JP4568038B2 - Medical image display system, medical image storage server, terminal device, and medical image display method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a medical image storage server for storing medical images collected from various types of examination apparatuses, in particular, medical image diagnostic apparatuses (modalities) such as an X-ray CT scanner, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, In addition, the present invention relates to a terminal device such as a viewer that reads and displays medical images stored by the medical image storage server and uses them for interpretation by doctors, and in particular, waits until a medical image is read and displayed from the medical image storage server. The present invention relates to a medical image storage server and a terminal device having means for shortening time as much as possible.

  In recent medical diagnoses, image data of a subject is often collected by a medical image diagnostic apparatus (modality) such as an X-ray CT scanner, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, or a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus.

  This image data is often used for observation and interpretation on the spot, but once stored in a medical image storage server, it is read into a specialized terminal device called a viewer installed inside or outside the hospital. There are a lot of systems that interpreting doctors interpret. Examples of these systems are shown in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2.

  In the case of the system described in Patent Document 1, a medical image diagnostic device, a server, a terminal device, and the like are communicably connected by a hospital LAN system, and a terminal device such as a neighboring hospital is communicably connected to the system through a public line. ing. Similarly, in the case of the system described in Patent Document 2, a plurality of X-ray CT apparatuses, servers, and networks are networked so that image data can be viewed on a terminal device.

In the case of this type of network system, the medical image storage server is usually placed in a hospital, and medical image data (uncompressed data or compressed) is sent from this server to a viewer (computer as a client) placed inside and outside the hospital. Read data) and display it. As a result, the user can perform an image interpretation operation by performing desired image processing or the like on the medical image displayed on the viewer. In this case, in order to reduce the load on the network, the medical image data is generally transmitted after being converted into compressed data.
JP 2002-230165 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-102721

  However, in the case of the current diagnostic system networked as described above, there are the following inconveniences when image data is transmitted from the server to the terminal device.

  There is a waiting time for the user until the terminal device reads and displays the medical image data from the image storage server in the hospital via the network. During this waiting time, a mark indicating the processing content currently being executed by the terminal device is often displayed on the screen of the terminal device. In the case of a system in which this marker is not displayed, the user does not know or is difficult to understand what the terminal device is currently doing. For users, this waiting time is usually felt longer than the actual time, and there is a potential demand to somehow solve this.

  Further, even when the above-mentioned mark is displayed on the screen of the terminal device, if the waiting time becomes very long, the user may have failed in the processing of the terminal device (computer) or something in the network system. The smoothness of the work sometimes even hindered the progress by raising unnecessary misunderstandings such as the occurrence of such abnormalities. In particular, when the processing speed of the server or the terminal device itself is slow, the load on the server is large, or the capacity of the network is small, such an irritating situation is serious.

  The main factor is often the large image size. Further, the development time varies depending on the compression method (parameters therein).

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described situation. When it is assumed that the computer performance of the server and the terminal device, the network environment, and the use conditions such as the image data size and the compression method are the same, the medical image Medical image storage that improves the image display response for the user by shortening the waiting time from when the image data transmission request is sent from the terminal device to the server that stores the data until the image is actually displayed on the terminal device The purpose is to provide a system.

In order to achieve the above-described object, according to the present invention, as a first aspect thereof, a server storing medical image data and a terminal device that receives and displays the medical image data from the server are provided. A medical image display system connected to a communication network is provided. This system includes a setting unit that sets a desired display time when displaying a medical image on the terminal device, and a data amount for partial acquisition of the medical image data according to the display time set by the setting unit Computing means for computing the data, transmission request means for requesting the server to send data corresponding to the amount of data for partial acquisition computed by the computing means, and partial acquisition requested by the transmission request means It is characterized by comprising a transmission means for transmitting medical image data of the amount of data from the server to the terminal device, and a display means for performing display based on the transmitted medical image data.

