JP6797858B2 - Medical image display device, display control device and display control method, program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a display control device and a display control method for a medical image, a medical image display device using the display control device, and a program.

In the medical field, medical images are taken by medical imaging devices such as an X-ray CT (Computed Tomography) device, an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) device, and a PET (Positron Emission Tomography) device. The medical image data obtained by imaging is subjected to various image processing and stored in a data server in the hospital for a certain period of time. The doctor's diagnostic imaging work is performed by searching for the target medical image data using a medical image display device (also called a viewer) and displaying it on a monitor, and using various functions of the medical image display device. Will be.

FIG. 13A is an example of a screen configuration diagram of a general medical image display device. The thumbnail display area 1101 is an area for displaying thumbnails of at least one medical image data captured in the past and present in a certain patient, and the thumbnails 1103 to 1107 are thumbnails created from the respective medical image data. The main image display area 1102 is an area for displaying an image to be read by the user. By displaying an image in the main image display area 1102, the displayed image can be enlarged / reduced, a density value conversion function, a translation function of a display position, a drawing function, a density value measurement function, etc. Various functions of the medical image display device can be used.

Further, the main image display area 1102 can be divided into a plurality of areas, and different images can be simultaneously displayed in each of the divided plurality of areas. The main image display area 1102 in FIG. 13 is divided into four areas 1108 to 1111. Hereinafter, each of the divided main image display areas (for example, areas 1108 to 1111) will be simply referred to as a display area. The user displays the medical image data to be read or to be referred to in an arbitrary display area and performs the reading. FIG. 13B is an example of a general method for displaying arbitrary medical image data in an arbitrary display area. By dragging and dropping an arbitrary thumbnail (for example, thumbnail 1103) onto an arbitrary display area (for example, display area 1109), medical image data corresponding to the thumbnail (for example, thumbnail 1103) can be displayed in an arbitrary display area (for example, display area). It can be displayed in 1109).

On the other hand, in medical image data, even if the area is displayed in the same image, the optimum display condition differs depending on the anatomically classified area (anatomical area), so that the user can observe the image. The display condition of the image is changed according to the area of, and the image is displayed and interpreted. For example, the display condition is changed by using the known density value conversion function of the medical image display device. Here, the density value conversion function is a function of converting each pixel value of the gray scale according to a predetermined rule. Generally, a CT image is represented by a HU (Hounsfield Unit) value of 12 bit gradation (4,096 gradation) per pixel, and this HU value is stored as a pixel value. When a doctor observes a CT image, the pixel value (HU value) of 12-bit gradation is 8 bits using the two density conversion parameters of WL (Window Level) and WW (Window Width) specified in the DICOM standard. It is converted to a key and displayed on the display. This makes it easier to see the difference (concentration difference) in the HU values of specific organs and tissues. Other than CT images (MRI images, PET images, ultrasonic images, etc.), the same density conversion as described above is performed in order to make it easier to see the difference in pixel values (density difference). More specifically, in the CT image of the same chest region, WL is set to -600 and WW is set to 1500 when the lung field region is to be observed in detail. If you want to observe the mediastinal region in detail, set WL to 60 and WW to 400. If you want to observe the bone region in detail, set WL to 500 and WW to 2500.

Patent Document 1 describes that the display condition of an image is changed by designating an arbitrary area of three-dimensional volume data. According to this technique, the CT image can be efficiently displayed under the display conditions corresponding to the designated area, so that the user's labor can be reduced.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-217947

However, even if the technique of Patent Document 1 is used, it is necessary to change the display conditions after dragging and dropping the target thumbnail onto the main image display area, which causes a problem that it takes time and effort to interpret the image. As described in FIG. 13B, the term “drag and drop” as used herein means that the mouse pointer is moved on the thumbnail, then the image is selected, and then the mouse pointer is moved on the main image display area. Refers to the operation of releasing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to display arbitrary medical image data under display conditions suitable for an area to be observed by a simple operation.

The image processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention is
Extraction means for extracting multiple types of anatomical sites associated with display conditions from 3D medical images, and
From the plurality of two-dimensional images included in the three-dimensional medical image, the two-dimensional image having the largest number of types of anatomical sites extracted by the extraction means included in each of the plurality of two- dimensional images is represented. It includes an acquisition means for acquiring as an image.

According to the present invention, it is possible to display arbitrary medical image data under display conditions suitable for the area to be observed by a simple operation.

