JPH08241354A - Medical image management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce the delay of reading time of an image even for an unreserved patient. CONSTITUTION: This system is equipped with a file server 210 and a work station 240 and when a medical image of the unreserved patient is newly received from an inspection device, an image gathering process is performed for the medical image of the unreserved patient; and a retrieval process is performed for data regarding the unreserved patient, and a process of transfer from a low-speed file device 216 to a high-speed file device 214 or a process of transmission to the work station 240 is performed as to the data regarding to the unreserved patient which are obtained by the retrieval.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medical image management system for managing medical data such as image files and medical record information stored in a file device and managing medical services.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art X-ray CT, nuclear medicine, ultrasound, MRI and X
A medical image management system called PACS is known as a device used to manage a medical image obtained by an inspection device such as a line imaging device. Such P
The ACS is constructed by using a computer network as disclosed in JP-A-62-209670, and the medical image obtained by the inspection device is converted into digital data and stored in a file server on the network as a medical image file. It is supposed to be done.

This file server is arranged in a computer room and has a magnetic disk device which can be accessed at high speed and an optical disk device which can store a very large amount of data at a relatively low speed. Is designed to be saved. The medical images stored in these file devices can be searched for the patient's patient, and can be transferred to a workstation in the diagnostic room for display.

Most of medical images are stored in an optical disk device capable of storing a large amount of data.
Since the optical disk device is slow, it takes time to search for and read out the patient. In the above-mentioned publication, when there is a re-acceptance, the medical image of the patient is transferred to the magnetic disk device to increase the speed.

In addition, in hospitals that have introduced PACS,
Since returning patients usually make appointments for visits to hospitals, when examining reserved patients, data regarding the patient (medical data such as past medical images, medical record information, etc.) before the day before the appointment or before the start of work on the appointment day ) Is transferred from the file server to the workstation or the magnetic disk device to speed up the data transfer at the time of inspection on the reserved day.

[0006]

The above-described method of transferring data relating to the patient and speeding it up before the start of the work on the day of the appointment as described above is premised on that the patient has made an appointment for the visit in advance. However, if the patient has an emergency situation and needs to be treated as an emergency patient without an appointment, the patient's data will still be stored on the slower optical disk device, so In order to prepare on the workstation, it is necessary to search using the information for identifying the patient as a key and transfer it from the file server to the workstation. for that reason,
It takes a very long time to search, and it takes time to transfer from a low-speed optical disk device. In addition, the operator of the workstation needs to select the necessary data in case of emergency. As a result, the interpretation time of the patient's past medical images, medical record information, etc. may be delayed. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a medical image management system with a small delay in image interpretation time even for patients who do not have a reservation.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, a medical image management system according to the invention of claim 1 is a high-speed file device for storing medical data including medical images obtained by an inspection apparatus. And a file server having a low-speed file device, and a workstation connected to the file server via a network for displaying medical data transferred from the file server, registering medical data in a database, and performing medical treatment. In a medical image management system for managing work, an image acquisition process of receiving a medical image from an inspection apparatus and registering the medical image in a database, and searching for data regarding a desired patient from the medical data registered in the database Of the search process and the medical data obtained by searching in the search process, There is a transfer process that transfers what is in the high-speed file device to the high-speed file device, and a transmission process that sends the medical data retrieved by the search process that is in the high-speed file device to the workstation. Then, when a new medical image from the inspection apparatus is newly received for the patient who does not have a reservation, the image acquisition process is performed for the medical image of the patient who does not have a reservation, and
It is characterized in that a search process is executed for data on patients without reservations, and a transfer process or a transmission process is executed for data on patients without reservations obtained by searching.

In the medical image management system according to the invention of claim 2 of the present application, in addition to the configuration of claim 1, a plurality of medical images of patients without reservations are transmitted from the examination apparatus, and the first image of the patient without reservations is sent. After receiving a medical image and registering this medical image in the database, image acquisition is performed for the medical image of the patient who does not have a reservation, the search process, the transfer process, and the transmission process, and the second and subsequent medical images of the patient who does not have a reservation. It is characterized by performing the process in parallel and transmitting medical images of patients without reservations to the workstation.

[0009]

According to the medical image management system of the first aspect of the present invention, even in the case of a patient without a reservation, the medical image of the patient without a reservation is registered in the database by executing the image acquisition process, and the search process is executed. Retrieves data for patients without appointments, and retrieves data for patients without appointments retrieved by performing a transfer or send process to a high speed file device or workstation. As a result, the past medical image stored in the file server and the new medical image obtained by the examination device for the patient who has no reservation are transferred to the high-speed file device or workstation. Therefore,
At the workstation, it can be displayed at high speed by transfer from the high speed file device of the file server, or at high speed what has already been sent to the workstation can be displayed. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the delay in image interpretation time even for patients who do not have an appointment.

According to the medical image management system of the second aspect of the present invention, even when there are a plurality of medical images of a patient who does not have a reservation, a search process is performed after receiving the first medical image.
Speed up all medical images of non-reserved patients by performing the transfer process, transmission process and image acquisition process in parallel, and sequentially transmit the medical images of non-reserved patients in the high-speed filing device to the workstation. You can send.

[0011]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a medical image management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the system shown in FIG. 1, a client-server type Ethernet or ISAC is used for the network 110, and the network 110 uses an X-ray C
A three-dimensional medical image diagnostic apparatus 150 such as a T apparatus or a nuclear medicine diagnostic apparatus, an X-ray imaging apparatus 160, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1
70, an inspection device such as an endoscope 180, a system control device 120, a plurality of file servers 210a, 210
b, 210c, a reservation / reception device 130 for reservation / reception of patient visits, and workstations 140a, 140b for image display.

Inspection devices such as a three-dimensional medical image diagnostic device 150, an X-ray imaging device 160, an ultrasonic diagnostic device 170, and an endoscope 180 are provided in respective diagnostic rooms and imaging rooms 250-2.
The medical image and its associated information obtained by these diagnostic devices installed in the computer 80 are transmitted as digital data via the network 110 and stored in the file server 120 as a medical image file.

The system controller 120 and the file server 210 are constructed by using a computer device and are installed in a computer room. The system controller 120
It is a device for controlling the entire system, and is a database management system for centrally managing these when there are multiple file servers. The file servers 210a to 210c are composed of a magnetic disk device 214 that is a high-speed file device, an optical disk device 213 that is a file device that has a larger capacity but a lower speed, and a computer device main body 212 connected to these. The patient's past medical images are made into a file and stored in the file device. Data other than the medical image among the medical data is stored in the database of the system control device 120.

The reception 230 includes a reservation / reception device 130.
Is installed. The reservation / reception device 130 includes a computer device body 130b and an ID card reader 130.
It is composed of a and a, and the appointment / acceptance of the patient's visit is input from this device.

In each of the image reading rooms 240a and 240b, an image display workstation 140 which is a client is provided.
a, 140b are installed. Workstation 1
40a, 140b are file servers 210a-21
The medical image file stored in 0c is a device for reading and displaying the medical image file, and the read image can be processed as necessary.

With this configuration, the medical images obtained by the inspection apparatus are stored in the file server 210, and the medical images such as the medical images and the medical record information stored in the file servers 210a to 210c are stored in the workstations 140a and 140b. It can be retrieved from the computer and transmitted to the workstations 140a and 140b for display. Then, similar to the above-mentioned conventional example, the medical data is stored in the workstation 140 before the start of the work on the day of the reservation.
a or 140b or magnetic disk device 214
Transfer to workstation 140a or 140b
Can be read immediately from. Furthermore, even if there is no reservation, it can be detected and medical data can be called up more quickly.

First, after inputting the ID of a patient who has no reservation from the reservation / acceptance device 130 and designating the patient's reading room, examination of the three-dimensional medical image diagnostic device 150, the X-ray imaging device 160, etc. is performed in the imaging room. Take pictures with the device. The medical images newly obtained by the inspection device are sequentially transmitted to the file server 120 via the network 110 together with the accompanying information. At this time, when the file server 120 detects that there is no reservation for the patient, the magnetic disk device 214 stores the past medical data regarding the patient who does not have the reservation among the data recorded in the optical disk device 216.
Start to transfer to.