According to the present invention, as a second aspect, the terminal device is connected to a server storing medical image data via a communication network and receives and displays the medical image data from the server. Is provided. The terminal device includes a designation unit that designates a desired display time for displaying a medical image on the terminal device, and data for partial acquisition for the medical image data according to the display time designated by the designation unit. A setting means for setting the amount, a transmission request means for requesting the server to transmit data corresponding to the data amount for the partial acquisition set by the setting means, and a portion transmitted from the server in response to the request And display means for performing display based on the acquired medical image data.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, as a third aspect, there is provided a medical image storage server that stores medical image data and is connected to a terminal device via a communication network. The server includes a means for receiving a transmission request for the medical image data of a data amount for partial acquisition corresponding to a desired display time when displaying a medical image on the terminal device, and the transmission request. And transmitting means for transmitting the medical image data of the data amount for the partial acquisition corresponding to the transmission request to the terminal device.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, as a fourth embodiment, there is provided a medical image display method for transmitting and displaying the medical image data from a server storing medical image data to a terminal device via a communication network. Is done. The display method sets a desired display time when displaying a medical image on the terminal device, calculates a data amount for partial acquisition of the medical image data according to the set display time, Requesting the server to send data corresponding to the calculated amount of data for partial acquisition from the terminal device, causing the server to send medical image data of the requested amount of data for partial acquisition to the terminal device, The terminal device is caused to perform display based on the transmitted medical image data.

  According to the medical image display system, the terminal device, and the medical image storage server according to the present invention, it is based on partial acquisition (partial content acquisition) corresponding to a desired display time or data amount when displaying a medical image on the terminal device. The medical image data of the data amount is transmitted from the server to the terminal device and displayed on demand. Therefore, even when a server or a terminal device is configured with an environment with a slow network transmission speed or a computer with slow processing, it is possible to display an optimal partial acquisition medical image according to a user's desired display time or data amount. The response of image display can be improved.

  1 to 8, a medical image storage server (PACS) implemented as a medical image storage server, a terminal device, and a medical image display system incorporating the server and the terminal device according to the present invention will be described below. An embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a medical image collection / storage system according to this embodiment. As shown in the figure, this medical image collection and storage system can communicate with an in-hospital system 11 provided in a hospital and a communication line (communication means) via the public network 12 to the in-hospital system 11. And a connected outside-hospital system 13.

  Among them, as shown in FIG. 1, the in-hospital system 11 includes various medical image diagnostic apparatuses (modalities: inspection apparatuses) 21, 22, and 23 that collect medical images from a subject, and collected medical image data. Medical image storage server 24 that stores the information together with the accompanying information (patient information, examination information, etc.), one or a plurality of interpretation viewers (terminal devices) 25 and 26, an access router 27, and those devices 21 to 21 And a local area network (LAN) 28 that interconnects the communication terminals 27 so that they can communicate with each other.

  The medical image diagnostic apparatuses 21 to 23 include, for example, an X-ray CT scanner, a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, a DR (Digital Radiography) apparatus, and the like, and the digital image data collected by these apparatuses 21 to 23 is accompanied with incidental information. The data is sent to and stored in the medical image storage server 24 via the LAN 28.

  The image data (including supplementary information) stored in the medical image storage server 24 is read in response to a request from the viewer 25 (26), and is transmitted to the viewer 25 (26) via the LAN 28. The At the time of this transmission, the size of the image data to be transmitted (or the image display (acquisition) time, etc.) is designated, and the viewer can display and observe an image with the required image quality.

  The medical image storage server 24 and the viewers 25 and 26 are configured by a dedicated computer having a CPU and a memory, and the CPU sequentially executes a program that is a processing procedure stored in advance in the memory so that a given job can be executed. It can be accomplished. The access router 27 functions as an interface that connects the LAN 28 and the public network 12 so that they can communicate with each other.

  On the other hand, although the medical image diagnostic apparatus and the medical image storage server are not installed in the outside hospital system 13, as in the above-mentioned hospital system 11, one or a plurality of interpretation viewers 31 and 32, and an access router And a LAN 34 that interconnects these devices 31 to 33 so as to communicate with each other.