The block diagram of the medical image display system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The flowchart explaining the whole processing of 1st Embodiment. (A) and (B) are diagrams showing an example of the screen configuration according to the first embodiment, and (C) is a diagram for explaining the management of the association between the partial region and the anatomical region. (A) to (C) are diagrams showing an example of a screen configuration when a thumbnail division area is selected. The figure which showed the example of the screen composition which concerns on the modification 1 of the 1st Embodiment. The block diagram of the medical image display system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. The flowchart explaining the whole process of 2nd Embodiment. (A) and (B) are diagrams showing an example of the screen configuration according to the second embodiment. The block diagram of the medical image display system which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. The flowchart explaining the whole processing of 3rd Embodiment. The figure explaining the input method of the direction information for a thumbnail. (A) and (B) are diagrams for explaining the relationship between the input range of direction information and the display area to be selected. (A) is a diagram showing an example of a screen configuration of a general medical image display device, and (B) is a diagram showing an example of displaying medical image data in a main image display area.

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the scope of the invention is not limited to the illustrated examples.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a medical image display system according to the first embodiment. The medical image display system includes a medical image display device 10 for displaying medical image data and a database 22 for storing the medical image data, and these devices are communicably connected to each other. In this embodiment, a LAN (Local Area Network) 21 is used for communication between the medical image display device 10 and the database 22. The database 22 manages examination information such as medical image data, and the medical image display device 10 acquires and displays the medical image data managed by the database 22 via the LAN 21.

The medical image display device 10 has a communication IF (Interface) 31, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 32, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 33, a storage unit 34, an operation unit 35, a display unit 36, and a control as its functional configuration. It has a part 37. The communication IF 31 is realized by, for example, a LAN card or the like, and controls communication between an external device (for example, the database 22) and the medical image display device 10 via the LAN 21. The ROM 32 is realized by a non-volatile memory or the like, and stores various programs or the like. The RAM 33 is realized by a volatile memory or the like, and temporarily stores various information. The storage unit 34 is realized by, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or the like, and stores various information. The operation unit 35 is realized by, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, or the like, and inputs an instruction from the user into the device. The display unit 36 is realized by, for example, a display or the like, and displays various information toward a user (for example, a doctor).

The control unit 37 is an example of a display control device that controls the display of medical image data. For example, the control unit 37 is realized by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or the like, and controls the processing in the medical image display device 10 in an integrated manner. The control unit 37 includes a medical image acquisition unit 41, an image area acquisition unit 42, a thumbnail creation unit 43, a selection area acquisition unit 44, and a display processing unit 45 as its functional configuration.

The medical image acquisition unit 41 acquires medical image data of the case from the database 22 via the communication IF 31 and the LAN 21, and outputs the medical image data to the image area acquisition unit 42, the thumbnail creation unit 43, and the display processing unit 45. The image area acquisition unit 42 performs image processing described later on the medical image data acquired from the medical image acquisition unit 41, and anatomically classified the area in the medical image data (hereinafter referred to as an anatomical area). ) Is determined, the area information is acquired, and the area information is output to the thumbnail creation unit 43.

The thumbnail creation unit 43 uses the reduced image of the medical image data of the case acquired by the medical image acquisition unit 41 and the information of the anatomical region in the medical image data acquired by the image area acquisition unit 42. A thumbnail of the case is created and output to the display processing unit 45. The selection area acquisition unit 44 acquires the selection area information selected by the user via the operation unit 35 for the thumbnail displayed on the display unit 36, and outputs the information to the display processing unit 45. The display processing unit 45 displays the thumbnail created by the thumbnail creation unit 43 on the display unit 36. Further, the display processing unit 45 acquires a medical image in the main image display area of the display unit 36 (for example, the main image display area 102 in FIG. 3A) according to the selection area information acquired by the selection area acquisition unit 44. The medical image data of the case acquired from the part 41 is displayed.

It should be noted that at least a part of each of the above-described units included in the control unit 37 may be realized as an independent device. Further, each of them may be realized as software that realizes a function. In this embodiment, it is assumed that each part is realized by software.

Next, the entire processing procedure by the control unit 37 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process executed by the control unit 37. 3 (A) and 4 (A) are examples of screens displayed on the display unit 36 by the processing described later. 3 (B) and 4 (B) (C) are enlarged views of the thumbnail 103 shown in FIGS. 3 (A) and 4 (A), respectively.

