JPH10261038A - Image display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display various images with excellent operability, concerning an image display device, which is an image display device for displaying images on a display screen of a CRT display, a plasma display, etc., and suitably displays, specially, medical images with various characteristics. SOLUTION: Two display screens 12a and 13a are regarded as one virtual display screen, a cursor 21, which freely moves over the display screens 12a and 13a is displayed on the virtual display screen, and the movement of an image 22a displayed on the display screen 12a to the other display screen 13a is instructed by drag-and-drop operation of a mouse 15 and according to the instruction, the 1st image 22a itself displayed on the display screen 12a before the movement or a 2nd image 22b corresponding to the 1st image 22a is displayed on the display screen 13a after the movement.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image display device for displaying an image on a display screen such as a CRT display and a plasma display, and more particularly to an image display device suitable for displaying medical images having various characteristics. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image is displayed on a display screen such as a CRT display and used for human visual observation in a wider field than before. For example, in the medical field, for example, an X-ray tomography apparatus (CT), a nuclear magnetic resonance imaging apparatus (MRI), an endoscope, a nuclear medicine image (R)
Various image inspection devices (referred to as modalities) such as I) and an ultrasonic diagnostic device are provided with dedicated image display devices. A dedicated image display device attached to a modality is required to display an image with high fidelity according to the modality, and therefore, an optimal image display device is selected for each modality.

In recent years, a patient has been presented with an image obtained from the patient, and has carefully explained the medical condition and treatment method.
The so-called informed consent (informed consent) that the treatment is performed with the patient's consent for the treatment method
There is a growing tendency to perform a “formed consent”, and also in medical examinations and health checkups at the local government or company level, when presenting results to a subject, he / she wants to also present the image itself obtained from the subject. Demands are growing.

However, in the image display device dedicated to each modality as described above, images obtained by a plurality of modalities are displayed at the same time, and a comprehensive diagnosis is made while comparing, and various modalities are given to a patient or a subject. It is difficult to show the image obtained in. For this reason, in recent years, a medical image storage communication system (PACS: Picture Achi
Ving and Communication Sy
has been developed and spread, and interpretation and diagnosis using various kinds of image data have become possible.

[0005] However, for example, to display an image obtained by an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, an image display apparatus capable of displaying a color image is necessary due to the necessity of displaying a blood flow in color. To display an image obtained by the tomography apparatus, color is unnecessary, but on the other hand, a high-definition image display apparatus for monochrome is necessary because it is necessary to perform high-definition image display. The required characteristics of the image display device are different for each modality. Therefore, displaying images obtained by a plurality of types of modalities on one image display device cannot display an image matching the characteristics of each modality. . It is conceivable to arrange a plurality of image display devices having different characteristics side by side and display an image suitable for each characteristic on each image display device, but it is also possible to select a display image or update an image for each image display device. Has to be performed, and the operability is poor.

In the medical field, in addition to the above-mentioned PACS, for example, an ordering system in which a doctor inputs the contents to be examined for a certain patient and distributes the information to each examination department, The development of electronic medical record systems for preservation is also progressing. These ordering systems and electronic medical record systems are
There is an increasing demand for cooperation with ACS.

When these cooperations become possible, when an examination is requested, an image at the time of the previous examination is displayed to determine an examination item in accordance with the symptoms at that time, and an examination is made when an electronic medical record is created. It is convenient to create the electronic medical record while displaying the image that was displayed, attach an image that often shows the patient's symptoms to the electronic medical record, and further provide the patient's medical history information described in the medical record ,
By displaying a high-fidelity image together with inspection request information and finding information created by each inspection department, it is expected that the accuracy of diagnosis will be improved.

[0008] Since these ordering systems and electronic medical record systems also handle document information, they usually include a color image display device provided in a normal personal computer. Displaying a high-definition image is not suitable. An image display device for an ordering system or an electronic medical record system may be arranged side by side with an image display device for a PACS, but simply arranging them has a problem that operability is extremely poor.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide an operable image display device suitable for displaying various images.

[0010]

An image display apparatus according to the present invention that achieves the above object includes a plurality of image display units having an actual display screen on which images are displayed, and a plurality of image data representing a plurality of images. An image storage unit for storing, and one or more images represented by one or more image data among the plurality of image data stored in the image storage unit, and one or more images represented by one or more of the plurality of image display units Image display control means for displaying an image on the display screen of the image display unit, and a virtual display on the virtual display screen when the entire plurality of real display screens covering the plurality of image display units are regarded as one virtual display screen Cursor display control means for displaying a movable cursor across a plurality of real display screens constituting the screen, designation of movement of the cursor on a virtual display screen, and designation of movement on the virtual display screen;
The position where the cursor is located can be freely specified, and the image displayed on one of the plurality of real display screens constituting the virtual display screen can be moved to another display screen. An image movement instruction operation device for instructing the image display device, wherein the image display control means responds to an image movement instruction by an operation of the image movement instruction operation device and selects one of a plurality of real display screens constituting a virtual display screen. The first image displayed on one real display screen or the second image corresponding to the first image is displayed on another real display screen different from the one real display screen. And

In the image display apparatus of the present invention, for example, icons and the like, including those where the icons are composed of characters,
It is included in the "image" of the present invention. The image display device of the present invention regards the entirety of a plurality of real display screens extending over a plurality of image display units as one virtual display screen, and displays the plurality of real display screens constituting the virtual display screen on the virtual display screen. Displaying a cursor that is movable across the screen, instructing the image displayed on one real display screen to move to another real display screen while moving the cursor with the image movement instruction operator, Accordingly, the first image itself displayed on one actual display screen before the movement or the first image itself is displayed.
The second image corresponding to the image is displayed on another real display screen after the movement. In this manner, the movement of the image is designated while moving the cursor across the plurality of real display screens. , An image display device with extremely high operability is realized.

[0012] Here, the image movement operator is a mouse,
The cursor may be either a cursor key on a keyboard, a trackball, or the like, and is not particularly limited. However, the image movement instruction operator is a mouse, and the image display control means performs drag and drop of the mouse. It is preferable that the movement of the cursor over a plurality of real display screens constituting the virtual display screen by operation is recognized as an instruction to move an image over the plurality of real display screens.

A mouse drag-and-drop operation, that is, an operation of moving a cursor while clicking an image and releasing the click at a position after the movement, can instruct movement of the image with extremely high operability.
The cursor here is, for example, by clicking on an image, the cursor before clicking changes to another figure to indicate that it is being clicked,
When another changed figure is configured to move on the screen by a drag operation, the changed another figure is also a cursor itself indicating a position on the display screen. Regardless of the shape of the graphic, a position on the display screen that can be moved by an operator such as a mouse on the display screen is referred to as a cursor.

In the image display device of the present invention, it is preferable that the plurality of image display units display images having different characteristics. The characteristics of the image display unit include, for example, display screen size, color / monochrome, spatial resolution, density resolution, drawing speed (particularly moving image drawing speed and three-dimensional image drawing speed). By providing a plurality of image display units having one or more of these characteristics different from each other, images with different characteristics can be displayed with high fidelity.

Further, in the image display device of the present invention, the image storage section stores the image data corresponding to each other and representing images having different characteristics from each other. The image display control means stores image data representing a second image corresponding to the first image displayed on one display screen from the image storage unit in response to an image movement instruction by operating the image movement instruction operator. It may read out and display a second image based on the read out image data on the other actual display screen, or the image display device of the present invention may be arranged so that the image display device stores the image stored in the image display unit. Image conversion means for generating image data representing an image having characteristics different from the image represented by the image data based on the data, wherein the image conversion means performs an image movement instruction operation The second image displayed on another real display screen is represented based on the first image data representing the first image displayed on one real display screen in response to an instruction to move the image by the above operation. Generating second image data, wherein the image display control means displays a second image based on the second image data obtained by the image conversion means on the other actual display screen. There may be.

The first image and the second image corresponding to the first image are “the same entity”, that is, “one image of the same part of the same subject (eg, the same patient). An image obtained by `` imaging '', for example, an image having only a different spatial resolution, an image having a different density resolution, an image having a difference only in whether the image is color or monochrome, or the like may be obtained. The obtained image and an image (icon) as a symbol associated with the image may be used. However, since it is usually impossible to directly generate a real image obtained from a subject from an icon, the first image is an icon, and the icon is designated by, for example, a mouse and dragged and dropped. When displaying images obtained by imaging a subject by an operation, they need to be stored in the image storage unit.

In the image conversion means, for example, conversion processing to images with different spatial resolutions, conversion processing to images with different density resolutions, conversion processing from color images to monochrome images, conversion processing from three-dimensional images to two-dimensional images At least one of a conversion process, a conversion process from a moving image to a still image, an image enlargement / reduction process, and the like is performed. In image enlargement / reduction processing, for example, when an image displayed on an image display unit having a low spatial resolution is moved to an image display unit having a high spatial resolution, a reduced image is generally displayed. When trying to display the same dimensions as the previous image,
Alternatively, this is effective when an image having a small size and an image having a size substantially equal to the size of the original subject are to be displayed.

Here, when displaying the second image on the other actual display screen, the image display control means is configured to perform the following steps.
While the first image displayed on one actual display screen remains displayed on the one display screen, the second image is displayed on the other actual display screen.
Or the image display control means may display the second image on the other real display screen when the second image is displayed on the one real display screen. One image may be deleted from the one actual display screen, or both may be combined, and the user may select whether to keep the first image displayed or delete it according to the scene. You may do so.

A scene where it is preferable to display the second image while the first image is displayed is, for example, a subject in which the first image is an icon and the second image is associated with the icon. Or the first image is a plurality of small-sized screens arranged on one display screen in an index manner, and the second image is the plurality of small-sized screens. A large image close to the size of the subject corresponding to the image selected from the screens of the above, and it is preferable to erase the first image when displaying the second image. Examples of such cases include a case where an image is simply moved, a case where an image having a different density resolution or spatial resolution is displayed along with the movement of the image, and the image before movement becomes unnecessary for image observation, and the like.

The image display device of the present invention may be a stand-alone device, or a device in which a plurality of image display units and image storage units are connected to each other via communication means or the like. There may be.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. Here, an example of an image display device that displays medical images obtained by various modalities will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the appearance of an image display device as one embodiment of the present invention.

The image display device 10 is composed of a computer system, and includes a main body 11 having a CPU, a hard disk memory and the like, and a first image display unit 12 capable of displaying a color image on a display screen 12a. A first image display unit 1 capable of displaying a monochrome image with high definition and high density resolution on the display screen 13a
A second image display unit 13 which is a display device independent of the display unit 2, a keyboard 14 for giving various instructions to the image display device 10, and display screens 12a and 13b of the two image display units 12 and 13. These two to specify the position
It is composed of a mouse 15 provided commonly to the image display units 12 and 13. In particular, the second image display unit 13
Is capable of displaying an image with a high fidelity comparable to an image display device dedicated to a modality and which can sufficiently withstand image reading and examination.

The main body 11 has a built-in magneto-optical disk drive for loading and accessing the magneto-optical disk 20. Image data obtained by various modalities and various data attached thereto (hereinafter referred to as various modalities). The obtained data is referred to as "source data.") Is stored in the magneto-optical disk 20, and the magneto-optical disk 20 storing the source data is stored in the main body 1 constituting the image display device 10. The image is loaded into the magnetic disk drive and read into the image display device 10. still,
Source data obtained in various modalities may be read into this image display device via another data recording medium instead of a magneto-optical disk, or the image display device may be read in various modalities or the above-described PACS or the like. May be connected via a communication line, and the source data may be received via the communication line.

The mouse 15 is, as widely known,
When the mouse 15 is operated by hand and moved on a desk or the like, the cursor 21 displayed on the display screen moves on the display screen in accordance with the movement, and the button ( Here, two buttons, 15a and 15b)
Is pressed (clicked) on any of them (usually the left button 15a) to designate the position where the cursor 21 is displayed on the display screen.

Here, two display screens 12a, 13a
Are regarded as one virtual display screen, and the cursor 21 can be freely moved within the virtual display screen by operating the mouse 15, that is, the two display screens 12 a and 13.
It can move across a. Therefore, a predetermined first image 22 is displayed on the display screen 12a of the first image display unit 12.
a is displayed, the mouse 15 is operated to move the cursor 21 to a position overlapping the first image 22a, and the button 15a of the mouse 15 is clicked. Is moved on the desk to move the cursor 21 onto the display screen 13a of the second image display unit 13 (this operation is called a drag operation), and the cursor 21 is moved to the display screen 13a.
When the button 15a is moved to an appropriate position, the button 15a is released from being clicked (release the finger from the button 15a; this operation is called a drop operation).

Then, instead of the first image 22a displayed on the display screen 12a of the first image display unit 12,
Alternatively, the second image 22b is displayed on the display screen 13a of the second image display unit 13 while the first image 22a is displayed on the display screen 12a. Hereinafter, the internal configuration of the image display device 10 will be described in detail.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of the data file after editing the source data read into the image display device. Here, in this data file, the part storing the information object is called an information object storage unit, and the part storing the information object attribute is called an information object attribute storage unit. The information object storage unit and the information object attribute storage unit are secured in a hard disk in the main unit 11 shown in FIG. Information objects and information object attributes will be described later.

Source data obtained by various modalities is read into the image display device 10 shown in FIG. 1, then edited as shown in FIG. 2, and stored in the information object storage unit and the information object attribute storage unit. Is done. Here, image data obtained by a certain examination of a certain patient (the single examination may be an examination by a plurality of modalities (for example, an X-ray imaging apparatus and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus)) It is called an information object group. Each information object group usually includes a plurality of pairs of an information object including an image data group obtained by one modality and an information object attribute including information indicating a property (described later) of the information object. . For example, the information object group 1 is information relating to the examination “Otsu” of the patient “A”, and the information object 1_1 is an image representing a two-dimensional low-resolution color image obtained by a certain modality (for example, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus). Data, information object 1_
2 is image data representing a two-dimensional high-resolution monochrome image obtained by another modality (for example, an X-ray imaging apparatus);
The information object 1_3 is configured by image data representing a three-dimensional image obtained by another modality (for example, an X-ray tomography apparatus). The information object represents not only a simple edited version of the source data but also, for example, image data representing a low-resolution image obtained by processing from the source data representing a high-resolution image, or a color image. Image data and the like representing a monochrome image obtained by processing from the source data are also stored as information objects.

An information object is a DICOM (DIC)
OM is a medical image communication and storage standard, Digital, standardized by the US ACR / NEMA-DICOM Committee.
Imaging and Communication
Standard), a two-dimensional still image such as an image pixel data format or a JPEG image data format,
It is composed of “image data” recorded and communicated in a three-dimensional voxel data format, a moving image format, and the like, and text and numerical information (hereinafter referred to as “image supplementary information”) describing the image data.

Each image data constituting these information objects includes a number for identifying the information object group and the information object to which each image data belongs, and a number for identifying the image data within the information object (these numbers are combined). (Referred to as “image identification number”). FIG. 3 is a bitmap of bit string information representing information object attributes.

Here, a 12-bit area is secured, and the upper four bits are used to classify the image according to the number of pixels constituting the image (a). A flag (b) in which "1" is set at the time, a flag (c) in which "1" is set when the image is a three-dimensional image, and "1" when the image is a still image
(D) when the image is a moving image, flag (e) when the image is a moving image, or when the image is a monochrome image and has a density resolution exceeding 256 gradations, or when the image is a color image. 1.6M
(F) that is set to '1' when the color resolution exceeds (16 million colors), when the image is a monochrome image and has a density resolution of 256 gradations or less, or when the image is a color image And 1.6M
A flag (g) in which “1” is set when the following color resolution is set, a flag (h) in which “1” is set when the image is a color image, and “1” when the image is a monochrome image (I) is set.

Certain information among various types of information representing the information object attribute is uniquely determined according to the modality from which the source data is obtained, or is extracted from “image accompanying information” constituting the information object, or If the information object is obtained by image conversion processing based on source data, the image object is notified from the image conversion processing means.

For example, when the information object is composed of DICOM standard image data, the DIC of Table 1 below is used to create the information object attribute table.
OM standard item numbers and item names can be used.
The description of the DICOM standard itself is omitted.

[0034]

[Table 1]

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the display characteristic storage unit. The image display device 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes two independent display devices having a first image display unit 12 and a second image display unit 13 having different characteristics. For example, the first image display unit is a display device having a low spatial resolution 15-inch display screen that displays a color image as shown in FIG. 4, and the second image display unit displays a monochrome image. This is a display device having a 21-inch display screen with a high spatial resolution. In the image display device 10 shown in FIG.
The display characteristics A and B of the table are stored in a display characteristic storage unit secured in a hard disk in the main body unit 11. The display characteristics stored in the display characteristics storage unit include “bit string information” described below,
It consists of “coordinate range information” of each display screen when the whole is regarded as one virtual display screen.

FIG. 5 is a bitmap representing bit string information stored in the display characteristic storage unit. Here, a 12-bit area is secured, and the upper 4 bits are divided according to the maximum number of pixels that can be displayed on the display screen (a). A flag (b) where "1" is set when possible, a flag (c) where "1" is set when a three-dimensional image can be displayed, and a flag where "1" is set when a still image can be displayed (D), a flag (e) for setting “1” when a moving image can be displayed, a monochrome image with a density resolution exceeding 256 gradations, or a 1.6M (16)
(F) A flag (f) that is set to '1' when a color image with a color resolution exceeding one million colors can be displayed (f), a monochrome image with a density resolution of 256 gradations or less, or a color resolution of 1.6 M or less '1' when images can be displayed
(G), a flag (h) that sets “1” when a color image can be displayed, and a flag (i) that sets “1” when a monochrome image can be displayed. I have.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of coordinate range information stored in the display characteristic storage. Here, a combination of the display screen of the first image display unit and the display screen of the second image display unit is regarded as one virtual display screen, and the sharing of each image display unit on the virtual display screen is considered. The area is stored in the display characteristics storage as coordinate range information. That is, for the first image display unit, minimum x coordinate: 0 maximum x coordinate: 1023 minimum y coordinate: 0 maximum y coordinate: 767 For the second image display unit, minimum x coordinate: 1024 maximum x coordinate: 3071 Minimum y coordinate: 0 Maximum y coordinate: 2047

Further, the display characteristic storage unit also stores information representing the size of one pixel of the display screen for enlargement / reduction processing described later. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a process of recognizing a display characteristic corresponding to a display position after the movement when an image movement is designated by the drag-and-drop operation of the mouse 15 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state of movement of a cursor by a mouse.

By the drag and drop operation of the mouse 15, the mouse cursor is moved to the coordinate position (x
₁ , y ₁ ) has been moved to the coordinate position (x ₂ , y ₂ ). The display position obtaining means 31 is activated by a mouse drop operation.
Screen position (x ₂ , y ₂ ) at the time of drop operation (after movement),
That is, the display position where the image after the movement should be displayed is recognized.

Display characteristic selecting means 32 for display position
In response to the recognition of the display position by the display position acquisition means 31, the display position is set within the coordinate range (0 ≦ x ≦ 10) assigned to the display screen of the first image display unit shown in FIG.
23 and 0 ≦ y ≦ 767) or within the coordinate range (0) assigned to the display screen of the second image display unit.
≤1024≤3071 and 0≤y≤2047), the display characteristic 33 at the drop position (display position) is read from the display characteristic storage unit 30.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a process from when the display characteristics of the display position are read out to when an image is displayed at the display position. When the display characteristics 33 of the display position are obtained as described above, the information object attribute storage unit 35 stores information on image candidates corresponding to the image displayed before the movement, that is, information on the image corresponding to the image displayed before the movement. Bit string information representing the object attribute is read (see FIG. 3), and the read bit string information representing the information object attribute is the bit string information (see FIG. 5) constituting the display characteristics determined as described above. Is compared to The manner of this comparison will be described later. When there are a plurality of image candidates displayed at the display position, each of the bit string information representing the plurality of object attributes for each of the plurality of candidates is compared with the bit string information representing the display characteristics of the display position.

By this comparison, when the most suitable image to be displayed at the display position is obtained, the information object storage unit 34 generates image data representing the most suitable image utilizing the display characteristics of the display position. The stored information object 37 is read. The object storing the image data that is well suited to the display characteristics of the display position is stored in the information object storage unit 34.
Is not stored, the information object storing the image data which can be converted into the image data suitable for the display characteristic of the display position by the image conversion processing is read. The information object read from the information object storage unit 34 is subjected to enlargement / reduction processing by the enlargement / reduction processing unit 38 as necessary, and this is also processed by the density resolution conversion unit 39 as necessary. The conversion process is performed, and thereafter, the image display unit 40 (the first position shown in FIG. 1) corresponding to the display position (the position after the movement).
Is sent to the image display unit 12 to the second image display unit 13), and an image is displayed at the display position. The information object newly obtained by the enlargement / reduction processing and the information object attribute are stored in the information object storage unit 34 and the information object attribute storage unit 35, respectively, as necessary. The same applies to the information object and the information object attribute obtained by the density resolution conversion means 39.

Here, the enlargement / reduction processing means 38 and the density resolution conversion means 39 are shown as examples of the image conversion means, but instead of or together with these, other image conversion means, such as a three-dimensional image, are used. A means for generating a two-dimensional image, a means for generating a still image from a moving image, a means for generating a monochrome image from a color image, and the like may be provided.

