JPH07175874A - Medical image preservation and communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the medical image preservation and communication system for easily and efficiently select an object patient without worrying about the order decision of reading when reading image data on a terminal equipment. CONSTITUTION:A medical image preservation and communication system 1 is connected through networks 3a, 3b and 3c to the output side of modalities 2a, 2b and 2c. This system 1 is provided with plural FS 4a and 4b for image data preservation, automatic distribution controller 5 for controlling the distribution of image data and plural reading WS 6a and 6b for displaying image data, and the respective devices are connected through a network 7. The automatic distribution controller 6 is functionally provided with an image managing information reception part 9 for receiving the registration report of image data from the FS 4a and 4b, distribution control part 10 for controlling the distribution of image data and patient list generation part 11 for generating a patient list. Among these parts, the distribution control part 10 registers inspecting condition file data 12 and distribution instruction queue data 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medical image archiving communication system, and more particularly to a medical image archiving communication system for automatically controlling delivery of medical images and creation of a list relating to examination.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a medical image archiving communication system is connected via a communication line to the output side of various medical image diagnostic apparatuses such as an X-ray diagnostic apparatus, X-ray CT and MRI. This medical image storage communication system includes an image storage device that receives and stores image data, a terminal device that displays the image data, and an automatic delivery control device that controls image data delivery to the terminal device. It is composed.

The operating status of the radiology department of a hospital equipped with the above-mentioned medical image archiving and communication system will now be described. The radiology department of a hospital receives an inspection request from general medical departments such as internal medicine, surgery, and pediatrics via a report sheet, a medical record, an inspection request sheet, etc., and performs an inspection with a medical image diagnostic apparatus. As a result, the image data generated by the medical image diagnostic apparatus will be managed in the medical image archiving communication system.

First, when the image storage device receives the image data generated by the medical image diagnostic device, the image storage device stores the data, and when the terminal device requests the image data, the image storage device delivers the image data. It is designed to let you.

Next, the radiology doctor selects a patient to be an image interpretation target in the order in which the examination requests are received from the patient list displayed on the terminal device, and the image data of the patient is displayed. It This patient list is managed in the order of patient ID numbers provided for the convenience of identifying and identifying patients on the hospital computer.

[0006] Among the patients to be examined and interpreted, it is necessary to give priority to the examination and the interpretation of the patients who are in urgent need of priority over the ordinary patients. An urgent patient is managed by, for example, pressing the mark "urgent" on the examination request form. And
In the radiology department, it is checked whether or not there is one marked with the above-mentioned "emergency" from the examination request slips lined up in the order of reception, and the doctor himself decides the order of examination and interpretation of the patient in urgent need. I have decided.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art medical image archiving and communication system, since the creation and the display of the patient list are managed only in the order of the patient IDs, the following is done. There was an inconvenience.

For example, when a doctor tries to interpret images in the order of acceptance of examinations, it is necessary to select a target patient from a patient list. In addition, the time required for the examination varies, and the order in which the examination is received and the order in which the examination ends may not match.When the doctor tries to read the examination in the order in which the examination is received, the receptionist selects the target patient who has not finished the examination at the earliest. In some cases, the start of image interpretation was delayed for patients who completed the examination early. Further, for patients in urgent need, since the doctors themselves adjust the order of image interpretation, the work becomes complicated and it may take time for the doctors to start the image interpretation work.

As described above, if it takes time to determine the reading order and select the target patient in consideration of the emergency patient,
The doctor may not be able to concentrate on the image interpretation itself, and if the target patient is waiting in the general medical department until the image interpretation is completed, the waiting time for this patient may be long.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and when an image is read on a terminal device, the target patient can be selected without paying attention to the determination of the reading order. It is an object to provide a medical image archiving communication system that can be easily and efficiently performed.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, a medical image archiving and communication system according to the invention of claim 1 is an image archiving apparatus for archiving image data generated by a medical image diagnostic apparatus. An information recording unit configured to include a terminal device that displays the image data, and record information on whether the image data is to be urgently delivered from the image storage device to the terminal device, or to be delivered normally, Registration recording means for recording the registration time when the image data is registered in the image storage device, and the image data to be delivered urgently in the ascending order of the registration time based on the registration time and the information. According to the order determining means for determining the delivery order so that the image data is normally delivered, and the delivery order determined by the order determining means. Delivery instruction means for instructing to deliver the image data from the image storage device to the terminal device, delivery recording means for recording the time when the delivery instruction is issued by the delivery instruction means, the binary information and the above List creation and display means for creating and displaying a list related to inspection based on the delivery instruction time, and the image data manually selected from the beginning of the list displayed by the list creation and display means are displayed on the terminal device. And image display means.