In FIGS. 3A and 4A, thumbnails are displayed in the thumbnail display area 101. Thumbnails 103 to 107 are display examples of thumbnails created by the thumbnail creation unit 43. The main image display area 102 is an area for displaying medical image data corresponding to the selected thumbnail. The main image display area 102 is divided into a plurality of display areas for displaying medical image data. In the present embodiment, the main image display area 102 is divided into four display areas 108 to 111. Further, in the following, the medical image data of the X-ray CT image of the chest region will be described as an example, but of course, the medical image data which is the subject of the present invention is not limited to this.

In step S200 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 2, the medical image acquisition unit 41 reads the medical image data from the database 22 via the communication IF 31 and the LAN 21. In step S201, the image area acquisition unit 42 extracts the anatomical area from the medical image data read in step S200 and acquires the area information. Extraction of the anatomical region is performed, for example, as follows.

First, the image area acquisition unit 42 removes noise from the medical image data by using a smoothing filter. Next, a binarization process is performed using a predetermined threshold value for the pixel value of the image (for example, HU value: −200) to separate the internal region and the external region. Further, inside the body region, another threshold value (for example, HU value: 300) is used to separate into a bone region and another region. Within yet another region, another threshold (eg, HU value: −500) is used to separate the lung field region and the soft tissue region. The extraction process of the anatomical region is not limited to this method as long as a predetermined region can be extracted from the read medical image data. For example, the anatomical region may be extracted using a known organ segmentation process such as a graph cut process. Further, as shown in Table 1, for example, the area to be extracted is included in the medical image data by setting the correspondence between the image information obtained from the DICOM (Digital Imaging and COmmunication in Medicine) header or the like and the area to be extracted in advance. The extraction area corresponding to the image information to be obtained is extracted. As shown in Table 1, the anatomical region to be extracted from the medical image data is determined based on the modality and imaging site used to image the medical image data.

In step S202, the thumbnail creation unit 43 creates a thumbnail by the following processing. First, the thumbnail creation unit 43 creates image data (hereinafter, corresponding image data) corresponding to the medical image data read in step S200. Here, when the read medical image data is two-dimensional medical image data (one slice image), the corresponding image data is the slice image itself or an image obtained by cutting out a part thereof. On the other hand, when the read medical image data is three-dimensional medical image data (a plurality of slice images), the corresponding image data is a slice image representing the three-dimensional medical image data or a predetermined position (for example, the head). ) It is a slice image. Alternatively, it may be an image obtained by cutting out a part of the sliced image. Here, the slice image representing the three-dimensional medical image data is a slice image including all of the extraction regions predetermined according to the image information of the medical image data as shown in Table 1, or the most types. It may be a slice image including an extraction area. After that, the thumbnail creation unit 43 generates a reduced image from the corresponding image data, and generates a thumbnail using the generated reduced image.

Next, the thumbnail creation unit 43 extracts a partial area from the thumbnail according to the anatomical area extracted in step S201. For example, when the extracorporeal region, the lung field region, the soft tissue region, and the bone region are acquired in step S201 and the corresponding image data includes those regions, the thumbnail creation unit 43 corresponds to those regions from the reduced image. Extract a partial area. Then, a dividing line (broken line in FIG. 3B) indicating the boundary of the partial area is generated so that the extracted partial area can be visually recognized. Then, a thumbnail is created in which the dividing line is drawn or overlaid on the reduced image. The dividing line 112 in FIG. 3B divides the extracorporeal region and the internal region, the dividing line 113 divides the lung field area and the soft tissue region, and the dividing line 114 divides the bone region and the soft tissue region. .. In this way, in the thumbnail 103, the partial areas 122 to 124 divided by the dividing lines 112 to 114 are set. In this way, the thumbnail creation unit 43 sets the partial regions 122 to 124 as shown in FIG. 3B, for example, and manages the correspondence between each partial region and the anatomical region as shown in FIG. 3C. To do.

When there are a plurality of medical image data read out in step S200, the thumbnail creation unit 43 performs the above processing on all the medical image data and creates thumbnails on all the medical image data. The display processing unit 45 displays the thumbnails created by the thumbnail creation unit 43 side by side in the thumbnail display area. In the example of FIG. 3A, thumbnails 103 to 107 are displayed in the thumbnail display area 101.