Next, a method of comparing bit string information by the information object matching means 36 shown in FIG. 9 will be described. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing three types of bit string information (hereinafter, referred to as “attribute information”), which are named attribute 1, attribute 2, and attribute 3, and represent information object attributes. The meaning of each bit is as described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing bit string information (hereinafter, referred to as "display information") representing each display characteristic of the first and second image display units. The meaning of each bit is as described with reference to FIG. Here, the upper 4 bits of the attribute information and the upper 4 bits of the display information are compared with each other as numerical values, and for each bit except the upper 4 bits, the logical product of the attribute information and the display information for each corresponding bit is obtained. If the display information is greater than or equal to the attribute information for the upper 4 bits and the result of the logical product of the bits other than the upper 4 bits is equal to that of the attribute information, the attribute information corresponds to the attribute information. It is determined that the information object can be displayed on the display screen of the image display unit on which the display information is displayed.

FIGS. 12 to 14 show the attribute information (attribute 1, attribute 2, attribute 3) shown in FIG. 10 and the display information of the first image display unit shown in FIG. 11 side by side. It is. Comparing the high-order bit “1000” of the attribute 1 shown in FIG. 12 with the high-order bit “1001” of the first image display unit, “1000” <“1001” and the high-order 4
The result of the AND operation of each bit except the bit is' 1010
0101 ', which is different from that of attribute 1, and therefore, it is determined that the information object corresponding to attribute 1 can be displayed on the display screen of the first image display unit.

The upper 4 bits of attribute 2 shown in FIG.
The upper 4 bits of attribute 3 shown in FIG.
0 ′, which is larger than that of the first image display unit, and therefore, it is determined that none of the information objects corresponding to the attributes 2 and 3 can be displayed on the display screen of the first image display unit. You. FIGS. 15 to 17 show each attribute information (attribute 1, attribute 2, attribute 3) shown in FIG.
FIG. 12 is a diagram in which display information of a second image display unit shown in FIG. 11 is arranged.

The upper 4 bits of attribute 1 shown in FIG.
000 'and the upper 4 bits'1' of the second image display unit.
Compared with “100”, “1000” <“1100”, and the result of the AND operation of each bit excluding the upper 4 bits is “10100101”, which is equal to that of the attribute 1, and therefore, the information corresponding to the attribute 1 It is determined that the object can be displayed on the second image display.

The upper 4 bits of the attribute 2 shown in FIG. 16 are “1100”, which is equal to that of the second image display unit, and the result of the logical product of the bits excluding the upper 4 bits is “10101001”. Therefore, it is determined that the information object corresponding to the attribute 2 is equal to that of the attribute 2 and therefore can be displayed on the second image display unit. Furthermore, the upper 4 bits of attribute 3 shown in FIG.
And the result of the logical product of the bits equal to that of the second image display unit and excluding the upper 4 bits is' 10100
101 'is equal to that of attribute 3, and therefore, it is determined that the information object corresponding to attribute 3 can be displayed on the second image display unit.

As in this example, a plurality of information objects having different attributes can be displayed on one image display unit, and the plurality of information objects represent the same entity (the same part of the same subject). (For example, the same image with only the difference of color / monochrome) obtained by one photographing, the image information of one of the information objects is finally determined by one image display unit. Is solved by assigning a plurality of pieces of display information to each other and assigning a priority order among the plurality of pieces of display information. For example, both a color image and a monochrome image can be displayed on a certain image display unit, and when both the color image information object and the monochrome image information object of the same entity exist, only the color image is displayed on the image display unit. By assigning both the display information 1 that can be displayed and the display information 2 that can display only a monochrome image, if the priority of the display information 1 is higher than that of the display information 2, the information object of the color image is Will be selected.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in the image display device shown in FIG. Here, the image displayed on the display screen 12a of the first image display unit 12 is selected with the mouse, and the display screen 1 of the second image display unit 13 is selected.
The case of moving to 3a will be described. First, before entering this flow, the user operates the keyboard 14 or the mouse 15 to display a menu screen on the display screen of the first image display unit 12, and selects a desired image menu from the menu screen. Then, the information object (image data) corresponding to the selected menu is read from the information object storage unit (see FIG. 2), and an image (or icon) based on the image data is displayed on the first image display unit 12.
Is displayed on the display screen 12a.

Thereafter, the mouse 15 is operated to move the mouse cursor to the displayed image in step (a) of the flowchart shown in FIG. 18, and the image is selected by pressing the mouse switch 15a. Then, inside the image display device, it is recognized which image has been selected (step (b)). Then, the mouse cursor is moved by moving the mouse while holding down the mouse switch 15a (step (c)). After the movement, release the mouse switch 15a (perform the drop operation).
It is determined whether the position (drop position) of the mouse cursor at that time is within the display screen 12a of the first image display unit 12 or within the display screen 13a of the second image display unit 13. (Step (d)). As a result of the determination, the drop position is displayed on the display screen 1 of the first image display unit 12.
If it is within 2a, the process ends without performing any processing. On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step (d),
The drop position is the display screen 13a of the second image display unit 13.
If the number is within the range, the identification number of the image selected in step (a) (the number of the information object group described above + the number of the information object in the information group + the number of the image data in the information object) is used as the base. Then, the storage position of the image data of the same entity as the image data represented by the identification number is obtained (step (e)), and the image data is read out (step (f)). An image based on the read image data is displayed on the display screen 13a (step (g)). At this time, the image selected on step (a) and displayed on the display screen 12a of the first image display unit 12 is deleted (step (h)). FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing another processing procedure in the image display device shown in FIG. FIG.
8 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and only different steps will be described. This flowchart is similar to that of the second image display unit 1
This is an example of a case where there is no appropriate image data to be displayed on the display screen 13a of No. 3; in step (f), for example, a second image display of the same entity as the image selected in step (a) Image data that cannot be displayed on the display screen 13a of the unit 13 or is inappropriate to be displayed (for example, image data representing a moving image or a color image)
Is read, and in step (i), the image data is subjected to an image conversion process (for example, a process of converting to a still image or a monochrome image), and the image based on the image data after the image conversion process is converted to a second image. It is displayed on the display screen of the image display unit 13 (step (g)).

Examples of the image conversion processing in step (i) include the enlargement / reduction processing, the color / monochrome conversion processing, the conversion processing from a moving image to a still image, and the three-dimensional image to a two-dimensional image as described above. , Spatial resolution conversion processing, density resolution conversion processing, and the like. Expansion
The reduction process includes an enlargement / reduction process for displaying an image of the same size even by moving between display screens, an enlargement process for displaying an original-size image, and the like.

In the flowchart shown in FIG. 19, step (h) in the flowchart shown in FIG. 18, that is, the step (h) selected in step (a) displayed on the display screen 12a of the first image display unit 12 is performed. There is no step to erase the image. That is, here, the image selected in step (a) is displayed as it is on the display screen 12a of the first image display unit 12.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a linked display between the electronic medical record display and the image display. Although the embodiments described so far do not refer to the cooperative display with the electronic medical record, the image display device of the present invention can be effectively used for the cooperative display with the electronic medical record. Here, an example of the use form will be described. As shown in FIG. 20A, the electronic medical record 41 is displayed on the display screen 12a of the two display screens 12a and 13a. An icon 41 a associated with an image is embedded in the electronic medical record 41.

Then, as shown in FIG. 20 (A), the icon 41a is picked, moved to the display screen 13a by a drag operation as shown in FIG. 20 (B), and a drop operation is performed. As shown in ()), a plurality of images 50 associated with the icon 41a are displayed on the display screen 13a. When a desired image of the plurality of images 50 is double-clicked by a mouse operation, the same full-size image as that of the image selected by the double-click is displayed on the display screen 13a. Is done. Alternatively, when a desired image of the plurality of images 50 is pitched and moved to the display screen 12a by a drag and drop operation, an image of the same entity as the selected image is displayed on the display screen 12a. Whether an image selected from the plurality of images 50 is displayed on the display screen 12a or the display screen 13a is left to the discretion of the operator, and the operator needs to compare the electronic medical record with the image. In order to display the image with high fidelity according to whether or not it is determined, or the nature of the image, the display screen is selected depending on which of the display screens 12a and 13a is suitable. For example, a high-definition display screen 13a is selected for an image obtained by X-ray imaging, and a display screen 12a capable of displaying a color image is selected for an image obtained by the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

[0057]

As described above, according to the image display device of the present invention, it is possible to perform display with good operability and suitable for the properties of the image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an appearance of an image display device as one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of a data file after editing source data read into an image display device.

FIG. 3 is a bitmap of bit string information representing information object attributes.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a display characteristic storage unit.

FIG. 5 is a bitmap representing bit string information stored in a display characteristic storage unit.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of coordinate range information stored in a display characteristic storage unit.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a process of recognizing a display characteristic corresponding to a display position after the movement when an image movement is designated by a drag and drop operation of a mouse.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing how a cursor is moved by a mouse.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a process from when a display characteristic of a display position is read to when an image is displayed at the display position.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing three types of bit string information, which are named attribute 1, attribute 2, and attribute 3, and represent information object attributes.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing bit string information representing each display characteristic of the first and second image display units.

12 is a diagram in which attribute information of attribute 1 shown in FIG. 10 and display information of a first image display unit shown in FIG. 11 are arranged.

13 is a diagram in which attribute information of attribute 2 shown in FIG. 10 and display information of the first image display unit shown in FIG. 11 are arranged side by side.

FIG. 14 is a diagram in which attribute information of attribute 3 shown in FIG. 10 and display information of a first image display unit shown in FIG. 11 are arranged side by side.

15 is a diagram in which attribute information of attribute 1 shown in FIG. 10 and display information of a second image display unit shown in FIG. 11 are arranged side by side.

16 is a diagram in which attribute information of attribute 2 shown in FIG. 10 and display information of a second image display unit shown in FIG. 11 are arranged side by side.

17 is a diagram in which attribute information of attribute 3 shown in FIG. 10 and display information of a second image display unit shown in FIG. 11 are arranged side by side.

18 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in the image display device shown in FIG.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing another processing procedure in the image display device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of a linked display between an electronic medical record display and an image display.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image display apparatus 11 Main part 12 First image display part 12a Display screen 13 Second image display part 13a Display screen 14 Keyboard 15 Mouse 15a, 15b Button 20 Magneto-optical disk 21 Cursor 22a First image 22b Second image

Claims (7)

[Claims] An actual display screen on which an image is displayed;
A plurality of image display units, an image storage unit for storing a plurality of image data representing a plurality of images, and one or more image data representing one or more of the plurality of image data stored in the image storage unit Image display control means for displaying one or more images on a real display screen of one or more image display units of the plurality of image display units; and a plurality of whole real display screens covering the plurality of image display units. Cursor display control means for displaying, on the virtual display screen when considered as one virtual display screen, a cursor movable across a plurality of real display screens constituting the virtual display screen; The user can freely specify movement on the virtual display screen and specify the position on the virtual display screen where the cursor is located, and select one of a plurality of real display screens constituting the virtual display screen. Base table An image movement instruction manipulator for instructing movement of the image displayed on the display screen to another display screen, wherein the image display control means responds to an image movement instruction by operating the image movement instruction manipulator. The first image displayed on one of the plurality of real display screens constituting the virtual display screen or a second image corresponding to the first image is displayed on the one real display screen. An image display device for displaying an image on another actual display screen different from the display screen. 2. The image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image movement instruction operation element is a mouse, and the image display control means displays the cursor on a plurality of real display screens constituting the virtual display screen by a drag and drop operation of the mouse. 2. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein the crossing movement is recognized as an instruction to move the image over the plurality of real display screens. 3. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of image display units display images having characteristics different from each other. 4. The image storage section stores image data that is image data associated with each other and that represents images having different characteristics from each other. Image data representing a second image corresponding to the first image displayed on the one display screen is read out from the image storage unit in response to an image movement instruction by operating an image movement instruction operator, and read out. 4. The image display device according to claim 3, wherein a second image based on the obtained image data is displayed on the other actual display screen. 5. An image conversion unit that generates image data representing an image having different characteristics from an image represented by the image data based on the image data stored in the image display unit. Display on the other real display screen based on first image data representing the first image displayed on the one real display screen in response to an image movement instruction by operating the image movement instruction operator. Generating second image data representing a second image to be processed, wherein the image display control means converts a second image based on the second image data obtained by the image conversion means, 4. The image display device according to claim 3, wherein the image is displayed on another actual display screen. 6. When the image display control means displays the second image on the other real display screen, the first image displayed on the one real display screen is displayed on the one real display screen. The image display device according to claim 4, wherein the second image is displayed on the other actual display screen while being displayed on the screen. 7. The image display control means, when displaying the second image on the other real display screen, converts the first image displayed on the one real display screen into the one real display screen. 6. The image display device according to claim 4, wherein the image is deleted from an actual display screen.