JPH11353327A - Image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor capable of retrieving a medical image by utilizing a comment described by an annotation function. SOLUTION: The image processor is provided with a memory 3 for relationally storing a medical image and a comment described in the medical image by the annotation function, retrieving means 4, 5 for retrieving the medical image from the memory 3 by using the comment as a key and a display means 6 for displaying the retrieved medical image and the comment together. Since a past medical image is extracted and displayed on a monitor and its comparing diagnosis can be executed, diagnostic accuracy can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for processing an ultrasonic image and the like, and more particularly to an apparatus for easily searching for an image to be stored.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, medical information equipment has been remarkably developed, and image processing apparatuses such as ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses are widely used in hospitals and the like. When diagnosing medical images obtained with these image processing devices, organ names, simple disease names,
In some cases, information such as the position where the medical image was acquired may be required. However, if the time when the medical image is acquired and the time for performing the diagnosis deviate from each other, the necessary information may be forgotten. Therefore, in order to remember information necessary for diagnosis, when acquiring a medical image, use the annotation function to add comments such as the organ name, the position where the medical image was acquired, the simple disease name, etc. to the medical image. The medical image including the comment is described on a monitor of the image processing apparatus, and can be recorded by means such as a monochrome printer, VTR, FD, and MO.

The annotation function is a function for marking a predetermined location (for example, in the vicinity of a clinically important lesion or the like) in a medical image, and for describing an organ name, a disease name, and the like. As described in JP-A-6-208608, conventionally, it is used to leave a comment on a medical image that is currently undergoing diagnosis.

[0004]

However, since the conventional image processing apparatus does not have a method of searching for a comment described by the annotation function, the stored medical image can be used as a reference case in another diagnosis. There was a problem that it was not possible.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a conventional problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus capable of retrieving a medical image by using a comment described by an annotation function. .

[0006]

Therefore, in the image processing apparatus of the present invention, there is provided a memory for storing a medical image and a comment described by the annotation function in the medical image in association with each other, and a medical image using the comment as a key from the memory. Search means for searching for.

[0007] Therefore, it is possible to search the medical images stored in the memory based on the comments, and it is easy to use the past medical images as reference for diagnosis.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a memory for storing a medical image and a comment described by the annotation function in the medical image in association with each other; An image processing apparatus provided with a search unit for searching and a display unit for displaying a searched medical image together with a comment. Since a past medical image can be extracted and compared and diagnosed, the diagnostic accuracy is improved. be able to.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of searched medical images can be simultaneously displayed on the display means, and a tendency of similar cases appearing from the plurality of medical images is analyzed. be able to.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a memory is provided with an input means for inputting a medical image and a comment converted into an electronic file, and the medical image and the comment diagnosed by a skilled person are transferred to an image processing apparatus. By taking in, these medical images can be used as a reference for diagnosis of an unskilled operator.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) The image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment can display a medical image under diagnosis or a searched medical image.

As shown in FIG. 1, this apparatus has a medical image input unit 1 for constructing and inputting a medical image such as an ultrasonic image.
And a comment input unit 2 for describing a comment on the input medical image by an annotation function, a memory 3 for storing the medical image and the comment attached thereto in association with each other, and a search condition for the comment stored in the memory 3. A search condition input unit 5 for input, a search unit 4 for searching for a comment from the memory 3 based on the input condition, a medical image input from the medical image input unit 1 and the comment input unit 2, a memory 3
And a monitor unit 6 for displaying the medical image and the comment called out from the computer.

The operation of diagnosing a medical image using this image processing apparatus will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Step 1: First, a medical image to be diagnosed is obtained.

Step 2: A medical image of a similar case is searched as a reference for diagnosing the acquired medical image. For this purpose, the search is performed using a comment described in the medical image.

For example, when a doctor makes a liver diagnosis, if several medical images described as a lever (liver) are stored in the memory 3, the medical image is to be viewed for reference. . However, it is difficult to know which medical image is the target liver case. Therefore, the user inputs “lever” from the search condition input unit 5 to search for a medical image associated with the comment, and displays the medical image on the monitor 6.

The operation of this search will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Step 21: When a comment to be searched is input from the search condition input unit 6, Step 22: The search unit 4 performs a search, and Step 23: Matches the comment input from the search condition input unit 6. If there is a comment, the comment and the medical image associated therewith are read out from the memory 3 and displayed on the monitor 6 (step 24).

When the retrieved medical image is displayed on the monitor 6, step 3: the operator compares the retrieved medical image with the medical image to be diagnosed and diagnoses the medical image.

Step 4: This procedure is repeated until the diagnosis is completed.

As described above, in this image processing apparatus, it is possible to perform a comparative diagnosis between the currently diagnosed medical image and the stored medical image, thereby improving the accuracy of the diagnosis.

At the time of searching, in addition to inputting a character string of a comment to be searched from the search condition input unit 5, a list of frequently used comment character strings is displayed on the monitor by operating the search condition input unit 5. A comment to be searched may be selected therefrom, and in such a case, the trouble of inputting a character string can be reduced.

(Second Embodiment) The image processing apparatus according to the second embodiment can compare and examine a plurality of medical images.
As shown in FIG. 4, the apparatus includes a memory 3 for storing medical images and comments, a search condition input unit 5 for inputting search conditions for comments, a search unit 4 for performing searches, and a plurality of medical images. And a monitor unit 6 for displaying.

In this image processing apparatus, the search condition input unit 5
From the memory 3, the search unit 4 searches the memory 3 for all of the medical images described as levers in the comment, and a plurality of the searched medical images are displayed on the monitor 6 at the same time.

FIG. 5 exemplifies a display screen of the monitor 6. By displaying a plurality of medical images at the same time, it is possible to examine the correlation of each case.

Although four images are simultaneously displayed in FIG. 5, various numbers such as six or nine are conceivable.

(Third Embodiment) The image processing apparatus of the third embodiment can input a medical image and a comment from an external device.

As shown in FIG. 6, this device includes an external input device 7 for taking a medical image converted into an electronic file into the memory 3. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment (FIG. 1).

In this apparatus, as shown in FIG. 7, as a method for loading a medical image into the memory 3, the medical image input unit 1
There is a method of capturing a medical image under diagnosis from the comment input unit 2 and a method of capturing a medical image in an electronic file from the external input device 7.

The contents of the medical image converted into an electronic file are as follows:
For example, medical images and the like collected by renowned doctors in past medical treatments.

When diagnosing a medical image using this image processing apparatus, first, a medical image to be diagnosed is obtained.
At this time, medical images of similar cases collected by renowned doctors are used as references for diagnosing the acquired medical images.

For this purpose, a medical image and comments collected by a renowned doctor are fetched from the external input device 7 into the memory 3, and a search is performed using the fetched medical images and comments as a database using the comment as a key. Is displayed on the monitor 6.

For example, when an unskilled doctor makes a diagnosis of the liver, if a medical image diagnosed by a skilled doctor is stored in the memory 3, the diagnosis can be performed with reference to the medical image. Even an unskilled doctor can make a diagnosis equivalent to a skilled doctor.

In this case, it is difficult to know which medical image is the target liver case. However, this device can search and display the medical image fetched into the memory 3 based on the comment, and therefore, the immature image A diagnosis support of a doctor can be provided.

[0036]

As is apparent from the above description, the image processing apparatus of the present invention searches for and displays a desired medical image from medical images diagnosed in the past or medical images input from an external device. Can be. Therefore, the accuracy of diagnosis of medical images can be improved with reference to past cases and the like, and the tendency can be easily analyzed by comparing a plurality of medical images of similar cases. In addition, the accuracy of diagnosis of an unskilled person can be improved by utilizing a medical image diagnosed by a skilled person.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagnostic flowchart showing an operation of the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a search operation of the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display screen of an image processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the image processing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Medical image input part 2 Comment (annotation) input part 3 Memory 4 Search part 5 Search condition input part 6 Monitor 7 External input device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A memory for storing a medical image and a comment described by an annotation function on the medical image in association with each other, a search unit for searching the memory for a medical image using the comment as a key, A display unit for displaying an image together with the comment. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays a plurality of the searched medical images at the same time. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an input unit configured to input the electronic image of the medical image and the comment into the memory.