflected by the body cavity wall is photoelectrically converted by the imaging device. The electric charge generated by the photoelectric conversion is read as an image signal, subjected to image processing by the processor, and an image is displayed on the monitor. In addition to being displayed on the monitor, the image obtained by the electronic endoscope apparatus is printed on paper or recorded on a recording medium such as an MO or a DVD and stored.

  As described above, the image data printed or recorded for storage is managed by the image filing apparatus together with patient information such as the date and time when the image data was acquired and the patient name in the hospital. Patent Document 1 discloses an example of such an image filing device. In the image filing device described in Patent Document 1, first, examination data including information such as a patient ID and examination date and image data acquired by an endoscope or the like is recorded on a recording medium such as an MO. Then, the inspection data recorded on the recording medium is read out by the image filing device and registered in the hard disk of the image filing device. By operating the input unit of the image filing apparatus, it is possible to perform management such as browsing a desired image and adding new inspection data.

JP-A-2005-74055

  However, when image data is managed by an image filing apparatus as described in Patent Document 1, there are some problems. First, in the image filing apparatus, in order to add new inspection data, it is necessary to read inspection data recorded on a recording medium such as an MO by the image filing apparatus and register it in the hard disk. For this purpose, it is necessary for the operator to record the inspection data in the MO, or to bring the MO to a place where the image filing device is located and operate the image filing device to register the inspection data. It took. In general, image data recorded in the MO is subjected to image processing by the processor of the endoscope apparatus. Therefore, if new image processing is to be performed on the image data stored in the image filing device at a later date, it is necessary to restore the image processing performed by the processor, which makes the processing very complicated. End up. Further, as the inspection data registered in the image filing apparatus increases, it is necessary to increase the storage capacity of the image filing apparatus, which leads to a cost increase.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a medical image management system capable of easily registering and updating medical image data acquired by an electronic endoscope or the like. The purpose is to do.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, according to the present invention, there is provided a medical image management system including an electronic endoscope device, an image management server, and a patient information server that can communicate via a network. An electronic endoscope for capturing an image of a patient's body and generating an image signal; a first compression unit for compressing the image signal to generate image data; and a transmission unit for transmitting the image data to the image management server The image management server includes patient information requesting means for requesting patient information from the patient information server, receiving means for receiving patient information from the patient information server, and image data transmitted from the electronic endoscope apparatus. And a database for associating and storing patient information, and second compression means for compressing patient information and image data stored in the database at a predetermined timing. Medical image management system according to claim is provided.

  With this configuration, the image data compressed by the electronic endoscope apparatus can be automatically transmitted to the image management server, and the operator's work load can be greatly reduced. Further, by receiving detailed patient information from the patient information server by the image management server and storing it in the database together with the image data, it becomes possible to easily manage the image data and the accompanying information. Further, by compressing the data in the database at a predetermined timing, an increase in data capacity can be suppressed.

  The first compression unit may reversibly compress the image signal, and the second compression unit may perform lossy compression on the patient information and the image data. With this configuration, the storage area of the image management server can be used efficiently.

  Further, the predetermined timing may be a timing at which information related to the completion of treatment of the patient is received by the receiving means. By configuring in this way, it is possible to compress only data that has been treated and is unlikely to be referenced in the future.

  The transmission means transmits patient identification information together with the image data to the image management server, and the patient information request means requests patient information from the patient information server based on the patient identification information. There may be.

  The electronic endoscope apparatus may further include a temporary storage unit that temporarily stores the image data generated by the first compression unit. With this configuration, it is possible to transmit image data to the image management server after the inspection is completed, and it is possible to reduce the influence due to communication problems.

  The electronic endoscope apparatus further includes decompression means for decompressing image data stored in a database and converting it into an image signal, and image processing means for performing image processing on the image signal decompressed by the decompression means. It is good also as a structure provided with these. With this configuration, it is possible to reproduce the image data stored in the database of the image management server.

  The patient information request means periodically requests patient information from the patient information server, and the patient information stored in the database is based on patient information received in response to a request for periodic patient information. May be updated. With this configuration, even when the patient information in the patient information server is updated, the updated content can be appropriately reflected in the database.