The invention according to claim 2 further comprises a deleting means for deleting the data displayed in the list from the list.

[0013]

In the medical image archiving and communication system according to claim 1, the information recording means records the information as to whether or not the image data is to be delivered urgently, and the registration recording means records the registration time of the image data. However, based on the above information and the registration time by the order determination means, in the order of the registration time, and
The delivery order in which the image data to be delivered urgently is delivered with priority over the image data to be delivered normally is determined. In accordance with this delivery order, the delivery instruction means issues an instruction to deliver the image data from the image storage device to the terminal device, and the instruction recording time is recorded by the delivery recording means. Next, the list creation / display means creates and displays a list related to the examination based on the above-mentioned information and the designated time,
By manually selecting from the head of this list by the image display means, image data corresponding to this is displayed on the terminal device.

Further, in the medical image archiving and communication system according to the second aspect, the deleting means deletes the data displayed in the list, whereby only the necessary data is displayed in the list.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the medical image archiving communication system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

A medical image archiving communication system 1 shown in FIG.
Is a plurality of medical image diagnostic apparatuses such as an X-ray diagnostic apparatus, X-ray CT, MRI (hereinafter referred to as modalities 2a, 2b and 2).
c)) to the output side of networks 3a, 3b and 3
It is connected via c. The medical image archiving communication system 1 includes a plurality of image archiving devices (hereinafter,
FSs 4a and 4b), an automatic delivery control device 5 that controls delivery of image data, and a terminal device (hereinafter referred to as image interpretation WS 6a and 6b) that displays image data. Then, each of the FSs 4a and 4b (hereinafter referred to as F
Each device of the automatic delivery control device 5 and each of the image interpretation WSs 6a and 6b (hereinafter represented by the symbol of the image interpretation WS6) is connected via the network 7. Also, in this network 7,
A radiology department information management system (hereinafter referred to as RIS8) installed outside the medical image archiving and communication system 1 is connected.

The FS4 is, for example, a CPU for controlling each unit in the FS4, a memory for storing control data, an information input unit for inputting information from the outside, and a magnetic disk or optical disk for storing image data. It has a storage medium, a network interface, and the like, and the hardware configuration of these modalities 2a, 2
Image data newly generated in each of b and 2c (hereinafter represented by the symbol of modality 2) is registered via the network 7, and at the same time, a registration notification signal is output to the automatic delivery control device 5 via the network 7. It is like this. Also, from the automatic delivery control device 5 to the network 7
When the signal of the delivery instruction is received via, the image data is delivered to the image interpretation WS 6 via the network 7.

The automatic delivery control device 5 has, for example, a CPU for controlling each part in the device, a memory for storing control data, a network interface, etc., and the hardware configuration thereof is shown in FIG. Functional parts are obtained. That is, the image management information receiving unit 9 (which constitutes the main part of the registration recording means of the present invention) that receives the registration notification of the image data from the FS 4, and the delivery control unit 10 (the information recording of the present invention that controls the delivery of the image data. Means, order determining means,
A delivery control means and a delivery recording means), and a patient list creation section 11 (a list creation and display means, an image display means and a deletion means of the present invention) for creating a patient list. ing.

Upon receiving the registration notice of the image data from the FS 4 via the network 7, the image management information receiving section 9 receives the registration time, the classification number of the FS 4, the examination ID, and the patient ID.
The delivery information such as the above is transmitted to the delivery control unit 10.

