JPH07265271A - Medical image diagnostic system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a medical image diagnostic system facilitating the compiling work when multiple images are exposed and recorded on one film and wasting little film. CONSTITUTION:This medical image diagnostic system is constituted of a medical image pickup device (MRI device) 10 and a laser image recording device 30 connected by a communication network, and an image read out from an image memory 14 and a layout image arranged with an aimed image selected to be exposed and recorded are superposed and displayed on a CRT display unit 15. When a storing command, an erasing command, or exposing command of the aimed image is inputted via a mouse 17, the transmitted image is stored in the recording memory 32 of the laser image recording device 30 based on the storing command, or the image is erased from the recording memory 32 based on the erasing command, or the content of the recording memory 32 is exposed and recorded on a film F by a laser exposing/recording device 33 based on the exposing/recording command.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention is applied to MRI (Magnetic R
esonance Imaging) equipment, X-ray CT (Computed Tomograp)
hy) device, SPECT (Single Photon Emissiom CT) device, etc., and a medical image diagnostic device comprising a medical image imaging device and a laser image recording device connected thereto, and in particular, a plurality of images taken by the medical image imaging device The present invention relates to an image editing technique for exposing and recording each image on a single film by using a laser image recording device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a laser image recording device (also called a laser imager) has been widely used as a device for exposing and recording an image obtained by a medical image pickup device on a film. The medical image pickup device and the laser image recording device are connected by an image transmission line and a control line for remote control, and exposure recording is performed based on a command from the medical image pickup device. Each image may be exposed and recorded on a separate film, but in order to make it easier to compare and examine multiple images of the region of interest, which were taken consecutively in terms of time or position, multiple images were recorded. The image may be exposed and recorded on a piece of film.
Hereinafter, a procedure for recording a plurality of images captured by the medical image capturing apparatus on a single film by using the laser image recording apparatus will be described.

First, on the medical image pickup device side, image pickup is performed.
The sequence of images displayed is displayed on the display device in sequence and recorded.
The image to be tried is selected. The selected image is stored in the store
The instruction is sent to the laser image recording device. Transmitted
Images are temporarily stored in a recording memory with a laser image recording device
To be done. Repeat the above process to create a single film
Laser image recording apparatus for sequentially exposing a plurality of images to be recorded by exposure
Sent to. Once all images have been transmitted, medical image capture
The device issues a print command to the laser image recording device.
It Based on this, the recording memory of the laser image recording device
Each image is read out and sequentially recorded on the film.
It FIG. 10 shows an example of a film on which a plurality of images are recorded.
Indicates. In this example, 6 frames of image are printed on one film F.
Image I₁~ I ₆Is recorded.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned conventional device has the following problems. That is, the conventional device can display and confirm each image when transmitting each image to the laser image recording device, but each image in the edited state (finished state) can be confirmed. Cannot be confirmed on the medical image pickup device side before exposure recording. Therefore, when the exposed and recorded film is viewed, if there is an inconvenient frame (image), the image is erased from the recording memory of the laser image recording apparatus, and an appropriate image is selected again to select the laser image recording apparatus. It is necessary to perform the operation of transmitting the data to the device and recording the exposure. As described above, the conventional apparatus has a problem that editing work is time-consuming and a large amount of film is wasted.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the editing operation when exposing and recording a plurality of images on one film is easy, and the waste of the film is small. An object is to provide a medical image diagnostic apparatus.

[0006]

The present invention has the following constitution in order to achieve such an object. That is, the present invention relates to a medical image capturing apparatus that captures an image of a region of interest of a subject and a plurality of captured images that are connected to this apparatus via a communication line and are sent from the medical image capturing apparatus. In a medical image diagnostic apparatus comprising a laser image recording apparatus for performing exposure recording on a sheet of film, the medical image capturing apparatus comprises: (a) an image capturing apparatus main body for capturing an image of a region of interest of a subject; An image memory for storing a series of images picked up by the image pickup apparatus main body, (c) display means for displaying the images stored in the image memory, and (d)
An instruction to set the format of exposure recording, an instruction to call each image in the image memory, a command to store the target image to be exposed and recorded, an erase command to erase the target image for which the storage command was issued, and a storage command are issued. The instructing means for giving a print command when exposing and recording the plurality of focused images on the film, and (e) the focused image for which the storage command is issued,
An editing memory for storing in accordance with an instructed exposure recording format, and (f) an image called from the image memory and an image of interest arranged according to the format in the editing memory, displayed in an overlapping manner on the display means, Alternatively, based on the display control means for switching display and (g) the instruction from the instruction means, the image of interest is stored or erased in the editing memory, and the laser image recording device is instructed to perform the exposure recording format. The laser image recording apparatus is provided with (h) a main control unit for transmitting, transmitting image data of the image of interest and its storage command, transmitting an erase command of the image of interest, and transmitting a print command. A recording memory for storing the image of interest in accordance with the format instruction, and (i) exposure recording of the contents of the recording memory on a film. A laser exposure recording unit that, (j)
Storing the image of interest in the recording memory transmitted from the medical image capturing device together with the storing command, erasing the image of interest from the recording memory based on the erasing command, and starting to the laser exposure recording unit based on the print command And recording control means for respectively giving instructions.

