JPH09198453A - Shadow read report preparation supporting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quickly perpare an accurate and clear shadow read report without obstructing a shadow read operation and to directly refer to and cite images during shadow read at the time of preparing the report. SOLUTION: Medical images (displayed in an image display window 23) during the shadow read successively changed by editing performed by the instruction of a shadow reader are automatically preserved in a memory by the form of the medical images themselves or information required for the reproduction of the medical images such as editing contents or the like corresponding to a timing utilizing various instructions and operations performed by the shadow reader during the editing. At the time of preparing the shadow read report (displayed in a report display window 24), the preserved images and editing contents are utilized.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention allows a radiogram interpreter such as a radiologist to interpret medical images collected by an image diagnostic apparatus, and quickly create an accurate and clear radiology report without hindering the interpretation work. The present invention relates to an image interpretation report creation support method that supports the work of doing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a system for directly observing an X-ray CT image on a personal computer (PC) screen has been introduced, and a transfer mode can be selected from a CT operation panel to display a series or one image of a patient. Each was transferred to the PC. An example of the prior art is described in the 13th Medical Informatics Union Convention Proceedings, pages 469 to 470. In this example, as described above, a radiologist or other radiologist interprets X
The line CT image is observed on the screen of the PC. PC
For the medical image displayed above, set the region of interest, change the window width / level, measure the CT value or distance, and perform various image editing such as processing and display conditions of the image. You can observe while changing. The image interpreter compiled the image interpretation result in a report and reported it to other doctors such as the doctor in charge of the examinee (patient) together with the medical image (film) that was interpreted.

[0003]

According to the above-mentioned prior art, since the medical image is constantly changing according to the image editing instruction of the radiogram interpreter even during the image interpretation, the medical image being displayed is edited every time a new image is edited. Lost. Therefore, after reading
When creating a report, there was a problem that the image being read could not be directly referenced or quoted. In addition, a method may be considered in which the image reader predicts the images necessary for creating the report in advance, and performs an operation of saving these images at the time of image reading, but the modality (radiographing device such as X-ray CT or MRI), the image capturing direction, In the case of image diagnosis, which observes subtle changes in density of multiple images with different shooting locations, shooting times, etc., the site of interest and the predicted diagnosis will change during image interpretation, so the necessary image is predicted in advance. This was extremely difficult, and this was a cause of hindering the interpretation work. An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to make it possible to use a medical image during image interpretation for creating a report after image interpretation without disturbing the image interpretation work, and to provide an accurate and clear image interpretation report quickly. The purpose is to provide a method for supporting interpretation report creation that can be created by a user.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the interpretation report creation support method of the present invention comprises at least an image display step of displaying on a screen a medical image to be interpreted according to an instruction of a reader. An image editing step for editing the medical image displayed according to a user's instruction such as processing and processing required for image interpretation, and an edit record for automatically recording the edit content for the medical image in a recording buffer at a predetermined timing. According to the steps and instructions of the radiogram interpreter, necessary editing contents are selected and read from the recording buffer, the medical image is generated from the read editing contents and displayed, and an image interpretation report is created based on the displayed medical image. And a report generation step. Further, an image display step of displaying on the screen a medical image to be read according to the instruction of the image reader, and an image editing step of performing processing such as image reading and processing for the medical image displayed according to the instruction of the image reader. , An image recording step of automatically recording the medical image in a recording buffer in accordance with a predetermined timing, and selecting and reading out and displaying the necessary medical image from the recording buffer according to an instruction of a radiogram interpreter, and displaying the displayed medical image. And a report creation step of creating an image interpretation report based on the image.

