JPH01296383A - Picture display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize a display device which can be used conveniently in such a way that the device can make displays in effectively observable order by providing a detecting means which detects the photographing technique from a displayed picture to the display device and utilizing the detecting results of the detecting means for the classification of pictures. CONSTITUTION:The detecting means 1 detects the photographing technique after inputting the contents of picture memories 31 and 32 and outputs a detected result 2 as photographing technique information. A storing means 10 stores pictures 11 and 12 after digitization. A transmitting means 20 transmits pictures to the memories 31 and 32. A synthesizing means 50 synthesizes plural pictures into one picture and is provided with such functions that arrange plural pictures after reduction, select specific one picture from plural pictures, and so forth. A control means 40 controls the execution of the above-mentioned functions of the means 50. A device being used for telecasting, etc., can be used for the means 50. The control means 40 outputs control information 41 for controlling the synthesizing means 50 by using the detecting result 2 of the detecting means 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image display device, and particularly to a device suitable for displaying medical images such as X-ray images.

[Conventional technology]

Although the image display device according to the present invention is not limited in any way to the types of images to be displayed, for convenience of explanation, a case where medical images are displayed will be described below.

X-rays (X-rays) are a typical medical image.
There is a photographed image. Since an X-ray image is an image of the inside of the human body projected in a certain direction, it is impossible to depict the three-dimensional structure inside the human body with a single image.

For this reason, when doctors make a diagnosis using X-ray images, they observe them as a set of several images.1For example, in a mass gastric examination, a set of 15 to 20 images forms a set. .

When observing such a large number of images, it is convenient to arrange the images in a predetermined regular order.

For example, images can be roughly divided into two types: those that depict a patient's condition in general terms and those that depict parts of the body in detail, but it is more convenient for l1M diagnosis to group these two types together. It is. By arranging them in this way, a doctor can easily grasp the outline of changes in a patient's condition and then conduct a diagnosis by accurately locating the location where the change is most typical.

Conventionally, arranging images in this manner has been done manually by humans, but in recent years, devices have been developed to digitize the handling of images, and attempts have also been made to automate the determination of the order in which they should be arranged. As a representative example, the patent application 1986-176
There is a method shown in 735.

In the prior art, an invention of a method for determining the display order is disclosed by taking an X-ray image of the stomach as an example. The invention of the earlier application related to the same application will be briefly explained below.

A contrast agent is used for Xm imaging of the stomach. During imaging, the subject's body position is changed, the stomach is compressed, and air is pumped into the stomach to ensure that the contrast agent is evenly distributed within the stomach. The techniques used during photographing are herein referred to as photographing techniques or simply techniques. In general, in stomach X-ray photography, differences in imaging techniques manifest as differences in the nature of the images, resulting in two types: those that express the patient's condition in a large scale, and those that depict a part of the body in detail. The above invention utilizes this property to arrange a plurality of images in an order according to each photographing technique, thereby realizing a display method that is easy to observe. Furthermore, in the same invention, a doctor identifies 11 specific areas of a patient's body! In consideration of the convenience of imaging, when a doctor inputs a region group into the display device, an image of the imaging technique most suitable for the region is automatically selected.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in order to determine the order in this way, it is necessary to input in advance the technique with which each image was taken. It gets in the way of your strengths.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image display device that can eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages and display images in an order that is easy to observe without bothering the operator.

[Means to solve the problem]

The above problem can be solved by providing the display device with a detection means for detecting the photographing technique from one displayed image and using the detection result of the detection means for classifying the images.

[Effect]

As a result of detecting the photographing technique from the displayed image, it is no longer necessary to input the technique in advance for each image, and the labor of inputting the information becomes unnecessary. As a result, the display order of one image can be determined with less effort than with conventional methods.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Overall Configuration> FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 10 is a storage means.

Inside are multiple images 11, 12. ... is memorized.

These images are transmitted through the transmission means 20 to a plurality of image memories 31, 32 . It is sent to and stored in... A plurality of image memories 31, 32. The contents of ... are synthesized by the synthesizing means 50 and displayed on the display means 60. Control means 40
controls the combining means 50 to combine the plurality of images 11, 12 .・
... is displayed on the display means 60.

A feature of the present invention is that the control means 40 uses photographic information, which is the detection result 2 of the detection means 1, when controlling the composition means 50. The detection means 1 is.

A plurality of image memories 31, 32. ... is input, the photographing technique is detected, and detection result 2 is output as photographing technique information.

The storage means 10 stores images 11, 12 . ...to be digitized and stored. As the storage means 10, a magnetic disk device, an optical disk device, etc. can be used.

Alternatively, a semiconductor memory device may be used.

The transmission means 20 transmits the image to a plurality of image memories 31, 32, .
..., and the data transmission method used in electronic computers can be used as is.

31.32. . . . are image memories, and the memory devices used in image display devices for computers can be used as they are.

The synthesizing means 50 synthesizes a plurality of images into one image, and has functions such as reducing and arranging a plurality of images and selecting a specific one from a plurality of images.

Which of the above functions is to be executed is determined by the control means 4.
Controlled by 0.

As the compositing means, it is possible to use a device used in public television broadcasting that combines a plurality of videos.