[0007]

The operation of the present invention is as follows. A series of images of the region of interest of the subject imaged by the imaging device body is stored in the image memory. The operator selects a plurality of images to be exposed and recorded on the film from the series of images as follows. First, the operator operates the instruction means to instruct the setting of the format of exposure recording (for example, the number of frames, the layout of each frame, etc.). According to this format setting instruction, each image storage area of the editing memory of the medical image capturing apparatus and the recording memory of the laser image recording apparatus is partitioned.

Next, by operating the indicating means,
The images stored in the image memory are sequentially called and displayed on the display means. The operator confirms the image displayed on the display means, and if there is an image to be exposed and recorded (focused image), the operator inputs a storage command via the instruction means.
Based on this storage command, the main control means transmits the image data of the image of interest and the storage command to the laser image recording device, and the recording control device of the laser image recording device outputs the image of interest to a predetermined image in the recording memory. It is stored in the area.

Simultaneously with the transmission of the image of interest to the laser image recording device, the image of interest is stored in a predetermined image area of the editing memory in the medical image pickup device. By the display control means of the medical image pickup device, the image of interest (layout image) arranged according to the format in the editing memory,
The image is displayed (or switched) on the image displayed on the display unit.

After that, by repeating the above-described processing, the selected images of interest are sequentially transmitted to the laser image recording apparatus and stored in the recording memory, and the same contents as in the recording memory are stored in the editing memory. The layout image is displayed (or switched) in a superimposed manner on the image of the display means. The operator can compare the images of interest with the layout image displayed on the display means and determine whether each image is appropriate.

If a certain image of interest on the layout image is inappropriate, the operator inputs an erasing command through the instructing means. Based on this, the image of interest is erased from the recording memory and the editing memory. A new image of interest that replaces the erased image of interest is selected and sent to the laser image recording device in the same manner as described above.

If all the images of interest in the layout image are appropriate, the operator inputs a print command through the instruction means. Based on this command, the recording control means of the laser image recording device activates the laser exposure recording means, whereby each image of interest in the recording memory is exposed and recorded on the film according to the instructed format.

[0013]

Embodiments of the medical image diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an MRI apparatus as an example of a medical image diagnostic apparatus.

In the figure, reference numeral 10 is an MRI apparatus. 11
Is a gantry of the MRI apparatus 10, into which a subject (not shown) is inserted and a series of tomographic images of the region of interest are taken. The detection data obtained by the gantry 11 is the image reconstruction processing unit 1
2 is sent to the tomographic image to be reconstructed. The series of images reconstructed by the image reconstruction processing unit 12 is stored in the image memory 14 via the main control unit 13. A CRT display 15 for displaying an image or the like stored in the image memory 14 in association with the main control unit 13, a keyboard 16 and a mouse 17 for inputting various instructions described later are provided.

Reference numeral 18 is a display memory for storing the image displayed on the CRT display 15. An editing memory 19 stores an image (focused image) selected as a target of exposure recording according to a format instruction as described later. The image stored in the display memory 18 and the image of interest (layout image) in the editing memory 19 arranged according to the format instruction are combined by the superimpose processing unit 20 and output to the CRT display unit 15. It A focused image information storage memory 21 is provided in association with the editing memory 19. The attention image information storage memory 21 stores the identification information of each attention image stored in the editing memory 19. Thinning processing unit 22
Is for thinning out the image data of the image of interest given through the main control unit 13 according to the format instruction and giving it to the editing memory 19.

Reference numeral 30 is a laser image recording apparatus connected to the MRI apparatus 10 via a communication line. The laser image recording apparatus 30 thins out the image data of the target image transmitted from the MRI apparatus 10 according to the format instruction, and the thinning processing unit 31 that thins out the image data of the target image according to the format instruction. A recording memory 32 for storing in the image storage area and a laser exposure recording device 33 for exposing and recording the contents of the recording memory 32 on the film F.
And a recording control unit 34 for controlling writing / reading and erasing of image data in the recording memory 32 and for controlling activation of the laser exposure recording apparatus 33.