  Each viewer 25 (˜27, 31, 32: hereinafter represented by reference numeral “25”) in this medical image collection / storage system is functionally configured as shown in FIG. That is, each viewer 25 causes a CPU (not shown) to sequentially execute a predetermined program, thereby forming a user interface 31, an information processing unit 32, a size / time formed in cooperation with the input device 31 </ b> A and the display device 31 </ b> B. The setting unit 33, automatic calculation unit 34, server side compression setting update unit 35, and image data acquisition unit 36 are functionally realized. The viewer 25 is provided with a communication interface 47.

  The user interface 31 is configured on a GUI (graphical user interface) base.

  Therefore, the user can give display and processing instructions to the viewer 25 through the input device 31A of the interface 31. Since the processing result of the viewer 25 is displayed on the display 31B, the user can check the processing result on the display screen.

  The information processing unit 32 gives the instruction content from the user to the size / time setting unit 33, and the size / time setting unit 33 is also informed of the size and display time for acquiring partial image data according to the instruction content. Set information and receive the information. The information processing unit 32 gives the setting information to the automatic calculation unit 34 to automatically calculate the partial acquisition amount (hereinafter referred to as partial content amount) of the image data, and receives the calculation result from the automatic calculation unit 34. Furthermore, the information processing unit 32 passes the received information on the partial content amount to the image data acquisition unit 36, and causes the image data acquisition unit 36 to acquire compressed image data of a desired partial content amount from the medical image storage server 24. . At the same time, the information processing unit 32 receives the compressed image data, restores the compressed image data with the restoration parameter, and displays the restored image data on the monitor 31B of the interface 31. This restoration parameter is information that the information processing unit 32 knows in advance according to the designation of the partial content amount, but when the partial content amount is changed on the medical image storage server 24 side, the corresponding compression is performed. Parameter (restoration parameter) change information is transmitted from the server 24 to the viewer 25.

  The automatic calculation unit 34 automatically calculates a partial content amount according to image data acquisition size and display time setting information. The image data acquisition unit 36 acquires a specified amount of compressed image data from the medical image storage server 24 via the communication interface 47 in accordance with an instruction from the information processing unit 32.

  The server-side compression setting updating unit 35 can transmit a command for changing and adding the server-side compression settings (compression parameters and restoration parameters) to the medical image storage server 24 via the communication interface 47 as necessary. It is configured.

  On the other hand, the medical image storage server 24 is functionally configured as shown in FIG. This medical image archiving server 24 has a user interface 41, a server information processing unit 42, a server formed in cooperation with the input device 41A and the display device 41B by causing a CPU (not shown) to sequentially execute a predetermined program. The operation setting unit 43, the server unique information storage unit 44, the image data compression setting information storage unit 45, and the image data transmission unit 46 are functionally realized. In addition, the server 24 is provided with an image data storage device 47 that stores medical image data together with the accompanying information and a communication interface 48 for communication with the LAN 28.

  The user interface 41 is configured on a GUI (graphical user interface) basis. The user can give a server operation processing instruction to the server 24 using the input device 41A of the interface 41. Since this instruction content and instruction result are displayed on the display 41B, the user can confirm them.

  The server information processing unit 42 issues a command to the image data compression setting unit 45, the server operation setting unit 43, and the server specific information storage unit 44 according to the content of the instruction from the user, and causes each unit to execute necessary processes. The compression setting information storage unit 45 is configured to set / update compression setting information (compression parameter, restoration parameter) such as a compression method of image data based on an instruction from the server information processing unit 42. The compression setting information includes compression parameters and / or compressed images for compressing image data based on the conditions of each image when compressing image data stored in the server 24, that is, the image data storage device 46. This is a restoration parameter for restoration.