  The image management server may further include containerization means for containerizing image data and patient information corresponding to the image data into one container file.

  Further, according to the present invention, an electronic endoscope apparatus capable of communicating with an image management server and a patient information server via a network, an electronic endoscope that captures an image of a patient's body and generates an image signal; An electronic endoscope apparatus is provided, comprising: a compression unit that reversibly compresses an image signal to generate image data; and a transmission unit that transmits the image data to an image management server.

  Further, according to the present invention, an image management server capable of communicating with an electronic endoscope apparatus and a patient information server via a network, image data receiving means for receiving image data from the electronic endoscope apparatus, and a patient information server Patient information requesting means for requesting patient information to the patient, patient information receiving means for receiving patient information from the patient information server, image data received from the electronic endoscope apparatus, and a database for storing the patient information in association with each other There is provided an image management server comprising compression means for irreversibly compressing patient information and image data stored in a database at a predetermined timing based on patient information.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, the image data acquired by the electronic endoscope can be easily registered in the image management server, and can be efficiently managed while reducing the data capacity.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a medical image management system in an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the imaging | photography process of the electronic endoscope apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the registration update process of the image management server in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows typically the data structure of the container file database in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the patient information transmission process of the electronic medical record server in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the data flow in the reproduction | regeneration processing of a medical image management system. It is a flowchart which shows the reproduction | regeneration processing of the electronic endoscope apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the reproduction | regeneration processing of the image management server in embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, a medical image management system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a medical image management system 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the medical image management system 1 includes an electronic endoscope device 10, an image management server 20, an electronic medical record server 30, and a monitor 40. The electronic endoscope apparatus 10, the image management server 20, and the electronic medical record server 30 are installed in various places in the hospital, and are connected to each other via a local area network (LAN) in the hospital. In FIG. 1, the flow of images and video signals is indicated by solid arrows, the flow of patient information is indicated by broken arrows, and the flow of container files is indicated by double arrows in the registration update process in the medical image management system 1 described later. .

  The electronic endoscope apparatus 10 is installed in an examination room or the like, and is an apparatus for performing imaging and treatment of a patient's body for examination and treatment. The electronic endoscope device 10 is inserted into a patient's body, and the electronic endoscope 100 for capturing an image inside the patient and the image captured by the electronic endoscope 100 are processed and displayed on the monitor 40, or It comprises a processor 110 for transmitting to the image management server 20.

  The electronic endoscope 100 includes a flexible tube that is inserted into a patient's body and a connection portion that is electrically and optically connected to the processor 110, and is detachably connected to the processor 110. Then, an image inside the body is captured by an image sensor such as a CCD provided at the tip of the flexible tube, and an image signal is generated and transmitted to the processor 110.

  The processor 110 converts the image signal generated by the electronic endoscope 100 into a digital image signal represented by RGB digital values, and performs predetermined processing on the signal output from the RGB conversion circuit 111. In addition, an image processing circuit 112 that outputs a video signal to the monitor 40 is provided. The predetermined processing in the image processing circuit 112 includes image processing such as gain adjustment for the image signal, Y / C conversion processing for conversion into a signal suitable for the display format of the monitor 40, and the like.

  The processor 110 also includes a codec circuit 113 that reversibly compresses the digital image signal converted by the RGB conversion circuit 111 to generate image data, a buffer 114 that temporarily stores the reversibly compressed image data, an image A network interface 117 is provided for communicating with the management server 20 via the network. The codec circuit 113 also has a decompression (decoding) function for converting image data transmitted from the image management server 20 into a digital image signal during a reproduction process described later.

  Further, the processor 110 includes an input device 116 such as a keyboard for inputting an ID related to a patient to be examined by an operator and an instruction regarding image processing, and a control circuit 117 for controlling each part of the processor 110. Yes. The processor 110 also includes a light source (not shown) for supplying illumination light to the electronic endoscope 100.

  The image management server 20 is a server for managing registration and update in association with image data transmitted from the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 and patient information transmitted from the electronic medical record server 30. The image management server 20 includes a network interface 201 for communicating with the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 and the electronic medical record server 30 via a network, a control circuit 202 that controls each part of the image management server 20, image data, and patient information. A container file database 203 that stores the container file including the data file and a compression circuit 204 that performs lossy compression of the container file at a predetermined timing are provided.

