JPH04104366A - Routine reading system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve reading efficiency by judging the frequency of a picture to by stored by collated with judgement reference and storing it in the optimum recording medium. CONSTITUTION:In a CPU8, the judgement reference to judge the frequency of the picture to be stored in respective storage mediums according to the request of a user is set in advance. The CPU8 judges the picture with high frequency of utilization while observing the additional data for newest inspection and collating the judgement reference preliminarily stored in a memory 8M. Next, when the user inputs a picture ID from a touch panel 12 to perform reading, a control signal based on this interrupts to the CPU8, and the CPU8 takes the ID information in a register. Then, it retrieves the corresponding list. Thus, the required picture is displayed on a display 7 through a MDS9, and the reading of the required picture can be performed.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention stores medical images retrieved from a database via a network in a high-speed memory and a low-speed memory of a workstation, and stores them as needed. The present invention relates to a routine interpretation system that displays desired medical images on a workstation.

(Prior art) Medical images (hereinafter simply referred to as images) taken with various medical devices are stored in a database via a network, and when necessary, desired images are retrieved and displayed on a workstation for interpretation. A routine image interpretation system based on this method is known. FIG. 3 shows an outline of such a routine image interpretation system, in which 1 is an image capturing device consisting of various medical equipment, and the images captured here are sequentially transmitted to a database 3 via a network 2 such as a LAN. will be stored here. The database 3 is equipped with a large-capacity storage device and can store all of the captured images.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a workstation, which includes an image memory 5 consisting of a high-speed memory such as a semiconductor memory, a hard disk 6 consisting of a low-speed memory such as a magnetic disk or an optical disk, a display 7 that displays images for interpretation, and a CPU that controls overall control operations. (Central Processing Unit) It is composed of 8 etc.

Images retrieved from the database 3 can be stored in the image memory 5 and the hard disk 6.

With this configuration, when a user such as an image interpreting doctor inputs the patient TD and specifies a specific image in order to observe the image on the workstation 4, the image will be displayed depending on which storage medium the specified image is stored in. , the time required from being taken out to being displayed differs. The image is displayed in the shortest time when it is stored in the image memory 5, which is a high-speed memory, and the second is when the image is stored in the hard disk 6, which is a slow memory. The image is displayed when the image is stored in the database 3 connected to the workstation 4 via the network 2.

Conventionally, images to be stored in each of these storage media have not been particularly distinguished.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) In the conventional routine image interpretation system, images are stored in each storage medium without any standard. Since this happens with probability, there is a problem in that even if you want to display an image quickly, it may take a very long time.

For example, in the case of images that are frequently used, even though we would like to improve the efficiency of image interpretation by shortening the time it takes to display them, there are cases where images that are stored in the database are retrieved and displayed, resulting in a reduction in the efficiency of image interpretation. begins to decline.

The present invention has been made in response to the above-mentioned problems.
The object of the present invention is to provide a routine image interpretation system in which frequently used images are stored in a storage medium that requires a short retrieval time, giving priority to other images in response to a user's request.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention stores medical images retrieved from a database via a network in a high-speed memory and a low-speed memory of a workstation, and stores medical images as necessary. In a routine image interpretation system that displays desired medical images on a workstation according to the frequency of the medical images retrieved from a database, there is a means for determining the frequency of medical images retrieved from a database by comparing them with preset criteria; a control means for automatically storing images in the high-speed memory, frequently-frequent medical images in the low-speed memory, and other medical images in the pig base; The present invention is characterized by comprising display control means for extracting and displaying the information from the user, and means for inputting judgment criteria in response to a user's request.

(Function) The frequency of images to be stored in each storage medium is determined by comparing them with the criteria set in advance according to the user's request.
Accordingly, the most frequently occurring images are automatically stored in the high speed memory, the next most frequently occurring images are automatically stored in the slow memory, and the other images are automatically stored in the database. Further, the judgment criteria can be changed arbitrarily according to the user's request. This makes it possible to shorten the time it takes to retrieve images from a storage medium in order of frequency and display them on a workstation, thereby improving the efficiency of image interpretation.

(Example) The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the routine image interpretation system of the present invention, where "-" is an image capturing device, which is composed of various medical equipment such as an X-ray CT device, an MRI device, and an ultrasound diagnostic device. The captured images are transmitted to a database 3 via a network 2 such as a LAN and stored therein. This database 3 is equipped with a large-capacity storage device, and can store all of the captured images.