The delivery control unit 10 includes an image management information receiving unit 9
The above delivery information is received from the
The test request information including the patient ID, the patient name, the test ID, the urgency information, and the like is received from an external device such as the above through the network 7, and further, the interpretation completion notification is received from the interpretation WS 6 through the network 7. Two types of data, that is, inspection status file data 12 and delivery instruction queue data 1
3 and 3 are created. Then, the delivery order is determined based on the above two types of data, and the image data delivery instruction signal is transmitted to the FS 4 via the network 7.

When the patient list generation unit 11 receives a request for sending a patient list from the image interpretation WS 6 via the network 7, the patient list generation unit 11 refers to the examination status file data 12 registered in the delivery control unit 8 and refers to this data 12. The data 12 that has been instructed to be delivered and is judged to be uninterpreted is retrieved from the
Send to 6.

The image interpretation WS 6 includes, for example, a CPU that controls each unit in the apparatus, a display unit that displays a patient list and image data, a memory that stores control data, and an image memory that temporarily stores image data. It has an information input unit for inputting information from the outside, an interface for network, etc., and by these hardware configurations, the examination status file data 12 which is the basis of the patient list is exchanged with the patient list generation unit 11. Sending and receiving via the network 7, rearranging with reference to this data 12,
It is designed to create and display a patient list.
Then, when the first patient in the displayed patient list is manually selected, the image data already delivered from the FS 4 via the network 7 is displayed. Further, when the image interpretation is completed, a key or a button for image interpretation completion is pressed to transmit an image interpretation completion notification to the delivery control unit 10 via the network 7.

Here, the inspection status file data 1 created and registered by the delivery control unit 10 in the automatic delivery control device 5
2 and an example of the delivery instruction queue data 13 shown in FIG.
It will be described based on 6. Note that here, for convenience, there are two types of urgency, urgent and normal.

As shown in FIG. 3, the examination status file data 12 includes examination ID, patient ID, patient name, urgent flag,
It is composed of classification items such as delivery instruction time, image interpretation flag, delivery flag, etc. Among them, each item of examination ID, patient ID, patient name, urgent flag is recorded when the above-mentioned examination request information is received. It is supposed to be done. Of these, the emergency flag KF is, for example, KF =
1, converted to binary information of KF = 0 in the case of normal inspection,
It is recorded. The delivery instruction time is recorded when the signal of the delivery instruction is output to the FS 4, and at the same time, the delivery flag HF is rewritten, for example, from HF = 0 before delivery to HF = 1 during delivery. Furthermore, the interpretation flag DF
When an image interpretation end notification is received from the image interpretation WS6, is recorded by being rewritten from DF = 0 at the time of non-interpretation to DF = 1 at the time of image interpretation.

As shown in FIG. 4, the delivery instruction queue data 13 is composed of classification items such as an examination ID, a patient ID, a delivery instruction FS number, a delivery destination WS number, and an emergency flag. Delivery information is received and recorded for each inspection.

When the above delivery information data is registered,
The delivery priority order is determined by the processing shown in FIG. That is, when the delivery information notification is received in step 50, the emergency flag of the relevant inspection in the inspection status file data 12 is referred to in step 51 to determine whether the target inspection is emergency treatment or normal treatment. Next, if it is judged to be urgent in step 51, that is, if the urgent flag KF = 1, it is determined in step 52 that the delivery instruction queue data 11 is loaded in the head area of the delivery instruction queue. If it is handled, that is, if the emergency flag KF = 0 is determined,
In step 53, the delivery instruction queue data 11 is loaded in the tail area of the delivery instruction queue.

When the processes of steps 50 to 53 are repeated within a fixed time, the delivery instruction queue as a whole has an emergency delivery instruction queue data 13 in the head area.
Are loaded in the order of registration time, and similarly, the delivery instruction queue data 13 which is normally handled is loaded in the tail region in the order of registration time.