  Further, the control circuit 202 of the image management server 20 generates a container file (containerization) by associating the image data received from the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 with the patient information received from the electronic medical record server 30, and A container file stored in the container file database 203 is separated (container release) from image data and patient information.

  The electronic medical record server 30 is a server that stores patient medical chart information as electronic information. The electronic medical record server 30 includes a network interface 301 for communicating with the image management server 20 via a network, a medical record information database 302 in which patient medical record information is stored, and a patient medical record newly added to the medical record information database 302. An input device 303 such as a keyboard for inputting information is provided.

  Next, image data management in the medical image management system 1 having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a photographing process in the electronic endoscope apparatus 10. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of image data registration / update processing in the image management server 20. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of data stored in the container file database 203. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of patient information transmission processing in the electronic medical record server 30.

  In the medical image management system 1, first, imaging processing of a patient's body is performed by the electronic endoscope apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. 2, in this process, first, an operator inputs the ID of a patient to be examined from the input device 116 of the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 (S101). Here, for example, the patient ID is directly input by a keyboard or the like, and when patient information is managed by an IC card, the patient ID is input by reading the IC card with a card reader. Is called.

  Subsequently, an image signal in the body is generated by the electronic endoscope 100 (S102). Specifically, the electronic endoscope 100 is inserted into the patient's body, and light supplied from a light source (not shown) of the processor 110 is emitted into the patient's body through the light guide of the electronic endoscope 100. Then, an image signal of a subject image corresponding to the intensity of light is generated by photoelectric conversion by an imaging device provided at the tip of the electronic endoscope 100. The image signal generated by the electronic endoscope 100 is sent to the RGB conversion circuit 111 of the processor 110 at predetermined time intervals.

  In the RGB conversion circuit 111, amplification processing, A / D conversion processing, and RGB conversion processing are performed on the received image signal. Thereby, the image signal is converted into a digital image signal represented by RGB digital values of the primary colors (S103). The digital image signal converted by the RGB conversion circuit 111 is sent to both the image processing circuit 112 and the codec circuit 113. In the image processing circuit 112, predetermined image processing is performed on the digital image signal (S104). Examples of the predetermined image processing include gain adjustment and resolution adjustment for each color, white balance and black balance adjustment, gamma correction, and enhancement processing.

  Further, in the image processing circuit 112, Y / C conversion processing or the like is performed on the image signal subjected to the above processing, such as an NTSC composite signal, a Y / C separation signal, and an RGB separation signal suitable for display on the monitor 40. A video signal is generated. Then, the video signal generated by the image processing circuit 112 is output to the monitor 40 connected to the processor 110 (S105). Then, a subject image based on the video signal is displayed on the monitor 40, and an examination in the body cavity of the patient is performed from the subject image. At this time, the patient ID input in S101 may be displayed on the monitor 40 together with the subject image.

  On the other hand, the codec circuit 113 that similarly received the digital image signal performs a lossless compression encoding process on the digital image signal (S106). Here, the input digital image signal is converted into lossless compressed image data in a format such as GIF or AVI. Then, the reversibly compressed image data is sent to the buffer 114 and stored in the buffer 114 (S107).

  And while the test | inspection in the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 is continued (S108: No), the process of S102 to S107 is repeated. As a result, the image data for one inspection is stored in the buffer 107. In general, image data for a maximum of 6 hours is captured in one inspection, and therefore, a buffer having a relatively large capacity compared to a general buffer is used as the buffer 107.

  When the examination by the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 is ended (S108: Yes), the image data stored in the buffer 107 and the patient ID input in S101 are transmitted from the network interface 115 to the image management server 20. (S109). When all the image data stored in the buffer 107 is transmitted to the image management server 20, the image data is deleted from the buffer 107 (S110). Thereby, the process in the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 is completed.