FIG. 2 shows a process of registering, retrieving, and transmitting one image from the inspection device to the system control device 120 and the file server to the workstation.

The system control device 120 and the file server receive the medical image and its supplementary information from the inspection device (reference numeral 311 in FIG. 2). The file server extracts information about the patient and examination information from the supplementary information (reference numeral 312 in FIG. 2). The file server registers the medical image and its accompanying information in a file in the magnetic disk device 214, and notifies the system control device 120 that the extracted information is registered in the database of the file server (reference numeral 313 in FIG. 2). . By this notification, the system control device 120 registers the extracted information in the database of the system control device 120 (reference numeral 31 in FIG. 2).
4). The process up to this point constitutes the process 310 of image acquisition.

Next, based on the above-mentioned extracted information, a medical image of the patient previously stored in the file server is searched from the database of the file server (reference numeral 32 in FIG. 2).
1. Search process). The storage location of the searched medical image is obtained (reference numeral 322 in FIG. 2). When the storage location is the optical disk device 216, the transfer process of the high speed file device of transferring the medical image of the patient to the magnetic disk device 214 is executed (reference numeral 325 in FIG. 2).

Then, the file server waits until there is an instruction from the system controller 120 to transmit the retrieved medical image and its supplementary information to the designated workstation (reference numeral 331 in FIG. 2). With that instruction,
If there is a medical image captured this time and its associated information, and if there is a previously captured medical image and its associated information, these are read from the magnetic disk device 214 and transmitted to the designated workstation (reference numeral 332 in FIG. 2). This transmission process 330 transmits one sheet of data. If you have already completed the database registration 314, you can see in Figure 2
The process is executed from the reference numeral 321.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing the operation of the file server, and shows the operation in the case of sequentially transferring a plurality of medical images and their associated information. The file server operates by multitasking, receives the medical image taken this time and its incidental information, and if there is a retrieved medical image taken in the past and its incidental information, this and the medical image taken this time and its incidental information Is sent to the workstation.

Receiving 311 of the first medical image and its incidental information, and extraction of information regarding the patient and examination information 3
12 (FIG. 3 (a)), the medical image and its accompanying information are written in the magnetic disk device 214 (FIG. 3 (b)). Then, for the first medical image and its supplementary information, a file server registration notification 313 (FIG. 3 (c)) and a system controller 120 registration 314 are performed (FIG. 3 (e)).
The image acquisition process 310 is completed for this image.

During execution of this process, the system controller 120 searches the file server database 321.
When there is a request (Fig. 3 (d)), an image acquisition process 31
At the same time as 0, the search 321 is also performed. Further, when the registration 313 of the file server is completed, the next medical image and its supplementary information can be received, and when a transfer request for the next image is issued from the inspection apparatus, the process 310 of image acquisition is sequentially executed.

Then, the registration 314 of the system controller 120 for the first sheet is completed, and the image collection process 31 is completed.
Upon completion of 0, the file server waits 321 and 322 for sending an instruction from the retrieved medical image whose storage location is the magnetic disk device 214 to the workstation, while the storage location is the optical disk device 2.
The data of 16 is transferred 325 to the magnetic disk device 214.

In the figure, when the medical image of the second sheet and its accompanying information are being received from the inspection device,
The first medical image and its associated information are stored in the disk device 21.
Since 4 is the storage location, this is read from the magnetic disk (Fig. 3 (g)) and transmitted to the workstation (Fig. 3 (f)). At the same time, the first medical image taken in the past whose storage location is the optical disk device 216 and its accompanying information are read from the optical disk device 216 (FIG. 3 (h)) and written to the magnetic disk device 214 (FIG. 3). (i)).

When the above operation is repeated in sequence and the reception of the medical image and its supplementary information from the inspection apparatus is completed (FIG. 3 (a)), transmission to the workstation (FIG. 3 (f)) is performed.
) And the optical disk device 216 to the magnetic disk device 21.
4 (FIGS. 3 (h) and 3 (i)). When the transfer from the optical disk device 216 to the magnetic disk device 214 (FIGS. 3 (h) and (i)) is completed, all retrieved medical images and their associated information are on the magnetic disk device 214 and are sent to the workstation. (Fig. 3 (f)) is performed until the last one.