In step S203, the selection area acquisition unit 44 acquires information indicating a partial area of the thumbnail selected by the user using the operation unit 35. For example, when the user clicks the partial area 123 of the thumbnail 103 using a pointing device (for example, a mouse) (not shown), the selection area acquisition unit 44 acquires the information indicating the clicked partial area 123. Examples of screens on the display unit 36 during this operation are shown in FIGS. 4 (A) to 4 (C). The arrow 115 is a pointer (for example, a mouse pointer) operated by the pointing device, and represents the current position of the input indicated by the operation unit 35.

In step S204, the display processing unit 45 displays the medical image data corresponding to the thumbnail selected in step S203 in the main image display area 102 under display conditions suitable for the anatomical area of the partial area specified at the time of selection. Display on. In the example of FIG. 4 (B), the partial area 123 (lung field area) of the thumbnail 103 is selected by the arrow 115, and as shown in FIG. 4 (A), for example, the display area 108 is the medical image data corresponding to the thumbnail 103. Is displayed under display conditions suitable for observing the inside of the lung field. Further, FIG. 4C shows a state in which the thumbnail 104 is selected by the arrow 115 and the partial region 131 corresponding to the soft region is specified. In this case, the medical image data corresponding to the thumbnail 104 is displayed in the display area 110 of the main image display area 102 under display conditions suitable for observing the soft tissue area.

Here, which display area of the plurality of display areas (for example, display areas 108 to 111) the medical image data corresponding to the selected thumbnail is displayed is determined according to a predetermined rule. For example, the state of each display area (whether or not an image is currently displayed) is acquired, and if there is a display area in which an image is not displayed, medical image data is displayed in preference to that display area. To. Further, when the image is already displayed in all the display areas, the image may always be displayed in a predetermined display area (for example, the upper left display area). Alternatively, the medical image data may be displayed in the display area in which the image displayed at the past time point is currently displayed. For example, a display area for displaying new medical image data may be determined so as to repeat the order of display area 108 → display area 109 → display area 110 → display area 111. Alternatively, the new medical image data may be displayed in the display area where the image whose operation is performed by the user is the past time point in time is currently displayed. If another medical image data is already displayed in the display area to which the medical image data corresponding to the selected thumbnail is displayed, the display of the other medical image data is deleted, and then the corresponding medical image data is displayed. The data is displayed.

In step S205, the control unit 37 determines whether or not the user has instructed the end of image interpretation via the operation unit 35. The instruction to end the interpretation is given by the user clicking an image interpretation end button (not shown). When instructed to end the interpretation, the process of FIG. 2 is terminated. If there is no instruction to end the interpretation, the process returns to step S203.

As described above, according to the medical image display device according to the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. That is, by selecting an arbitrary partial area of an arbitrary thumbnail, the medical image data corresponding to the thumbnail can be displayed in the main image display area under the display conditions corresponding to the selected partial area. Therefore, by selecting arbitrary medical image data, the medical image data can be displayed in the main image display area according to appropriate display conditions at the time of image interpretation, so that the medical image display device and the user have less time and effort. A medical image display method can be provided.

(Modification example 1)
In the present embodiment, an example of changing (gradation conversion) the density value (HU value) of the image corresponding to the partial area of the thumbnail selected in step S204 has been described. However, the display conditions to be changed are not limited to the density value. For example, the medical image data may be displayed in the display area by using the enlargement / reduction function of the entire image, the parallel movement function of the display position, the drawing function, the density value measurement function, and the like as display conditions. FIG. 5 shows a display example when the left lung field region of the thumbnail 103 is selected. First, the medical image data corresponding to the thumbnail 103 is gradation-converted using a density value suitable for the lung field (for example, WL: -600, WW: 1500), and matched with the gradation that can be displayed by the display unit 36. Let me. Further, the display position of the medical image data is translated so that the left lung field is displayed at the center position of the display area 108. Further, the medical image data in which the entire image is enlarged to a size that makes it easy to observe the left lung field is displayed in the display area 108. Then, in the display area 110, a histogram of the concentration value in the left lung field calculated by using the known concentration value measurement function is displayed.

Here, the display conditions corresponding to the selected area are set in advance according to, for example, as shown in Table 2, the image information obtained from the DICOM header or the like and the selected thumbnail division area. As shown in Table 2, the display conditions are determined according to the modality in which the medical image data is imaged and the imaging site thereof. Then, the medical image data corresponding to the selected thumbnail is displayed in the main image display area under the display conditions corresponding to the image information of the medical image data and the selected partial area. The enlargement ratio Fit in Table 2 is the enlargement ratio at which the corresponding area appears to be the largest, and the center of the parallel movement in Table 2 means that the corresponding area is displayed in the center of the display area. This is a condition for translating the entire image.

(Modification 2)
In the present embodiment, in step S204, the display area on which the medical image data corresponding to the selected thumbnail is displayed is selected according to a predetermined rule, but is not limited to this. For example, the user may be able to specify a display area for displaying medical image data by dragging and dropping a thumbnail onto an arbitrary display area in the main image display area. More specifically, the pointer (arrow 115) is moved onto an arbitrary partial area on an arbitrary thumbnail, then dragging is started, and the pointer is moved onto an arbitrary display area to be released (dropped). By implementing the second modification, the medical image data corresponding to an arbitrary thumbnail is displayed in an arbitrary display area under appropriate display conditions (the partial area specified by the pointer at the start of dragging is suitable for the corresponding anatomical area). It can be displayed under the display conditions).

As described above, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to specify the medical image data to be displayed in the main image display area and the display conditions at that time at the same time, so that it takes time and effort to display the medical image data. Can be reduced. Further, in the second modification, in addition to the designation of the medical image data and the designation of the display conditions, the display area can be selected by a simple operation, and the operability is further improved.

In the above embodiment, an example in which the main image display area 102 is evenly divided into four is shown, but the number of divisions is not limited to four, and for example, as shown in FIG. 12, the size of each display area is large. Does not have to be even. Further, the main image display area does not have to be divided. In that case, the recently selected medical image data (one medical image) is displayed in the main image display area under the display conditions corresponding to the partial area specified when the thumbnail is selected. In the above embodiment, the partial areas in the thumbnail are specified by the dividing lines 112 to 114, but the drawing or overlay display of these dividing lines may be omitted. However, by displaying the dividing lines 112 to 114 on the thumbnail, the user can more clearly recognize the divided area in the thumbnail. Further, the image information and display conditions described here are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to this example.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, a partial region corresponding to the anatomical region of the medical image data is set in the thumbnail. In the medical image display device according to the second embodiment, the thumbnail is further divided into a plurality of divided areas according to the division conditions of the main image display area. Then, it is possible to display the medical image data corresponding to the selected thumbnail in an arbitrary display area under appropriate display conditions according to the divided area specified when the thumbnail is selected.

FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of the medical image display device 10 according to the second embodiment. Compared with the configuration example (FIG. 1) of the medical image display device 10 according to the first embodiment, the division condition acquisition unit 46 is added. Each of the illustrated configurations other than the division condition acquisition unit 46 is the same as each configuration unit in FIG. The division condition acquisition unit 46 acquires division conditions for a plurality of display areas in the main image display area displayed on the display unit 36 and outputs the division conditions to the display processing unit 45. Further, as in the first embodiment, it is assumed that each part is realized by software.

Next, the processing procedure by the control unit 37 in the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process executed by the control unit 37. FIG. 8A is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 36 by the process described later. FIG. 8B is an enlarged image of the thumbnail 103 shown in FIG. 8A.

The process of step S700 is the same as the process of step S200 in the first embodiment. In step S701, the division condition acquisition unit 46 acquires the division condition of the main image display area displayed on the display unit 36. For example, assuming that the number of divisions of the main image display area is l, the number of rows is n, and the number of columns is m, in the case of the division state of the main image display area 102 as shown in FIG. 8A, (l, n, m) = (4, 2, 2) is acquired. The method for obtaining the division conditions described here is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this example.

The process of step S702 is the same as the process of step S201 in the first embodiment. In the process of step S703, the following process is performed in addition to the process of step S202 in the first embodiment. The thumbnail creation unit 43 divides the thumbnail according to the division condition acquired in step S701. For example, when (l, n, m) = (4, 2, 2) is acquired in step S701, the thumbnail creation unit 43 similarly displays the thumbnail as (l, n, m) = (4, 2, 2). ) Is divided. That is, according to the arrangement of the plurality of display areas of the main image display area, the reduced images constituting the thumbnails are divided to form a plurality of divided areas, and each of the plurality of divided areas and a plurality of display areas of the main image display area are formed. Correspond to each of. For example, in the case of this example, as shown in FIG. 8B, divided areas 116 to 119 are obtained and associated with display areas 108 to 111, respectively. Subsequently, a dividing line (L10 in FIG. 8B) is generated so that the divided area can be visually recognized, and a thumbnail is created by drawing or overlaying the dividing line on a reduced image.

In the thumbnail 103 of FIG. 8B, partial regions of the reduced image constituting the thumbnail are extracted according to the anatomical region acquired in step S702, and partial regions 122 to 124 are obtained. Further, the reduced image constituting the thumbnail 103 is divided according to the division conditions of the main image display area 102, and the divided areas 116 to 119 are obtained. In this way, as shown in FIG. 8B, a thumbnail 103 in which the dividing lines 112 to 114 and the dividing lines L10 are drawn or overlaid on the reduced image is created.

In step S704, the control unit 37 acquires the division condition of the main image display area and determines whether or not the division condition is changed. The division condition of the main image display area 102 can be changed by a user's instruction via the operation unit 35. The method of changing the number of divisions is realized by a known technique possessed by a conventional medical image viewer, and thus the description thereof will be omitted. If it is determined in step S704 that the division condition has not been changed, the process proceeds to step S705, and if it is determined that the division condition has been changed, the process returns to step S701.

The process of step S705 is the same as the process of step S203 in the first embodiment. However, the selected area information to be acquired is the following two area information. That is,
First region information divided by anatomical region information (ie, any one of subregions 122-124 in the example of FIG. 8).
-Second area information divided by the division condition of the main image display area (that is, any one of the divided areas 116 to 119 in the example of FIG. 8).

In step S706, the display processing unit 45 displays the medical image data corresponding to the thumbnail selected in step S705 according to the second area information under the display conditions corresponding to the first area information selected in step S705. Display in the area. In the example of FIG. 8B, the arrow 115 indicates a portion belonging to the divided region 119 of the partial region 123 which is the region in the lung field. Therefore, the partial region 123 (region in the lung field) of the thumbnail 103 is selected as the first region information, and the divided region 119 (lower right region) is obtained as the second region information. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8A, the medical image data corresponding to the thumbnail 103 is displayed under display conditions suitable for observing the inside of the lung field (for example, WL: -600, WW: 1500). It is displayed in the area 111. Here, if another image data has already been displayed in the display area 111, the display processing unit 45 erases the already displayed image data from the display area 111, and then the medical image data corresponding to the thumbnail 103. Is displayed.

The process of step S707 is the same process as the process of step S205 in the first embodiment, and determines whether or not there is an instruction to end image interpretation. If there is an instruction to end the image interpretation, the process of FIG. 7 is terminated, and if there is no instruction to end the image interpretation, the process returns to step S704.

As described above, according to the medical image display device according to the second embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. That is, by selecting an arbitrary partial area and a divided area of an arbitrary thumbnail, the medical image data corresponding to the thumbnail can be displayed under the display conditions corresponding to the selected partial area and the display area corresponding to the selected divided area. Can be displayed on. Therefore, it is possible to display arbitrary medical image data in an arbitrary display area under appropriate display conditions when interpreting the image by one selection operation, so that the user's labor can be reduced.

The dividing line indicating the division of the main image display area (for example, L10 in FIG. 8B) may be omitted. For example, as shown in FIG. 8A, if the division state of the main image display area 102 is not so complicated, even if the division line L10 is omitted, the user can use the four display areas 108 to 111 and the reduced image constituting the thumbnail. This is because the correspondence with the upper position can be grasped.

[Third Embodiment]
In the selection of the thumbnail, the medical image display device according to the third embodiment selects an arbitrary partial area of the reduced image constituting the thumbnail and obtains direction information. In the third embodiment, the medical image data corresponding to the selected thumbnail is displayed by the direction information of the plurality of display areas of the main image display area under the display conditions suitable for the anatomical area of the selected partial area. Display in the specified display area.

FIG. 9 shows a configuration example of the medical image display device according to the present embodiment. Compared with the configuration example (FIG. 6) according to the second embodiment, the direction acquisition unit 47 is added. Each component other than the direction acquisition unit 47 is the same as each component in FIG. The direction acquisition unit 47 acquires the direction information input by the user via the operation unit 35 for the thumbnail displayed on the display unit 36, and outputs the direction information to the display processing unit 45. For example, the direction acquisition unit 47 acquires direction information based on the direction in which the thumbnail is dragged or flicked. Further, as will be described later, the division condition acquisition unit 46 also acquires the center position of each display area of the main image display area. As in the second embodiment, it is assumed that each part is realized by software.

Next, the entire processing procedure by the control unit 37 in the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of processing performed by the control unit 37. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a method in which the user inputs direction information to the thumbnail 103 shown in FIG. 3 (B). The arrow 115 is, for example, a mouse pointer and represents the position information controlled by the operation unit 35. R10 is a circle centered on the position indicated by the arrow 115. When the direction to the right of the arrow 115 is 0 °, the points where the straight line extending in the directions of 0 °, 90 °, 180 °, 270 ° from the center O and the circle R10 intersect are points A, B, C, respectively. It is set to D.

The processing of steps S1000 to S1002 is the same as the processing of steps S200 to S202 in the first embodiment. Further, the process of step S1003 is the same as the process of step S701 in the second embodiment. The process of step S1004 is the same as the process of step S203 in the first embodiment.

In step S1005, the user inputs direction information to the thumbnail division area selected in step S1004 via the operation unit 35. For example, direction information is input by dragging the partial area 123 of the thumbnail 103 shown in FIG. 3B in an arbitrary direction using a pointing device (not shown). Alternatively, when the display unit 36 is a touch panel type monitor, direction information may be input to the partial area 123 of the thumbnail 103 by using an operation method generally called flicking. For example, in FIG. 11, the direction information 0 ° is input by flicking (flicking) the thumbnail 103 in the direction of A. Further, for example, the direction information 225 ° is input by flicking (flicking) with a finger in the direction along the line segment L20 shown exactly between the line segment OC and the line segment OD.

In step S1006, the display processing unit 45 selects one of the plurality of display areas of the main image display area according to the division condition of the main image display area acquired in step S1003 and the direction information acquired in step S1005. .. Then, the display processing unit 45 displays the medical image data corresponding to the selected thumbnail in the selected display area. At that time, the display is performed under the display conditions corresponding to the partial area selected in step S1004. The selected partial area is, for example, a partial area in the thumbnail specified by the start position of dragging or flicking. Further, the display conditions are determined by the method shown in step S204 in the first embodiment and the modification 1 of the first embodiment.

The case where the direction information input in step S1005 with respect to the partial area 123 of the thumbnail 103 shown in FIG. 3B is in the range of 0 ° to 90 ° shown in FIG. 11 will be described. In this case, the direction information is interpreted as the upper right direction, and the medical image data corresponding to the thumbnail 103 corresponds to the partial area 123 in the display area 110 arranged in the upper right of the main image display area 102 in FIG. 3 (A). It is displayed under the displayed conditions. When the input direction information is in the range of 90 ° to 180 °, the medical image data is displayed in the display area 108 of the main image display area 102 under the display conditions corresponding to the partial area 123. When the input direction information is in the range of 180 ° to 270 °, the medical image data is displayed in the display area 109 of the main image display area 102 under the display conditions corresponding to the partial area 123. Further, when the input direction information is in the range of 270 ° to 0 °, the medical image data is displayed in the display area 111 of the main image display area 102 under the display conditions corresponding to the partial area 123.

The relationship between the range of the input direction information and the display area selected by the range will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. In FIG. 12A, the main image display area 102 is divided into four display areas (display areas 108 to 111). However, the sizes of the display areas 108 to 111 are not all uniform, and the arrangement is also different from that in FIG. 3 (A). Further, Oa indicates the center of the main image display area 102, Ob indicates the center of the display area 108, Occ indicates the center of the display area 109, Od indicates the center of the display area 110, and Oe indicates the center of the display area 111. Indicates the center. In FIG. 12B, the circle centered on Oa is referred to as R20. The line segment that equally divides the angle formed by Ob → Oa → Oe is L21, the line segment that equally divides the angle formed by Ob → Oa → Occ is L22, and the line segment that equally divides the angle formed by Occ → Oa → Od is L23. Let L24 be a line segment that equally divides the angle formed by Od → Oa → Oe. Further, the intersection of the line segments L21 and R20 is E, the intersection of the line segments L22 and R20 is F, the intersection of the line segments L23 and R20 is G, and the intersection of the line segments L24 and R20 is H. Here, when the input direction information is in the range of the angle formed by E → Oa → F, the display area 108 having the center Ob within that range is selected. Similarly, when the input direction information is in the range of the angle formed by F → Oa → G, the display area 109 is selected. Similarly, when the input direction information is in the range of the angle formed by G → Oa → H, the display area 110 is selected. Similarly, when the input direction information is in the range of the angle formed by H → Oa → E, the display area 111 is selected.