A workstation 4 has an image memory 5 made of high-speed memory such as a semiconductor memory, a hard disk 6 made of low-speed memory such as a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and a plurality of displays 7 for displaying images for interpretation. A plurality of displays 7 are connected to the image memory 5 through an MDS (multi-display system) 9. It is connected to hard disk 6. 10 is an image data bus, and 11 is a control signal data bus. Further, the plurality of displays 7 are provided with an input device such as a touch panel 12. 13 is a communication interface for connecting to the database 3; Reference numeral 8 denotes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), which is equipped with 8M of memory and is in charge of overall control operations.

Reference numeral 14 denotes an input device, which includes, for example, a keyboard, an ID reader, etc., and is used by the user to arbitrarily input judgment criteria. This criterion is stored in the memory 8M of the CPU 8.

Criteria for determining the frequency of images to be stored in each storage medium are preset in the CPU 8 in response to a user's request, and are stored in the memory 8M. The elements for determining this criterion include the imaging modality (imaging device), the imaging site, and the patient name (patient ID).
), examination name (examination ID), requesting department name (ID), imaging date and time, interpretation room name, etc. can be used alone or in combination. Each of the above-mentioned elements is used as ancillary data in pairs with image data.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

It is assumed that a user, such as an interpreter, inputs judgment criteria in advance from the input device 14 in response to this request, and the criteria are stored in the memory 8M of the CPU 8. In this state, when the user inputs a patient ID via the touch panel 12 in order to perform image interpretation, the workstation 4 requests the database 3 via the network 2 for the corresponding image.

The database 3 transmits images for a plurality of examinations, for example 10, including the latest examination of the patient, to the workstation 4 in the form of incidental data + image data, as shown in FIG. 2, and stores them in the hard disk 6.

The CPU 8 looks at the incidental data of the latest examination and compares it with the criteria stored in advance in the memory 8M to determine which images are frequently used. For example, if the latest examination is an X-ray CT scan of the head, the CPU 8 uses the accompanying data stored in the hard disk 6 and furthermore, from the database 3 via the network 2, images of the head from CT images taken in the past, for example, five examinations. and the image from the latest examination are stored in the image memory 5. This allows the image memory 5. The hard disk 6 and database 3 each store images classified as follows.

Image memory: CT, head, 5 examinations Hard disk: 10 examinations Database: All examinations The CPU 8 uses a correspondence table (exam ID - image ID - storage medium) and stores it in the memory 8M.

Next, the user selects the image I from the touch panel 12 for interpretation.
When D is input, a control signal based on this interrupts the CPU 8, and the CPU 8 takes in the information in the register. Next, by searching the correspondence table, the desired image is M
It is displayed on the display 7 via the DS9. This allows the user to interpret the desired image.

The user can arbitrarily input judgment criteria via the input device 14 whenever necessary. The input criteria are CP
The data is sequentially rewritten and stored in the memory 8M of U8.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the CPU 8 is configured to have a criterion for determining the frequency of images in advance according to the user's request, and is configured to be able to change the criterion according to the user's needs. It is possible to constantly judge the frequency of images to be stored in each storage medium and automatically store them in the optimal storage medium. This makes it possible to shorten the time it takes to retrieve images from a storage medium in order of frequency and display them on a workstation, thereby improving the efficiency of image interpretation.

Input devices such as touch panels are not limited to these, but include mice,
Other means can be used, such as a keyboard, etc. Moreover, any specific content of each storage medium can be used.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a judgment criterion that can be changed as appropriate according to the user's request is set in advance, and the frequency of images to be stored is checked by comparing with this criterion. After determining the image quality, images are stored in the most suitable storage medium, so frequently used images are given priority over other images and can be stored in a storage medium with a short retrieval time, improving interpretation efficiency. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the routine image interpretation system of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram necessary for explaining the present embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional example. 1... Image capturing device, 3... Database, 4...
...Workstation, 5...Image memory (high speed memory), 6...Hard disk (low speed memory), 7...Display, 8...CPU (Central Processing Unit), 8M...Memory, 14... Input device. 2...touch panel,

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a routine interpretation system, medical images retrieved from a database via a network are stored in high-speed memory and low-speed memory of a workstation, and desired medical images are displayed on the workstation as necessary. means for determining the frequency by comparing it with preset criteria; A control means for automatically storing each image in a database, a display control means for extracting and displaying the corresponding image from a storage location in response to a user's request for image display, and a means for inputting judgment criteria in response to a user's request. A routine image interpretation system that is characterized by: