JPH0628455A - Tomographic image processing method, living body magnetic field measuring method, living body magnetic field measuring result display method and devices therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain delicate image data, based on a tomographic image at every prescribed interval by dividing a space which becomes a processing object into prescribed small stereo scopic areas, counting stereoscopic image data contained in each small stereoscopic area, and binarizing the small stereoscopic area based on a counting value. CONSTITUTION:Based on a tomographic image at a prescribed interval, an interpolating operation is executed and stereoscopic image data is obtained (SP4). A space which becomes a processing object is divided into prescribed small stereoscopic areas, stereoscopic image data contained in each stereoscopic area is counted (SP5), and based on a counting value, the small stereoscopic area is binarized. Even if only the tomographic image at every prescribed interval is obtained, the stereoscopic image data is obtained so as to correspond to all spaces by executing an interpolating operation, and also, by binarizing the small stereoscopic area based on the number of stereoscopic image data contained in the divided small stereoscopic areas, a simplified stereoscopic image can be obtained. Accordingly, in the case where the displayed is executed visibly, the part corresponding to internal organs, etc., and the part corresponding to the space can be recognized simply.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tomographic image processing method, a biomagnetic field measurement method, a biomagnetic field measurement result display method, and these devices, and more specifically, detailed image data based on tomographic images at predetermined intervals. Tomographic image processing method and device therefor, new biomagnetic field measuring method and device therefor for analyzing a biomagnetic field source based on fine image data obtained by the tomographic image processing method, and biomagnetic field The present invention relates to a novel biomagnetic field measurement result display method and apparatus for displaying the source analysis result in an easily understandable state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to display a biomagnetic field analysis result in a state in which it is easy to understand, a method of visually superimposing a magnetic field source while displaying a tomographic image such as an MRI image is employed. Has been done. Further, as a method of visually superimposing and displaying the magnetic field source, a method of two-dimensionally displaying the magnetic field source in a state of being superposed with a tomographic image closest to the magnetic field source and a method of displaying a plurality of tomographic images three-dimensionally A method of displaying the source in three dimensions has been proposed.

As a method for measuring the biomagnetic field, a measuring method for dealing with the case where the magnetic field source is a single dipole and a case for assuming that the magnetic field source is a plurality of current elements are dealt with. A measurement method for this has been proposed. The former method is a method of calculating the position and directionality of a single dipole based on the magnetic field measurement results at a plurality of points near the body surface. Further, the latter method assumes the existence of a plurality of current elements (usually about 30 to 100 current elements), and based on the magnetic field measurement result at a measurement point significantly larger than the number of current elements. This is a method of performing a calculation to calculate the position and directionality of the plurality of current pieces.

Further, an arrow map display for displaying a current element obtained as a current vector by performing a magnetic field source analysis based on a biomagnetic measurement result, or a contour map display based on isomagnetic lines is known. When used for medical analysis, the current element or the isomagnetic line in the organ is visually displayed by displaying the arrow indicating the current vector or the isomagnetic line on the MRI image in an overlapping manner. Is proposed.

[0005]

When the two-dimensional display method among the above magnetic field source display methods is adopted, it is extremely unlikely that the magnetic field source is located on any tomographic image, and Since the relative position of the magnetic field source (especially the relative position in the depth direction) with respect to the selected tomographic image cannot be grasped at all, the doctor etc. must grasp the position of the magnetic field source accurately even when looking at the two-dimensional superimposed display. Has the disadvantage that it becomes very difficult. Although the tomographic image shows the presence or absence of an organ inside the living body, it is highly possible that the shape of the organ in the depth direction will deviate from the shape of the tomographic image. There is a high possibility that the magnetic field source will be displayed at a position where there is no, and from this point too, it becomes very difficult to accurately grasp the position of the magnetic field source.

Further, when the three-dimensional display method is adopted, since only a plurality of tomographic images are present as reference images, it is very difficult to grasp the positional relationship with organs. Since there is no mark other than the tomographic image, there is a disadvantage that it is very difficult to grasp the depth and depth of the magnetic field source. Among the methods for measuring the biomagnetic field measurement, if a measurement method for dealing with the case where the magnetic field source is assumed to be a single dipole is adopted, only a single dipole is obtained as the measurement result. Not only is it inconvenient to deal with the measurement of a distributed magnetic field source typified by volume current flowing during the movement of an organ, but it is also disadvantageous in that it tends to converge to a solution that is too deep.

Further, when a method for coping with the case where the magnetic field source is assumed to be a plurality of current elements is adopted, it is possible to measure the distributed magnetic field source. However, since it is generally necessary to assume a current element of about 30 to 100, if all current elements are to be measured, an array sensor of about 200 to 1000 channels is provided. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain a large number of magnetic field measurement values and perform an operation for estimating each current element based on the obtained large number of magnetic field measurement values. Since tera-flops are required as the calculation load for the estimation processing in the above case, there is a disadvantage that the system as a whole becomes significantly large and expensive. In addition, there is a high probability that the estimation process will converge to a local minimum, and the probability that accurate current element estimation can be achieved will be significantly reduced.

Further, both of the arrow map display and the isomagnetic line display visually display the biomagnetic field measurement value at a specific timing, that is, the distribution, and are not suitable for displaying the dynamic biomagnetic field measurement value. Appropriate. More specifically, it is possible to dynamically display the current elements by the arrow map display, but generally, the number of current elements in the organ is set to a number sufficient to display the volume current. Must. That is, a remarkably large number of current pieces must be displayed as vectors. And since the direction and size of all these current elements change from moment to moment,
Even if you see the arrow that overlaps with the MRI image,
For example, there is an inconvenience that the propagation state of the excitation current of the organ cannot be easily grasped.

Even if the contour map display is applied to the display of the dynamic biomagnetic field measurement value, since the isomagnetic lines are originally unsuitable for the display of individual current elements, the propagation state of the excitation current of the ultimate organ is It cannot be adopted for grasping.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a novel tomographic image processing method and apparatus capable of obtaining fine image data based on tomographic images at predetermined intervals. It is a first object of the present invention to provide a biomagnetic field measuring method and apparatus capable of easily and accurately analyzing a biomagnetic field source based on fine image data obtained by a tomographic image processing method. As a second object, a third object is to provide a biophysical quantity measurement result display method and device for displaying a dynamic biophysical quantity measurement value in a state where it is easy to grasp.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tomographic image processing method, wherein interpolation processing is performed based on tomographic images at predetermined intervals to obtain three-dimensional image data. This is a method in which the space to be processed is divided into predetermined small solid regions, the stereoscopic image data contained in each small solid region is counted, and the small solid regions are binarized based on the count value.

A tomographic image processing apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is a tomographic image interpolating means for obtaining stereoscopic image data by performing an interpolation operation based on tomographic images at predetermined intervals, and a space to be processed into a predetermined small three-dimensional area. It includes space partitioning means for partitioning, stereoscopic image data counting means for counting stereoscopic image data included in each partitioned small solid area, and binarizing means for binarizing the small solid area based on the count value. I'm out.

In order to achieve the second object, a biomagnetic field measuring method according to a third aspect of the present invention is a magnetic field source different according to the position information of the apexes of the small solid region obtained by the tomographic image processing method according to the first aspect. A plurality of Biot-Savart's laws are calculated based on information, the difference between the calculated magnetic field value obtained by cumulatively adding the calculation results and the measured magnetic field measurement value is calculated, and each calculation formula is based on the calculated difference. Correct the magnetic field source information contained in
In this method, the series of processes described above is repeated until the difference becomes sufficiently small, and then the magnetic field source information included in each arithmetic expression is output as the biomagnetic field measurement result.

According to the biomagnetic field measuring method of claim 4, instead of the correction based on the calculated difference, the correction amount of each coordinate component of each vertex of each small three-dimensional area is calculated, and the correction amount of each coordinate component is coded. This is a method in which the correction target vertex is obtained based on the correction target and the magnetic field source information estimated value is redistributed to the obtained correction target vertex based on the correction amount of each coordinate component.

According to a fifth aspect of the biomagnetic field measuring apparatus of the present invention.
Calculating means for calculating a plurality of Biot-Savart's laws based on different magnetic field source information based on the position information of the vertices of the small three-dimensional area obtained by the tomographic image processing method, and the calculation result output from each calculating means A cumulative addition means for cumulatively adding, an error calculation means for calculating an error by inputting the cumulative addition result and the magnetic field measurement value output from the cumulative addition means, and correction of the magnetic field source information in each calculation means based on the calculated error. And a correction result collecting unit that collects the result corrected by the correcting unit and outputs the result as a biomagnetic field measurement result.

According to a sixth aspect of the biomagnetic field measuring apparatus, as correction means, correction amount calculation means for calculating the correction amount of each coordinate component of each vertex of each small three-dimensional area, and the code of the correction amount of each coordinate component are used. And a redistribution means for reallocating the estimated magnetic field source information value to the obtained correction target vertices based on the correction amount of each coordinate component. Is used.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for displaying a biomagnetic field measurement result, which is based on absolute values of biophysical quantity measurement values corresponding to a plurality of points in a living body. It is a method of setting a size, displaying a anatomical structure reference image, and displaying a unit graphic having a size set at a corresponding position of the anatomical structure reference image. The biomagnetic field measurement result display method according to claim 8 is a method for displaying a unit figure composed of a circle.

The biomagnetic field measurement result display device according to claim 9 is
Unit graphic size setting means for setting the size of the unit graphic based on the absolute value of the biophysical quantity measurement value corresponding to each of a plurality of points in the living body, biometric image display means for displaying the biostructure reference image, and biometric structure And unit graphic display means for displaying a unit graphic of a size set at a corresponding position of the reference image. The biomagnetic field measurement result display device according to a tenth aspect displays a unit figure composed of a circle.

[0019]

According to the tomographic image processing method of the first aspect, interpolation calculation is performed based on tomographic images at predetermined intervals to obtain stereoscopic image data, and the space to be processed is divided into predetermined small stereoscopic regions. Since the stereoscopic image data included in each small stereoscopic region is counted and the small stereoscopic region is binarized based on the count value, interpolation calculation is performed even if only tomographic images at predetermined intervals are obtained. To obtain stereoscopic image data corresponding to the entire space,
Moreover, a simplified stereoscopic image can be obtained by binarizing the small stereoscopic area based on the number of stereoscopic image data included in the divided small stereoscopic area. Therefore, when visually displayed, a part corresponding to an organ or the like and a part corresponding to a space can be easily recognized.

As the interpolation calculation, an interpolation calculation appropriately selected from linear interpolation calculation, spline interpolation calculation and the like may be adopted. Further, with respect to the number of stereoscopic image data when the small stereoscopic region is binarized, a threshold value may be appropriately set so as to match the type of tomographic image, the target organ, and the like.
Further, the small three-dimensional region may be any three-dimensional region that can densely fill the space, but in consideration of the simplification of the post-treatment, the cubic region is most preferable.

According to the tomographic image processing apparatus of the second aspect, the tomographic image interpolating means performs interpolation calculation based on the tomographic images at predetermined intervals to obtain stereoscopic image data. Further, the space to be processed is divided into predetermined small solid regions by the space dividing means. Then, the stereoscopic image data counting means counts the stereoscopic image data contained in each of the divided small stereoscopic regions,
The binarizing means binarizes the small solid region based on the count value. When visually displayed, a part corresponding to an organ or the like and a part corresponding to a space can be easily recognized. Claim 3
According to the biomagnetic field measuring method of claim 1, a plurality of Biot-Savart's laws are calculated based on different magnetic field source information based on the position information of the vertices of the small three-dimensional region obtained by the tomographic image processing method of claim 1, Calculate the difference between the calculated magnetic field value obtained by cumulatively adding each calculation result and the measured magnetic field measurement value, correct the magnetic field source information included in each calculation formula based on the calculated difference, and make the difference sufficiently small. The magnetic field source information contained in each arithmetic expression is output as the biomagnetic field measurement result after repeating the above series of processing until the cumulative addition value of the plurality of Biot-Savart law calculation results is the magnetic field measurement value. The magnetic field source information at the apex of each small three-dimensional region can be obtained by performing correction until it is approximated with high accuracy. Also,
Since the position information of the vertices of the small solid region is already known, the number of unknowns to be estimated can be greatly reduced.

According to the biomagnetic field measuring method of claim 4, the correction amount of each coordinate component of each vertex of each small solid region is calculated, and the correction target vertex is obtained based on the sign of the correction amount of each coordinate component. , The magnetic field source information estimated value is redistributed to the obtained correction target vertices based on the correction amount of each coordinate component, so that the correction based on the calculated difference is performed. Even if there are magnetic field source vectors that have the same magnitude and opposite directions that are assigned by, these can be corrected without fail, and the estimated magnetic field source information can be obtained with higher accuracy. . In addition, since the estimation is performed by redistributing between the adjacent vertices, it is possible to obtain high accuracy based on the number of measurement points which is smaller than the number of measurement points that has been conventionally required according to the number of magnetic field source information to be estimated. The magnetic field source estimation can be achieved.

According to the biomagnetic field measuring apparatus of claim 5, a plurality of magnetic field source information based on different magnetic source information is calculated by the calculating means based on the position information of the vertices of the small solid region obtained by the tomographic image processing method of claim 1. The Biot-Savart law is calculated, and the cumulative addition means cumulatively adds the calculation results output from the respective calculation means. Then, the error calculation means calculates an error based on the cumulative addition result output from the cumulative addition means and the magnetic field measurement value, and the correction means corrects the magnetic field source information in each calculation means based on the calculated error. After the correction processing by the correction means has been performed a required number of times, the correction result collection means collects the results corrected by the correction means and outputs the results as the biomagnetic field measurement results. Source information can be obtained. Further, since the position information of the vertices of the small solid region is known, the number of unknowns to be estimated can be greatly reduced, and the configuration of the entire device can be simplified.

In the magnetic field source measuring device according to the sixth aspect, the correction amount calculating means calculates the correction amount of each coordinate component of each vertex of each small solid region, and the correction amount is corrected based on the code of the correction amount of each coordinate component. Calculation is performed by extracting the correction target vertices by the target vertex extraction means, and reallocating the magnetic field source information estimated value to the obtained correction target vertices based on the correction amount of each coordinate component by the redistribution means. Since the correction is performed based on the difference, even if there are magnetic field source vectors that are assigned close to each other and have the same magnitude and opposite directions, they can be reliably corrected. The magnetic field source information estimated with higher accuracy can be obtained. In addition, since the estimation is performed by redistributing between the adjacent vertices, it is possible to obtain high accuracy based on the number of measurement points which is smaller than the number of measurement points that has been conventionally required according to the number of magnetic field source information to be estimated. The magnetic field source estimation can be achieved.

The method for measuring the biomagnetic field will be described in more detail. As a result of the earnest research conducted by the present inventor on the measurement of the biomagnetic field, the following has been found out. Since the vertices of each small solid region are obtained by the tomographic image processing method, the coordinate values are known. Therefore, the information necessary to obtain the magnetic field source information at each vertex is only the vector component of the current element.

Further, one vertex of one small solid region is
Since it also serves as the vertices of other adjacent small solid regions, even if the number of small solid regions increases, the number of vertices does not increase in proportion to the increase of small solid regions. If the number is large enough, the number of vertices and the number of small solid regions are almost equal. Furthermore, since the current element at one vertex correlates with other current elements in the vicinity, the amount of information per current element at one vertex is significantly higher than that in the case of estimating a general unknown quantity. Can be reduced.

Furthermore, since the current fragments at the vertices that are not magnetic field sources converge to the 0 vector, the number of current fragments that must be finally estimated is significantly reduced. The inventions of claims 3 to 6 were made based on the above findings, and at the time of starting the measurement, unknown current elements (the number is unknown) are estimated. The capacity of the measurement system, without considering the number
By obtaining a predetermined number of magnetic field measurement values that are determined based on the capacity, etc. and repeating the correction process of the magnetic field source information based on the predetermined number of magnetic field measurement values, it is possible to achieve highly accurate estimation of unknown current elements. The result can be adopted as the biomagnetic field measurement result.

According to the biomagnetic field measurement result display method of claim 7, in displaying the biomagnetic field measurement result together with the biostructure reference image, the absolute value of the biomagnetic field measurement value corresponding to each of a plurality of points in the living body is displayed. The size of the unit figure is set based on the value, the anatomical structure reference image is displayed, and the unit figure of the size set at the corresponding position of the anatomical structure reference image is displayed. Compared with the case where the magnetic field measurement result is displayed, for example, the distribution state of the maximum biomagnetic field measurement result can be easily recognized. However, although it is not possible to understand the direction component of the biomagnetic field, if the biomagnetic field measurement result is dynamically displayed, for example, it is possible to easily recognize the temporal variation of the distribution state of the maximum biomagnetic field measurement result. Therefore, there is no particular inconvenience. In medical analysis, where displaying biomagnetic field measurement results is most meaningful, it is generally required that the distribution and temporal variation of the maximum biomagnetic field measurement result can be easily grasped. This is the most suitable method for this request.

According to the biomagnetic field measurement result display method of claim 8, in addition to the effect of claim 7, since the unit figures are circles, the gaps between the unit figures can be considerably enlarged, and the background biostructure reference image. It becomes easy to understand. According to the biomagnetic field measurement result display device of claim 9, in displaying the biomagnetic field measurement result together with the anatomical structure reference image, based on the absolute value of the biomagnetic field measurement value corresponding to each of a plurality of points in the living body. The unit figure size setting means sets the size of the unit figure, the living body image display means displays the anatomical structure reference image, and the unit figure display means displays the unit figure of the size set at the corresponding position of the anatomical structure reference image. Since the information is displayed, it is possible to easily recognize, for example, the distribution state of the maximum biomagnetic field measurement result as compared with the case where the magnetic field measurement result is displayed in the direction and length of the arrow. However, although it is not possible to understand the direction component of the biomagnetic field, if the biomagnetic field measurement result is dynamically displayed, for example, it is possible to easily recognize the temporal variation of the distribution state of the maximum biomagnetic field measurement result. Therefore, there is no particular inconvenience. In medical analysis, where the display of biomagnetic field measurement results is most meaningful, it is generally desired that the distribution and temporal variation of the maximum biomagnetic field measurement result can be easily grasped. It is the most suitable device for this request.

According to the biomagnetic field measurement result display device of claim 10, in addition to the function of claim 9, since the unit figures are circles, the gaps between the unit figures can be considerably increased, and the background biostructure reference image. It becomes easy to understand.

[0031]

Embodiments will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings showing embodiments. FIG. 1 is a flow chart for explaining an embodiment of the tomographic image processing method of the present invention. In step SP1, the process waits until a tomographic image is given, and in step SP2, an interpolation process based on the given tomographic image is performed to perform an interpolated tomographic image. An image is obtained, and in step SP3, the given tomographic image and interpolated tomographic image are quantized into a square of a preset size, and in step SP4, the center of the quantized square is the center and one side is a square. A cube equal to one side is obtained, and in step SP5, the number of pixels forming a given tomographic image and the number of pixels forming an interpolated tomographic image are counted for any cube, and step SP6
At, it is determined whether or not the count value is larger than a preset threshold value (for example, the average value of all average values). Then, the cube whose count value is determined to be larger than the threshold value is assigned to the cube to be displayed in step SP7 (hereinafter referred to as a display cube), and conversely it is determined that the count value is not larger than the threshold value in step SP6. The created cube is assigned to a cube that is not displayed in step SP8 (hereinafter referred to as a non-display cube). After the processing in step SP7 or step SP8 is performed, it is determined in step SP9 whether or not the processing is completed for all the cubes, and if it is determined that there is an unprocessed cube, the step is performed. In SP10, another cube is selected and the process of step SP5 is performed again. If it is determined in step SP9 that the processing has been completed for all cubes, in step SP11 only the cube assigned to the display cube is visibly displayed, and the series of processing ends.

However, instead of the number of pixels included in the cube,
It goes without saying that the ratio of the number of tomographic image pixels to the total number of pixels in the cube and the corresponding threshold value may be adopted.
The tomographic image processing method will be further described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a tomographic image, and a solidly displayed portion shows a human organ. Figure 2
Since the center of the quantized square of the tomographic image shown in is given as shown by a small dot, a cube centered on the given dot is determined. Then, when the number of pixels included in the determined cube is larger than the threshold value, the cube is assigned to the display cube and the non-display cube as shown in plan view in FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view corresponding to FIG. 3, and only the cube assigned to the display cube is displayed. Therefore, the three-dimensional shape of the organ can be easily grasped by looking at the displayed cube.

By performing this series of processing for all tomographic images and interpolated tomographic images, the living organ can be visually displayed as a solid model. However, when the magnetic field source analysis result is displayed in a superimposed manner, it is preferable to display the cube assigned to the display cube in a semitransparent manner in order to easily confirm the magnetic field source analysis result. Further, by designating each organ in the tomographic image, it is possible to easily achieve display of only the relevant organ and color-coded display of a plurality of organs. Furthermore, since the non-display cube corresponds to the cavity of an organ, it is necessary to process only the display cube in the biomagnetic field source analysis described later, and the calculation load required for post-processing is greatly reduced. it can.

[0034]

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the tomographic image processing apparatus according to the present invention. The tomographic image holding unit 1 holds a plurality of tomographic images, and the tomographic image holding unit 1 serves as a processing target. A first tomographic image selection unit 2 that selects a tomographic image, a tomographic image interpolation unit 3 that obtains an interpolated tomographic image by performing interpolation processing based on the selected tomographic image, and an interpolated tomographic image holding unit 4 that holds the interpolated tomographic image.
A first iterative control unit 5 for repeatedly operating the tomographic image selecting unit 2 and the tomographic image interpolating unit 3 a required number of times, and holding the tomographic image in response to the end of the iterative operation control by the first iterative control unit 5. A second tomographic image selecting unit 6 that sequentially selects tomographic images from the unit 1 or the interpolated tomographic image holding unit 4, a cube allocating unit 7 that allocates a cube corresponding to the selected tomographic image, and exists in the allocated cubes. A pixel number counting unit 8 that counts the number of pixels to be processed, a determination unit 9 that determines whether or not the counted number of pixels is greater than a predetermined threshold, and a determination unit that indicates that the number of pixels is greater than a predetermined threshold. In response to the determination result of 9, the display cube assigning unit 10 assigns the corresponding cube to the display cube, and in response to the determination result of the determining unit 9 indicating that the number of pixels is not larger than a predetermined threshold value, the corresponding cube is assigned. Split into hidden cubes A non-display cube assigning unit 11, an assigning result holding unit 12 that holds the assigning result of a cube corresponding to a tomographic image and an interpolated tomographic image, a second tomographic image selecting unit 6, a cube assigning unit 7, and a pixel counting unit 8 , A second repetition control unit 13 for repeatedly operating the determination unit 9, the display cube allocation unit 10, and the non-display cube allocation unit 11 as many times as necessary, and a second repetition control unit 13.
The cube display unit 14 visually displays only the cube assigned to the display cube in response to the end of the repetitive operation control.

Therefore, by adopting the tomographic image processing apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 5, the tomographic image processing shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 and the visual display based on only the cube assigned to the display cube can be achieved.

[0036]

[Embodiment 3] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the biomagnetic field measuring apparatus of the present invention, in which a plurality of Biot-Savart computing units 1 for computing the Biot-Savart's law.
, 11m and the sigma unit 20 for cumulatively adding the calculation results output from the Biot-Savart operation units 111, 112, ..., 11m, and the accumulation output from the sigma unit 20. Addition result Oj
An error calculator 30 that calculates the difference between (t) and the magnetic field measurement value Sj (t) as the teacher pattern, and the bio-Savart calculation unit 1 based on the calculated difference.
Correction units 111a, 1 for correcting the vector component of the current element estimated at 11, 112, ..., 11m.
, 11 ma, and an information collecting unit 40 that collects vector components of current elements estimated in the Biot-Savart computing units 111, 112, ..., 11 m and outputs them as analysis results. is doing. still,
The bio-Savart operation units 111, 112, ...
., 11 m is in response to the time t, the position information of the vertex of the cube assigned to the display cube obtained by the tomographic image processing method of FIG. 1 or the tomographic image processing device of FIG. 5 is supplied as known information. Then, based on the known information, the Biot-Savart's law set in each Biot-Savart operation unit is calculated, and the estimated error dj (t) {= Sj (t ) -Oj
In response to the supply of (t)}, the vector component of the warm flow element included in the arithmetic expression is corrected so as to reduce the estimation error. Also, the Bio-Savart operation unit 111,
.., 11m may be controlled to operate synchronously, or may be controlled to operate asynchronously.

The operation of the biomagnetic field measuring apparatus having the above configuration is as follows. The magnetic field Oj (t) to be analyzed is the time t and the three-dimensional coordinate values xi, yi, z of the vertices of each small cube.
i (i is a positive integer, the same applies hereinafter) and a function gi (bio
It is a linear sum of functions determined based on Savart's law). However, when a magnetic field sensor that can measure only a vector component in a plane is used, any vector component can be omitted by adapting the coordinate system to the sensor. Further, since each small cube is obtained by the tomographic image processing method of FIG. 1 or the tomographic image processing device of FIG. 5, all three-dimensional coordinate values are known values.

Therefore, the time t and the three-dimensional coordinate values of each vertex of each small cube are supplied to m biot-Savart arithmetic units 111, 112, ..., 11m, and the functions g1, g2 ,. , Gm are calculated to calculate the function values, and all the calculated function values are supplied to the sigma unit 20 to obtain the cumulative addition value Oj (t). However, since the vector component of each current element is initially set appropriately, the obtained cumulative addition value Oj (t) is different from the actual measured value Sj (t).
Therefore, in the error calculator 30, the actual measured value Sj
The difference between (t) and the cumulative addition value Oj (t) is calculated, and the calculated difference is used as the estimation error dj (t) to correct the correction unit 11 of the Biot-Savart operation units 111, 112 ,.
1a, 112a, ..., 11ma are fed back, and the vector component of each Bio-Savall arithmetic unit is changed so that the estimation error dj (t) becomes small.

If the above series of processing is repeated, the estimation error dj
(T) becomes small and the estimation error dj (t) finally becomes almost 0. Therefore, at this point, the value of the vector component of the Biot-Savart operation unit is collected by the information collecting unit 40 and output. It is possible to obtain the vector component of the current element at each vertex of the cube. Further, if the estimation error evaluation function Ej (t) is defined by the following equation,
The number 1 is obtained. Ej (t) = (1/2) {Sj (t) -Oj (t)} ²

[0040]

[Equation 1]

If the correction of the vector component in each Biot-Savart operation unit is performed based on the steepest descent method, the estimation of the vector component that minimizes the estimation error evaluation function is performed based on Equation 2. You can
However, εk is a learning gain (correction gain) of the vector component aik.

[0042]

[Equation 2]

Since the partial differential value of the cumulative addition value Oj (t) by aik is given by equation 3, equation 2 can be expressed as equation 4.

[0044]

[Equation 3]

[0045]

[Equation 4]

Therefore, the accuracy of vector component estimation can be increased by performing the processing of Equation 4, and more accurate vector components can be obtained. The correction value may be set to a negative value when the estimated error dj (t) has a positive slope, and the correction value may be set to a positive value when the estimated error dj (t) has a negative slope. When the vector component of the current segment at each vertex is obtained as described above, the spatial interpolation processing of the vector is performed based on the current segment at each of the 8 vertices to obtain the magnetic flux density generated by each minute point, and each minute point is obtained. The magnetic field generated by each small cube can be obtained by integrating the magnetic flux density generated by. Therefore, the distributed current can be displayed in the form of mist based on the obtained result, or can be displayed in the arrow diagram by the arrow.

Further, the processing based on the apparatus of FIG. 6 may be performed only on the basis of the small cubes (small cubes assigned to the display cubes) obtained by the embodiment of FIG. 1 or FIG. In the case of targeting, the internal cavity part of the organ is not included in the target of processing from the beginning, and the processing load can be reduced. Also, since each vertex of each small cube also serves as a vertex of another small cube with a fairly high probability, the increase rate of the number of vertices to be processed becomes smaller than the increase rate of the number of small cubes. From this point as well, the processing load can be reduced.

Further, regarding the number of measurement points for obtaining the magnetic field measurement value, it was thought that a larger number of measurement points than the number of unknowns would be required when performing analysis of a general inverse problem. , It was found that sufficient estimation of vector components can be achieved with relatively few measurement points. Therefore,
Since the number of measurement points can be made relatively small, the processing load as a whole can be reduced.

This point will be described in more detail. Conventionally, organs and the like have not been defined as a set of small cubes at all, and therefore, for example, measurement points which are not less than the number of current elements to be estimated are necessary. As a result, if the number of current pieces was not determined, the number of measurement points was set in consideration of sufficient safety. In particular,
Since the position, direction, and size of the current flowing through the organ change with the passage of time, the number of current pieces must be enormous. However, in this embodiment, since the position of each small cube is fixed in advance, the current element in the small cube that does not affect the measurement point will converge to the 0 vector. And
Since the subsequent estimation process is unnecessary for the current element that has converged to the 0 vector, highly accurate estimation of the vector component can be achieved based only on the magnetic field measurement values obtained at relatively few measurement points.

[0050]

[Embodiment 3] FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the biomagnetic field measuring apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing in detail the configuration of the portion corresponding to one hierarchical perceptron, and multi-input One output multiple hierarchical perceptron 10
p (p = 1, 2, ..., M) and the sigma unit 200 that cumulatively adds the function value output gij from the hierarchical perceptron 10p, and the cumulative addition result Oj (t that is output from the sigma unit 200. ) And the measured value Sj (t) as the teacher pattern, and a function value error calculator 300 for calculating the difference between the two, and each hierarchical perceptron 10
Partial differential value calculation unit 10pr (r = 1, 2, ... N) for calculating a partial differential value corresponding to the function value output gij from p
And the partial differential value calculation unit 1 of each hierarchical perceptron 10p
A partial differential value error calculator 30pr and a function value error calculator 300 that calculate the difference between the input from the output from 0pr and the partial differential value (partial differential value teacher pattern) calculated in advance by the numerical differential method or the like. The partial differential function learning unit 60p that causes the relevant hierarchical perceptron 10p to learn the partial differential function based on the difference calculated by the above and the partial differential value error arithmetic unit 30pr, and the function value error arithmetic unit 300. In the input layer of the hierarchical perceptron 10p based on the difference between the cumulative addition result Oj (t) calculated by the above and the measurement value Sj (t) as the teacher pattern and the partial differential value calculated by the partial differential value calculating unit 10pr. The correction unit 12p that corrects the input, the correction unit 12p, and the partial differential function learning unit 60p are selected, and the selected correction unit 12p or bias Control unit causes the function learning unit 60p (the number of times that can sufficiently reduce the difference) predetermined number of times repeated operations 4
00 and an information collection unit 500 that outputs an input corresponding to an unknown vector component of each hierarchical perceptron 10p as an unknown quantity estimation result on condition that the correction is repeated a predetermined number of times by the correction unit 12p. There is. Each of the hierarchical perceptrons 10p described above sufficiently learns a function based on the Biot-Savart law by giving a known input pattern and a corresponding teacher pattern. Further, the hierarchical perceptrons 10p may be controlled to operate synchronously, and
You may control so that it may operate asynchronously.

The partial differential function learning unit 60p, for example, learns the hierarchical perceptron 10p based on the difference calculated by the function value error calculator 300 (eg, back propagation learning) and the partial differential value error calculator 30.
The learning of the hierarchical perceptron 10p based on the difference calculated by pr is alternately repeated, and the learning of the partial differential function can be performed without significantly impairing the learning result of the function.

Further, each of the correction units 12p has a plurality of correction units, and the difference calculated by the function value error calculator 300 and the difference calculated by the partial differential value calculation unit 10pk are input to the corresponding unknown quantity. To correct. The operation of the unknown quantity estimation device having the above configuration is as follows. Since learning based on the Biot-Savart law has been completed in each hierarchical perceptron 10p, an output pattern is obtained by slightly changing any one of known inputs corresponding to unknown vector components. The partial differential value calculation unit 10pr obtains the corresponding partial differential value. still,
A partial differential value when a known input corresponding to an unknown vector component is changed by a small amount is calculated in advance by a numerical differential method or the like and given as a partial differential value teacher pattern.
In this state, the control unit 40 controls the partial differential function learning unit 6
0p is selected, and the backpropagation learning is performed again by repeatedly operating the selected partial differential function learning unit 60p a predetermined number of times, which is equivalent to the function based on Biot-Savart law and the calculation of the partial differential function of this function. The weights and threshold values of the neuron elements constituting each hierarchical perceptron 10p are determined so that the processing can be achieved.

Any of the hierarchical perceptrons 10p
If the weights and thresholds obtained as a result of learning are adopted as they are as the weights and thresholds of other hierarchical perceptrons, learning of functions and learning of partial differential functions can be omitted for other hierarchical perceptrons. The time required can be greatly reduced. After the necessary learning is completed as described above, the control unit 4 is replaced with the partial differential function learning unit 60P.
00, the correction unit 12p is selected and the information collecting unit 500 is operated, and the vector component can be accurately estimated as in the embodiment of FIG.

[0054]

[Fourth Embodiment] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the biomagnetic field measuring method of the present invention.
7 is different from the embodiment of FIG. 7 in that the partial differential value calculator 10p provided for each hierarchical perceptron in the embodiment of FIG.
Instead of r, an input changing unit 15p that changes only one input by a small amount, an output holding unit 16p that holds the output before and after the change of one input, and a difference calculation unit 17p that calculates the difference between both outputs are provided. Only points.

Therefore, in the case of this embodiment, the output change corresponding to the minute change of only one input can be calculated without performing the partial differential calculation, and this output change corresponds to the partial differential value. It is possible to achieve the same operation as the above embodiment. Further, since learning of the partial differential function is unnecessary in this embodiment, the time required for learning can be greatly reduced.

[0056]

Fifth Embodiment FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the magnetic field source measuring apparatus of the present invention, showing only one unit. A plurality of Bio-Savart operation units 11i that perform the operation of Biot-Savart's law, and a current element that collects the vector components of the current elements estimated in the Bio-Savart operation unit 11i and outputs them as an analysis result. A correction amount calculation unit 41i for calculating the correction amounts Δx, Δy, Δz based on the collection unit 40a and the three-dimensional coordinate values obtained by the method of FIG. 1 or the apparatus of FIG.
And a vertex extraction unit 42i that extracts adjacent vertices to be redistributed of the estimated vector component of the current element based on the calculated signs of the correction amounts Δx, Δy, and Δz, and the correction amounts Δx and Δy. , Δz, a normalization unit 43i that normalizes the correction vector, and a redistribution ratio calculation unit 44i that calculates the redistribution ratio based on the absolute value of each component of the normalized correction vector. Redistribution unit 45i for reallocating the estimated value to the vector component of the current element estimated for the vertex extracted based on the vector component of the current element and the calculated redistribution ratio, and a redistribution unit 45i. The estimated value updating unit 46i that updates the estimated value of the vector component of the corresponding current element based on the redistributed value that is redistributed by, and the correction amounts Δx, Δy, for all the vertices.
The Bio-Savart operation unit 11i, the correction amount calculation unit 41i, the vertex extraction unit 42i, the normalization unit 43i, the redistribution ratio calculation unit 44i, and the redistribution unit 45 until Δz becomes sufficiently small.
i and the estimated value updating unit 46i.

In the estimated value updating section 46i,
When receiving distribution from multiple adjacent vertices, instead of adding the redistribution ratio from each adjacent vertex, calculate the average value of all redistribution ratios and calculate the current value (redistribution to other adjacent vertices). The new estimated value is obtained by adding it to the remaining ratio). The correction amount calculation unit 41i
For example, by calculating the partial differential value of the function value calculated by the Biot-Savart operation unit, the correction amounts Δx, Δ
to obtain y and Δz.

The operation of the biomagnetic field measuring apparatus having the above configuration is as follows. In each of the Biot-Savart operation units, gij = (μ0 / 4π) {(Yji × pxi−Xji ×
pyi) / Rji ³ }. Here, μ0 indicates the magnetic permeability, and i (i
= 1, 2, ..., N) indicates the current element at each vertex of each small cube, and j (j = 1, 2, ..., m) indicates the measurement point, and the measurement condition of the measurement point To Pj = (xj, y
j, zj) and the unknown physical quantity of the current element are Ui = (xi,
yi, zi, pxi, pyi), Xji = x
j-xi, Yji = yj- yi, a Zji = zj-zi, Rji = (Xji 2 + Yji 2 + Zji 2) ^1/2.

Therefore, if the result obtained by the Biot-Savart operation unit is supplied to the corresponding correction amount calculation section 41, the value obtained by partially differentiating the above-mentioned operation expression by each unknown is obtained. The arithmetic expressions for obtaining these partial differential values are given by Equations 5 to 9.

[0060]

[Equation 5]

[0061]

[Equation 6]

[0062]

[Equation 7]

[0063]

[Equation 8]

[0064]

[Equation 9]

That is, the partial differential operation of the equations 5 to 7 and Sj-
The correction amounts Δx, Δy, and Δz can be obtained based on Oj. When the correction amounts Δx, Δy, and Δz are obtained, the vertex extraction unit 42i serves as a redistribution target of the estimated vector component of the current element based on the signs of the calculated correction amounts Δx, Δy, and Δz. Extract adjacent vertices. Specifically, since the correction vector is obtained as shown by the broken line in FIG. 11, the vertices indicated by double circles are extracted as the adjacent vertices to be redistributed. Then, the normalization unit 43i
The correction vector is normalized by, and the redistribution ratio calculation unit 44 is based on the absolute value of each component of the normalized correction vector.
The redistribution ratio is calculated by i, and the redistribution unit 45i
The estimated value is redistributed to the vector component of the estimated current element and the vector component of the current element estimated for the vertex extracted by the vertex extraction unit 42i. In this case, the vector component of each current element may be redistributed based on a plurality of modified vectors. However, if these are simply added, the value before the reallocation and the value after the reallocation are significantly increased. In contrast, since there is a risk of impairing the stability of the estimation, in the estimated value updating unit 46i, the average of the redistributed values (the plural A new vector component estimated value is obtained by adding (the average of the redistribution ratios based on the modified vector).

Hereinafter, the correction amounts Δx, Δ for all the vertices
The iterative control unit 47 controls the biot-Savart operation unit 11i, the coordinate value collection unit 40a, the correction amount calculation unit 41i, the vertex extraction unit 42i, the normalization unit 43i, the redistribution ratio calculation unit 44i until y and Δz are sufficiently small. Redistribute unit 45
By repeating the processing of i and the estimated value updating unit 46i, highly accurate estimation of the current element can be achieved. When the estimation process is repeated by the iterative control unit 47, since the three-dimensional coordinate values of the vertices of each small cube are fixed, the correction amounts Δx, Δy, and Δz are directly expressed by the equations 5 and 6. However, since the vector component of the current element is changed by the redistribution process, it is indirectly reflected through the vector component. That is, Xj in Equation 5, Equation 6, Equation 7, Equation 8 and Equation 9
i, Yji, Zji, and Rji do not change from the beginning of estimation to the end of estimation, only pxi and pyi change, and finally highly accurate estimated pxi and pyi can be obtained. As a result, for example, as shown in FIG. 12A, even if the current pieces that cancel each other are assigned to the positions that are close to each other, the redistribute processing is performed to perform the redistributing process.
As shown in (B), the estimation is performed, and it is possible to reliably eliminate the inconvenience that currents that cancel each other remain at positions where no current exists. Note that, in FIG. 12, black circles represent vertices to be processed, and white circles represent adjacent vertices.

14 to 18 show the vicinity of the Q wave based on the magnetic field distribution chart obtained by synchronously adding the magnetocardiograms measured at 6 × 6 points at 3 cm intervals using a 1-channel magnetometer using the electrocardiogram. It is a figure which shows the magnetic field source estimation result of time, and it turns out that the estimation result which can be approximated to the volume current of the heart confirmed medically with high precision is obtained. Incidentally, FIG. 13 shows M
It is the vertex information with a depth of 6 cm obtained based on the RI image. FIGS. 14 to 18 show 35 msec before the R wave appears, and FIG.
It is the estimation result corresponding to the time of 33 msec, 30 msec, 25 msec, and 20 msec, and the large black circle indicates the wall of the heart, and the current segment is indicated by the line segment starting from the black circle.

In this embodiment, it is possible to employ a hierarchical perceptron in place of each Biot-Savart operation unit.

[0069]

[Embodiment 7] FIG. 19 is a flow chart for explaining an embodiment of a method for displaying a biomagnetic field measurement result of the present invention. In step SP1, the current element at a predetermined time point in a plane corresponding to a biotomographic image is displayed. Wait until the position and magnitude (absolute value of excitation current) are obtained, and then step S
A circle having a diameter corresponding to each size of the plurality of current pieces is assigned in P2, a biological tomographic image is displayed in step SP3, and the assigned circle is overlapped with the biological tomographic image in the corresponding location in step SP4. In step SP5, it is determined whether or not the end of the excitation current display is instructed. If the end is not instructed, the position and size of the current element at different time points are obtained in step SP6. Then, the process of step SP2 is performed again. On the contrary, if the end is instructed in step SP5, the series of processes is ended as it is. However, regarding the allocation of the circle in step SP2, a circle having a diameter that exactly corresponds to the size of the current element may be allocated. However, the size of the current element is divided into a plurality of steps, and each size is divided into a plurality of sections. The diameter of the circle may be assigned to change correspondingly.