  As described above, in the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the image data is stored in the buffer 107 in parallel with the display of the image by the monitor 40. The image data stored in the buffer 107 is transmitted to the image management server 20 via the network interface 115 upon completion of the inspection. Thereby, image data can be automatically transmitted to the image management server 20, and the operator's work load can be greatly reduced. In addition, since image data before being subjected to image processing by the image processing circuit 112 is transmitted to the image management server 20, it is possible to easily perform image processing in reproduction processing described later.

  Subsequently, the image management server 20 registers and updates the image data transmitted from the electronic endoscope apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. 3, the image management server 20 first determines whether image data and a patient ID have been received from the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 (S201). When image data and patient ID are received from the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 (S201: Yes), a request for patient information is made to the electronic medical record server 30 based on the received patient ID (S202). . Here, the control circuit 202 generates a patient information request signal including the patient ID received from the electronic endoscope apparatus 10, and transmits the signal to the electronic medical record server 30 via the network interface 201.

  After that, it waits until patient information is received from the electronic medical record server 30 (S203). When patient information is received from the electronic medical record server 30 (S203: Yes), the control circuit 202 stores the patient information received from the electronic medical record server 30 and the image data received from the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 as a container. And one container file is generated (S204). This containerization is performed based on a standard called DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine), for example. DICOM is a standard established to connect various medical devices to each other and use and manage various diagnostic images and accompanying information in common. Thus, by generating a container file in which image data and patient information are associated according to DICOM, it is possible to use a container file stored in the image management server 20 in various medical devices.

  In addition, here, when all the image data of one examination transmitted from the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 is received, the image data is associated with the patient information received from the electronic medical record server 30 and is closed as one container file. . The closed container file is registered and stored in the container file database 203 (S205).

  FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating a data configuration stored in the container file database 203. As described above, image data and patient data are associated and stored in one container file. In the container file database 203, one container file is generated and registered for each inspection. Therefore, in the case of a patient who has undergone a plurality of examinations, a plurality of container files are registered in the container file database 203. Therefore, in the container file database 203 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, management is performed by grouping container files for each patient ID. Further, in addition to the patient ID, it is also possible to group container files for each medical department included in the patient information.

  On the other hand, when the image management server 20 has not received image data from the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 (S201: No), it is subsequently determined whether or not the current time is a predetermined patrol time ( S206). In this embodiment, when the image management server 20 requests patient information from the electronic medical record server 30 at a predetermined time (for example, 12:00 am), the container file information stored in the container file database 203 is stored. Updated. Therefore, when the current time is a predetermined time (S206: Yes), the patient information is requested from the electronic medical record server 30 (S207). Here, the control circuit 202 of the image management server 20 generates a patient information request signal for all patient IDs stored in the container file database 203 and transmits the patient information request signal to the electronic medical record server 30.

  Then, it waits until patient information is received from the electronic medical record server 30 (S208). Then, when patient information is received from the electronic medical record server 30 (S208: Yes), the control circuit 202 determines whether or not the received patient information is information related to the completion of treatment of the patient (S209). .

  Here, when the received patient information is information regarding the completion of treatment (S209: Yes), the container file of the patient included in the container file database 203 is sent to the compression circuit 204 under the control of the control circuit 202. . Then, the container file is irreversibly compressed by the compression circuit 204 and converted into compressed data of a smaller capacity, for example, in a format such as JPEG or MPEG (S210). The container file irreversibly compressed by the compression circuit 204 is registered in the container file database 203 (S211), and the original container file before irreversible compression is deleted (S212). Further, in the container file database 203, when there are a plurality of container files in the patient ID that has received information regarding the completion of treatment, all the container files corresponding to the patient ID are irreversibly compressed by the compression circuit 204. In addition, only the container file related to the medical department for which treatment has been completed may be irreversibly compressed.

  On the other hand, if the received patient information is not related to the completion of treatment (S209: No), the contents of the container file stored in the container file database 203 are updated based on the received patient information (S213). Here, when there are a plurality of container files in the patient ID of the received patient information, the patient information of the most recently registered container file is updated.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the electronic medical record server 30 first determines whether or not a patient information request signal has been received from the image management server 20 (S301). And when the patient information request signal is not received (S301: No), it waits until it receives. On the other hand, when a patient information request signal is received (S301: Yes), a patient ID is extracted from the received patient information request signal (S302).

  Subsequently, patient information corresponding to the extracted patient ID is searched in the medical record information database 302 (S303). Here, in the medical record information database 302, detailed information on the patient (age, sex, disease name) and information on the course of treatment (examination date, treatment type, treatment end, etc.) are recorded for each patient ID. . Then, patient information corresponding to the patient ID is extracted from the medical record information database 302 (S304) and transmitted from the network interface 301 to the image management server 20 (S305).

  As described above, in the image management server 20, when a predetermined tour time arrives, the patient information is requested to the electronic medical record server 30, and the patient information is received and stored in the container file database 203. The information contained in the container file can be updated appropriately. Further, in the image management server 20, the container file of the patient who is undergoing treatment is stored as the reversibly compressed image data, and the container file of the patient who has been treated is irreversibly compressed and registered again. The As a result, image data that may be subjected to reproduction and image processing in the future is stored with little image deterioration, and image data that is unlikely to be reproduced and processed in the future Therefore, it is possible to store with a small capacity, and it is possible to efficiently use the storage area of the server.

  Next, processing for reproducing the container file stored in the container file database 203 by the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the flow of each data in the reproduction process in the medical image management system 1. Note that the types of data corresponding to the components shown in FIG. 6 and the arrows are the same as those in FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a reproduction process in the electronic endoscope apparatus 10, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a reproduction process in the image management server 20.

  In the present embodiment, the image data stored in the image management server 20 is displayed on the monitor 40 connected to the processor 110 of the electronic endoscope apparatus 10. In this process, first, as shown in FIG. 7, the operator inputs patient information such as the ID of the patient whose image is to be reproduced and the examination date and time via the input device 116 of the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 ( S151). Subsequently, the control circuit 117 generates an image data request signal including the input patient information. Then, the image data request signal generated by the control circuit 117 is transmitted from the network interface 115 to the image management server 20 (S152).

  Thereafter, the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 stands by until image data is received (S153). When the image data is received from the image management server 20 (S153: Yes), the received image data is sent to the codec circuit 113. The codec circuit 113 decodes the received image data and generates an uncompressed digital image signal (S154). This digital image signal is a signal having the same format as the digital image signal generated by the RGB conversion circuit 111. The digital image signal decoded by the codec circuit 113 is sent to the image processing circuit 112 via the control circuit 117. Then, the image processing circuit 112 performs image processing such as gain adjustment and Y / C conversion processing on the image signal, and the NTSC composite signal, Y / C separation signal, and RGB separation signal suitable for display on the monitor 40 are displayed. Is generated (S155).

  The video signal generated by the image processing circuit 112 is output to the monitor 40 (S156). As a result, the subject image based on the image data stored in the image management server 20 can be displayed on the monitor 40. At this time, patient information may be received from the image management server 20 together with the image data, and the patient information may be displayed on the monitor 40 together with the subject image.

  As shown in FIG. 8, in the image management server 20, it is first determined whether or not an image data request signal has been received from the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 (S251). If the image data request signal has not been received (S251: No), the process waits until it is received. On the other hand, when the image data request signal is received (S251: Yes), patient information such as patient ID and examination date is extracted from the received image data request signal (S252).

  Subsequently, a container file corresponding to the extracted patient information is searched in the container file database 203 (S253). Then, a container file corresponding to the patient information is extracted from the container file database 203 (S254). The extracted container file is decontained by the control circuit 202 and separated into image data and patient information included in the container file (S255). Then, the separated image data and patient information are transmitted to the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 via the network interface 201 (S256).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the image data stored in the image management server 20 can be reproduced on the monitor 40 connected to the electronic endoscope apparatus 10. Further, since the image data stored in the image management server 20 is data close to the original image signal generated by the electronic endoscope 100, a desired image processing is performed by the operator during reproduction. Is possible. Specifically, an image processing apparatus for setting various parameters in the image processing (for example, a gain value, a limit luminance value, etc.) from the input device 116 by the operator or performing new image processing that the processor 110 does not have. By connecting to the processor 110, it is possible to display on the monitor 40 a subject image that has undergone image processing different from when the image data is registered.