[0005]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the present invention, an image display step, an image editing step, an edit recording step,
And a report generation step (see FIGS. 2 and 3).
In addition, in the edit recording step, the edit contents are recorded in the recording buffer at the timing when the image interpretation is instructed in the image editing step (see FIGS. 2 and 3). Further, the editing contents are recorded in the recording buffer at a timing when there is no new instruction by the radiologist for a predetermined time after performing the editing designated by the radiologist in the image editing step (FIG. 6 and FIG. (See FIG. 10). Further, the editing contents are recorded in the recording buffer at the timing when a predetermined specific editing is performed in the editing instructed by the image reader in the image editing step (see FIG. 7). In addition, the recording of the edited contents in the recording buffer is performed according to the editing instructed by the image reader in the image editing step, some of them perform the instructed editing, and others perform the instructed editing, The settings are made so that they are performed respectively (see FIGS. 8 and 11). Further, in the edit recording step, when recording the edit content, the display condition (for example, display position or displaying side by side) of the medical image to be recorded is recorded in the record buffer together with the edit content, and the report creating step is performed. , Read the display conditions together with the edited contents,
The medical image generated from the edited content is displayed according to the read display condition. Further, there is a list display step of displaying a list of medical images recorded in the recording buffer in the edit recording step, and the reader can select a necessary edit content in the report generation step by displaying a list in the list display step. The selected medical image is selected (Fig. 1
And FIG. 3). Further, instead of the edit recording step of recording the edited content, an image recording step of recording the medical image in the recording buffer is replaced. The medical images displayed as a list in the list display step are displayed in the order in which they were edited in the image editing step (see FIG. 1). This allows
You can directly refer to the image being read when creating an interpretation report,
It can be quoted, and an accurate and clear interpretation report can be created in a short time without hindering the interpretation work.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the procedure of the image interpretation report creation support method according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 11 denotes an instruction input step for receiving an instruction of a radiogram interpreter, and reference numerals 12, 14, 16 and 18 denote conditional branches based on the input contents at the instruction input step 11, respectively.
The input is selected, otherwise, the display is selected, otherwise the report is selected, and otherwise, the process is ended. Also, 13
Is an image input step for digitizing medical images to be interpreted, 1
Reference numeral 5 is an image display step for displaying on the screen a medical image to be read according to the reader's instruction, and reference numeral 17 is a report preparation step for creating an interpretation report from the edited contents in the recording buffer according to the reader's instruction.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an example of a case where editing such as processing and processing required for image interpretation is performed in accordance with the instruction of the image interpreter in the image display step of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is image processing in the image editing step of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a function and an image processing function. The image input step 11 is realized by, for example, direct input from an image diagnostic device such as X-ray CT or MRI, or capturing an X-ray film with a scanner. The medical image displayed in the image display step 15 can be edited, for example, by the procedure shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, 71 is an instruction input step for receiving an instruction of a radiogram interpreter, 72 and 76 are steps for selecting a conditional branch based on the input content in the instruction input step 71, and 73 is a medical image displayed in the image display step 15. Then, an image editing step of performing editing such as processing and processing required for image interpretation in accordance with an instruction of the image reader, 74 is an edit recording step of automatically recording the edit content of the medical image in the recording buffer at a predetermined timing, and 75 is It is a list display step of displaying a list of medical images recorded in the recording buffer in the edit recording step in the order of editing performed in the image editing step. The image editing step 73 has, for example, the image processing function (41 to 45) and the image processing function (46, 47) shown in FIG. That is, as image processing functions, enlargement, reduction, left / right inversion, up / down inversion, and density gradation change functions, and as image processing functions, handwritten drawing and C for writing arrows and circles on the screen.
There is a function of entering a comment for entering 1 or D2 on the screen.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen according to an image interpretation report creation support method using the present invention. Here, a display screen at the time of creating an interpretation report after the interpretation has been completed is shown. In addition, a plurality of pieces of information are simultaneously displayed on one display screen 21 using a window. Of course, a multi-window system may be used to display a plurality of screens in an overlapping manner and display them on the surface when necessary. The reference numeral 26 on the left end in FIG. 1 is an instruction input window for the radiologist to select a work to be performed from now on, which is input to the instruction input step 11 in the flow of FIG. In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which one is selected from the four buttons (input 33, display 34, report creation 35, end 36). A screen 22 located at the lower left of FIG. 1 is an image display window for displaying a medical image to be interpreted, and displays an image designated by the operator in the image display step 15 in the flow of FIG. A screen 23 displayed on the entire upper surface of FIG. 1 is a list display window for displaying medical images corresponding to the edited contents in the recording buffer, and the contents of the recording buffer are displayed by the list display step 75 of the flow in FIG. A new medical image is automatically added according to the update. That is, they are displayed in the order of editing performed in the image editing step 73 of FIG. The medical images (51 to 60) in the list display window 23 allow an overview of the medical images in the image display window by, for example, reduction or thinning.
Hereinafter, 51 to 60 are referred to as a list image. The screen 24 located at the lower right of FIG. 1 is a report display window for displaying an image interpretation report to be created, and the results instructed by the operator are sequentially displayed by the report creating step 17 of the flow in FIG. 27 is a part of the report sentence displayed in the report display window 24, and 28 is a photograph described in the report.

Next, a procedure of interpretation of medical images and creation of an interpretation report according to the present embodiment will be described. At the start of this procedure, it is assumed that no information such as images and reports is displayed in each window (22 to 24) of the display screen 21 except the instruction input window 26. First, the radiogram interpreter selects the input 33 in the instruction input window 26 in FIG. The selection result is accepted in the instruction input step 11 in FIG. 2, and the medical image to be interpreted is digitized in the image input step 13 through the conditional branch 12.
Normally, a plurality of images are displayed at the same time for image interpretation. Here, it is assumed that all the images to be interpreted are digitized. Next, the radiogram interpreter selects the display 34 in the instruction input window 26 in FIG. The selection result is input 33
In the same manner as in the above case, the medical image digitized in the image display step 15 is displayed in the image display window 22 through the conditional branch 14 of FIG. The medical image to be displayed is selected, for example, by a radiogram interpreter designating a specific image from a list of digitized medical images. It is also possible to arrange a plurality of image display windows 22 and observe a plurality of images at the same time. Here, in order to make the explanation easy to understand, 1
A case of interpreting one chest X-ray image 25 will be described.

Next, the radiogram interpreter performs various image edits on the chest X-ray image 25 for radiogram interpretation. This editing is performed, for example, by the radiologist reading 1 of the image processing functions (41 to 45) shown in FIG. 4 from the processing menu 31 of the image display window 22 shown in FIG.
Instructed by selecting one. The instruction result is
It is accepted in the instruction input step 71 of FIG. 3, and through the conditional branch 72, in the image editing step 73, editing corresponding to the instruction of the image reader is performed. The result of image editing is sequentially reflected on the chest X-ray image 25 in the image display window 22. For example, editing is performed by entering C1 or the like of handwritten drawing. The editing contents instructed by the image reader on the chest X-ray image 25 in the image editing step 73 in FIG. 3 are automatically recorded in the recording buffer in the editing recording step 74. The timing of recording is, for example, when the editing content instructed by the image reader is performed. The editing contents are recorded in the order of editing performed in the image editing step 73 by, for example, adding new editing contents to the recording buffer one after another. The result of editing (that is, the abdominal X-ray image after editing) is automatically added to the list display window 23 after being changed to the list image in the list display step 75.

Each list image (5
1-60) shows the case where the following procedure is edited as an example. The list image 51 is the chest X-ray image initially displayed in the image display step 15 shown in FIG.
It is an image before being edited in the image editing step 73 of FIG. (Edit 1) Since the left and right of the image were reversed, the left and right were reversed (list image 52). (Edit 2) Since the shade of the image is not clear, the density gradation is changed so that the shade is emphasized (list image 53). (Edit 3) Since the shade of the image was emphasized too much, the density gradation was changed again (list image 54). (Edit 4) Since a lesion-like shadow 61 was confirmed in the upper left,
The image was enlarged for easy observation (list image 55). (Edit 5) It was confirmed that the shadow 62 was a lesion, and the area was surrounded by handwriting 63 (list image 56). (Edit 6) A comment (c1) 64 was entered in the lesion (list image 57). (Edit 7) In order to confirm the presence or absence of lesions in other parts, the image was reduced so that the entire body could be observed (List image 5
8). (Edit 8) Since a lesion-like shadow was confirmed in the upper right, the image was enlarged for easy observation (list image 59). (Edit 9) Since it was due to the overlap of the sternum, the image was reduced again so that the entire body could be observed (list image 60).

FIG. 5 is a detailed flowchart showing an example of the report creating step in FIG. When the image interpretation is completed according to the above procedure, an image interpretation report is created next. First, the radiogram interpreter selects the report creation 35 in the instruction input window 26 in FIG. The selection result is accepted in the instruction input step 11 in FIG. 2, and the interpretation report is created using the edit contents in the recording buffer in the report creation step 17 via the conditional branching step 16. The report creation step 17 is the report display window 2 corresponding to the interpretation report created on the display screen 21 of FIG.
4 is displayed. After that, when the radiogram reader selects each menu (37 to 40) of the report display window 24, the processing (83, 85, 87, 89) corresponding to the selected menu is performed by the procedure shown in FIG. 5, for example. However, the file menu 37 further has two submenus of print and end.

Utilization of the edited contents in the recording buffer is shown in FIG.
The image citation step 83 is performed. Hereinafter, an example of the procedure will be described. The image reader selects the citation menu 38 of the report display window 24 in FIG. The selection result is accepted in the instruction input step 81 of FIG. 5, and the image to be quoted in the report creation is captured in the report in the image citation step 83 via the conditional branch 82. This acquisition is performed by the following procedure. (Procedure 1) The radiogram interpreter selects one edit content to be quoted from the storage buffer. This selection is performed, for example, by the interpreter selecting one from the list images (51 to 60) of the list display window 22.
When one is selected, the edit content corresponding to the selected list image is selected. Here, it is assumed that the editing content corresponding to the list image 57 is selected. (Procedure 2) The edit content selected in procedure 1 is read from the storage buffer, and a medical image corresponding to the edit content is generated. The generated medical image is, for example, a chest X-ray image corresponding to the list image 57. (Procedure 3) The generated medical image is pasted on the image interpretation report on the report display window 24 (see image 28 in FIG. 1).

By the above procedure, the acquisition of the medical image in the image interpretation report is completed. Thereafter, the radiogram interpreter selects another menu of the report display window 24 to display the medical image. For example, when the text menu 39 is selected, the selection result is accepted in the instruction input step 81 in FIG. 5, and the text and line drawings are written in the report in the document editing step 85 via the conditional branch 84 (see 27 in FIG. 1). Alternatively, when the voice menu 40 is selected, the selection result is accepted in the instruction input step 81 of FIG. 5, and the voice comment step 87 adds a voice comment to the report via the conditional branch 86. To add a comment by voice, for example, convert the voice into an electric signal with a microphone, and then add A
This can be realized by storing the digital information converted by the D converter in the storage area in association with the radiology report. For example, a button is installed on the screen, and when the button is pressed, a voice is output. When the print submenu is selected from the file menu 37 after the image interpretation report has been created, the selection result is accepted in the instruction input step 81 of FIG. 5, and the conditional branch 88 is followed by the report print step 89 to print the report of FIG. The image interpretation report on the display window 24 is printed by the printer.

As described above, according to the present invention, the editing contents for editing the processing and processing required for image interpretation on the medical image displayed on the screen according to the instruction of the image reader are predetermined in the edit recording step. Data can be automatically recorded in the recording buffer according to the timing. At the same time, the list images corresponding to the edited contents recorded in the recording buffer are displayed in the list display step in the order in which they were edited, and after the image interpretation is completed, the medical images to be quoted in the image interpretation report are selected from the list image in the report creation step. , The corresponding edit content is read out, a medical image at the time of recording is generated in the recording buffer, and it can be incorporated in the interpretation report. Therefore, for example, it is not necessary to perform operations such as predicting and saving necessary images in advance, and it becomes possible to directly refer to or quote the image being read when creating an interpretation report, and to prevent the interpretation work. Without this, an accurate and clear interpretation report can be quickly created. As described above, the text at the time of creating the image interpretation report is accepted in the instruction input step 81 in FIG. 5 by selecting the text menu 39 in FIG. 1, and the document edit step 85 is passed through the conditional branch 84.
Text and line drawings are written in the report (see 27 in FIG. 1). Further, since the medical images to be quoted can be selected after checking the list images in advance, the operation of searching the edit contents of the recording buffer can be performed simply and reliably, and the interpretation report can be created in a short time. Furthermore, since the list images for selecting medical images to be quoted are displayed in the order in which they were edited, the image reader can quickly search for medical images to be quoted based on the memory of the operations performed by the image reader himself. You will be able to save time. In this embodiment, FIG.
As an example of the timing of recording the edited contents in the edit recording step 74, the case of recording when the image interpretation is instructed is described, but as another example, after the image interpretation is instructed, It may be recorded when there is no instruction from a new image reader for a predetermined time.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of an image editing process showing another embodiment of the present invention. Here, another example of performing editing such as processing and processing required for image interpretation according to an instruction of the image reader is shown. Only when a predetermined time has elapsed by a timer, the edit record and the list display are performed, and the image reader performs the operation. It shows how to prevent editing records and list display during the current period. That is, in the procedure of FIG. 6, when a predetermined time (timer time) determined using the timer has elapsed, an interrupt or the like is generated to perform timer processing (timer release step 102, edit recording step 74, list display). Perform step 75). in this case,
The timer is started in the timer starting step 103, and the timer is released in the timer releasing step 102. The instruction of the radiogram interpreter before the timer time has elapsed is to perform only the editing instructed in the image editing step 73 after the timer is released in the conditional branch 101 and the timer release step 102, and when the editing is completed, the timer start step 103 is performed.
To restart the timer. When the timer time has elapsed without the instruction of the image reader, an interrupt occurs from the timer, and the edit recording step 74 and the list display step 75
Then, the edited contents are recorded in the recording buffer, and the corresponding list image is generated and displayed.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a drawing process showing an example of the image editing step in FIG. Here, the handwritten drawing 4 shown in FIG. 4 in the image editing step 73 of FIG.
6 shows the procedure for drawing an arrow. In the procedure of FIG. 9, handwriting drawing is performed three times (141, 142, 14
3) When the arrow is drawn by performing the drawing, the edit contents are recorded in the recording buffer for each drawing, and the list image (145, 145 at each time) is recorded.
146, 147) is generated and displayed immediately. Using the procedure of FIG. 6, if the drawing is continued within the timer time, it is possible to prevent the editing contents from being recorded during the drawing of the arrow.
It is possible not to generate and display the corresponding list images (145, 146). As described above, since it is possible to prevent unnecessary editing contents from being recorded and the corresponding list images from being generated and displayed, it is possible to reduce the capacity of the recording buffer, simplify the selection of the cited medical images when creating an interpretation report, and record and generate the images. Also, the effect of improving the operation response by reducing the display processing can be obtained.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of another embodiment for performing editing such as processing and processing required for image interpretation according to an instruction of the image interpreter. The procedure of FIG. 6 can also be realized by using the procedure shown in FIG. 10, for example. In this embodiment, the edit recording step 7
Step 151 of newly recording the edited content in the recording buffer in step 4, and deleting the latest edited content recorded immediately before and recording the new edited content (that is,
There are two types of step 152 for overwriting the edited contents). As for the instruction of the radiogram interpreter before the timer time has elapsed, the conditional branch 101 becomes true, and the edited contents are overwritten in the recording buffer in step 152. Further, in the instruction of the radiogram interpreter after the elapse of the timer time, the conditional branch 101 becomes false, and the edited content is added in step 151. Therefore,
As in the procedure of FIG. 6, it is possible to prevent the recording of edit contents on the way,
This simplifies the selection of cited medical images when creating an interpretation report. Further, in this embodiment, the edit recording step 7
As an example of the timing of recording the editing content in 4, the case of recording when the image interpretation is performed by the image reader is described, but as another example, a specific edit that is predetermined in the image edit performed by the image reader is described. It is also possible to record only when performing. For example, for operational reasons, it is assumed that the medical image quoted in the image interpretation report is an equal-magnification image, and the medical image that has undergone the enlargement 41 and reduction 42 shown in FIG. 4 is not pasted. In this case, the procedure shown in FIG. 7 described later can be used.

FIG. 7 shows an image editing step in FIG.
It is a flow chart which shows other examples of an edit record step and a list display step. Conditional branch (111-
In step 117), the editing process (118 to 124) corresponding to the editing content instructed by the image reader is performed. Enlargement step 118
The reduction step 119 does not go through the edit recording step 74 and the list display step 75. That is, it is possible not to record the enlargement and reduction edit contents in the recording buffer, and to prevent the corresponding list image from being generated and displayed. According to this method, it is possible to prevent the editing contents regarding the medical images not quoted in the interpretation report and the generation and display of the corresponding list image from being prevented. Therefore, it is possible to simplify the selection, recording, generation, and generation of the cited medical images when creating the interpretation report. The effect of improving the operation response by reducing the display processing can be obtained. Further, in the present embodiment, as an example of the timing of recording the editing content in the edit recording step 74, the case of recording when the editing is instructed by the radiologist was described, but as another example, the radiologist instructs It is also possible to record at different timings according to the edited editing. For example, regarding the editing of the density gradation change 45 shown in FIG. 4, the image reader usually selects another editing function when a desired density gradation is obtained. Therefore, by using the procedure shown in FIG. 8 to be described later, it is possible to record only the edited contents when the desired density gradation is obtained in the recording buffer.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing still another embodiment of the image editing step, the edit recording step, and the list display step. Conditional branch (111-117)
The edit processing (118 to 124) corresponding to the edit content instructed by the image reader is performed. For editing other than changing the density gradation, the edited contents are recorded in the recording buffer when the editing is performed as in FIG. When the image reader gives an instruction to change the density gradation (step 122), a work buffer is prepared, and the edited contents of the density gradation change are recorded in the work buffer (step 133). When the radiogram reader again instructs to change the density gradation again, the recorded work buffer content is erased, and the edited content of the new density gradation change is recorded (that is, the edited content is overwritten) (step 133). ). After the density gradation change, if the image reader instructs editing other than the density gradation change (step 115, NO), the conditional branch 131
Branches to false and the edited contents of the work buffer are recorded in the recording buffer (step 132). That is, the editing content immediately before the editing (steps 118 to 124) other than the density gradation change is recorded. After recording, list display step 7
Editing is performed in the same manner as in FIG. When the procedure of FIG. 8 is used, for example, in FIG. 1, the image reader changes the density gradation so that the density is emphasized (see the list image 53), and since the density is emphasized too much, the density gradation is changed again. (List image 5
In such a case, it is possible to prevent the editing contents from being recorded during the change and prevent the corresponding list image (53) from being generated and displayed. Alternatively, in FIG.
It is possible to prevent the editing content from being recorded while the arrow is being drawn. As described above, since it is possible to prevent unnecessary editing contents from being recorded and the corresponding list images from being generated and displayed, it is possible to reduce the capacity of the recording buffer, simplify the selection of the medical images to be quoted when creating an interpretation report, record, generate and display. The effect of improving the operation response by reducing the processing can be obtained.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing still another embodiment in the case of performing editing such as processing and processing required for image interpretation according to an instruction of the image interpreter. The procedure of FIG. 8 can also be realized by using the procedure shown in FIG. 11, for example. In the present embodiment, the edit recording step 74 has two types of steps, that is, an edit content addition 151 and an overwrite 152, as in the procedure of FIG. The conditional branch 153 determines whether or not the previous edit is a density gradation change. For example, it can be determined whether or not the latest editing content recorded immediately before in the recording buffer is a density gradation change. When the radiogram interpreter subsequently gives an instruction to change the density gradation again, the conditional branch 153 becomes true, and the edited contents are overwritten in the recording buffer in step 152. Therefore, FIG.
Similar to the procedure described above, it is possible to prevent the editing contents from being recorded during the process, and it is possible to simplify the selection of the cited medical image when creating the interpretation report. Further, in the present embodiment, the image citation step 83 in the report creation step 17 shown in FIG. 5 generates a medical image corresponding to the editing content selected by the image reader, and interprets the image on the report display window 24 shown in FIG. Although it is pasted to the report, it can be displayed in another window different from the report display window 24. For example, a reduced medical image is attached to the image interpretation report in the form of an icon, and when the icon is selected with a pointing device such as a mouse, the corresponding medical image is displayed in another window. For example, pressing a small button causes the window to open. By doing so, the area of the medical image on the image interpretation report becomes small, and the space can be effectively used.

Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the edit recording step 74 records the edit content instructed by the radiogram interpreter for the displayed medical image in the record buffer.
The display condition of the medical image to be recorded is recorded together with the edited content, and the report creation display step 17 shown in FIG. 3 reads the display condition together with the edited content, and reads the medical image generated from the edited content according to the display condition read out. It may be displayed. The display conditions are conditions for displaying the medical image in the same manner as when editing the medical image, such as the position and size of the window or the scroll position. When comparing a plurality of medical images, usually, the image display windows are arranged in a line for easy comparison and the images are read. By recording the display conditions, when creating an interpretation report,
Alternatively, when referring to the created image interpretation report, it is possible to refer to the image interpretation report without repeating window operations such as the above arrangement. Further, in the example of FIG. 11, the list display step 75 is an image editing step 73 in which the medical images recorded in the recording buffer in the editing recording step 74 are edited.
Although the list is displayed in the order of editing performed in step 1, the content may be displayed in another order, such as by organizing and displaying each edited content or each display image, or may be displayed in combination of a plurality of orders. For example, when collecting only the images that have been commented, or only the images that have been changed in density gradation, it is convenient to display a list in that order. In the present embodiment, the edit recording step 74 automatically records the edited content in the recording buffer. However, instead of the edited content, the edited medical image itself is automatically recorded in the recording buffer. May be. In this case, in the image reference step 83 in the report creation step 17 in FIG. 5, the medical image corresponding to the list image selected by the image reader is directly read from the recording buffer, and the report display window 2 in FIG.
It can be included in the interpretation report on 4. That is, the image citation step 83 does not need to generate a medical image corresponding to the edited content. Therefore, since the processing at the time of importing the medical image into the image interpretation report can be speeded up, the operation response at the time of creating the report can be significantly improved.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of an image interpretation system using the image interpretation report creation support method of the present invention. In FIG. 12, 161 is a radiogram interpreter, 162 is a control device such as a personal computer, 163 is a display device such as a CRT for displaying a medical image or an image interpretation report, 170 is a screen of the display device 163, 164 is an input device such as a keyboard, 165 and 166 are image diagnostic equipment such as X-ray CT and ultrasonic diagnostic equipment, 167 is a network, 168 is a scanner that digitizes X-ray film, 171 is a pointing device, 172 is a printer that prints an interpretation report, 174
Is a microphone for converting the sound of the image reader 161 into an electric signal. The control device 162 of the personal computer is connected to the image diagnostic devices 165 and 166 via, for example, the network 167, and is connected to the scanner 168, for example, RS232.
It is connected by a general-purpose input / output interface 173 such as C. As the screen 170 of the display device 163, for example, the screen shown in FIG. 1 or 9 is displayed. The pen-type pointing device 171 can input the coordinates of its position by bringing it close to or in contact with the screen 170. In addition,
Instead of the pen-type pointing device 171, another pointing device such as a mouse or a trackball may be used. For example, moving windows and buttons (for example,
It can be used for selection of 33 to 36) of FIG. 1, selection of list images (51 to 60) of the list display window 22, and the like.

In the configuration of FIG. 12, if the control device 162 performs the procedure shown in FIG. 2, it is possible to support the interpretation report creation described above. In the instruction input step 11 shown in FIG. 2, the keyboard 164 and the pointing device 171 accept the instruction of the radiogram interpreter 161. In the image input step 13, the medical image obtained by the image diagnostic equipment 165, 166 via the network 167 or a general-purpose input. A medical image digitized by the scanner 168 is input via the output interface 169. Further, the image display step 15 displays a medical image on the screen 170 according to the instruction of the reader 161 by the keyboard 164 and the pointing device 171, and the report preparation step 17 follows the instruction of the reader 161 by the keyboard 164 and the pointing device 171. Create an interpretation report citing medical images. In the voice comment step 87 shown in FIG. 5, the comment of the operator 161 is stored in the control device 162 in association with the radiology report via the microphone 174. In the report printing step 89 of FIG. 5, the image interpretation report is printed by the printer 172 via the general-purpose input / output interface 173.

As described above, according to the present invention, a medical image during image interpretation which is sequentially changed by the editing performed by the image interpreter's instructions is used in accordance with the timing of utilizing various instructions and operations performed by the image reader. Automatically save the image itself or the information necessary for reproducing the medical image such as edited contents,
This is made available when creating an interpretation report. Therefore, various modifications and combinations are possible within a range not exceeding this gist. In the present invention, the medical image displayed on the screen is automatically edited in the recording buffer in accordance with a predetermined timing in the edit recording step to perform editing such as processing and processing required for image interpretation in accordance with the instruction of the reader. The list images corresponding to the edited contents that have been recorded and recorded in the recording buffer in the list display step are displayed in the order in which they were edited, and after the image interpretation is completed, the medical images to be quoted in the image interpretation report are selected from the list image in the report creation step. Then, it becomes possible to read the corresponding edited content, generate a medical image at the time of recording in the recording buffer, and incorporate it into the image interpretation report. Therefore, for example, it becomes possible to directly refer to or quote the image being read when creating an interpretation report without performing operations such as predicting and saving the required image in advance, without interfering with the interpretation work. , Can create accurate and clear interpretation report quickly. Further, since the medical images to be quoted can be selected after checking the list images in advance, the operation of searching the edit contents of the recording buffer becomes simple and reliable, and the interpretation report can be created in a short time. Furthermore, since the list images for selecting medical images to be quoted are displayed in the order in which they were edited, the image reader can quickly search for medical images to be quoted based on the memory of the operations performed by the image reader himself. The time can be shortened.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to directly refer to or quote the image being read when creating an interpretation report without performing operations such as predicting and saving the image in advance, and it is accurate and clear without interfering with the interpretation work. There is an effect that an image interpretation report can be created quickly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen according to an image interpretation report creation support method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a procedure of an image interpretation report creation support method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing details of the image display step of FIG. 2 and showing a procedure for performing editing such as processing required for image interpretation and processing according to an instruction of an image interpreter.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image processing function and an image processing function in the image editing step of FIG.

5 is a flowchart showing an example of a detailed procedure of a report creating step in FIG.

6 is an image display step showing another embodiment of FIG. 3, and is a flowchart of a procedure of performing editing such as processing required for image interpretation and processing according to an instruction of the image reader.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an image editing step, an edit recording step, and a list display step showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of an image editing step, an edit recording step, and a list display step showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of drawing an arrow using handwriting drawing in the image editing step.

FIG. 10 is an image editing step showing another embodiment of FIG.
It is a flow chart of an edit recording step and a list display step.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of an image editing step, an edit recording step, and a list display step showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing an example of a hardware configuration of an image interpretation system using the image interpretation report creation support method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

21: display screen, 22: image display window, 23: list display window, 24: report display window, 2
5: chest X-ray image, 26: instruction input window, 31:
Processing menu, 32: Processing menu, 33: Input button, 34: Display button, 35: Report creation button, 3
6: End button, 37: File menu, 38: Citation menu, 39: Document menu, 40: Voice menu,
51 to 60: List images, 61, 62: Lesions that seem to be lesions,
63: line drawn by handwriting, 64: comment, 14
1-143: Lines drawn by handwriting, 144-14
7: List image, 161: Interpreter, 162: Control device, 1
63: display device, 164: input device, 165, 166:
Image diagnostic equipment, 167: network, 168: scanner, 170: screen, 172: printer, 171: pointing device, 174: microphone, 169, 17
3: General-purpose input / output interface.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. At least an image display step of displaying on a screen a medical image to be interpreted according to an instruction of an image reader, and editing processing and processing required for image interpretation on the medical image displayed according to the instruction of the image reader. An image editing step to be performed, an edit recording step of automatically recording the edit content for the medical image in a record buffer in accordance with a predetermined timing, and a necessary edit content being selected and read from the record buffer according to an instruction of a radiogram interpreter, And a report creating step for creating a medical image from the read edited contents and displaying the medical image, and creating a diagnostic report based on the displayed medical image. 2. The interpretation report creation support method according to claim 1, wherein the timing of recording the edited contents in the editing and recording step in a recording buffer is at the time of performing the editing instructed by the image reader in the image editing step. An interpretation report creation support method characterized by being present. 3. The interpretation report creation support method according to claim 1, wherein the timing of recording the edited contents in the edit recording step in the recording buffer is after performing the editing instructed by the image reader in the image editing step. A method for supporting the preparation of an image interpretation report, characterized in that there is no new instruction from the image interpreter at a predetermined time. 4. The interpretation report creation support method according to claim 1, wherein the timing of recording the edited contents in the edit recording step in a recording buffer is set in advance in the editing instructed by the image reader in the image editing step. An interpretation report creation support method characterized in that it is only at the time when a specified specific edit is performed. 5. The interpretation report creation support method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the timing of recording the edited contents in the edit recording step in a recording buffer is Depending on the instructed edits, some may
Others are interpretation report creation support methods characterized by setting each to be performed after instructing editing. 6. The interpretation report creation support method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the edit recording step, when recording the edit content, sets the display condition of the medical image to be recorded as the edit content. In addition to the above, the information is recorded in a recording buffer, and in the report creating step, the display condition is read together with the edited content, and the medical image generated from the edited content is displayed according to the read display condition. Method. 7. The image interpretation report creation support method according to claim 1, further comprising a list display step of displaying a list of medical images recorded in the recording buffer in the edit recording step. The interpretation report creation support method, wherein the necessary selection of edit contents in the report creation step is performed by a radiogram interpreter by selecting the medical images listed in the list display step. 8. The image interpretation report creation support method according to claim 1, wherein an edit recording step of recording the edit content is placed in an image recording step of recording a medical image in a recording buffer. An interpretation report creation support method characterized by replacement. 9. The image interpretation report creation support method according to claim 7, wherein the medical images displayed in a list in the list display step are displayed in the order in which they were edited in the image editing step. Report creation support method.