[0070]

[Embodiment 8] FIG. 20 is a flow chart for explaining another embodiment of the biomagnetic field measurement / result display method of the present invention.
In step SP1, wait until the location of an organ or the like in the plane corresponding to the tomographic image is detected, and in step SP2, a normal circle having a predetermined diameter is assigned to the location of the organ or the like, and then step SP3. In step SP4, wait until the position and size of the current element at a predetermined point in the plane are obtained, and in step SP4, the diameter corresponding to each size of the plurality of current elements is emphasized instead of the corresponding circle. A display circle is assigned, a biological tomographic image is displayed in step SP5, and step SP
In 6, the assigned circle is displayed at the corresponding position in a state of overlapping with the biological tomographic image, and it is determined in step SP7 whether or not the end of the excitation current display has been instructed. If the end has not been instructed, , Step SP8
In step S4, the process of step SP4 is performed again after waiting until the position and size of the current element at different times are obtained. On the contrary, when the end is instructed in step SP7, the series of processes is ended as it is.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a display example of the excitation current according to this embodiment, and it can be seen that remarkably high visibility is exhibited. In addition, normal circles are displayed corresponding to organs and the like even where there is no excitation current, and there are considerable gaps between the circles, and tomographic images can be easily confirmed through this gap. it can. Particularly, when the excitation current is displayed in time series, for example, the state in which the maximum excitation current changes can be easily grasped.

[0072]

[Embodiment 9] FIG. 22 is a flow chart for explaining still another embodiment of the biomagnetic field measurement result display method of the present invention, and waits until the position and size of the current element at a predetermined time point are obtained in step SP1. , Step S
In P2, a sphere having a diameter corresponding to each size of the plurality of current pieces is assigned, and in step SP3, the anatomical structure reference image is three-dimensionally displayed semitransparently, and in step SP4.
In step SP5, the assigned sphere is displayed at the corresponding position in a state of overlapping with the anatomical structure reference image.
In step SP6, it is determined whether or not the end of the excitation current display is instructed. If the end is not instructed, step SP6.
In step S2, the process of step SP2 is performed again after waiting until the position and size of the current element at different times are obtained. On the contrary, if the end is instructed in step SP5, the series of processes is ended as it is.

Therefore, in the case of this embodiment, a sphere having a diameter corresponding to the size of the current element can be displayed in association with the three-dimensional anatomical structure reference image, and the sphere is displayed in time series. This makes it possible to easily grasp the three-dimensional propagation direction of the exciting current.

[0074]

[Embodiment 10] FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the biomagnetic field measurement result display device of the present invention, in which an analysis result holding unit 600 for holding the current element analysis result and the size of the current element are shown. Circle assigning section 7 for assigning circles of corresponding diameters
00, a tomographic image display unit 800 that displays a biological tomographic image,
It has a circle display unit 900 that displays a circle having a diameter assigned to the tomographic image in an overlapped state.

Therefore, the circle corresponding to the size of the current element can be displayed by being overlapped with the display of the biological tomographic image, and the visibility of the exciting current can be remarkably enhanced. Then, the propagation direction of the excitation current can be easily grasped by displaying the circles in an overlapped manner based on the analysis result in time series. In Examples 7 to 10 described above, for example, when it is possible to allow a slight decrease in the visibility of the biological image, it is possible to display a square instead of a circle and a cube instead of a sphere. Various design changes can be made without changing the gist of the invention.

[0076]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, even if only tomographic images at predetermined intervals are obtained, the interpolation calculation is performed to obtain stereoscopic image data corresponding to the entire space, and the division is performed. A simplified stereoscopic image can be obtained by binarizing the small stereoscopic region based on the number of stereoscopic image data included in the generated small stereoscopic region. It has a unique effect that it is possible to easily recognize a part corresponding to the space and a part corresponding to the space.

According to the second aspect of the invention, even if only tomographic images at predetermined intervals are obtained, stereoscopic image data corresponding to the entire space can be obtained by performing the interpolation operation, and the divided small stereoscopic regions can be obtained. A simplified stereoscopic image can be obtained by binarizing the small stereoscopic region based on the number of stereoscopic image data included, and thus, when visually displayed, a part or space corresponding to an organ or the like. It has a unique effect of easily recognizing the part corresponding to.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the magnetic field at the apex of each small three-dimensional region is corrected by correcting the cumulative addition value of the plurality of Biot-Savart's law calculation results to be close to the magnetic field measurement value with high accuracy. The source information can be obtained, and the processing load as a whole can be significantly reduced, which is a unique effect. According to the invention of claim 4, even when there are magnetic field source vectors which are assigned in the state of being close to each other and whose magnitudes are equal to each other and whose directions are opposite to each other, these can be surely corrected, and the accuracy is further improved. Since it is possible to obtain the estimated magnetic field source information and to perform the estimation by redistributing between adjacent vertices, it has been conventionally required to match the number of magnetic field source information to be estimated. There is a unique effect that highly accurate magnetic field source estimation can be achieved based on the number of measurement points smaller than the number of measurement points.

According to the invention of claim 5, the magnetic field at the apex of each small three-dimensional region is corrected by correcting the cumulative addition value of the plurality of Biot-Savart's law calculation results to be close to the magnetic field measurement value with high accuracy. The source information can be obtained, and the processing load as a whole can be significantly reduced, which is a unique effect. Also in the invention of claim 6, even when there are magnetic field source vectors which are assigned in the state of being close to each other and whose magnitudes are equal to each other and whose directions are opposite to each other, these can be surely corrected, and the accuracy is further improved. Since it is possible to obtain the estimated magnetic field source information and to perform the estimation by redistributing between adjacent vertices, it has been conventionally required to match the number of magnetic field source information to be estimated. There is a unique effect that highly accurate magnetic field source estimation can be achieved based on the number of measurement points smaller than the number of measurement points.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the anatomical structure reference image is displayed, and at the same time, the unit figure having the size set at the corresponding position of the anatomical structure reference image is displayed. Compared with the case of displaying the results, for example, while being able to easily recognize the distribution state of the maximum biophysical quantity measurement result, by dynamically displaying the biophysical quantity measurement result, for example, the maximum biophysical quantity measurement result The unique effect is that the temporal change of the distribution state can be easily recognized.

According to the invention of claim 8, in addition to the effect of claim 7, since the unit figures are circles, the gap between the unit figures can be considerably increased, and the background anatomical reference image can be easily grasped. Has a unique effect. According to the invention of claim 9, the anatomical structure reference image is displayed, and at the same time, the unit figure of the size set at the corresponding position of the anatomical structure reference image is displayed. Therefore, the physical quantity measurement result is displayed in the direction and length of the arrow. Compared with the case, for example, while easily recognizing the distribution state of the maximum biophysical quantity measurement result, by dynamically displaying the biophysical quantity measurement result, for example, of the distribution state of the maximum biophysical quantity measurement result It has a unique effect that temporal changes can be easily recognized.

