JP6951105B2 - Medical image processing equipment, control methods for medical image processing equipment, and programs - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a medical image processing apparatus capable of obtaining an image suitable for diagnosis by using a plurality of series images, a control method of the medical image processing apparatus, and a program.

Modality such as a CT device performs a reconstruction function and a convolution operation on the projection data collected by photographing, and performs back-projection processing to form a series image. Image diagnosis is performed by controlling the medical image processing device to display a series of images composed of modality on a display.

When performing image diagnosis, when it is desired to remove an unnecessary part from a series image, the operator specifies an area using a mouse or the like, and the area is removed by the user's operation. The following Patent Document 1 discloses a mechanism capable of removing an unnecessary region in a tomographic image.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-70782

In the mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, it is possible to easily delete the pixels outside the contour of the maximum connected component, but it is not always the region where the maximum connected component should remain.

That is, in the mechanism of Patent Document 1, although only one area can be easily extracted, in order to leave a plurality of areas required for diagnosis by the user, it is troublesome to specify all unnecessary or necessary areas. exist.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism capable of obtaining an image suitable for diagnosis by using a plurality of series images.

In order to achieve the above object, the medical image processing apparatus of the present invention is a storage means for storing the first series image and the second series image in which the same part is photographed in association with each other because the imaging conditions are different from each other. , An extraction means for extracting a part necessary for diagnosis from the first series image, a mask information generation means for generating mask information which is information for displaying the part extracted by the extraction means, and the above. A reception means that receives an instruction as to whether or not to apply the information of the portion extracted by the extraction means to the second series image, and a reception means that is generated by the generation means in response to the reception of the instruction by the reception means. It is characterized in that it includes an image generation means for generating a diagnostic image by applying the mask information to the second series image.

According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an image suitable for diagnosis by using a plurality of series images.

It is a block diagram which shows the hardware structure of the medical image processing apparatus 100 in this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the medical image processing apparatus 100 in this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the detailed process flow in 1st Embodiment. This is a screen example of the setting screen 400. It is a schematic diagram which shows typically the flow of processing in 1st Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows typically the flow of processing in 1st Embodiment. This is a screen example of the execution screen 700. It is a flowchart explaining the detailed process flow in 2nd Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows typically the flow of processing in 2nd Embodiment. This is an example of an image when edge enhancement processing is executed without applying mask information to a standard resolution image.

The first embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, a CT (Computed Tomography) device will be described as an example of the modality 1000, but the present invention may be another modality such as an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) device.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the medical image processing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The hardware configuration of the medical image processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 is an example, and there are various configuration examples depending on the application and purpose.

The medical image processing device 100 includes a CPU 201, a RAM 202, a ROM 203, a system bus 204, an input controller 205, a video controller 206, a memory controller 207, a communication I / F controller 208, an input device 209, a display 210, an external memory 211, and the like.

The CPU 201 comprehensively controls each device and controller connected to the system bus 204.

The RAM 202 functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like of the CPU 201. The CPU 201 realizes various operations by loading a program or the like necessary for executing a process into the RAM 202 and executing the program.

The ROM 203 or the external memory 211 stores a BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) which is a control program of the CPU 201, an operating system, various programs which will be described later, which are necessary for realizing functions executed by various devices.

The input controller 205 controls input from a pointing device (input device 209) such as a keyboard or a mouse.

The video controller 206 controls the display of a display device such as the display 210. The display 210 (display unit) is, for example, a CRT or a liquid crystal display.

The memory controller 207 is an external memory such as a hard disk or flexible disk for storing boot programs, browser software, various applications, font data, user files, various data, etc., or a card-type memory connected to a PCMCIA card slot via an adapter. Control access to 211.

The CPU 201 enables display on the display 210 by, for example, executing an outline font expansion (rasterization) process in the display information area in the RAM 202. Further, the CPU 201 enables a user instruction with a mouse cursor or the like (not shown) on the display 210.

Various programs and the like used by the medical image processing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment to execute various processes described later are stored in the external memory 211 (corresponding to the storage means), and are loaded into the RAM 202 as needed. By doing so, it is executed by the CPU 201. Further, definition files, various information tables, medical images and the like used by the program according to the present invention are stored in the external memory 211. The medical image is stored in an external server or the like, and the medical image processing device 100 may be configured to acquire the medical image from the external server.

This completes the description of the hardware configuration of the medical image processing device 100 shown in FIG.

Next, the functional configuration of the medical image processing apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

The medical image processing device 100 includes an image acquisition unit 101, an image storage unit 102, an image generation unit 103, and a display control unit 104.

