KR100319912B1 - Remote medical diagnosis system and remote medical image transmission and reception method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a remote medical diagnosis system and a remote medical image transmission and reception method, and when performing a medical diagnosis not only with an X-ray imaging apparatus, but also with a magnetic resonance apparatus (MRI), a tomography scanner (CT) and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. Images can be transmitted efficiently and compression based on lossy compression, lossless compression, and region of interest can be compressed using the compression method selected according to the type of image to be transmitted to the remote site or the urgency of patient diagnosis.

Description

Remote medical diagnosis system and remote medical image transmission and reception method

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a teleradiology system, and in particular, a medical diagnosis for diagnosing a medical image at a remote location by transmitting multiple images from a magnetic resonance scanner, a tomography camera, an ultrasound diagnostic device, etc. at a transmission site and transmitting them to a remote site. System and remote medical image transmission and reception method.

To date, radiotherapy has been done by viewing medical images of patients on film. Therefore, in order to receive a doctor's diagnosis, the radiologist had to be where the medical image of the patient was obtained. If you do not have a doctor, you will need to keep the film for later, or carry the film yourself to show it to a doctor elsewhere. In other words, diagnosing a medical image with a film is limited in space and time, and thus affects a rapid diagnosis of a patient.

However, in recent years, laser scanners capable of digitizing medical equipment and films introduced with computers have been developed so that medical images of patients can be stored in computers. Digitalized medical images can be easily stored, viewed, handled and transmitted.

The remote medical diagnosis system is a medical service equipment that transmits such digitalized medical images from a transmission site to a remote location by using a computer and a communication network so that a radiologist or a related doctor can be treated at a long distance. The most common transmission site is a hospital. The remote site is the doctor's home or office.

When a patient or trauma victim is taken to a hospital, the patient receives one or more medical treatments. Current medical treatments include Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT) or Computed Tomography (CT) scans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Nuclear Medicine Imaging (NMI), ultrasound and X-rays. Depending on the schedule, workload, emergency, budgetary pressure, etc., the radiologist may not be in the hospital at any given time to read the medical image. Using a remote medical diagnosis system, radiologists can expand their area of responsibility by viewing medical images transmitted from remote locations. Medical imaging was most frequently transmitted over standard telephone lines, but with the advent of cellular telephones, digital cellular radios, fiber optics and satellite communications, transmission media are no longer limited to standard telephone lines.

In practice, imaging or radiographic equipment scans the traumatized tissue, and the resulting raw digital data is converted into video signals and displayed on a connected monitor or display device. Most imaging or radiographic equipment is used to store raw data, which compresses the raw data before storing it. The most common storage devices are used for recording as magnetic disk drives (either 8 inches, 5.25 inches, 3.5 inches), tape drives or optical disk drives, magneto-optical disk drives, and the like.

Radiation tomography scans of one particular area of the patient's body are called 'slices', and slices are typically 5 mm apart. Gathering slices is called a study, which typically contains 20 to 40 slices.

A data matrix is used to describe each slice, with the most common data matrix consisting of 5l 2 x 5l 2 valid data points. However, the size of the matrix is variable. For example, the Elscint CT scan model No, 1800 allows the operator to choose from three different matrix sizes: 256x256, 340x340, and 5l2x5l2. Each point in the matrix may have a concentration value, which represents the concentration of the substance found at a particular point in the slice.

Most CT scanners use the Houndsfield scale to assign values for each concentration value. The Houndsfield scale ranges from minus 1000 to 3095, with air assigned at minus 1000, water at zero, and bone at concentrations above 200.

When viewing a slice, the radiologist does not see the full range of the Houndsfield scale, but rather specifies the window before the slice is displayed. The window is a narrowing filter, with the window sometimes corresponding to 98% of the raw data. The tissue window is defined to check for internal bleeding, and the bone window is defined to check for fractures.

For example, if soft tissue is of particular interest, the radiologist defines a window from zero to 100. In this example any sub-zero concentration values appear black on the CRT screen, and any concentration values above 100 appear white. Concentration values within the defined range appear in shades of gray.

Typically, telemedicine diagnostic systems use the hardware and software to transfer video data from imaging or radiation equipment to remote display devices. In FIG. 1, a conventional remote medical diagnosis system is shown. The operation is as follows.

First, the image scanning unit 11 of the transmission destination generates a digital image by scanning a medical image film. The image converting unit 12 converts the image scanned by the image scanning unit 11 into DICOM (Digital Imation COmmunication in Medicine) form to follow the standardized image format recommended by ACR / HEMA. At this time, patient information such as name, age and gender, image acquisition information such as mother dollar, photographing site, etc., film information such as film size, image information such as horizontal pixel number, vertical pixel number, and bits per pixel can be used as one DICOM. Make it a file and send it together. The region of interest display unit 13 displays the region of interest by using a mouse or a pen before compressing the image converted by the image converter 12. The compression unit 14 compresses the medical image output from the region of interest display unit 13. Compression methods used here include lossy compression, lossless compression, and compression based on the ROI. The compressed image from the compression unit 14 is transmitted to the remote place through the transmission unit 15.

The image transmitted to the remote location is automatically received and filed by the automatic reception and filing unit 16 without informing the reception unit 15 of the preparation of the doctor. This can be implemented with multitasking on a remote computer. The decompressor 17 restores the image selected by the doctor from among the received images to the image before compression. The reconstruction of the image is performed in the reverse process of compression according to the compression method of the transmitted image. The display unit 18 displays the image restored by the restoration unit 17, and a monitor or the like is used as an example. The image processor 19 performs a predetermined process on the image displayed on the display unit 18 so that the doctor can see in more detail. As an image processing type, window / level and magnifying glass are used. ), Zooming, reversing, horizontal / vertical flipping, and clockwise / counter-clockwise rotation.

However, since the conventional telemedicine diagnosis system is designed to transmit and receive one film image acquired by a scanner, it is suitable to transmit a patient image photographed at a time to a remote place such as X-ray imaging. There is an advantage. However, in the case of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or tomography (CT), a single patient imaging generates dozens of images. In this case, the conventional telemedicine diagnosis system treats each image individually, so that several images are taken. There was a problem to be transmitted separately one by one.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a remote medical diagnosis system and a remote medical image transmission and reception method for transmitting to a remote location after taking multiple images from a magnetic resonance apparatus, tomography, ultrasound diagnostic, etc. in the transmission site to solve the above problems To provide.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a remote medical diagnosis system and a remote medical image transmission and reception method for automatically receiving a transmitted image even when a remote doctor is absent by performing automatic reception at a remote receiving end.

Still another object of the present invention is to transmit a remote medical diagnosis system and a remote medical image system to assist the doctor by diagnosing not only medical image data but also patient information, image acquisition information, film information, and image information from a transmission site. And to provide a receiving method.

In order to achieve the above objects, the remote medical diagnosis system according to the present invention

A multi-image capturing unit for capturing multi-images from an X-ray photographing apparatus, a magnetic resonance apparatus, a tomography apparatus, or an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus at a transmission destination;

An image conversion unit for converting the digital multi image generated by the multi image recording unit into a transmission standard format;

A region of interest display unit for displaying a region of interest on the multi-image converted by the image converter;

A compression unit for compressing the multi-image in which the region of interest is displayed in the region of interest by a predetermined compression method selected for each region;

A transmission unit for transmitting the multi-image compressed by the compression unit one by one to a remote location;

A multi-image automatic receiving and filing unit for automatically receiving and filing the multi-images transmitted one by one from the transmission destination;

A restoration unit for restoring an image file stored in the multi-image automatic reception and filing unit; And

And a display unit for displaying the multi-images restored by the restoration unit one by one.