  The above is the embodiment of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the electronic endoscope device 10, the image management server 20, and the electronic medical record server 30 are connected by a LAN in a hospital, but the present invention is limited to this. It is not a thing. For example, when each device and server are installed over a wider area, a configuration in which the devices and servers are connected via a WAN such as the Internet may be employed.

  In the above embodiment, the image data for one examination is stored in the buffer 117 of the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 and transmitted to the image management server 20 when the examination is completed. However, in an environment where the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 and the image management server 20 can communicate at high speed via a high-speed LAN, storage by the buffer 117 can be omitted. In this case, the compressed image data generated by the codec circuit 113 is transmitted to the image management server 20 via the network interface 115 at any time during the inspection. With this configuration, it is not necessary to provide the electronic endoscope apparatus 10 with a large-capacity buffer, and the apparatus can be reduced in size and cost. It is also possible to perform a long-time inspection without considering the buffer capacity.

  In the above embodiment, the container file stored in the image management server 20 is irreversibly compressed when the patient's treatment is completed. However, the irreversible compression may be performed at an arbitrary timing. . Specifically, for example, when the patient information has not been updated for 5 years or more, or when the patient information is deleted from the medical record information database, the container file may be irreversibly compressed. With this configuration, the storage area of the image management server 20 can be used more efficiently.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Medical image management system 10 Electronic endoscope apparatus 20 Image management server 30 Electronic medical record server 40 Monitor 100 Electronic endoscope 110 Processor 111 RGB conversion circuit 112 Image processing circuit 113 Codec circuit 114 Buffer 115, 201, 301 Network interface 202 Control circuit 203 Container file database 204 Compression circuit 302 Medical record information database

Claims (6)

A medical image management system comprising an electronic endoscope device, an image management server, and a patient information server that can communicate via a network,
The electronic endoscope apparatus includes:
An electronic endoscope that captures an image of the patient's body and generates an image signal;
First compression means for reversibly compressing the image signal to generate image data;
Transmission means for transmitting the image data and the identification information of the patient to the image management server,
The image management server
Patient information requesting means for requesting patient information related to the patient from the patient information server based on the identification information of the patient received from the electronic endoscope device ;
Receiving means for receiving the patient information from the patient information server;
A database for storing image data transmitted from the electronic endoscope apparatus and the patient information in association with each other;
A second compression means for irreversibly compressing the patient information and the image data stored in the database at a predetermined timing;
The patient information request means periodically requests patient information related to the patient from the patient information server,
The patient information stored in the database is updated based on patient information received with the periodic request,
The medical image management system, wherein the second compressing unit automatically determines whether or not the predetermined timing is reached based on the updated patient information . 2. The medical image according to claim 1, wherein the second compression unit determines that the predetermined timing is reached when the updated patient information is information related to completion of treatment of the patient. Management system. The electronic endoscope apparatus further medical image management according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises temporary storage means for temporarily storing the image data generated by said first compression means system. The electronic endoscope apparatus further includes:
Decompression means for decompressing image data stored in the database and converting it into the image signal;
Image processing means for performing image processing on the image signal expanded by the expansion means;
The medical image management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , further comprising: The said image management server is further equipped with the containerization means which containerizes the said image data and the patient information corresponding to the said image data in one container file, The any one of Claim 1 to 4 characterized by the above-mentioned. The medical image management system described in 1. An image management server capable of communicating with an electronic endoscope device and a patient information server via a network,
Image data receiving means for receiving image data and patient identification information from the electronic endoscope device;
Patient information requesting means for requesting patient information related to the patient from the patient information server based on the identification information of the patient received from the electronic endoscope device ;
Patient information receiving means for receiving the patient information from the patient information server;
A database that stores the image data received from the electronic endoscope device and the patient information in association with each other;
Compression means for irreversibly compressing the patient information and the image data stored in the database at a predetermined timing based on the patient information ;
The patient information request means periodically requests patient information related to the patient from the patient information server,
The patient information stored in the database is updated based on patient information received with the periodic request,
The image management server , wherein the compression unit automatically determines whether or not the predetermined timing is reached based on the updated patient information .

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