The operation of the apparatus constructed as described above, in particular, a plurality of images to be exposed and recorded are selected from a series of images picked up by the MRI apparatus 10, and a single film is selected. The editing process for exposing and recording the data will be described below with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

When a series of images of the region of interest of the subject are stored in the image memory 14, the operator operates the keyboard 16
The screen for editing work is called by operating (step S1). FIG. 3 is an example of a screen for editing work, in which A1 is an image display area for displaying an image called from the image memory 14 for selecting a target image, and A2 is a frame on the film. A format instruction icon display area for instructing the layout mode (format), A3 a window display area for displaying the layout images stored in the editing memory 19 in an overlapping manner, and A4 a laser image recording device 30 for the focused image. Storage command for transmitting to and storing in the
Alternatively, it is a command icon display area for giving an exposure recording command for the image of interest.

When the edit work screen is displayed on the CRT display 15, the operator operates the mouse 17 to move the cursor C in the edit work screen of FIG.
By designating any icon in the icon display area A1 with the cursor C, the format of the exposure recording is set and input (step S2). In this embodiment, a format for recording one image on one film, a format for recording four images by dividing the film into four, a format for recording by dividing into six, and an upper half divided into four, A format for recording one image is provided in the lower half. In the example of FIG. 3, a format of 6 divisions is designated.

When the format is set, the main controller 13 of the MRI apparatus 10 divides the image area of the editing memory 19 into the number of frames according to the format instruction (here, 6).
At the same time, the format instruction is transmitted to the laser image recording device 30. In the laser image recording device 30, the recording control unit 34 divides the recording memory 32 into the number of frames according to the format instruction. In addition, the MRI apparatus 10
The thinning rate of each of the thinning processing section 22 and the thinning processing section 31 of the laser image recording apparatus 30 is determined according to the designated number of frames.

Next, the operator operates the keyboard 16 to select each image of interest, and sequentially calls each image in the image memory 14. The called image is displayed in the image display area A1 of the editing work screen (see FIG. 4). At this time, when a storage command for the target image is issued, the frame in the layout image corresponding to the position on the film where the target image is arranged is highlighted.

When the operator wants to expose and record the image displayed in the image display area A1 as a target image, he or she points "store" in the command icon display area A4 with the cursor C as shown in FIG. When "store" is designated by the cursor C, the main control unit 13 transmits the image data of the target image in the display memory 18 to the laser image recording device 30 together with the storage instruction (steps S4, S).
5).

In the laser image recording device 30, after the transmitted image data of the image of interest is thinned out by the thinning-out processing section 31 in accordance with the designated number of frames, a predetermined image area (here, it is shown) of the recording memory 32. , M1 area). Further, in the MRI apparatus 10, the image data of the target image is similarly thinned by the thinning processing unit 22 and stored in the corresponding area of the editing memory 19, and the identification information of the target image is stored in the target image information storage memory. 21 is stored. Then, by the superimpose processing unit 20,
The layout image of the editing memory 19 is superimposed on the image of the display memory 18 and displayed on the CRT display 15 (see FIG. 5).

Further, in the editing work display screen shown in FIG. 5, the highlighted display frame of the layout image moves to the adjacent frame,
Inform the operator of the position on the film where the next image of interest will be placed. The operator operates the keyboard 16 to call a new image from the image memory 14 and selects the next image of interest. Then, in the same manner as described above, when "store" in the command icon display area A4 is designated by the cursor C, the image of interest is transmitted to the laser image recording device 30 and the next image area (M2 of the recording memory 32 is transmitted. ), The image is stored in the editing memory 19, and the identification information of the image is stored in the focused image information storage memory 21. The layout images in the editing memory 19 are overlaid and displayed on the screen as described above (see FIG. 6). Hereinafter, similarly, the target image of the required number of frames (here, 6 frames) is selected.

When all the images of interest are selected, the operator confirms the finished state of the film by looking at the layout image in the window display area A3 of the CRT display 15. When it is desired to magnify and check each laid out target image, as shown in FIG. 7, the cursor C is moved to the corresponding region in the window display area A3 to indicate the target image. When this instruction is given, the main control unit 13 reads out the image identification information of the corresponding area in the focused image information storage memory 21, and based on this, reads the image data of the focused image from the image memory 14 and stores it in the display memory 18. By giving, the image of interest designated for confirmation is displayed again in the image display area A1 of the CRT display device 15.

When the operator has already issued a storage command and the target image is inappropriate, the operator uses the cursor C to designate the frame of the target image in the window display area A3, and then the command image is issued. "Er in the icon display area A4
ace ”with cursor C (steps S4, S6,
(See FIG. 8). As a result, the main control unit 13 sends the identification information of the target image of interest and the erase command to the laser image recording device 30. In the laser image recording device 30, the recording control unit 34 erases the relevant image of interest from the recording memory 32. In the MRI apparatus 10, the relevant focused image in the editing memory 19 is erased, and the erased relevant frame of the layout image is highlighted (see FIG. 8). The operator selects a new image in place of the deleted image of interest by the same operation as described above, and issues a storage command for the image. This allows
A new image of interest is stored in the erased image area in the recording memory 32.

When the layout image has been confirmed and a series of selected images of interest have been exposed and recorded on the film, the operator moves the cursor C on the editing work screen to "Print" in the command icon display area A4 (FIG. 9). reference). As a result, the main controller 13 issues a print command for the laser image recording device 30 (steps S4 and S7). The recording control unit 34 activates the laser exposure recording device 33. As a result, a series of target images are read from the recording memory 32, and each target image is exposed and recorded on the film F in the layout according to the format instruction.

In the above embodiment, the image memory 14
The layout image of the editing memory 19 is displayed in an overlapping manner on the image called from, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the called image and the layout image are switched and displayed by the instruction of the keyboard 16 or the mouse 17. You may comprise.

Further, in the embodiment, the instruction of the format of the exposure recording and the commands of storing / erasing / exposure recording of the image of interest are input using the mouse 17, but these are input using the keyboard 16. It may be.

[0030]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the finish state of a plurality of selected picked-up images can be confirmed on the display means of the medical image pick-up device before printing on a film. However, if it is inconvenient, it is possible to change the corresponding image to a new image, so compared to the conventional device that had to check each captured image by looking at the burned film, the captured image Editing work is easy and quick, and the waste of film can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of edit processing.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for editing work.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of an editing work process.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of an editing work process.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of an editing work process.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of an editing work process.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of an editing work process.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of an editing work process.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an exposed and recorded film.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... MRI apparatus (medical image imaging apparatus) 11 ... Gantry (imaging apparatus main body) 13 ... Main control part (main control means) 14 ... Image memory 15 ... CRT display (display means) 16 ... Keyboard (instruction means) 17 ... Mouse (instructing means) 19 ... Editing memory 20 ... Superimpose processing unit (display control means) 30 ... Laser image recording device 32 ... Recording memory 33 ... Laser exposure recording device (laser exposure recording means) 34 ... Recording control unit (Recording control means)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location B41J 3/407 G03B 27/32 Z

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A medical image capturing apparatus for capturing an image of a region of interest of a subject, and a plurality of captured images connected to this apparatus via a communication line and sent from the medical image capturing apparatus. In the medical image diagnostic apparatus comprising a laser image recording apparatus for performing exposure recording on a film, the medical image capturing apparatus includes: (a) an image capturing apparatus main body for capturing an image of a region of interest of a subject; and (b) the image capturing. An image memory for storing a series of images picked up by the apparatus main body, (c) display means for displaying the images stored in the image memory, and (d)
An instruction to set the format of exposure recording, an instruction to call each image in the image memory, a command to store the target image to be exposed and recorded, an erase command to erase the target image for which the storage command was issued, and a storage command are issued. The instructing means for giving a print command when exposing and recording the plurality of focused images on the film, and (e) the focused image for which the storage command is issued,
An editing memory for storing in accordance with an instructed exposure recording format, and (f) an image called from the image memory and an image of interest arranged according to the format in the editing memory, displayed in an overlapping manner on the display means, Alternatively, based on the display control means for switching display and (g) the instruction from the instruction means, the image of interest is stored or erased in the editing memory, and the laser image recording device is instructed to perform the exposure recording format. The laser image recording apparatus is provided with (h) a main control unit for transmitting, transmitting image data of the image of interest and its storage command, transmitting an erase command of the image of interest, and transmitting a print command. A recording memory for storing the image of interest in accordance with the format instruction, and (i) exposure recording of the contents of the recording memory on a film. A laser exposure recording unit that, (j)
Storing the image of interest in the recording memory transmitted from the medical image capturing device together with the storing command, erasing the image of interest from the recording memory based on the erasing command, and starting to the laser exposure recording unit based on the print command A medical image diagnostic apparatus comprising: a recording control unit that gives each instruction.