In the above-mentioned state, the delivery instruction is issued by the processing shown in FIG. That is, in step 54, the delivery instruction is sequentially issued from the delivery instruction queue data 13 loaded at the head of the delivery instruction queue, and the delivery instruction time is registered in the inspection status file data 12 in step 55. Delivery instruction queue data 1 for which a delivery instruction was issued in
3 is deleted from the delivery instruction queue.

Next, the process of sending and creating a patient list between the patient list generator 11 in the automatic delivery control device 5 and the image interpretation WS 6 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 7, in step 60, the radiogram interpretation WS 6 transmits a patient list request notification to the patient list generating section 11 at regular intervals. Then
When the patient list generation unit 11 receives the above notification in step 61, the inspection status file data 12 is read for each examination in step 62, and it is determined in step 63 whether reading of all examinations has been completed. To be done.

When it is judged in step 63 that the inspection reading is not completed, in step 64, the interpretation flag DH in the corresponding examination situation file data 12 is DH = 0 when uninterpreted and the delivery flag. Only the inspection status file data 12 that satisfies the condition that HF has been instructed to deliver HF = 1 is set in the communication buffer. Then, the process returns to step 62, and the processes of steps 62 to 64 are repeated until it is determined in step 63 that the reading is completed.

When it is determined in step 63 that the reading has been completed, only the inspection status file data 12 set in the communication buffer in the process of step 64 is transmitted to the image interpretation WS 6 in step 65. Next, when the image interpretation WS 6 receives the above-mentioned data 10 in step 66, the urgent flag and the delivery instruction time in the data 12 are referred to in step 67 to rearrange the data 12. Then, in step 68, the numerical values in the inspection status file data 12 and a part of the symbols are easy-to-understand words, for example, the name of the modality 2 corresponding to the inspection ID,
It is converted into an urgent or normal word or the like corresponding to the urgent flag and displayed as a patient list on the display unit of the image interpretation WS 6.

Next, the overall operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

First, it is assumed that four patients A, B, C and D have undergone a radiological examination within a certain period of time. The examination of patients B and C is an urgent examination, and it is assumed that these two persons return to the general medical department and wait.

First, the image data of four patients are registered from the modality 2 to the FS 4 via the network 3 at the end of the examination. Upon receiving the image data, the FS 4 notifies the image management information receiving unit 9 in the automatic delivery control device 5 via the network 7 that new image data has occurred in the modality 2. Upon receiving this notification, the image management information receiving unit 9 sends the image registration time and the delivery information to the delivery control unit 10.
Send to.

For example, the image registration times of four patients are: patient A = 9: 00, patient B = 9: 00, patient C = 8: 5.
0, patient D = 9: 08. Further, the examination request information of the four patients has been transmitted in advance from the external device such as the RIS 8 to the automatic delivery control device 5, and, for example, information on whether or not the four patients are urgent is patient A = normal, Patient B = urgent, patient C = urgent, patient D = normal.

Next, the delivery control unit 1 which has received the delivery information
0, in order of time when the image data of 4 patients were registered,
The inspection status file data 12 and the delivery instruction queue data 11 are registered, the emergency flag KF in the inspection status file data 12 is referred to, and the delivery instruction queue data 13 is loaded in the delivery instruction queue. For example, patient C
Is determined to be urgent with the urgent flag KF = 1, and is loaded at the head of the delivery instruction queue.

At this time, since the data 13 accumulated in the delivery instruction queue is only the patient C, the delivery instruction is issued in the order of the delivery instruction queue, that is, only the patient C issues the delivery instruction time, that is, the patient C = 8: 56. Patient C registered in the inspection status file data 12 and loaded in the delivery instruction queue
Data 13 is deleted from the delivery instruction queue.

Next, before the next delivery instruction is issued, the urgent flag in the inspection status file data 12 is referred to in the order of registration time for the remaining three persons, and the delivery instruction queue data 13 is delivered in the order of image registration time. It is piled up in the queue. That is, patient A is judged to be normal when KF = 0 and is piled up at the tail of the delivery instruction queue, and patient B is judged to be urgent when KF = 1 and is piled up at the head of the delivery instruction queue and patient D
Is determined to be normal with KF = 0, and is stacked next to the patient A at the tail of the delivery instruction queue.

In this state, the delivery instruction is issued in order from the head of the delivery instruction queue, that is, in the order of patient B, patient A, and patient D. Each delivery instruction time, that is, patient B =
9:03, patient A = 9: 05, patient D = 9: 11 are registered in the examination status file data 10, and each data 13 loaded in the delivery instruction queue is deleted from the delivery instruction queue. .

At the above-mentioned time point, for example, the inspection status file data 12 is registered as shown in FIG. That is,
As for the patient C, since the interpretation by the doctor who has requested the patient list in the interpretation WS 6 has already been completed, the interpretation flag corresponding to the patient C in the examination status file data 12 is D.
F = 1.

Here, it is assumed that a request for a patient list is transmitted again from the image interpretation WS 6. Upon receiving this request, the patient list generation unit 11 starts the search of the examination status file data 12, and the data 12 that has been delivered and the image interpretation is not yet finished, that is, the delivery flag HF = 1 and the image interpretation flag DF = 0. The data 12 satisfying both conditions is searched. Here, as described above, the data 1 of the patient C
Since No. 2 has the interpretation flag DF = 1, it is not searched and each data 12 of the patients A, B, and D satisfying the above-mentioned conditions is searched. Next, the retrieved data 12 is delivered to the image interpretation WS 6.

In the image interpretation WS 6 that has received the data 12 described above, the emergency flag KF and the delivery instruction time are referenced, and the data 12 is rearranged. For example, KF =
The data 12 of No. 1 are arranged on the upper side in the order of delivery time, and KF
The data 12 of = 0 is arranged on the lower side in the order of delivery time.
Then, the rearranged data 12 is converted into a patient list and displayed on the display unit. In the patient list in this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, a patient B who is urgently handled and has an earlier delivery time is displayed at the top, followed by a patient D and a patient A.
Are lined up in order. That is, the data 12 of the patient C whose image has already been read is not displayed.

Next, in order from the patient B at the head of the patient list, the corresponding image data is displayed on the display unit for image interpretation. At this time, the doctor who performs the interpretation requires pre-interpretation work such as selecting patients in the order in which the examinations were received, selecting patients who have not completed the examinations, and changing the order of emergency patients. Instead, it suffices to select in order from the first patient in the patient list displayed on the image interpretation WS6.

When the image interpretation is completed, the image interpretation completion notice is transmitted, and the image interpretation flag DF in the inspection status file 12 is updated to DF = 1 in the delivery control unit 10. Therefore, even if the next request for the patient list is received, the patient list generation unit 1
This data 12 is not searched in 1 and is not displayed in the patient list.

According to the above procedure, when the request for the patient list is made every certain time, the list of a plurality of patients who have completed the examination within a certain time and need to be read is information on whether or not it is urgent. With the examination end time taken into consideration, the images will be automatically created in the order in which they should be interpreted. For this reason, the doctor who performs image interpretation can immediately start the image interpretation work without paying attention to the order of patient selection. Therefore,
It is possible to shorten the selection time of the patient before image interpretation, and as a result, the waiting time of the patient waiting in the general medical department is shortened. In addition, since patients who have finished reading images will be deleted from the list, information such as the number of readings remaining and whether or not they are urgent can be easily checked by simply looking at the list, grasping the remaining work volume and adjusting the time allocation. Will be easier.

Although the patient list is used in the above embodiment, this patient list may be a list related to examination.

In the above embodiment, the urgency level information is classified into two types, urgent and normal, but the urgency level information may be multi-typed so that the urgent level information is preferentially delivered. It is also possible to set to.

Further, in the above embodiment, the request for the patient list is manually made from the image interpretation WS at regular time intervals. On the other hand, the automatic delivery control device automatically requests the patient list at regular constant time intervals. The inspection status file data for creation may be sent.

Alternatively, it is not limited to a fixed time, and may be sent at an appropriate time, for example, when the patient list changes.

In the above embodiment, the examination situation file data for creating the patient list is transmitted and received between the automatic delivery control device and the image interpretation WS, but the present invention is not necessarily limited to this construction.

For example, the inspection status file data may be transmitted and received between the automatic delivery control device and the control terminal connected to this device. In this case, based on the order of the patient list displayed on the control terminal, the interpretation WS
It is also possible to select a target patient from the patient list of.

Further, the FS may transmit the data in which the same information as the inspection status file data is recorded to the image interpretation WS. In this case, the FS records the image supplementary information similar to the inspection status file data of the above-mentioned embodiment in the header portion of the image data, for example, the data such as the inspection end time and the control flag, and the image accompanying data in addition to the image data. Is transmitted to the image interpretation WS. In the image interpretation WS, a patient list can be sufficiently created in the image interpretation WS based on the image-accompanying data without receiving data from the automatic delivery control device.

Further, in the above embodiment, a part of the information (emergency flag or the like) of the inspection status file data is transferred to the external device (R).
It was sent from the IS etc.) to the automatic delivery control device, but in response to this, an interface that allows manual input to the automatic delivery control device was connected, and part of the information in the inspection status file data was automatically used using this interface. You may input into a delivery control apparatus.

Alternatively, a part of the information of the inspection status file data is transmitted in advance to each FS from each modality or an external device (RIS etc.) as a part of the image data, and the FS inspects the automatic delivery control device. Part of the information of the situation file data may be transmitted in addition to the image registration notification.

[0056]

As described above, in the medical image archiving communication system according to the first aspect of the present invention, based on the information indicating whether or not it is an emergency treatment and the image registration time corresponding to the end of the examination, The order of delivery of image data is determined, delivery instructions are issued in accordance with this order, and a patient list is automatically created based on this delivery instruction time and information on whether or not to handle emergency. Since the image data of the patients are displayed in order by selecting the patients in order, the target patients can be selected easily and efficiently without paying attention to the determination of the order of interpretation in consideration of the emergency patient. be able to. In the medical image archiving and communication system according to the second aspect of the present invention, since the data of the unnecessary patient is deleted from the patient list, the number of interpretations remaining in the patient list and whether or not there is an emergency are determined. Such information can be easily confirmed, and it becomes easy to grasp the remaining work amount and adjust the time allocation of image interpretation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing the positioning of a medical image archiving communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of an automatic delivery control device in the medical image archiving communication system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of inspection status file data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of delivery instruction queue data.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing example of delivery priority order determination in the delivery control unit in the automatic delivery control device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing example of a delivery instruction in a delivery control unit in the automatic delivery control device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of a patient list performed between a patient list generation unit in the automatic delivery control device and an image interpretation terminal device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of inspection status file data according to the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a patient list according to the operation of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Medical Image Storage Communication System 5 Automatic Delivery Control Device 7 Network 9 Image Management Information Receiving Section 10 Delivery Control Section 11 Patient List Generation Section 12 Examination Status File Data 13 Delivery Instruction Queue Data

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A medical image archiving communication system comprising: an image archiving apparatus for archiving image data generated by a medical image diagnostic apparatus; and a terminal unit for displaying the image data. From the terminal device to the terminal device for urgent delivery or for normal delivery, and an information recording means for recording the registration time when the image data is registered in the image storage device, Based on the registration time and the information, an order determining unit that determines a delivery order so that the image data to be delivered urgently is delivered in priority order from the image data to be delivered normally in the order of the registration time. And a delivery that issues an instruction to deliver the image data from the image storage device to the terminal device according to the delivery order determined by the order determining means. An instruction means, and a delivery recording means for recording the time when the delivery instruction is issued by the delivery instruction means,
List creation and display means for creating and displaying a list related to inspection based on the information and the delivery instruction time, and the image data manually selected from the beginning of the list displayed by the list creation and display means. A medical image archiving communication system comprising: an image display unit for displaying the image on the apparatus. 2. The medical image archiving communication system according to claim 1, further comprising deleting means for deleting the data displayed in the list.