FIGS. 3 (f '), (g'), and (h ') show the operation when there is no transfer 325 from the optical disk device 216 to the magnetic disk device 214 for comparison. As is clear from the comparison of the drawings, by performing the transfer 325 from the optical disk device 216 to the magnetic disk device 214, the medical image can be transmitted to the workstation faster.

Further, the process 310 of image collection, transfer from the optical disk device 216 to the magnetic disk device 214 3
25. Of the retrieved medical images, the magnetic disk device 21
Transmission from the one in 4 to the workstation in sequence 33
By performing a plurality of processes of "0" in parallel, the medical image can be transmitted to the workstation faster.

As described above, when a new image is registered in the medical image management system, the system automatically moves the related medical images captured in the past to the magnetic disk device and transmits these images to the workstation. By doing so, the speed can be increased.

By doing so, it becomes unnecessary for the operator of the workstation to select past medical data relating to a patient who has no reservation for reference, retrieve it, and transmit it to the workstation. The load on the operator is reduced. Also, at the same time that a patient without a reservation is taking an image with the examination apparatus, past medical data relating to the patient can be prepared at a designated workstation.
Therefore, the system of the present invention can be transferred more quickly than in the case where the past medical data on the patient is transmitted from the optical disk of the file server to the workstation as in the conventional case in which the operator of the workstation receives an instruction. , It is possible to quickly interpret a medical image taken in the past of the patient.

[0032]

According to the medical image management system of the first aspect of the present invention, even in the case of a patient who has no reservation, it is possible to display at high speed by transferring from the high speed file device of the file server in the workstation. You can
Alternatively, it can quickly display what has already been sent to the workstation. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the delay in image interpretation time even for patients who do not have an appointment.

According to the medical image management system of the second aspect of the present invention, even when there are a plurality of medical images of patients who do not have a reservation, the retrieval process after receiving the first medical image,
Speed up all medical images of non-reserved patients by performing the transfer process, transmission process and image acquisition process in parallel, and sequentially transmit the medical images of non-reserved patients in the high-speed filing device to the workstation. You can send.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a medical image management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2: Workstation 14 for patient data
The figure which showed the operation | movement at the time of calling from 0a, 140b.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing the operation of the file server.

[Explanation of symbols]

110 network, 120 system controller,
150 three-dimensional medical image diagnostic apparatus, 160 X-ray imaging apparatus, 170 ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, 180 endoscope,
210a, 210b, 210c File server, 1
40a, 140b workstation

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Hiromitsu Seto 1385-1 Shimoishigami, Otawara-shi, Tochigi Stock company Toshiba Nasu factory

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A file server having a high-speed file device and a low-speed file device for storing medical data including a medical image obtained by an inspection apparatus, and a file server connected to the file server via a network. With a workstation for displaying the transferred medical data, registering the medical data in a database, in a medical image management system for managing medical work, receiving a medical image from the inspection device, An image collection process of registering this medical image in the database, a search process of searching data related to a desired patient from the medical data registered in the database, and medical data obtained by searching in the search process, What is in the low speed file device is the high speed file device And a transmission process of transmitting, to the workstation, the medical data retrieved by the retrieval process, which is stored in the high-speed file device, to the workstation, and the examination is performed on a patient without a reservation. When a new medical image is received from the device, the image acquisition process is performed on the medical images of the patient who does not have a reservation, and the search process is performed on the data regarding the patient who does not have a reservation, and a search result is obtained. A medical image management system, characterized in that the transfer process or the transmission process is executed for data relating to the patient who does not have a reservation. 2. The examination apparatus transmits a plurality of medical images of a patient who does not have a reservation, receives a first medical image of a patient who does not have a reservation, and registers the medical image in the database. For the medical images of patients without reservations, the search process, the transfer process, and the transmission process and the image acquisition process for the second and subsequent medical images of patients without reservations are executed in parallel, and the reservations are made. The medical image management system according to claim 1, wherein a medical image of a patient who does not have the medical information is transmitted to the workstation.