Remote medical image transmission method according to the present invention to achieve the above object

An initializing step of setting a file index to be transmitted to a remote location as 0 and a number of all video files to be transmitted at the destination as n;

A file index increasing step of incrementing the file index by one when the number of all image files is greater than zero;

A file transfer step of sequentially transmitting a file header and an image file to a remote location from the first file to the nth file; And

And a retransmission of the image file for retransmitting the previously transmitted image file if a transmission error occurs.

Remote medical image receiving method according to the present invention to achieve the above object

An initialization step of setting the number of file indexes to be 0 and the number of all image files to be received at a remote location to n;

A file number registration step of opening a group file and registering the number of all image files to be received in the group file;

A file index increasing step of incrementing the file index by one when the number of all image files is greater than zero;

A file receiving step of sequentially receiving a file header and an image file from the first file to the nth file;

An image file re-receiving step of re-receiving a previously received image file if a transmission error occurs;

A reception file name registration step of registering a file name that has been successfully received in the reception process from the first file to the nth file in the group file; And

and receiving the group file when reception of n image files is completed.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a block diagram showing a remote medical diagnosis system according to the present invention.

The remote medical diagnosis system shown in FIG. 2 includes a multi-image capturing unit 21 and a multi-image capturing unit 21 for capturing multi-images from a magnetic resonance apparatus, tomography apparatus, an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, and the like at a transmission site. An image converter 22 for converting the digital multi-image into a transmission standard format, an ROI display unit 23 for displaying a region of interest for the multi-image converted into the transmission standard format by the image converter 22, and an ROI The region of interest of the multi-image displayed on the display unit 23 is lossless compression, and the uninterested region transmits the compressed image 24 compressed by the lossy compression method, and the multi-image compressed by the compression unit 24 to a remote location. The image transmission unit 25, the multi-image automatic receiving and filing unit 26 for automatically receiving and filing the transmitted multi-image, and the multi-image file stored in the multi-image automatic receiving and filing unit 26 restore one by one The restoration unit 27 and the restoration unit 27 restored And a display unit 28 for displaying multiple images one by one, and an image processor 29 for performing a predetermined process on a desired image to assist a doctor in diagnosing the multiple images displayed on the display unit 28. Here, the compression unit 24 is composed of a switch 24a, a lossy compression unit 24b, a lossless compression unit 24c, and a compression unit 24d based on the ROI.

Here, the image conversion unit 22, the ROI 23 and the compression unit 24 are implemented by a first personal computer having a high resolution monitor, and the multi-image automatic reception and filing unit 26 and the restoration unit 27 ) And the image processing unit 29 are implemented by a second personal computer having a high resolution monitor.

Prior to describing the operation according to the configuration of FIG. 2, the same components as those shown in FIG. 1 will be omitted, and other components, the multi-image transmitter 25 and the multi-image automatic reception and The filing unit 26 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

3 is a diagram illustrating communication commands between a transmission destination and a remote location in FIG. 2, wherein the multi-image transmission unit 25 of the transmission destination and the multi-image automatic reception and filing unit 36 of the transmission destination are as follows. Communication is made by.

First, a connection request of a communication line is made from a transmission destination to a remote location. The destination sends an acknowledgment signal (ACK) to the destination if the connection is possible. If communication is possible with each other, the transmission header transmits the transmission header to the remote location. The transmission header includes the title of the transmission, the name of the sender (sender name), the maximum waiting time when there is no response, and the total number of multi-image papers (number of images). At the remote site, if the transmission header is received, an acknowledgment signal (ACK) is sent to the transmission destination.

Next, a plurality of images are sent to the remote one by one, and image files are transmitted one by one from the first to the last file. When transferring a file, the file header is transmitted first. The file header includes a file name and a file size. When the file header is received, an acknowledgment signal (ACK) is transmitted to the transmission destination. After receiving the file header confirmation signal, the content of the video file is transmitted to the remote site. When the reception of the entire file is completed, an acknowledgment signal (ACK) is sent to the transmission destination. In this way, the rest of the files are transferred. When all files are successfully transferred, the communication line is disconnected (DISCONNECTION-REQUEST).

4 is a flowchart illustrating a file transfer method in the multi-image transmission unit 25 of the transfer destination in FIG. 2, and the operation is as follows.

First, the index (i) of the file to be sent is set to 0 (step 41), and the number of total files (number of captured images) to be transmitted from the transfer destination is set to n (step 42). It is determined whether the number n of all files is larger than i (step 43). If the number of files is smaller than i, that is, if the number of files is 0, there is no image to be transmitted, so the flowchart ends. If it is larger than i, the file index i is increased by one (step 44), and the header of the i-th file is transmitted to the remote location (step 45). Subsequently, the i th image fruit is transmitted to a remote location (step 46). Since video files have a large amount of data, transmission errors may occur in communication. If the acknowledgment signal (ACK) does not arrive within the waiting time from the remote site, it is determined that a transmission error has occurred (step 47). If a transmission error occurs, the i th file is retransmitted (step 46). If there is no transmission error, the process returns to step 43 and continues to transmit the next video file. If there are no more files to transmit, the flowchart ends.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a file reception and filing method of the multi-image automatic reception and filing unit 26 of a remote location in FIG. 2, and the operation is as follows.

First, the index (i) of the file to be received is set to 0 (step 51), and the number of total files to be received at the remote location is set to n (step 52). The file is opened to generate a group file as defined in FIG. 6 for management of all files to be received (step 53). The total number n of files is registered in the open group file (step 54). It is determined whether the number n of the entire files is larger than i (step 55). If the number of files is smaller than i, i.e., if the number of files is 0, the group file is closed (step 5b), and the flowchart ends. If it is larger than i, the file index i is increased by one (step 56), and a header of the i-th file is received (step 57). Subsequently, an i-th image file is received (step 58). Since video files have a large amount of data, transmission errors may occur in communication. If the acknowledgment signal ACK does not arrive at the remote site within the waiting time, it is determined that a transmission error has occurred (step 59). If a transmission error occurs, the i-th file is received again (step 58). If there is no transmission error, register file i on the group file (Fig. 5a) and return to step 55 to continue receiving the next video file, and close the group file if there are no more files to receive (fig. 5b). End the flowchart.

6 is a group file structure diagram, which is composed of the number n of files and n video file names.

FIG. 7 is an embodiment of a remote medical diagnosis system according to the present invention shown in FIG. 2, in which a patient photographs a patient with a magnetic resonance scanner 71, a tomography scanner 72, an ultrasound diagnostic 73, and the like. The digital image of the film scanner 75 is used to digitize the medical imaging film and a single image is generated. The generated images are displayed on the display monitor 76 through the computer 77 or transmitted to the remote site through the transmission modem 78. At this time, in order to transmit the image through the telephone line, set up the transmission line, make a call, and then transmit the image. Line setting items include transmission speed and parity check.

The remote site receives the image using the reception modem 79, displays the received image on the display monitor 81 using the computer 80, and is filed in the storage device 82.

As described above, in the remote medical diagnosis system and the remote medical image transmission and reception method according to the present invention, when the medical diagnosis is performed not only with an X-ray imager, but also with a magnetic resonance apparatus (MRI), a tomography machine (CT), an ultrasonic diagnostic device, and the like. Therefore, there is an advantage that can efficiently transmit multiple images. In addition, since it supports lossless compression, lossless compression, and compression based on the region of interest, there is an advantage in that compression can be performed using a compression method selected according to the type of image to be transmitted to a remote site or the urgency of patient diagnosis.

In addition, the automatic receiving and filing function of the remote receiving unit makes it easy to transmit and receive images, and the remote doctor can select and diagnose received image files one by one, even if the doctor is currently performing other tasks on the computer. There is an advantage that can automatically receive and store the transmitted image.