The image acquisition unit 101 is a functional unit that acquires a medical image including a series image from the modality 1000. The image storage unit 102 is a functional unit that stores a medical image acquired by the image acquisition unit 101. The image generation unit 103 is a functional unit that generates a diagnostic image based on the medical image stored in the image storage unit 102. The display control unit 104 is a functional unit that controls the image generated by the image generation unit 103 to be displayed.

This completes the description of the functional configuration of the medical image processing device 100 shown in FIG.

Next, the detailed processing flow of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S301, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing device 100 accepts the designation of the series image. For example, the setting screen 400 shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display 210. The setting screen 400 has an input item 402 and an input item 403, and the user can specify the series image by inputting information uniquely indicating the series image to the input item 402 or the input item 403 by an input device or the like. Accept. The method of accepting the designation of the series image may be other than this method. In the present embodiment, for convenience, the series image input in the input item 402 will be used as a reference image, and the series image input in the input item 403 will be described as a mask image.

In step S302, it is determined whether or not the CPU 201 of the medical image processing device 100 has received the image processing execution instruction. For example, when the press of the execution instruction button 401 (corresponding to the reception means) displayed on the setting screen 400 is accepted, it is determined that the execution instruction of the image processing is accepted. If it is determined that the image processing execution instruction has been received, the process proceeds to step S303, and if not, the process waits until the image processing execution instruction is received.

In step S303, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing apparatus 100 determines the number of series images designated in step S301, proceeds to step S309 when there is one series image, and when there are two series images. Advances the process to step S304. In this way, by making the processing different according to the number of series images that have received the designation, it is possible to provide a mechanism that allows the user to perform appropriate image processing without being aware of the number of series images. ..

In step S304, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing device 100 reads the reference image (input item 402) designated in step S301 from the external memory 211.

In step S305, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing device 100 reads the mask image (input item 403) designated in step S301 from the external memory 211. The reference image and the mask image are images in which the same part is photographed because the imaging conditions are different from each other. For example, series images with different reconstruction functions and contrast-enhanced / non-contrast-enhanced series images.

In step S306, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing device 100 extracts an area of the reference image read in step S305. The region may be extracted, for example, the bone region based on the CT value, or the region may be manually extracted by the user.

In step S307, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing device 100 reads the reference image (input item 402) designated in step S301 from the external memory 211. An example of the reference image is, for example, the reference image A shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the image processing in the present embodiment and the image obtained thereby when the number of series images is determined to be one in step S303.

In step S308, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing apparatus 100 duplicates the reference image (input item 402) designated in step S301 as a mask image. This mask image is an image for executing filtering and the like. An example of the mask image is the mask image A shown in FIG.

The image read in step S306 or step S307 is displayed in the image display area 701 of the execution screen 700A. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the execution screen 700A includes an image display area 701, a reference image button 702, a mask image button 703, a filter display field 704, a standard deviation 705, a radius 706, and a copy button 707. When the reference image button 702 is selected by the user, a standard image is displayed in the image display area 701, and when the mask image button 703 is selected by the user, the mask image is displayed in the image display area 701. In this way, by pressing the button, the user can switch and display the image corresponding to the button. The execution screen 700A of FIG. 7 is an execution screen in a state in which the reference image button 702 is pressed, and the execution screen 700B is an execution screen in a state in which the mask image button 703 is pressed. The filter display field 704 displays a filter to be applied to the mask image, and the standard deviation 705 and the radius 706 are areas indicating the parameters of the filter, and the parameters can be changed and input from the user can be accepted. Is. The copy button 707 will be described later.

In step S309, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing apparatus 100 refers to the DICOM information of the reference image designated in step S301, and identifies an appropriate filter based on the resolution information of the reconstruction function included in the DICOM information. do. Specifically, when the resolution information included in the DICOM information is information indicating high resolution, a filter for performing smoothing processing is specified. The reason why the smoothing process is specified from the high-resolution information is that if the reference image is a high-resolution image, the smoothing process is executed to virtually reduce the resolution and eliminate the influence of noise. This is because it can be inferred that it is necessary processing to make it easy to extract the necessary area. Further, when the resolution information included in the DICOM information is information indicating a standard resolution, a filter for performing edge enhancement processing is specified. The reason why the edge enhancement process is specified based on the standard resolution and information, which is lower resolution than the high resolution image, is that the edge enhancement process creates a virtual high resolution image by performing the edge enhancement process. This is because it can be inferred that it is desired to generate an image that is easy to diagnose. In this way, by automatically identifying an appropriate filter based on the information included in the DICOM information, it is possible to reduce the time and effort for the user to specify and specify the appropriate filter. When specifying the filter, parameters related to the filter such as the standard deviation 705 value and the radius 706 value are automatically specified for smoothing, such as the standard deviation 705 value and the radius 706 value. It is also possible to reduce the time and effort of the user by automatically specifying the value of.

In step S310, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing apparatus 100 refers to the DICOM information of the reference image designated in step S301, and determines whether the resolution of the reconstruction function included in the DICOM information is high or low. If it is determined that the resolution is high, the process proceeds to step S311, and if it is determined that the resolution is lower than the standard resolution, the process proceeds to step S312.

In step S311, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing apparatus 100 applies the filter specified in step S309 to the mask image generated in step S308, and executes the filter processing. FIG. 5 will be described as an example. The image after applying the filter to the mask image A is the mask image B. In this way, the noise that existed before the filter is applied is reduced, and the mask image B is in a state where it is easier to extract a portion such as a bone than the mask image A. The filter may be applied by accepting changes in the filter parameters from the user.

In step S312, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing apparatus 100 applies the filter specified in step S309 to the reference image read in step S307. FIG. 6 will be described as an example. The reference image P in FIG. 6 is the reference image read in step S307, and the series image duplicated in step S308 is the mask image P. Although it is easy to extract the site of the reference image P, since the resolution is standard, a higher resolution is desired for a more precise diagnosis by a doctor. The series image in which the filter specified in step S309 (the filter for edge enhancement processing because the resolution is standard) is applied to the reference image P in step S312 is the reference image Q.

As described above, since the series image to which the filter specified in step S309 should be applied is determined according to the high resolution, the time and effort of the user can be further reduced.

In step S313, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing apparatus 100 extracts the region using the mask image (corresponding to the extraction means). In FIG. 5, the result of extracting the region is the mask image C. Bone is extracted in the mask image C. The region extraction method may be specified by the user, or may be automated by using a method such as a region glowing method or a CT value threshold extraction method. On the other hand, in FIG. 6, the region is extracted using the mask image P. In the mask image P, the bone is extracted.

In step S314, it is determined whether or not the CPU 201 of the medical image processing device 100 has accepted the pressing of the copy button 707 of the execution screen 700A. If it is determined that the press of the copy button 707 is accepted, the process proceeds to step S315, and if not, the process waits until the press of the copy button 707 is accepted.

In step S315, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing apparatus 100 generates mask information which is information for displaying voxels corresponding to the area extracted by the mask image in step S306 or step S313 (mask information generation means). Corresponds to). The mask information may be information that stores only the positions of voxels to be displayed, or information that includes flags for whether or not to display all voxels.

In step S316, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing apparatus 100 applies the mask information generated in step S315 to the reference image (corresponding to the image generation means). This will be described with reference to FIG. The result of applying the mask information generated from the mask image C to the reference image A is the reference image B. The reference image B (corresponding to a diagnostic image) is an image having high resolution and easy to diagnose, but since only necessary parts are displayed, it is an image that leads to improvement in diagnostic efficiency. By virtually generating a standard-resolution image from a high-resolution series image, a high-resolution series image in which necessary parts are extracted can be obtained. In summary, it is easy to virtually extract the part even if only the series images reconstructed using the high-resolution reconstruction function, which makes it difficult to extract the part necessary for diagnosis, are stored in the medical image processing device 100. A series image can be created, and the mask information obtained from the series image can be applied to the series image reconstructed with high resolution.

This will be described with reference to FIG. The image obtained by applying the mask information generated from the mask image P to the reference image Q is the reference image R. The reference image R is an image virtually created from a standard resolution image. Although the reference image R is an image having high resolution and easy to diagnose, it is an image that improves the efficiency of diagnosis because only necessary parts are displayed.

As described above, in FIG. 6, it is possible to generate a series image having a virtually high resolution only with a series image having a standard resolution. When the edge enhancement process is executed without applying the mask information to the series image having a standard resolution as in the present embodiment, the image as shown in FIG. 10 is obtained. By performing edge enhancement processing without applying mask information, something like noise is generated. In this way, even if the resolution is a standard series image, it is possible to virtually obtain a high resolution series image.

That is, even if there is only a series image reconstructed by one reconstruction function, it is possible to generate an image as if it was reconstructed by another reconstruction function.