According to the tenth aspect of the invention, in addition to the effect of the ninth aspect, since the unit figures are circles, the gap between the unit figures can be considerably increased, and the background anatomical structure reference image can be easily grasped. Has a unique effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

[0083]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a tomographic image processing method of the present invention.

[0084]

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a tomographic image.

[0085]

FIG. 3 is a plan view schematically showing an allocation state of display cubes and non-display cubes.

[0086]

FIG. 4 is a perspective view corresponding to FIG.

[0087]

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the tomographic image processing apparatus of the present invention.

[0088]

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the biomagnetic field measuring apparatus of the present invention.

[0089]

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the biomagnetic field measuring apparatus of the present invention.

[0090]

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing in detail the configuration of a portion corresponding to one hierarchical perceptron.

[0091]

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the biomagnetic field measuring method of the present invention.

[0092]

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the magnetic field source measuring apparatus of the present invention.

[0093]

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a process of extracting adjacent vertices to be redistributed of the estimated vector component of the current element.

[0094]

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating a current segment estimation process by redistribution.

[0095]

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing vertex information having a depth of 6 cm obtained based on an MRI image.

[0096]

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an estimation result corresponding to 35 msec before the appearance of an R wave.

[0097]

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an estimation result corresponding to 33 msec before the appearance of an R wave.

[0098]

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an estimation result corresponding to 30 msec before the appearance of an R wave.

[0099]

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an estimation result corresponding to 25 msec before the appearance of an R wave.

[0100]

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an estimation result corresponding to 20 msec before the appearance of an R wave.

[0101]

FIG. 19 is a flow chart for explaining an embodiment of the biomagnetic field measurement result display method of the present invention.

[0102]

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of the biomagnetic field measurement result display method of the present invention.

[0103]

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a display example of excitation current according to the embodiment of FIG. 20.

[0104]

FIG. 22 is a flow chart for explaining still another embodiment of the biomagnetic field measurement result display method of the present invention.

[0105]

FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing an excitation current display device as an example of the biomagnetic field measurement result display device of the present invention.

[0106]

[Explanation of symbols]

3 tomographic image interpolating unit 7 cube assigning unit 8 pixel number counting unit 9 discriminating unit 10 display cube assigning unit 20, 20
0 Sigma unit 30,300 Error calculator 41i Correction amount calculator
42i vertex extraction unit 43i normalization unit 44i redistribution ratio calculation unit 4i
5i Reallocation unit 46i Estimated value updating unit 40,500 Information collecting unit 101, 102, ..., 10m Hierarchical perceptron 111, 112, ..., 11m Bio-Savart arithmetic unit 111a, 112a ,. , 121, 12
2, ..., 12 m correction unit 700 circle allocation unit 800 tomographic image display unit 900 circle display unit

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. Stereoscopic image data included in each small stereoscopic region by dividing a space to be processed into predetermined small stereoscopic regions by performing interpolation calculation based on tomographic images at predetermined intervals. And a small three-dimensional region is binarized based on the counted value. 2. A tomographic image interpolating means (3) for obtaining stereoscopic image data by performing interpolation calculation based on tomographic images at predetermined intervals.
A space partitioning means (7) for partitioning the space to be processed into predetermined small solid areas, and a stereoscopic image data counting means (8) for counting the stereoscopic image data contained in each of the partitioned small solid areas, Binarize the three-dimensional area based on the count value 2
A tomographic image processing apparatus comprising: a digitizing unit (9) (10). 3. A plurality of Biot-Savart's laws are calculated based on different magnetic field source information based on the position information of the vertices of the small three-dimensional area obtained by the tomographic image processing method of claim 1, and each calculation result is calculated. Calculate the difference between the magnetic field calculation value obtained by cumulative addition and the measured magnetic field measurement value, correct the magnetic field source information contained in each calculation formula based on the calculated difference, and repeat the above series until the difference becomes sufficiently small. A method for measuring a biomagnetic field, characterized in that the magnetic field source information included in each arithmetic expression is output as a biomagnetic field measurement result after repeating the above process. 4. In place of the correction based on the calculated difference, the correction amount of each coordinate component of each vertex of each small solid region is calculated, and the correction target vertex is obtained based on the sign of the correction amount of each coordinate component. The biomagnetic field measurement method according to claim 3, wherein a process of redistributing the magnetic field source information estimated value to the obtained correction target vertex is adopted based on the correction amount of each coordinate component. 5. A calculation means (111) for calculating a plurality of Biot-Savart's laws based on different magnetic field source information based on the position information of the vertices of the small solid region obtained by the tomographic image processing method of claim 1. (112) ... (11m) (1
01) (102) ... (10 m) and each calculation means (1
11) (112) ... (11m) (101) (10
2) ... Cumulative addition means (20) (200) for cumulatively adding the calculation results output from (10 m), cumulative addition results output from the cumulative addition means (20) (200), and the magnetic field measurement value. Error calculating means (30) (300) for calculating an error by inputting, and each calculating means (111) (112) ... (11m) (101) (1) based on the calculated error.
02) ... (10m) correction means (111a) (112a) ... (11m) for correcting the magnetic field source information
a) (121) (122) ... (12m) and correction means (111a) (112a) ... (11ma) (12
1) (122) ... (12 m) correction results collecting means (40) (500) for collecting and outputting the results corrected as a biomagnetic field measurement result. apparatus. 6. A correction amount calculation means (41) for calculating a correction amount of each coordinate component of each vertex of each small solid region as correction means.
i), a correction target vertex extracting means (42i) for extracting a correction target vertex based on the sign of the correction amount of each coordinate component, and the correction target vertex obtained based on the correction amount of each coordinate component. The biomagnetic field measuring apparatus according to claim 5, which includes a redistribution unit (43i) (44i) (45i) (46i) for reallocating the estimated value of the magnetic field source information. 7. A method of displaying a biomagnetic field measurement result together with a biostructure reference image, wherein a size of a unit figure is set based on absolute values of biomagnetic field measurement values corresponding to a plurality of points in a living body. A method for displaying a biomagnetic field measurement result, which displays a anatomical structure reference image and a unit graphic having a size set at a corresponding position of the anatomical structure reference image. 8. The biomagnetic field measurement result display method according to claim 7, wherein the unit figure is a circle. 9. An apparatus for displaying a biomagnetic field measurement result together with a biostructure reference image, wherein the size of a unit figure is set based on the absolute value of the biomagnetic field measurement value corresponding to each of a plurality of points in the living body. Unit figure size setting means (700)
And a biometric image display means (80 for displaying the biostructure reference image).
0), and a unit figure display means (900) for displaying a unit figure of a size set at a corresponding position of the anatomical structure reference image, a biomagnetic field measurement result display device. 10. The biomagnetic field measurement result display device according to claim 9, wherein the unit figure is a circle.