The control means 40 outputs control information 41 for controlling the synthesis means 50 using the detection result 2.

As an example of a method for determining the control information 41, 2 shown in FIG.
A case will be described in which images obtained by various photographic techniques are targeted. Note that FIG. 2 will be explained in detail later when an embodiment of the detection means 1 is explained. In this way, when images obtained by two types of photographing techniques are to be targeted, methods for determining the control information 41 as shown in Table 1 can be used. That is, by examining the detection results 2 of the imaging technique information corresponding to each image, if the first image is a full image and the second image is a double contrast image, the first image is selected as the control information 41. The second image is displayed on the left side of the display means 60, and the second image is displayed on the left side of the display means 60.
Outputs instructions to display each on the right side of 0. Conversely, if the first image is a double contrast image and the second image is a full image, a state in which the display positions of the respective images are exchanged is indicated.

In addition, the control information 41 is determined by combinations as shown in Table 1. The control means 4o can be realized using a general-purpose information processing device such as a microcomputer.

The first table display means 60 displays the image synthesized by the composition means 5o. As the display means 60, a CRT display, a liquid crystal display, etc. can be used.

<Detection Means> Next, an embodiment of the detection means 1 will be described using FIG. 2 and subsequent figures.

As already mentioned, this embodiment is explained using medical images as an example. Here, we will specifically explain the X-ray images of the stomach.

First, an X-ray image of the stomach will be explained. X-ray imaging of the stomach is normally performed using a contrast agent such as barium, and images obtained by different imaging techniques are obtained depending on the method of using the contrast agent. FIG. 2 schematically shows images obtained by two typical imaging techniques. First, FIG. 2(a) shows an image called a filling image, which is a procedure in which the inside of the stomach is filled with a large amount of contrast medium and then photographed. This image provides general information such as the shape and size of the stomach. However, the detailed situation of the stomach wall cannot be observed. On the other hand, FIG. 2(b) is an image called a double contrast image, which is a technique in which a small amount of contrast agent is attached to a part of the stomach wall and photographed. This image provides a detailed understanding of the local gastric wall condition. However, since information cannot be obtained about areas to which the contrast agent is not attached, it cannot be used for comprehensive observation.

The function of the detection means 1 in this embodiment is to detect whether the image to be displayed is one of the two types shown in FIG. The obtained detection result 2 is used in the control means 40. First, the principle of the detection method will be explained.

The detection method in this embodiment utilizes the fact that the density distribution of one image is different between two types of images. In other words, since a large amount of contrast agent is used in a full image, there are wide areas in the image where the amount of X-ray absorption is large.
The filled area is marked as 200 in FIG. 2(a). On the other hand, in a double contrast image, only a small amount of the contrast medium is scattered on the stomach wall, and the amount of X-ray absorption is not very large.

As a result, if we take the frequency distribution ('/S degree histogram) of the amount of X-ray absorption for each of the two types of images, the third
It will look like the figure. The graph in Figure 3 shows the X-ray absorption amount on the horizontal axis and the number of pixels showing the absorption amount on the vertical axis.
(a) corresponds to a full image, and (b) corresponds to a double contrast image. The peak 400 of the frequency distribution corresponding to the full portion 200 in FIG. 2(a) can be clearly observed in FIG. 3(a). No such peak appears in the − side of FIG. 3(b). Using this property, it is possible to detect whether a certain image is a full image or a double contrast image.

The detection means 1 executes the above detection method by executing the following steps 1 to 5.

Step 1: Check the amount of absorption for all pixels of a given image and register it in a histogram.

Step 2 Find the maximum value of the histogram created in step 1. Let this value be m.

Step 3: Find the maximum value m obtained in step 2.

Compare with a predetermined threshold value 0.

Step 4: If m>θ, it is determined that the image is a full image. If m≦θ, the image is determined to be a double contrast image.

Step 5: Apply the results obtained in step 4 to detection result 2.
Output as .

However, it is assumed that the threshold value θ used in step 3 is determined in advance by using a large number of images in which it is known which of the two types of photographing techniques are used, and an appropriate value that allows the two types to be separated.

A flowchart representing the above steps is shown in FIG. These steps can be performed on a general-purpose computing device.

Note that the detection power method described above is an example for implementing the detection means 1, and the detection means 1 may have a different configuration.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an easy-to-use display device that can display images in an order effective for observation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of two types of images to be detected in the example, Figure 3 is a density histogram diagram for explaining the difference in properties between the two types of images shown in Figure 2, and Figure 4. 1 is a flowchart showing an example of a detection process used by the detection means 1. FIG. 1...Detection means, 2...Detection result, 10...Storage means, 11.12...Image, 2o...Transmission means, 3
1.32... image memory, 40... control means, 41...
...Control information. 50...Synthesis means, 60...Display means, 200...
・Full 1'7・, 7 hetsu f 1 Fig. 14θ 2 Fig. (i) (bn Y: J3
I21 (Ln (
b) ■ 4 Figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. It has means for ordering and displaying a plurality of images taken of the same subject according to a certain ordering rule, and the above ordering rule classifies the images according to the imaging technique used to photograph the subject, and the classification results are In an image display device that determines the display order according to An image display device characterized by: