JPS63191189A - Image filing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a filing device, and is particularly effective when applied to an image filing device that stores and reproduces multi-tone images.

2. Description of the Related Art The structure of a conventional image filing apparatus is shown in FIG. 501 is an image input device for inputting image information to be displayed or stored in this device; 502 is an image memory for storing image information input from the image input device 501; and 503 is for inputting image information in the image memory 502. This is an image display device that can display images, control display operations such as enlarging, reducing, scrolling, etc., and perform overlay display. In the conventional example of the image device, a display memory for storing image information to be displayed, a means for reading it, and an area to be transferred are determined when transferring from the image memory 502 to the display memory, and the image information in the image memory 502 is The display device is configured to include a display operation means that controls enlargement, reduction, etc. of the information in the display memory without affecting the information, and an overlay memory that stores information to be overlay-displayed. 504 is a region of interest setting means for controlling the setting of at least one region of interest in an arbitrary region of image information; 505 is a region of interest setting state storage table that stores the region of interest setting state set by the region of interest setting means 504; , 506 is the image memory 5
Original image information and region of interest setting state storage table 5 in 02
05 are stored or reproduced, and 507 is a control device that controls the entire device. FIG. 2 shows an example of an image input to this device.

(a) is the original image information, and (b) is the displayed image.

In Fig. 2, 201 is an input X-ray film, 202
is an area to be noted within the X-ray film 201, for example, an affected area, and 203 is an image displayed on the image display device 503. 204 is an example of the region of interest set by the region of interest setting means 504. Affected area 2 on X-ray film 201
When image information 02 is input from the image information manual device 501, the image information is stored in the image memory 502 and displayed on the image display device 503 so that a part or the whole of the X-ray film 201 can be seen. The user is affected area 202
When paying attention to , a region of interest 204 is set by the region of interest setting means 504 and displayed as an overlay on the image display device 503 . Here, a rectangular region of interest is set. Furthermore, if the user needs to take a closer look at the affected area 202, there are several display operations on the display screen, here:
The image is enlarged and scrolled and displayed in the image display bag @503 as shown in FIG. 2(b).

As mentioned above, the user performs several display operations in order to obtain the desired image, and it goes without saying that the display operation means performs control appropriate to the display state at that time each time. At this time, information regarding the region of interest 204 is stored in the region of interest setting state storage table 505, that is, region of interest 2 in this conventional example.
Stores the addresses of non-adjacent vertices of rectangle 04.

The number of regions of interest is not limited to one.

Furthermore, the shape of the region of interest can be set arbitrarily, not only rectangularly. The contents of the region of interest setting state storage table 505 and the image information in the image memory 502 are not affected by the display operation 7. Further, at least the image information in the image memory 502 and the contents of the region of interest setting state storage table 505 can be stored in the external storage device 506, and can be retrieved from the image memory 502 and the region of interest setting state storage table 505 when necessary. The image information and the region of interest can be displayed on the image display device 503 in an overlapping manner.

The flow of information when reproducing images from the external storage device 506 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 601 in Figure 6
602 is an external storage device that stores original image information and information for setting a region of interest in a format that can be reproduced; 602 is an image information memory that stores the original image information retrieved from the external storage device 601; and 603 is an external storage device. A region of interest setting state storage table 604 stores the region of interest setting state retrieved from the region of interest setting state storage table 60 .
605 is a display screen of an image display device that displays image information and a region of interest and controls operations on the display; A display memory 607 stores the image information to be displayed on the display screen 605 and the line figure information obtained by the conversion unit 604 so as to be displayed in an overlapping manner, and 607 enlarges, reduces, etc. a display operation unit that controls the display of the display image on the display screen 605 by operating or controlling the display area;
Reference numeral 608 denotes a display operation control unit that gives control instructions to the display operation unit 607 based on display operation information specified by the user. 609 is original image information transferred from the external storage device 601 to the image memory 602; 610 is information for setting a region of interest; 611 is image information to be displayed on the display screen 605;
12 is line graphic information indicating the region of interest converted by the conversion unit 604, 613 is display image information to be displayed on the display screen 605, 614 is instruction information for giving instructions for display operations from the user, and 615 is display based on the instruction information 614. This is control information for controlling operations. In this conventional example, external storage devices 506 and 601, image memories 502 and 602, and region of interest setting state storage tables 505 and 603 in FIGS. 5 and 6 are the same.

When reproducing an image with a region of interest set from the external storage device 601, the original image information is transferred from the external storage device 601 to the image memory 602, information regarding the region of interest is retrieved to the region of interest setting state storage table 603, and The information in this region of interest setting state storage table is converted into line graphic information indicating the region of interest by a conversion unit 604, and stored as display image information in the display memory 606 together with the original image information. This display image information is displayed on the display screen 605.

At this time, since the entire original image information is not necessarily displayed on the display screen 605, the area including the region of interest is not necessarily displayed. By giving an instruction to perform a display operation on this display image via the instruction information 614, the user controls the display operation control unit 606 and the display operation 60.
7 can be used to perform new display operations such as enlargement, reduction, and scrolling. Furthermore, a new region of interest can be set using the region of interest setting means 504, and accordingly, the contents of the region of interest setting state storage table 603 are updated.

However, in the image filing device configured as described above, the information for setting the region of interest reproduced from the external storage device 601 is stored in the region of interest setting state storage table 603.
This is converted into line graphic information indicating the region of interest using the conversion unit 604, and displayed overlapping part or all of the original image information reproduced from the external storage device 601, but does not necessarily include the region of interest. When an image is not necessarily displayed on the display screen 605 and the user wants to view a region including the region of interest in detail, the user uses the instruction information 614 to control the display operation control unit 608 to perform several display operations such as enlarging, scrolling, etc. It is necessary to give an instruction for the operation and control the display operation section 607 to perform the display operation. If external storage device 6
If you want to obtain a display image focused on a region including the region of interest immediately after playing back from 01, you must first input such an image from the image input device 501 and store the image information in the external storage device 601. No. In particular,
In the case of images such as line film, it is necessary to save the original image to preserve evidence, so in addition to the original image information, the image with the area of interest set and display operations performed on the original image information is also used as the original image. Must be stored as information.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention There is a problem in that it is difficult to instantaneously obtain a display screen of a region including the region of interest after reproduction, and the storage efficiency of the external storage device 601 is reduced because the storage capacity of the image is approximately doubled. becomes worse.

Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to retain an original image as shown in FIG. 2(a) in an external storage device without impairing the storage efficiency of the external storage device, and to easily obtain an image focusing on a region of interest. The purpose is to provide an image filing device.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, an image filing device according to the present invention includes an image memory that stores image information, an image display device that can display the image information, and an image filing device that stores the image information. a region of interest setting means for setting a region of interest in an arbitrary region of image information; a display operation means for performing display operations such as enlargement, reduction, and scrolling on the image information; and a region of interest set by the region of interest setting means. a region of interest setting state storage table for storing region of interest information; and an external storage device capable of storing at least the image information and the region of interest setting state storage table; When reproducing the image information, the image information obtained by referring to the region of interest setting state storage table and performing a display operation on the image display device using the display operation means is displayed.

As described above, the present invention stores the original image information in the image memory and the contents of the region of interest setting state storage table in an external storage device, and refers to the region of interest setting state storage table when reproducing the image. Then, the image including the region of interest is displayed on the display screen of the image display device by performing some appropriate display operations such as enlargement and scrolling.

As a result, it appears to the user that the image displayed on the image display device has been extracted, so that a display image focusing on the region of interest to the user can be immediately obtained when reproduced from the external storage device. Therefore, there is no need to store desired display images as in the past, and the external storage device is used efficiently and the user interface is improved.

Embodiment: The image filing device of the present invention can be used for multiple stages such as X-ray film: Aii! A case where the present invention is applied to a medical multi-gradation image filing device capable of filing image information will be described. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the image information filing apparatus has the same configuration as that of the conventional embodiment as shown in FIG. Figure 2 (
When there is an affected area 202 on the X-ray film 201 as in a), when original image information is input from the image information input device M501, the original image information is temporarily stored in the image memory 502,
At the same time, it is displayed on the image display device 503. At this time, the entire X-ray film 201 is not necessarily displayed. When storing this original image information in the external storage device 506, the image information is combined with the original image information stored in the image memory 502 and the information in the region of interest setting state storage table 505 that the region of interest has not been set. It is stored together with identification information for retrieval.

When the user focuses on the affected area 202, the region of interest setting means 504 sets the region of interest 204, and its linear graphic information is displayed as an overlay. Here, a rectangular region of interest is set.

The number of regions of interest is not limited to one. In addition, the user
02 in detail, several display operations are performed on the display screen, in this case enlarging and scrolling, and the image is displayed on the image display device 503 as shown in FIG. 2(b).

At this time, the region of interest setting state storage table 505 contains the second
In the region of interest setting state shown in FIG. 3B, in this embodiment, the number of regions of interest and the coordinates of non-adjacent vertices of rectangles are stored and displayed superimposed on the original image information. At this time, changes such as cancellation of the region of interest, cancellation of setting and display operations, and addition can be made until the user obtains the desired display image. The content is changed to indicate the region of interest setting state set in the display image 203 displayed on the image display device 503. However, image memory 5
The original image information is held in 02, and the contents of the region of interest setting state storage table 505 are not affected by display operations υ.

When storing an image with a region of interest set in the external storage device 506, instead of storing the display image itself displayed in the image display bag @ 503 in the external storage device 506, the original image in the image memory 502 is stored. The information 201 and the information in the region of interest setting state storage table 505 are stored together with identification information for extracting image information.

When retrieving image information from the external storage device 506, the image information to be retrieved is specified using identification information of the image information, and the image memory 502 is used to reproduce the specified image information.
, the original image information 201 is extracted from the external storage device 506 and the region of interest setting state is extracted from the region of interest setting state storage table 505, and line graphic information indicating the region of interest is created from the region of interest setting state storage table 505 and stored in the overlay memory. , the contents of the overlay memory are superimposed on the original image information 201 of the image memory 502, and a display image that definitely includes the region of interest 204 is displayed on the image display device 503 by the display operation means.

At this time, it is not always possible to obtain the same display image as the display image when stored in the external storage device 506. Also,
An image centered on the region of interest 204 is not necessarily displayed. However, if there is no region of interest setting state in the region of interest setting state storage table 505, naturally no display operation is performed, and only the original image information is displayed on the image display device 503.

Here, we will explain an example of the flow of information when playing an image in the first example.
This will be explained in detail using diagrams. In FIG. 1, 101 is an external storage device that reproduces and stores original image information and information for setting a region of interest, and 102 is an image information memory that stores the original image information retrieved from the external storage device 101; 103 is a region of interest setting state storage table that stores the region of interest setting state retrieved from the external storage device 101, and 104 converts the information in the region of interest setting state storage table 103 into line graphic information indicating a region of interest that can be overlay-displayed. A conversion unit 105 is a display screen of an image display device that displays image information and a region of interest and controls operations on the display; 106 is a display screen that displays image information and a region of interest to be displayed on the display screen 105 and a line figure obtained by the conversion unit 104; A display memory 107 stores information so as to be displayed in an overlapping manner.
By performing operations such as enlarging or reducing the display image information in 6 or controlling the display area, the display screen 105
A display operation unit for controlling the display of the above display image, 108
109 is a display operation control unit that gives control instructions to the display operation unit 107 based on display operation information according to a user's instruction or a region of interest setting state obtained from the region of interest setting state storage table 103; 109 is a region of interest setting state storage table 1;
This is an extraction unit that extracts display operations from 03.

110 is original image information transferred from the external storage device 101 to the image memory 102; 111 is information for setting a region of interest; 112 is image information to be displayed on the display screen 105;
3 is line graphic information indicating the region of interest converted by the conversion unit 104, 114 is display image information to be displayed on the display screen 105, 115 is instruction information for giving display operation instructions from the user, and 116 is display based on the instruction information 115. This is control information for controlling operations, and 117 is display operation generation information. In this embodiment, external storage devices 101 and 506 and image memories 102 and 502 in FIGS. 1 and 5 are used.
, the region of interest setting state storage tables 103 and 505 are the same. When reproducing an image with a region of interest set from the external storage device 101, the external storage device 10
1, the original image information is taken out to the image memory 102 and the information regarding the region of interest is taken out to the region of interest setting state storage table 103. The information in this region of interest setting state storage table 103 is converted into line graphic information indicating the region of interest by a conversion unit 104, and is stored as display image information in the display memory 106 together with the original image information. This display image information is displayed on the display screen 105.

At this time, information for a display operation such as displaying an image including the region of interest on the display screen 105 is extracted from the information extracted to the region of interest setting state storage table 103 via the extraction unit 109, and the display function is generated. By providing the information 117 to the display operation control unit 108, a display image including the region of interest can be obtained even if the user performs a new display operation.

At this time, it is not always possible to obtain the same display image as the display image when stored in the external storage device 101. Further, if there is no region of interest setting state in the region of interest setting state storage table 103, of course no display operation is performed, and only the original image information is displayed. When the user gives an instruction to perform a display operation such as enlargement on this display image via the instruction information 115, a new display operation such as enlargement can be performed using the display operation control unit 106 and the display operation 107. . Furthermore, a new region of interest can be set using the region of interest setting means 504, and accordingly, the contents of the region of interest setting state storage table 103 are updated. However, the original image information in the image memory 102 is not affected by display operations.

Next, an image filing device according to a different embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the case of this embodiment, the external storage device 10
1, the original image information is taken out to the image memory 102 and the information regarding the region of interest is taken out to the region of interest setting state storage table 103. The information in this region of interest setting state storage table 103 is converted into line graphic information indicating the region of interest by a conversion unit 104, and is stored as display image information in the display memory 106 together with the original image information. This display image information is displayed on the display screen 105.

At this time, information for a display operation such as displaying an image including the region of interest on the display screen 105 is extracted from the information retrieved to the region of interest setting state storage table 103 via the extraction unit 109, and the display operation generation information 117 is extracted. By supplying this to the display operation control unit 108, it is possible to obtain a display image in which the region of interest is displayed at the center of the display screen without the user performing a new display operation. If there are multiple regions of interest, all the regions of interest are displayed on the display screen 105 so that they are all gathered near the center as much as possible. On this occasion,
It is not always possible to obtain the same display image as the display image when stored in the external storage device 101. Further, if there is no region of interest setting state in the region of interest setting state storage table 103, of course no display operation is performed, and only the original image information is displayed. The display operation control unit 106 instructs the user to further perform a display operation such as enlargement on this display image via the instruction information 115.
and display operation 107 can be used to perform a new operation. Furthermore, a new region of interest can be set using the region of interest setting means 504, and accordingly, the contents of the region of interest setting state storage table 103 are updated. However, the original image information in the image memory 102 is not affected by display operations.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an embodiment of a method for storing image information in an external storage device in an image filing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, 301 is image index information for managing image information stored in an external storage device, 302 is original image information stored in the external storage device,
303 is a region of interest setting state storage table stored in the external storage device, 304 is image information identification information for identifying image information, and 305 is an image indicating where in the external storage device the original image information 302 is stored. Information storage position information 306 is region of interest setting state storage table storage position information indicating the storage position of the region of interest setting state storage table. - FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a method for storing a region of interest setting state storage table in an external storage device in an image filing apparatus according to an example of the present invention. 401 indicates the number of regions of interest set for the original image information, 402 indicates the identification number of the region of interest, 403 indicates the shape of the region of interest, such as a rectangular or circular shape, and 404 indicates the coordinates of the region of interest. , differs depending on the shape 403 of the region of interest. shape 40
3, the type and capacity of information to be stored changes depending on the shape of the region of interest. Also, identification number 402, shape 403, coordinates 4
04 are required as many as the number stored in the set number 401.

As described above, according to this embodiment, it appears to the user that the external storage device stores a display image that has been performed with display operations focusing on the region of interest. This is useful when an image that focuses on the affected area is needed instantly, such as when performing a surgical procedure.Also, since it is managed as a pair of original image information and a region of interest setting state storage table, the original image can also be used to preserve evidence. The external storage device can be used efficiently even when it is necessary to save data. In addition, similar to the image information input from the image information input device, setting, adding, and canceling regions of interest and adding, canceling display operations,
Additions and other changes are possible.

In this embodiment, filing of a multi-tone image is taken as an example, but the same applies to a binary image.

As described in detail, according to the present invention, at least the region of interest setting memory 11 has a table, which is stored in an external storage device together with the original image information, and is referred to when the image is reproduced. Therefore, the original image information is held, and the image that focuses on the area near the area of interest is stored in the external storage device by performing a display operation around the area of interest.
When an image that focuses on the user's area of interest is always required, a display image that focuses on the user's area of interest can be instantly obtained each time the image information is played back, and the original image information can be stored separately. Since there is no need to keep it in place, the user interface can be improved.
Furthermore, since the external storage device can be used efficiently, the practical effect is great.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image filing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2(a) is an explanatory diagram of images stored in the device, and FIG. 2(b) is an image of FIG. 2(a). FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a method for storing an image ↑ anteversion in an external storage device using the same device; FIG. is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of a method for storing a region of interest setting state storage table in the external storage device of the device, FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the image filing device, and FIG. 6 is a diagram of a conventional image filing device. It is a block diagram of a filing system. 101... External storage device, 102... Image memory,
103...Region of interest setting state storage table, 104.
...Conversion section, 105...Display screen, 106...Display memory, 107...Display operation section, 108...Display operation control section, 109...Extraction section, 110...Original image information , 111...Region of interest setting information, 112...Image information, 113...Line graphic information indicating the region of interest, 114
... Display image information, 115 ... Instruction information, 116.
...Control information, 117...Display operation generation information. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao (1 person) Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] an image memory that stores image information; an image display device that can display the image information; a region of interest setting means that sets a region of interest in an arbitrary region of the image information; a display operation means for performing display operations such as scrolling; a region of interest setting state storage table for storing the region of interest information set by the region of interest setting means; and at least the image information and the region of interest setting state memory. and an external storage device capable of storing a table, and when reproducing image information in which a region of interest is set from the external storage device, the display operation means refers to the region of interest setting state storage table. An image filing device characterized in that the image filing device displays image information obtained by performing a display operation on the image display device using the image display device.