Also, just by accepting the press of the copy button from the user, mask information is created from the mask image, and the created mask information is applied semi-automatically to the standard image, which is a series image different from the mask image. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the trouble of generating and saving the mask information as in the conventional case, reading out the medical image to which the saved mask information should be applied, and applying the mask information. That is, since the process of applying the mask information generated from the first series image to the second series image can be realized with one button, there is an effect of contributing to the improvement of the work efficiency of the user. be.

In step S317, it is determined which of the reference image button 702 and the mask image button 703 of the execution screen 700 is accepted by the CPU 201 of the medical image processing device 100. If it is determined that the press of the reference image button 702 is accepted, the process proceeds to step S318, and if it is determined that the press of the mask image button 703 is accepted, the process proceeds to step S319.

In step S318, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing apparatus 100 displays the reference image to which the mask information is applied in step S316 in the image display area 701.

In step S319, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing apparatus 100 displays the mask image read in step S305 or the mask image duplicated in step S308 in the image display area 701.

In step S320, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing device 100 determines whether or not the end instruction has been accepted. If it is determined that the end instruction has been accepted, the process is terminated, and if not, the process is returned to step S317.

This completes the description of the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 and ends the description of the first embodiment.

Next, the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. In the first embodiment, the series images designated in step S301 have been described by taking a standard resolution series image and a high resolution series image as examples. In the present embodiment, it is disclosed that the invention can be applied not only to a standard resolution series image and a high resolution series image, but also to a contrasted series image and a non-contrast series image. The first embodiment has the same hardware configuration, functional configuration, and the like of the medical image processing apparatus, and describes processing when the series image is a contrast-enhanced series image and a non-contrast-enhanced series image. This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 9 and FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow of the second embodiment. Hereinafter, the processing flow of the second embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

Since the processing of steps S801 to S802 is the same as that of steps S301 to S302 in FIG. 3, the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing an image obtained by the second embodiment with respect to a contrast-enhanced series image and a non-contrast-enhanced series image.

The reference image specified in step S801 will be described as the reference image X, and the mask image will be described as the mask image X. The reference image X is a series image of the lower limbs of the subject to which the contrast medium is administered, and the mask image X is a series image of the lower limbs of the subject to which the contrast medium is not administered. Conventionally, since the CT values of the contrast-enhanced blood vessels and the bones are close to each other, it has been troublesome to create an image in which the bones are removed from the mask image X.

Since the processing contents of steps S803 to S804 are the same as those of steps S304 to S305 of FIG. 3, the description thereof will be omitted.

In step S805, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing apparatus 100 accepts the designation of the filter. The accepting filter includes, for example, smoothing and edge enhancement.

In step S806, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing apparatus 100 applies the filter (smoothing process) specified in step S805 to the mask image X read in step S804. An example of the mask image after applying the filter is the mask image Y in FIG. Note that steps S805 and S806 are not essential configurations.

In step S807, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing apparatus 100 extracts the region using the mask image Y applied in step S806. As shown in FIG. 9, for example, a region corresponding to bone is extracted. The mask image Z after extraction is shown in FIG.

In step S808, it is determined whether or not the CPU 201 of the medical image processing device 100 has accepted the pressing of the copy button 707 of the execution screen 700. If it is determined that the press of the copy button 707 is accepted, the process proceeds to step S809, and if not, the process waits until the press of the copy button 707 is accepted.

In step S809, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing apparatus 100 generates mask information which is information for displaying voxels corresponding to the region extracted by the mask image Z in step S807. The mask information may be information that stores only the positions of voxels to be displayed, or information that includes flags for whether or not to display all voxels. In the case of FIG. 9, the voxels corresponding to the bones are hidden, and mask information for displaying the voxels other than the voxels corresponding to the bones is generated.

In step S810, the CPU 201 of the medical image processing apparatus 100 applies the mask information generated in step S809 to the reference image X. The reference image X to which the mask information is applied is the reference image Y shown in FIG. In this way, the user can apply the mask information generated by the mask image Z to the reference image X, which is a different series image, simply by pressing the copy button 707, which leads to more efficient diagnosis. There is an effect.

Since the processing from step S811 to step S814 is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

This is the end of the description of the second embodiment.

According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an image suitable for diagnosis by using a plurality of series images.

This is the end of the description of the embodiment of the present invention. Although the resolution has been described as an example of the reconstruction function of the CT apparatus, the present invention can be applied to an index other than the resolution.

The present invention can be, for example, an embodiment as a system, an apparatus, a method, a program, a storage medium, or the like, and specifically, may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices, or 1 It may be applied to a device consisting of two devices. The present invention includes a software program that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, which is directly or remotely supplied to the system or device. The present invention also includes a case where the information processing device of the system or the device is also achieved by reading and executing the supplied program code.

Therefore, in order to realize the functional processing of the present invention in the information processing device, the program code itself installed in the information processing device also realizes the present invention. That is, the present invention also includes a computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

In that case, as long as it has a program function, it may be in the form of an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, script data supplied to the OS, or the like.

Recording media for supplying programs include, for example, flexible disks, hard disks, optical disks, optical magnetic disks, MOs, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, and the like. There are also magnetic tapes, non-volatile memory cards, ROMs, DVDs (DVD-ROM, DVD-R) and the like.

In addition, as a program supply method, a browser of a client computer is used to connect to an Internet homepage. Then, the computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file including the automatic installation function can be supplied from the homepage by downloading it to a recording medium such as a hard disk.

It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from different homepages. That is, the present invention also includes a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention in the information processing apparatus.

In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and the key information for decrypting the encryption is downloaded from the homepage to the user who clears the predetermined conditions. Let me. Then, by using the downloaded key information, it is also possible to execute an encrypted program and install it in the information processing device.

Further, the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by the information processing apparatus executing the read program. In addition, based on the instruction of the program, the OS or the like running on the information processing device performs a part or all of the actual processing, and the function of the above-described embodiment can be realized by the processing.

Further, the program read from the recording medium is written to the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted in the information processing device and the function expansion unit connected to the information processing device. After that, based on the instruction of the program, the function expansion board, the CPU provided in the function expansion unit, or the like performs a part or all of the actual processing, and the function of the above-described embodiment is also realized by the processing.

It should be noted that the above-described embodiments merely show examples of embodiment in carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed in a limited manner by these. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the technical idea or its main features.

100 Medical image processing device 201 CPU
202 RAM
203 ROM
204 System Bus 205 Input Controller 206 Video Controller 207 Memory Controller 208 Communication I / F Controller 209 Keyboard 210 Display 211 External Memory

Claims (6)

The first series image is duplicated as the second series image, and based on the resolution of the first series image, it is specified whether the filtering process to be executed is the first filtering process or the second filtering process. Specific means to do
When the first filtering process is specified, the first filtering process is executed on the second series image, and the diagnosis is made from the second series image on which the first filtering process is executed. extracting the site necessary, to generate first information for causing display the site and the extracted with the first series of images, if the second filter processing has been identified, the first series of images On the other hand, in order to execute the second filtering process, extract the portion from the second series image, and display the extracted portion in the first series image on which the second filtering process is executed. and information generating means that generates a second information,
An image generation means for generating a diagnostic image in which the portion is left from the first series image based on the first information or the second information.
A medical image processing apparatus comprising. The information generating means is
When the first series image is a high-resolution series image, the first information is generated by executing the first filter processing on the second series image.
When the first series image is a series image having a standard resolution, the second information is generated by executing the second filtering process on the first series image.
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1. The first filtering process is a smoothing process.
The second filtering process is an edge enhancement process.
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The DICOM information of the first series image includes resolution information regarding the resolution of the first series image.
The specifying means identifies the first filtering process or the second filtering process based on the resolution information included in the DICOM information.
The medical image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The first series image is duplicated as the second series image, and based on the resolution of the first series image, it is specified whether the filtering process to be executed is the first filtering process or the second filtering process. Specific steps to take and
When the first filtering process is specified, the first filtering process is executed on the second series image, and the diagnosis is made from the second series image on which the first filtering process is executed. extracting the site necessary, to generate first information for causing display the site and the extracted with the first series of images, if the second filter processing has been identified, the first series of images On the other hand, in order to execute the second filtering process, extract the portion from the second series image, and display the extracted portion in the first series image on which the second filtering process is executed. and information generating step that generates the second information,
A method for controlling a medical image processing apparatus, which comprises an image generation step of generating a diagnostic image in which the portion is left from the first series image based on the first information or the second information. The medical image processing apparatus,
The first series image is duplicated as the second series image, and based on the resolution of the first series image, it is specified whether the filtering process to be executed is the first filtering process or the second filtering process. Specific means to do
When the first filtering process is specified, the first filtering process is executed on the second series image, and the diagnosis is made from the second series image on which the first filtering process is executed. extracting the site necessary, to generate first information for causing display the site and the extracted with the first series of images, if the second filter processing has been identified, the first series of images On the other hand, in order to execute the second filtering process, extract the portion from the second series image, and display the extracted portion in the first series image on which the second filtering process is executed. and information generating means that generates a second information,
A program characterized by functioning as an image generation means for generating a diagnostic image in which the portion is left from the first series image based on the first information or the second information.

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