  The compression parameter is used when the server 24 compresses and stores the image. A parameter used when returning (restoring) such a compressed image to the original image is a restoration parameter, which is mainly used by the viewer 25 (client). When the parameter information of the compression parameter and the decompression parameter partially overlap, or when both the compression parameter and the decompression parameter are necessary, the compression setting information storage unit 45 includes not only the compression parameter but also the decompression parameter. Set / update.

  The server operation setting unit 43 can change the operation setting information of the server 24 based on an instruction from the server information processing unit 42.

  The image data storage device 46 stores the image data (including incidental information) given through the user interface 41 or the communication interface 48 after being compressed according to the compression information set in the compression setting information storage unit 45. Yes.

  The image data transmission unit 47 can read the image data stored in the image data storage device 46 under the instruction of the server information processing unit 42 and transmit it to each viewer 25 via the communication interface 48.

(Overview of operation)
Next, an outline of operations of the medical image storage server 24 and each viewer 25 in the medical image collection / storage system according to the present embodiment will be described.

  First, image data compression in the medical image storage server 24 will be described with reference to a schematic flowchart shown in FIG.

  In this medical image storage server 24, the image data storage device 46 receives image data from each medical image diagnostic device (modality: inspection device) 21, and uses the image data according to information such as various conditions and modalities. Identify (steps S1, S2). Next, the image data storage device 46 reads various compression conditions including the type of compression algorithm from the compression setting information storage unit 45, and compresses and stores the image data with the compression parameters according to these compression conditions (steps S3 and S4). ). As a result, compressed data based on various compression conditions is prepared in the image data storage device 46 in advance.

  For example, JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) or JPEG2000 (Joint Photographic Experts Group 2000) is used as the compression algorithm at this time. The compression conditions include the modality for collecting medical image data or the type of the image generation apparatus, the target image matrix size, the image collection part of the subject, the bed position, the slice interval, the pixel size of the image, the image display magnification, 1 pixel The depth of the data (for example, in the case of an image having a size of 2688 × 2688, the JPEG2000 parameter is for that, the tile setting is 2688 × 2688), etc. Alternatively, it is set as a condition in which a plurality of types are combined, and a compression parameter of a desired compression algorithm is set according to each condition. This compression parameter functions as an index for designating the partial content amount.

  Next, an operation in which the medical image storage server 24 transmits image data in response to a transmission request from each viewer 25 will be described with reference to a schematic flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, when the partial content amount is designated in the viewer 25 in accordance with a user command (user desired data amount or image display time), a transmission request including this designation information is sent to the server 24 (step S11). .

  The server 24 receives this transmission request (including the partial content amount), reads out the compressed image data of the partial content amount related to this transmission request, and transmits it to the viewer 25 (steps S12 and S13). The viewer 25 that has received the partial content image data and the restoration parameter restores the data amount to the image data using the restoration parameter, and displays the image data on the display 31B (step S14).

  In the viewer 25, further required image data (partial content amount image data) is designated in response to a user's manual input or in response to automatic activation by a program, and information on the designated amount is added to the additional image data amount (partial amount). A transmission request including the content amount is sent to the server 24 (step S15). The server 24 receives this transmission request again, reads out the image data of the partial content amount specified by this request, and transmits it to the viewer 25 (steps S16 and S17). The viewer 25 that has received the partial content amount image data displays the partial content amount image data already acquired and displayed in combination with the partial content amount image data acquired this time on the display 31B (step S31). S18).

  The above processing is repeatedly executed until the display condition specified by the user is satisfied.

  Next, setting of image data relating to partial acquisition executed in the above-described processing of FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The information processing unit 32 (functionally configured by the CPU) of each viewer 25 determines whether or not the user has specified a display time via the interface 31, and if there is such specification, the display time value. Is read (steps S21 and S22). Here, the display time means “the time from when the user instructs the viewer 25 to start displaying a desired medical image until it is actually displayed”. This display time is commanded as a numerical value such as 30 seconds or 1 minute.

  When the display time is specified by the user in this way, the information processing unit 32 drives the automatic calculation unit 34 to calculate the partial content amount (size) of the medical image data based on the specified display time (step). S23). Thereby, an image data amount corresponding to a desired display time is obtained.

  On the other hand, when the display time is not designated (step S21, NO), the information processing section 32 determines whether or not the desired value of the image data amount is designated. A value is read, and the partial content amount of medical image data corresponding to the read value is calculated (steps S24 and S25). Here, the amount of image data refers to the amount of data that is arbitrarily designated by the user for early display. This data amount may be the size of a data file such as 0.2 MB, 0.025 MB, or the data ratio (%).

  If the determination in step S24 is NO, the information processing unit 32 sets a default value (for example, the default value of the display time) because the desired value of the display time and the amount of image data has not yet been specified by the user. Whether or not to do so is determined through, for example, interactive exchange with the user (step S26). When specifying a default value, a predetermined default value (for example, a default value of display time) is read from the internal memory. If the default value is not desired, the process of the information processing unit 32 returns to step S21.

  When the partial content amount is determined in this way, a transmission request is issued to the medical image storage server 24 via the image data acquisition unit 36 in order to partially acquire image data of this content amount (step S28). In the server 24 that has received this request, as described above, the image transmission unit 47 that has received an instruction from the server information processing unit 42 reads out the compressed image data of the designated partial content amount from the image data storage device 46. To the viewer 25.

  For this reason, the viewer 25 can receive the compressed image data of the requested partial content amount, restore the compressed image data with the restoration parameter, and display the restored image data (steps S29 to S31).

  Here, the calculation (setting) of the partial content amount executed in step S23 and step S25 will be described in detail. This calculation (setting) is performed using various parameters for partial acquisition. This parameter is an index that defines the partial content amount and the display related thereto.

  (1) Of these, the first parameter is a partial acquisition parameter for aiming for the fastest display by predicting a useless amount of data while maintaining image quality as much as possible. This includes modality type or image generator, target image matrix size, image data collection site, bed position, slice interval, image pixel size, image display magnification, 1 pixel data depth (bits / pixel A data amount for expressing one pixel; for example, RGB is 24 bits / pixel, CT is 16 bits / pixel), and the like. One of these parameters is set alone as a compression condition or a combination of a plurality of parameters, and the compression condition is transmitted to the server side as a part of the transmission request. In the server 24, the medical image data with the compression parameters matching the compression conditions in the transmitted transmission request is read and transmitted to the viewer 25.

  (2) The second parameter is acquired first from the current image displayed by partial acquisition, the image displayed as a thumbnail, the image being turned over, the cine display target image (in the order visible to the user), etc. Or the order of image data to be partially acquired next.

  (3) The third parameter is threshold information indicating that the creation of a three-dimensional image is started when image data to be partially earned reaches a certain threshold. For example, when each piece of partially acquired 3D image creation image data reaches a predetermined threshold, for example, 10%, creation of a 3D image is started using the previous image data. = 10% is the parameter here.

  (4) The fourth parameter is an event (for example, enlargement, change of the number of frames, image turning, etc.) accompanying the user's viewer operation.

  (5) The fifth parameter is an urgent flag (for example, a flag indicating a key image, a flag indicating that the slice interval is smaller than a certain reference, and a flag indicating that the pixel size is smaller than a certain reference).

  Among the above (2) to (5), the parameters (2) and (3) have the property of determining the priority order of the partially acquired images, whereas the parameters (4) and (5) have priority. It has the property of ignoring the rank and forcibly interrupting and partially acquiring. The parameters (1) to (5) are generally used to perform partial acquisition without useless data, and thereby balance the image display response with the image quality.

  (6) The sixth parameter relates to a parameter for balancing the image quality and the display speed from the viewpoint of satisfying the user's request. Specifically, this parameter is a total size (amount) of a plurality of images and a matrix size at the time of displaying the target image, and the amount of image data related to partial income is defined accordingly. Here, the matrix size at the time of displaying the target image means an image display area of one frame, and is calculated in consideration of the monitor display area, the application display area, the number of display frames, and the monitor resolution.

  An example will be described with reference to FIG. The user sets this partial content amount to 0.4 MB, the target image display matrix size is 500 × 500 (monitor display area is 2500 × 2000 (monitor resolution is higher), application display area is 2000 × 2000, and the number of display frames is 2 × 2 (one frame is one image display area) If each frame is divided into each display area, the partial content amount allocated to each display area is calculated by division. (That is, 0.1 MB) If one of the frames is further divided into four frames, 0.1 MB is divided by four, that is, image data having a partial content amount of 0.025 MB. The display area for image data is 500 × 500.

  Another example is shown in FIG. This example shows a display mode that cannot be accurately expressed by the number of frames. In this case, the data acquisition amount is obtained as a ratio to the display area. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, of two types of images (CR image, CT image), the matrix size at the time of displaying the target image for one image occupies 50% of the display area of the application, and for the other image If it indicates 25%, the partial content acquisition amount is determined to be 0.2 MB (CR image) and 0.1 MB (CT image), respectively, according to the ratio of both. In this case, the partial content amount per frame (one frame) is 0.1 MB. In this way, it is possible to meet the user's desire to display how many pieces of data with what amount of data.

  (7) The seventh parameter is a display time of a plurality of images. This relates to an application example of each parameter described above.

  For example, when the time to display an image is set to 1 second in a certain viewer, the total size of a plurality of images is determined (for example, 1 MB) by calculating backward from the partial content amount (for example, 1 MB) that the viewer can acquire in 1 second. Parameter.

  The amount of data acquired by this viewer can be obtained by measuring or estimating the acquisition time of a certain day (month or day of the week) in advance using a test program, etc. It may be settable.

  Further, the time from when the image is acquired until the viewer displays the image can be taken into this idea. For example, if the user takes 1 second to display an image, errors such as the image development time are also measured with a test program (or manually). As a result, if the display time of multiple images related to user settings is 1 second, one screen can be displayed at the time desired by the user by subtracting the image development time on the viewer from this value. It becomes possible to do. For example, if the development time takes 0.4 seconds, the display time setting value specified by the user is 0.6 seconds (= 1 second−0.4 seconds), so that the partial content amount is 0.6 MB. Can be determined.

  Such a method of setting the partial content amount is applied only to the initial display (the process in step S11 in FIG. 5), and the subsequent display may display image data of the partial content amount that is automatically set. Good.

  Of the various parameters described above, the first and sixth parameters are basic parameters that determine the amount of partial content according to the present invention, and any one of the first and sixth parameters is used alone. Or it can carry out combining both. Since the other parameters have a function of adjusting the partial content amount set by the basic parameters, it is desirable to use them in combination with the basic parameters.

  In the medical image storage server 24 of the above-described embodiment, a server-side assist function for increasing the display speed can be exhibited. Specifically, the compression setting information storage unit 45 of the server 24 sets compression parameters relating to compression of image data compressed and stored in the image data storage device 46 to various compression conditions (a combination of one type or a plurality of types of parameters). ) May be updated periodically or as needed. As described above, the parameters include the type of modality or the image generation device, the target image matrix size, the site, the bed position, the slice interval, the pixel size of the image, the image display magnification, and the pixel depth (for example, In the case of an image having a size of 2688 × 2688, the JPEG2K parameter is for that, and the tile setting is 2688 × 2688). The compression parameter settings are set accordingly.

  As described above, according to the medical image collection and storage system according to the present embodiment, the data amount by partial acquisition (partial content acquisition) corresponding to the desired display time or data amount when displaying the medical image on each viewer 25. The medical image data is transmitted from the medical image storage server 24 to each viewer 25 and displayed on demand. Therefore, when it is assumed that the medical image storage server 24 and each viewer 25 have the same computer performance, network environment, and usage conditions such as the image data size and the compression method, each viewer 25 has the medical image storage server 24. Thus, it is possible to reliably reduce the waiting time from when image data transmission is requested to when the image data is actually displayed on each viewer 25, and to provide a system with a good image display response for the user.

  In particular, not only partial acquisition according to the display time and data amount, but also the amount of data based on the partial acquisition, that is, the partial content amount, parameters related to the compression ratio of medical image data, the medical image currently being observed Next, parameters related to the order of determining the medical image to be displayed next, parameters related to the threshold when the image data for partial acquisition is displayed three-dimensionally, parameters related to an event by a user operation for displaying image data for partial acquisition, and partial acquisition Fine adjustment can be made according to various conditions such as parameters relating to emergency flag information for the display of image data. Therefore, the partial content amount can be adjusted according to various conditions, and a stable system with good image display response can be provided at all times. Therefore, improvement in work efficiency due to shortening of the waiting time of the user can be expected.

  In the embodiment described above, the automatic calculation of the partial content amount is executed on the side of each viewer 25. However, this viewer simply sets the condition for calculating the partial content amount as the medical image storage server 24. The partial content amount may be calculated by this server.

  In addition, as a modification of the above-described embodiment, it is possible to provide a configuration in which the display time input by the user as partial content amount designation information is changed on the system side.

  For example, it is assumed that the user designates a display time of 1 second on the viewer 25 as schematically shown in FIG. In this case, a transmission request for the partial content amount corresponding to 1 second is issued from the viewer 25 to the server 24. In response to this, the server 24 searches the compressed image data of the partial content amount according to the user's request. At this time, if there is compressed image data having a partial content amount that is closest to the user request and easy to process, the server 24 reads the compressed image data. This is made possible by setting in advance an algorithm for processing executed by the server 24 so as to perform such reading. When the server 24 changes the partial content amount in this way, a new compression parameter is determined according to the changed partial content amount. As a result, the display time is also changed to 2 seconds, for example. Thus, the new compression parameter including the changed display time is sent back from the server 24 to the viewer 25 together with the compressed image data. Therefore, the viewer 25 restores and displays the compressed image data using the returned compression parameters (that is, restoration parameters).

  As a result, a system with higher flexibility can be provided without necessarily sticking to the display time input by the user.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications thereof, and can be implemented with various modifications within the scope of the gist of the claims.

1 is a schematic block diagram showing the overall configuration of a medical image collection / storage system that implements a medical image display system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The schematic block diagram which shows the structure of each viewer (terminal device). The schematic block diagram which shows the structure of a medical image storage server. 6 is a schematic flowchart for explaining a storage process involving a compression process of medical image data executed by a medical image storage server. The flowchart explaining the outline | summary of the partial acquisition (content content acquisition) of the medical image data performed between a medical image storage server and each viewer. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of partial content setting and image data partial acquisition executed by each viewer in the embodiment. Explanatory drawing which illustrates the relationship between the data amount of the partially acquired image of several sheets, and the image display area on a motor. Another explanatory view illustrating the relationship between the data amount of a plurality of partially acquired images and the image display area on the motor. The figure explaining the outline | summary of the partial acquisition which concerns on a modification.

Explanation of symbols

11 Hospital system 12 Public network (communication network)
13 Out-of-hospital system 24 Medical image storage server 25, 26, 31, 32 Viewer (terminal device)
31 User interface 32 Information processing unit 33 Size / time setting unit 34 Automatic calculation unit 35 Compression setting update unit 36 Image data acquisition unit 37 Communication interface 41 User interface 42 Server information processing unit 43 Server operation setting unit 44 Server specific information storage unit 45 Compression information storage unit 46 Image data storage unit 47 Image data transmission unit 48 Communication interface

Claims (12)

In a medical image display system in which a server that stores medical image data and a terminal device that receives and displays the medical image data from the server are connected to a communication network.
Setting means for setting a desired display time when displaying a medical image on the terminal device, and calculation for calculating a data amount for partial acquisition of the medical image data according to the display time set by the setting means Means, a transmission request means for requesting the server to transmit data corresponding to the data amount for partial acquisition calculated by the calculation means, and a data amount for partial acquisition requested by the transmission request means A medical image display system comprising: transmission means for transmitting the medical image data from the server to the terminal device; and display means for performing display based on the transmitted medical image data. In a terminal device connected to a server storing medical image data via a communication network and receiving and displaying the medical image data from the server,
A designation unit that designates a desired display time when displaying a medical image on the terminal device, and a setting that sets a data amount for partial acquisition of the medical image data according to the display time designated by the designation unit Means, a transmission request means for requesting the server to transmit data corresponding to the amount of data for partial acquisition set by the setting means, and a medical image for partial acquisition transmitted from the server in response to the request A terminal device comprising display means for performing display based on data. The terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the specifying unit includes a unit that specifies the display time as a value desired by a user. The setting means corresponds to the display time of the desired value for each condition set using at least one parameter among a plurality of parameters for eliminating waste of data amount and balancing image quality and display speed. Further, it is configured to set a data amount for partial acquisition for the medical image data,
The parameters for balancing the image quality and the display speed include a total data amount of the plurality of medical images and a display matrix size of the plurality of images when displaying a plurality of the medical images.
The terminal device according to claim 3. The terminal device according to claim 4, wherein the setting unit includes a unit that sets a compression parameter of the medical image data for each of the conditions. The parameters for balancing the image quality and the display speed include the modality that collects the medical image data or the type of the image generation device, the matrix size of the medical image data, the part of the subject that collected the medical image data, the medical The bed position when the image data is collected, the slice interval when the medical image data is collected, the pixel size of the medical image data, the display magnification of the medical image data, and the data depth of one pixel of the medical image data Any one of the identification information of the thumbnail of the medical image data to be acquired next from the currently observed display image and the information indicating the order of the medical image data to be acquired next from the currently observed display image The terminal device according to claim 4, comprising: The parameter for balancing the image quality and the display speed is a parameter related to the order of determining the medical image to be displayed next from the medical image currently being observed, and a parameter related to a threshold when the image data for partial acquisition is displayed three-dimensionally One or more of parameters relating to an event by a user operation for displaying the image data for partial acquisition and parameters relating to emergency flag information for displaying the image data for partial acquisition. Item 5. The terminal device according to Item 4. The terminal device according to claim 4 , wherein the parameter for balancing the image quality and the display speed includes a parameter related to setting a display time when a plurality of the medical images are displayed. The setting unit sets a compression parameter for the medical image data for each condition set using at least one parameter among a plurality of parameters for balancing the image quality and the display speed without waste of data amount. The terminal device according to claim 2, further comprising means for performing the processing. In a medical image storage server that stores medical image data and is connected to a terminal device via a communication network,
Means for receiving, from the terminal device, a transmission request for the medical image data with a data amount for partial acquisition corresponding to a desired display time when displaying a medical image on the terminal device;
A medical image storage server, comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit the medical image data having a data amount for the partial acquisition corresponding to the transmission request to the terminal device when the transmission request is received. A storage unit configured to compress and store the medical image data, and the transmission unit is set using at least one parameter among parameters for balancing the image quality and the display speed without waste of data amount Means for compressing the medical image data stored in the storage means with a compression parameter set for each condition; and storing the medical image data compressed with a compression parameter based on the condition corresponding to the transmission request The medical image storage server according to claim 10 , further comprising means for reading from the means and transmitting to the terminal device as the data amount for the partial acquisition. In the medical image display method for displaying the medical image data by transmitting the medical image data from the server storing the medical image data to the terminal device via the communication network,
A desired display time for displaying a medical image on the terminal device is set, a data amount for partial acquisition for the medical image data is calculated according to the set display time , and the calculated partial acquisition is calculated. The terminal device requests the server to transmit data corresponding to the amount of data, and causes the server to transmit medical image data of the requested partial acquisition amount of data to the terminal device. A medical image display method which causes the terminal device to perform display based on image data.

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