In addition, since not only the image information but also patient information, image acquisition information, film information, etc. are made and transmitted as a single DICOM file, there is an advantage that there is no need for an additional communication medium necessary for diagnosing a patient between a remote site and a transmission site.

1 is a block diagram showing a conventional remote medical diagnosis system.

2 is a block diagram showing a remote medical diagnosis system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of communication commands between a source and a remote in FIG.

4 is a flowchart for explaining a file transfer method of a transfer destination in FIG.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a file reception and filing method of a remote location in FIG.

6 is a group file structure diagram.

7 is an embodiment of a remote medical diagnosis system according to the present invention shown in FIG.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

21 ... multi-image recording unit 22 ... video conversion unit

23 ... region of interest display 24 ... compression

25 ... Multi-Video Transmission

26 ... multi-image automatic receiving and filing unit

27 ... Restoration unit 28 ... Display unit

29 ... image processing unit

Claims (10)

A multi-image capturing unit for capturing multi-images from an X-ray photographing apparatus, a magnetic resonance apparatus, a tomography apparatus, or an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus at a transmission destination; An image converter for converting the digital multi-image generated by the multi-image capturing unit into a transmission standard format; A region of interest display unit for displaying a region of interest on the multi-image converted by the image converter; A compression unit for compressing the multi-image in which the region of interest is displayed in the region of interest by a predetermined compression method selected for each region; A transmission unit for transmitting the multi-image compressed by the compression unit one by one to a remote location; A multi-image automatic receiving and filing unit for automatically receiving and filing the multi-images transmitted one by one from the transmission destination; A restoration unit for restoring an image file stored in the multi-image automatic reception and filing unit; And And a display unit for displaying the multi-images restored by the restoration unit one by one. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the remote medical diagnosis system further comprises an image processor configured to perform predetermined processing on a desired image to assist the doctor in diagnosing the image displayed on the display unit, and then display the image on the display unit. Remote medical diagnosis system, characterized in that. The remote medical diagnosis system of claim 1, wherein the image conversion unit generates patient information, image information, image acquisition information, and film information together in a transmission standard format. The system of claim 1, wherein the compression unit supports lossy compression, lossless compression, and compression based on a region of interest. The transmission apparatus of claim 1, wherein the multi-image transmission unit sequentially transmits the file header and the image file to the remote location from the first file to the nth file with respect to the entire image file to be transmitted to the remote location, and then immediately transfers the error if a transmission error occurs. Remote medical diagnosis system, characterized in that for retransmitting the image file transmitted to. The method of claim 1, wherein the multi-image automatic receiving and filing unit registers the number of all image files to be received in the group file, and the file header and the image file for the nth file from the first file for all the image files to be received. And sequentially receive the remote medical diagnosis system, characterized in that to re-receive the image file received immediately before a transmission error occurs. 7. The remote medical diagnosis system according to claim 6, wherein the group file comprises a total number of files and n image file names. An initialization step of setting a file index to be transmitted to a remote location as 0 and a number of all video files to be transmitted at the transmission destination as n; A file index increasing step of incrementing the file index by one when the number of all image files is greater than zero; A file transfer step of sequentially transmitting a file header and an image file to a remote location from the first file to the nth file; And Remote medical image transmission method comprising the step of re-transmitting a video file if the transmission error occurs immediately re-transmitted image file An initialization step of setting the file index to be received as 0 and the number of all image files to be received at the destination as n; A file number registration step of opening a group file and registering the number of all image files to be received in the group file; A file index increasing step of incrementing the file index by one when the number of all image files is greater than zero; A file receiving step of sequentially receiving a file header and an image file from the first file to the nth file; An image file re-receiving step of re-receiving a previously received image file if a transmission error occurs; A reception file name registration step of registering a file name that has been successfully received during the reception process for the n th file from the first file to the group file; And and when the reception of the n image files is completed, closing the group file. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the group file comprises a total number of files and n image file names.