JPS63257870A - Medical image filing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To respond to diagnosis, by recording and preserving picture data in a first recording medium in such a way that it can be accessed and erased at random, recording and preserving the picture data in a second recording medium for a long period after compressing, and taking out the picture data rapidly preserved efficiently. CONSTITUTION:The picture data for diagnosis is reproduced based on the control of an MPU50. In other words, a disk control module 42 controls a hard disk controller 103 by an I/O processor 92, and takes out desired picture data from a disk. And it is supplied from a buffer 102 to a compressor/expandor 96, and is expanded, and is inputted from a bus 44 to an interface module 30 via an interface converter 94 and a bus interface 98. Inputted picture data is controlled by an I/O processor 64, and is inputted to an image interface 68 via a bus interface 71 and a line buffer 74, and is transferred to the image processing control part of a picture input device 1. At the control part, it is changed to a visual image, and diagnosis is applied based on the picture data reproduced on a CRT60.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a medical image filing device, and more specifically, for example, a first record that can randomly access and erase image data related to radiation image information. The present invention relates to a medical image filing device that records and stores image data on a medium, records and stores compressed image data on a second recording medium, and is capable of quickly retrieving necessary image data in response to requests for medical work.

[Background of the Invention] Recently, the applicant has developed a radiographic image recording and reproducing system that uses a stimulable phosphor to obtain a radiographic image of a subject, and a number of patent applications have been filed in connection with this system (
For example, JP-A No. 55-12429, JP-A No. 55-10
No. 3472, No. 55-116340, No. 55-8
No. 7970, etc.) are becoming widespread, especially in the medical field. Here, stimulable phosphor refers to radiation (X-rays, α-rays,
When irradiated with β-rays, γ-rays, electron beams, ultraviolet rays, etc., a portion of this radiation energy is accumulated, and when it is later irradiated with excitation light such as visible light, it emits photostimulable light according to the accumulated energy. means.

That is, the radiation image recording and reproducing system described above utilizes this stimulable phosphor, in which radiation image information of the human body, etc. is recorded on a sheet having a layer of stimulable phosphor, and then this sheet is exposed to laser light, etc. Scanning is performed with excitation light to generate stimulated luminescence light, the resulting stimulated luminescence light is read photoelectrically to obtain an image signal, and after performing predetermined image processing on this image signal, the photosensitive material, etc. It is used to output a visible image to a recording material, CRT, etc.

By the way, in the medical field, it has been common practice to record radiation image information on X-ray film. In this case, the X-ray film on which the image information is recorded must be at least 5.
X-ray film must be stored for over a year, and a huge amount of X-ray film will be stored during that time. Therefore, in facilities such as hospitals, it is necessary to secure sufficient space for storing X-ray films. In addition, in order to preserve such X-ray film in good condition for a long period of time, it is necessary to store the X-ray film in a state where it is isolated from moisture and external light, and measures for this are also required. .

Therefore, it is conceivable to record such medical image information together with its search data on a recording medium such as an optical disk, so that desired image data can be retrieved based on the search data as needed.

However, for example, the amount of image data that can be stored on one optical disk is physically limited, so there is a risk that the optical disk will have a huge amount in a large hospital that handles a large amount of medical image information. Therefore, such facilities not only require a space capable of storing a large number of optical disks, but also there is concern that it will take a long time to find an optical disk on which desired image data is recorded.

On the other hand, various data compression techniques have been proposed to maximize the amount of image data that can be stored on one optical disc. However, depending on the data compression rate, there is a possibility that image data with the desired accuracy may not be obtained when playing back the data, and therefore, simply compressing the data may not be enough to achieve the desired purpose. It has been pointed out that there is no such thing.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages, and is to temporarily record and store image data as medical image information in a randomly accessible and erasable first recording medium. At the same time, by recording and storing the image data in a compressed state on the second recording medium for a long period of time, the image data can be stored efficiently, and desired image data can be quickly retrieved for diagnosis, etc. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a medical image filing device that can perform the following tasks.

[Means for achieving the object] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image filing device that records image data as medical image information transferred from an image input/output device on a randomly accessible recording medium. a first image data recording device having a randomly accessible and erasable recording medium for recording and storing image data for a certain period of time; and a recording medium for recording and storing predetermined image data in a compressed state for a long period of time. and a second image data recording device.

[Embodiments] Next, preferred embodiments of a radiation image information processing system equipped with a medical image filing device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a radiation image information processing system according to this embodiment, and this system collects image data from a stimulable phosphor sheet A on which a radiographic image of a subject 12 is recorded by an imaging device 10 under predetermined conditions. Below is an image input/output device 14 that photoelectrically reads the signal, converts it into a digital signal, and outputs it to a photosensitive material, CRT, etc., and the image input/output device 1.
The image filing apparatus 16 basically comprises an image filing device 16 that stores and records image data converted into digital signals by 4 and its search data on an optical disk and a hard disk, and reads them out as necessary.

Here, the search data means unique data added to the image data. For example, when this system is used for medical diagnosis, the search data includes patient name, gender,
It includes patient information such as date of birth, and imaging information such as image number, imaging date, and imaging site. The imaging device 10 has an X-ray source 18 and is configured to accumulate and record a radiographic image of the subject 12 on a stimulable phosphor sheet A.

The image input/output device 14 includes an image reading section 20 that photoelectrically reads radiation image information accumulated and recorded on the stimulable phosphor sheet A by the imaging device 10 and obtains an image signal, an image input/output device 14, and an image filing device 16. an image processing control section 22 that performs processing such as gradation correction and frequency processing on the image signal; and an image output section 24 that outputs the image signal as a visible image on a film that is a photographic material; It includes an image output section 26 that outputs the image signal onto a screen such as a CRT. In this case, the image reading section 20
For example, a stimulable phosphor sheet A is irradiated with excitation light such as a laser beam, and the stimulated luminescent light generated from the sheet A is converted into an image signal by a photomultiplier, and the stimulable fluorescent light that is read from the image signal is The stimulable phosphor sheet A includes a mechanism that erases image information by irradiating the stimulable phosphor sheet A with erasing light and makes the stimulable phosphor sheet A reusable.

The image output section 24 irradiates a film with a laser beam modulated based on the image signal, develops the film, and outputs a visible image, and the image output section 26 outputs a visible image based on the image signal. It is displayed on a CRT or the like.

Next, the image filing device 16 is connected to the image input/output device 14.
The image processing control unit 22 receives image data and search data before image processing such as gradation correction is performed, records these data on a hard disk and an optical disk, and reads them out as necessary. It is something.

Therefore, based on FIG. 2, the image filing device 16
The configuration will be explained in detail.

The image filing device 16 includes a system control module 28, an interface module 30 serving as an input/output port for the image input/output device 14, a memory module 32 constituting a main storage section in the image filing device 16, a hard disk driver 34, and a floppy disk driver. a disk control module 38 that controls the hard disk drive 36;
9 and a disk control module 42 that controls the optical disk driver 40.

These modules 28, 30, 32, 38 and 42 are then connected by a system bus 44.

The image filing device 16 is controlled by the MPU 50 based on control data stored in the RAM 46 of the system control module 28 and a system program stored in the ROM 2O. In this case, RAM46
Predetermined control data is supplied from the keyboard 54 via the interface 52 . Further, these data are displayed on a display device 60 such as a CRT via an interface 58, and are printed by a printer 61 via an interface 59. Note that the control data from the MPU 50 is transmitted through the bus interface 62 and the system bus 4.
4 to each module 30, 32, 38 and 42.

Interface module 30 is an input/output port between image input/output device 14 and image filing device 16 and has an interface 66 controlled by I10 processor 64 and an interface 68 for image data. In this case, search data for radiation image information, image processing information, etc. are input to the interface 66 from the image input/output device 14 . Further, image data is input to the image data interface 68. Then, these search data, image data, and image processing information are transferred to predetermined memory modules 32) and disk control modules 38 and 42, respectively, via the tech interface 71 and the system bus 44 through simultaneous parallel processing by the I10 processor 64. .

Note that the image data input to the image data interface 68 is transferred to the disk control module 42 via the line buffer 74, bus interface 71, and system bus 44 under the control of the line buffer controller 72.

That is, the line buffer 74 includes the image reading section 20.
Image data read by a laser beam or the like is supplied for each main scanning line, and the line buffer controller 72
The data is sequentially transferred to the disk control module 42 under the control of.

The memory module 32 has a DRAM 78 controlled by a RAM controller 76, and application programs, search data, etc. of the image filing device 16 are stored in this DRAM 7B via a bus interface 80.

The disk control module 38 has a hard disk controller 86 and a floppy disk controller 88 which are controlled by an I10 processor 82, and these controllers 86,88 drive the hard disk driver 34 and the floppy disk driver 36. Note that the search data is transferred from the DRAM 78 of the memory module 32 via the bus interface 90 to the hard disk loaded in the hard disk driver 34 and stored therein. Further, for example, an application program is supplied from a floppy disk loaded in the floppy disk driver 36, and this application program is stored in the DRAM 78 of the memory module 32 at the time of system startup.

The disk control module 42, on the other hand, includes an interface converter 94 controlled by an I10 processor 92 and an image data compressor/decompressor 96. In this case, the interface converter 94 functions when expanding the hard disk driver 39 or optical disk driver 40 by converting the internal bus of the disk control module 42. The compression/decompression device 96 is composed of an encoder and a decoder, and when recording image data on each disk loaded in the hard disk driver 39 and the optical disk driver 40, it records the image data in a compressed state, and also records the image data in a compressed state. It has the function of expanding image data to its original state when reproducing it. Note that image data is input to the disk control module 42 from the interface module 30 via the bus interface 98, and this data is compressed by the compressor/expander 96 and sent to the disk controller 1 via the buffer 102.
03.104 is recorded on the hard disk and optical disk, respectively. In addition, D of the memory module 32
Search data is also transferred from the RAM 78 and recorded on the hard disk and optical disk.

The radiation image information processing system of this embodiment is basically configured as described above, and its operation and effects will be explained next.

First, in the imaging device 10, an X-ray source 18 is applied to the subject 12.
When X-rays are irradiated from the subject 12, the X-rays pass through the subject 12 and form a subject image as a radiographic image on the surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet A loaded in the imaging device 10. . Next, the stimulable phosphor sheet A on which the subject image has been accumulated and recorded is sent to the image reading section 2 in the image input/output device 14.
0, and image data is formed under the control of the image processing control section 22.

That is, the image reading unit 20 irradiates excitation light such as a laser beam in the main scanning direction to the stimulable phosphor sheet (A) that is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction, and the stimulated luminescence light emitted from the sheet (A) is sent to a photomultiplier or the like. Image data is obtained by photoelectrically reading the image and converting it into a digital signal. On the other hand, the entire surface of the stimulable phosphor sheet A from which the image information has been read is irradiated with erasing light, thereby erasing the emitted 'wA image information, and the image information is then taken again by the imaging device 10. Here, patient information and imaging information as search data related to the image data are read from an ID card on which patient information is recorded in the image processing control section 22, or inputted by keyboard operation.

Next, the image data converted into electrical signals by the image reading section 20 is subjected to processing such as gradation correction and frequency processing as necessary by the image processing control section 22, and then processed by the image output section 24 or 26. Output as a visible image. In this case, the image output unit 26 displays a subject image according to the image data on a screen such as a CRT. Image output section 24
Then, an image is recorded by irradiating a film as a photographic recording material that is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction with a laser beam modulated according to the image data in the main scanning direction, and then,
This film is developed to obtain a visible image.

Note that, after the film on which image data is recorded is used for diagnosis, it is stored at a predetermined location.

On the other hand, the image filing device 16 includes the image input/output device 1.
The radiographic image information from 4 is transferred to the interface module 30.
transferred via. That is, search data and image processing information are input to the interface 66, and image data is input to the image data interface 68, respectively.

The search data and image processing information input to the ink interface 66 are transferred to the bus interface 71 and the system bus 4.
4 to the memory module 32 and stored in the DRAM 78 under the control of the RAM controller 76 via the bus interface 80. Then, the DRAM
The search data stored in 78 is edited under the control of the MPU 50 constituting the system control module 28, and transferred to the disk control module 38 via the system bus 44 in the form of a database.

The search data input from the bus interface 90 to the disk control module 38 is recorded on the hard disk by the hard disk driver 34 driven by the hard disk controller 86.

Meanwhile, the search data input to the interface 66 is transferred to the disk control module 38 and also to the disk control module 42. In this case, the search data input from the bus interface 98 is sent to the interface converter 94 and the buffer 10.
The data is recorded on the hard disk from the hard disk driver 39 driven by the hard disk controller 103 via the hard disk controller 103. Note that the DRA of the memory module 32
The image processing information stored in the M78 is transferred only to the disk control module 42 and recorded on the hard disk in the same way as the search data.

The image data input to the image data interface 68 of the interface module 30 is transmitted to the image reading section 20.
Data for each scanning line read by is transferred to the line buffer 74. The image data (hereinafter referred to as line data) corresponding to each scanning line is transferred to the bus interface 7 under the control of the line buffer controller 72.
1 and the system bus 44 to the disk control module 42.

The line data transferred to the disk control module 42 is input to a compressor/expander 96 via a bus interface 98 and an interface converter 94.

In this case, the compression/expansion unit 96 performs redundancy suppression encoding processing on the line data to compress the data. Here, data compression means, for example, calculating the difference between adjacent pixel data among the plurality of pixel signals that constitute the line data, and replacing this with a binary code called a Huffman code to compress the data. This data compression and data decompression method, which will be described later, are described in Japanese Patent Application No. 61-23475 filed by the present applicant.

The line data compressed at a predetermined compression rate by the compressor/expander 96 is once stored in the buffer 102 and then recorded on the hard disk by the hard disk driver 39 driven by the hard disk controller 103. Similarly, line data corresponding to other scanning lines are also compressed and recorded on the hard disk. As a result, search data and image data subjected to data compression processing are recorded extremely efficiently on the hard disk.

Here, the image data recorded as an active file on the hard disk is frequently used for normal medical diagnosis and is stored for a period of about half a year.

Note that this image data is recorded at a relatively low compression rate so that when the image data is expanded and reproduced by the compression/expansion device 96, the image information is reproduced with high precision.

On the other hand, search data and image processing information are recorded on the optical disc in parallel with the recording of image data on the bird disc, and image data compressed to a predetermined compression rate by the compression/expansion device 96 is recorded. Alternatively, only necessary data is selected based on the doctor's judgment from image data recorded on the hard disk as an active file at a predetermined time, and is compressed and recorded.

Here, the image data recorded on the optical disc is stored semi-permanently (usually for 5 years or more) as a permanent file, and the optical disc as a permanent file is stored at a predetermined storage location. Note that the image data recorded on the optical disk is used less frequently than the image data recorded on the hard disk, and therefore is recorded at a relatively high compression rate, assuming that highly accurate reproduction is not required.

Next, a case will be described in which desired radiation image information is read out from a hard disk or optical disk on which radiation image information is recorded and is reproduced to perform a medical diagnosis.

Therefore, the doctor stores necessary image data in advance in the hard disk of the disk control module 42 in accordance with the patient's medical appointment, etc.

In other words, relatively new image data (for example, images taken within six months) is stored on the hard disk as an active file, and in addition to this image data, the doctor can also store permanent files necessary for diagnosis. The image data stored on the optical disk is extracted and stored on the hard disk.

In this case, an optical disc containing desired image data is taken out from a predetermined storage location and loaded into the optical disc driver 40. Next, when predetermined instruction data is input from the keyboard 54, the MPU 50 of the system control module 28 transfers desired image data from the optical disk as a permanent file to the hard disk based on the instruction data.

Next, the doctor makes a diagnosis based on the image data stored in the hard disk, and these image data are reproduced under the control of the MPU 50. In other words, the disk control module 42! ' The hard disk controller 103 is controlled by the /O processor 92.
control and retrieve the desired image data from the hard disk.

Then, the image data is supplied from the buffer 102 to the compression/expansion device 96, and after being expanded by the compression/expansion device 96 by the reverse operation to that described above, it is sent from the system bus 44 via the interface converter 94 and the bus interface 98. input to interface module 30; The image data inputted to the interface module 30 is inputted to the image data interface 68 via the bus interface 71 and line buffer 74 under the control of the I10 processor 64, and then sent to the image processing control section 22 in the image input/output device 14. be transferred.

Therefore, the image processing control section 22 performs processing such as gradation correction and frequency processing on the image data based on the image processing information recorded together with the image data, and outputs it as a visible image by the image output section 24 or 26. . In this case, a doctor makes a diagnosis based on image data reproduced on a CRT or film. Note that the image data retrieved from the optical disc as a permanent file cannot be accurately reproduced because it is recorded on the optical disc at a high compression ratio, but it can be used as a reference for diagnosis based on, for example, a patient's past illness. It can be used extremely effectively in the above.

On the other hand, image data regarding a patient who has undergone treatment or the like is deleted from the hard disk after a predetermined period of time has elapsed. Next, new image data is recorded on the hard disk. Note that, as described above, image data is recorded on the optical disk at a high compression ratio as needed and is semi-permanently stored.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, image data as a medical image report is recorded and stored for a certain period of time in a first recording medium as a randomly accessible and erasable active file, and The image data is compressed and stored in a second recording medium as a permanent file for a long period of time. Therefore, frequently used medical image information can be retrieved quickly and appropriate diagnosis can be performed efficiently. Further, since a large amount of medical image information that is infrequently used can be efficiently stored by compressing it, there is an advantage that storage space can be used effectively.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.
For example, instead of using a hard disk as the first recording medium, it is possible to use an erasable optical disk, and in addition to a device that reads radiation image information recorded on a stimulable phosphor sheet and outputs an image, CT Packing device M
Of course, various improvements and changes in design are possible without departing from the gist of the present invention, such as being able to store images by connecting to the R device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a radiation image information processing system equipped with a medical image filing device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram of the medical image filing device according to the present invention. 10... Imaging device 12... Subject 1
4... Image input/output device 16... Image filing device 20... Image reading section 22... Image processing control section 24.26... Image output section 28... System control module 30...
Interface module 32...Memory module 34...Hard disk driver 38...Disk control module 39...
Hard disk driver 40...Optical disk driver 42...Disk control module A...Stormative phosphor sheet

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An image filing device that records image data as medical image information transferred from an image input/output device on a randomly accessible recording medium, which is randomly accessible and erasable for recording and storing image data for a certain period of time. A medical image comprising: a first image data recording device having a recording medium; and a second image data recording device having a recording medium for recording and storing predetermined image data in a compressed state for a long period of time. filing device. (2) In the device according to claim 1, the image data is recorded on the recording medium of the first image data recording device at a compression rate that allows highly accurate reproduction, and the image data is recorded on the recording medium of the second image data recording device. A medical image filing device configured to record on a medium at a compression ratio that makes complete playback impossible.