In this way, by determining the range of the direction information according to the angle created by the center of each display area and the center of the main image display area, the display area corresponding to the range of the direction information can be determined. .. When the division condition of the main image display area is (l, n, m) = (9, 3, 3), the central display area cannot be selected by the above method. In such a case, it may be selected by performing an operation different from the operation of inputting the direction information to the thumbnail. Here, another operation is an operation such as pinch-in, pinch-out, double tap, etc. on the touch panel. However, these operations are examples, and may be other operations.

The process of step S1007 is the same process as the process of step S205 in the first embodiment, and determines whether or not there is an instruction to end image interpretation. If there is an instruction to end the image interpretation, the process of FIG. 10 is terminated, and if there is no instruction to end the image interpretation, the process returns to step S1003.

As described above, according to the medical image display device according to the third embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. That is, by adding direction information to an arbitrary partial area of an arbitrary thumbnail, the direction information is given to the display area in which the medical image data corresponding to the thumbnail is determined according to the input direction information. It can be displayed under the display conditions corresponding to the partial area. Therefore, it is possible to provide a medical image display device and a medical image display method capable of displaying an image in a display area intended by the user under the display conditions intended by the user with little effort.

As described above, according to each of the above embodiments, a partial region corresponding to the anatomical region is set in the reduced image displayed on the thumbnail, and the display condition corresponding to the anatomical region corresponds to the partial region. Can be attached. Since any partial area among the set partial areas can be specified by the thumbnail selection operation, the user can specify the medical image data to be displayed and the display conditions thereof by the thumbnail selection operation. Therefore, there is an effect that the data corresponding to the selected thumbnail can be displayed in the main image display area under arbitrary display conditions with a small number of operations by the user.

In each of the above embodiments, the thumbnail display area and the main image display area are displayed on the same display screen, but the thumbnail display area and the main image display area may be displayed by separate indicators. Further, in acquiring the display condition corresponding to the partial area of the thumbnail, the correspondence between the partial area and the anatomical part is managed as shown in FIG. 3C, and the partial area is based on the anatomical part. The display conditions corresponding to are acquired, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the display conditions may be directly associated with each subregion and managed, and the display conditions of the specified subregion may be acquired. In that case, the column of the anatomical region shown in FIG. 3C is the display condition.

The present invention is also realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment is supplied to the system or device via a network or various storage media, and the computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or device reads the program. This is the process to be executed.

10: Image display device, 21: LAN, 22: Database, 31: Communication interface, 32: ROM, 33: RAM, 34: Storage unit, 35: Operation unit, 36: Display unit, 37: Control unit, 41: Medical Image acquisition unit, 42: Image area acquisition unit, 43: Thumbnail creation unit, 44: Selection area acquisition unit, 45: Display processing unit, 46: Division condition acquisition unit, 47: Direction acquisition unit

Claims (9)

Extraction means for extracting multiple types of anatomical sites associated with display conditions from 3D medical images, and
From the plurality of two-dimensional images included in the three-dimensional medical image, the two-dimensional image having the largest number of types of anatomical sites extracted by the extraction means included in each of the plurality of two- dimensional images is represented. The acquisition method to acquire as an image and
An image processing device characterized by comprising. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of types of anatomical sites are previously associated with image information of the three-dimensional medical image. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image information includes at least a modality for capturing the three-dimensional medical image and an imaging site. Any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the acquisition means acquires a two-dimensional image including the most types of the anatomical site among the plurality of two-dimensional images as the representative image. The image processing apparatus according to. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a generation means for generating thumbnails based on the representative image. The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a display control means for displaying the thumbnail on the display unit. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the three-dimensional medical image is a CT image or an MRI image. An extraction process that extracts multiple types of anatomical sites associated with display conditions from 3D medical images, and
From the plurality of two-dimensional images included in the three-dimensional medical image, the two-dimensional image having the largest number of types of anatomical sites extracted by the extraction step, which is included in each of the plurality of two- dimensional images, is represented. The acquisition process to acquire as an image and
An image processing method characterized by comprising. A program comprising causing a computer to execute each step of the image processing method according to claim 8.

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