JP4745075B2 - Medical image viewer system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a medical information management system having a subject name management function, and more particularly to a medical information management system to which a modality or information device having a subject name management function written in Roman letters is connected.

  In general, one method for improving the efficiency of operations in a hospital is, for example, office automation (OA). As typical examples, a hospital information system (HIS) introduced in hospital operations, a radiation department information management system (RIS), and the like are known. These are constituted by various information devices such as workstations used as servers and viewers in addition to computer systems.

  HIS refers to an entire computer system for efficiently performing hospital operations, and includes a medical accounting system, a test order system, a drug system, an electronic medical record input system, and the like. The RIS refers to a computer system for efficiently proceeding with work in the radiology department, and is generally connected to the HIS and performs inspection reference from the HIS, scheduling based on it, recording of inspection execution information, and the like. In the radiology department managed by the RIS, a group of image diagnostic apparatuses called modalities are connected to the RIS via a network.

  Examples of modalities include CT (computed tomography), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), CR system (computed radiography system), RI examination (nuclear medical examination) and the like. Each modality receives imaging condition information from the RIS and sends imaging result information to the RIS. Each modality is connected to a workstation (RIS terminal) for directly inputting photographing necessary information to the modality.

  Furthermore, there is a PACS (medical image storage communication system) as a system that can digitally store, communicate, display, and interpret images obtained by each modality, and is usually used in combination with HIS and RIS. The PACS is connected to a modality via a network, and a file system that records images obtained from each modality, an image interpretation medical image server that stores an image for interpretation read from the file system, and an image interpretation doctor interprets the image. And a workstation used as a viewer.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an HIS terminal, an RIS database terminal connected to the HIS terminal and having a database, an imaging management terminal that manages X-ray imaging connected to the database terminal of the RIS, and an imaging management terminal. An X-ray imaging management system including a connected X-ray imaging apparatus is disclosed. Most of the information necessary for X-ray imaging needs to be performed from an imaging management terminal in the radiation department, and conventionally, simple input has been demanded. In the invention described in Patent Document 1, the components connected to each other of the X-ray imaging management terminal can communicate with each other. This mutual communication is also applied to an X-ray imaging apparatus provided with an operation console, and bidirectional transmission of information can be performed between the imaging management terminal and the operation console of the X-ray imaging apparatus. When this information transmission becomes possible, if one of the imaging management terminal and the console is input to input the information necessary for X-ray imaging, the communication is transmitted to the other. Therefore, it is possible to save labor in inputting necessary information for X-ray imaging. Furthermore, instead of newly inputting all the necessary X-ray imaging information every time X-ray imaging is performed, it is possible to further save labor by selecting and reading out and inputting from a plurality of pre-registered X-ray imaging necessary information. Can be achieved.

Originally, information such as patient name (kana notation, romaji notation), patient ID, etc. in the radiation department is input by RIS, and stored in each modality managed by RIS or server viewer in PACS via network. It should be shared across departments. There are cases where various spellings are assumed for the patient names in Roman letters. However, since the interpretation doctors prefer Roman letters when sorting patient names, it is preferable that the Roman letters are unified.
JP-A-10-277021

  There are a plurality of notations indicating the same kana in the above-mentioned Roman character notation of the subject name such as the patient name. In other words, there are the so-called Hebon type, decree type, and Japanese type that represent the same kana in different alphabetical spellings.

  In the information communication in the above-described RIS, there is a case in which the Roman name notation of the patient name is not included in the information to be transmitted. At this time, a doctor or the like has to input a Roman character notation into each modality. In addition, since some modalities are not connected to the RIS, with such a configuration, a doctor or the like must input all information. In this case, since it is not confirmed whether each doctor etc. is writing the same Roman alphabet notation as the alphabetical spelling initially input, there is a possibility that it is inputted with a different spelling.

  In addition, some modalities automatically generate romaji notation for patient names that have not been sent from the patient name in kana notation, but the conversion rules for romaji notation are unified according to the model and manufacturer. Not. Furthermore, the interpretation doctor may change the transmitted or entered Roman character notation when operating each modality or PACS.

  Therefore, when the interpretation doctor mixes multiple Roman letters written in different alphabets for the same patient name on the viewer to be interpreted, and sorts the patient names according to such Roman letters, the subject such as patient ID There is a problem that the names of the same patients with the same ID are separated and sorted.

  The above-mentioned problem is that two Roman spellings of the subject name representing the same subject are stored as a pair together with the subject recognition information, and the subject name of each of the Roman spellings or the subject name This is solved by a medical information management system that outputs information related to the subject by inputting either or both of recognition information.

  According to the present invention, the same romaji spelling of the patient name can be given to the same patient by each modality and each information device of the workstation, the image server, and the viewer, and sorting is performed using the roman letter spelling of the patient name. Can do.

  In addition, this function can supplement information that is lost in communication between the RIS and the medical information management system according to the present invention.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration example of a medical information management system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this medical information management system 100, an HIS 110 and an RIS 120 are connected via a network.

  In FIG. 1, modalities 130a, 130b, and 130c are connected to the RIS through the network, but the modality 130d is a stand-alone modality that is not connected to the RIS.

  Each of these modalities includes an operation console (not shown) serving as an input unit to be described later for directly inputting information necessary for photographing to the modality. Of course, the input unit is not limited to the console, and the display screen may have a touch panel input function. Further, each of the modalities 130a, 130b, 130c, and 130d is connected with information devices such as workstations 135a, 135b, 135c, and 135d that can transmit information necessary for photographing to these modalities.

  The information devices such as the image server 150, the file system 160, the viewer 170a, and the viewer 170b constitute a PACS 140, and are connected to the modalities 130a, 130b, 130c, and 130d via a network.

  The file system 160 stores an image obtained by each modality. The image server 150 is an interpretation medical image server that stores an interpretation image read from the file system 160. The image interpretation doctor interprets the image stored in the image server 150 using the viewers 170a and 170b.

  The image server 150, the viewer 170a, and the viewer 170b are provided with terminals so that settings can be directly changed. Those skilled in the art can add and delete modalities or various types of information devices arbitrarily connected to the network within the scope of the present invention. Also, other types of information devices not shown in FIG. 1 can be connected to the network.

  FIG. 2 shows a part of the medical information management system 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 so that the outline of the components can be seen. In FIG. 2, the RIS 120 connected to the medical information management system 100, the modalities 130a and 130d shown in FIG. 1 of the medical information management system 100, the workstation 135a connected to these modalities, 135d is shown. As described above, this modality 130a is connected to the RIS. On the other hand, the modality 130d is stand-alone and is not connected to the RIS.

  FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of the modality 130a.

  The modality 130a includes at least an inspection unit that performs various types of inspections, an input unit that inputs imaging necessary information and instructions, inputs and outputs from the network, and a display unit (monitor) that displays various types of information such as inspection results. A storage unit that stores a program for executing an examination, patient information, and the like, and a control unit that controls the entire apparatus are provided. The storage unit has one set of three storage areas, ie, a basic storage area, a first storage area, and a second storage area, and has one or more sets of these storage areas. Similarly, the storage units of other modalities or information devices have one or more sets of these storage areas, with the three storage areas of the basic storage area, the first storage area, and the second storage area as one set. Yes.

  In FIG. 2, patient information is input to the RIS 120, and among these patient information, a patient ID, a patient name in Kana (Katakana or Hiragana) notation, and a patient name in Romaji notation are shown. Further, the modalities 130a and 130d and the areas separated by the solid lines and broken lines of the workstations 135a and 135d schematically show the storage areas of the storage units of these modalities or information devices. As a recording medium for storing patient information, a removable externally mounted memory or a disk such as an optical disk can be used. A part of the storage area of the semiconductor memory or hard disk arranged in the apparatus may be used.

  In FIG. 2, among the three storage areas (tables) arranged vertically in the storage unit of the modality 130a, the uppermost storage area separated by a solid line contains the patient information other than the patient name in Roman letters. This is a basic storage area 133a for storing. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the patient ID and the patient name in Kana notation are held. On the other hand, the lower two storage areas separated by broken lines schematically show a first storage area 132a and a second storage area 133a for storing patient names in Roman letters in order from the top. Yes.

  Similar basic storage areas and first and second storage areas are also set in the modality 130d and the storage units of the workstations 135a and 135d.

  FIG. 4 schematically shows the entire storage area of the modality 130a. As shown in FIG. 4, each of the modalities, each workstation, and the basic storage area and the first and second storage areas have one or more pieces of patient information. Can be held.

  In the example of FIG. 4, patients other than “Takayama Takuzo” have patient names in Roman letters in the first and second storage areas according to the procedure described later.

  FIG. 2 shows each storage area having one set of the three storage areas (patient ID, kana notation, and romaji notation) shown for each modality and each workstation, and one or more sets are stored. Only one set of information is extracted and schematically shown.

  Patient information is transmitted from the RIS 120 to the modality 130a via the network. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the patient ID and the patient name in Kana are transmitted to the modality 130a, but the patient name in Romaji is not transmitted. Of course, no patient information is transmitted to the stand-alone modality 130d.

  In the example shown in FIG. 2, after transmission, the basic storage area 131a of the modality 130a holds the patient ID and the patient name in kana notation, but the first for the patient name in romaji notation. Nothing is held in the second storage areas 132a, 133a, 137a, and 138a.

  The basic storage area 136a of the workstation 135a holds the patient ID received from the storage area of the modality 130a via the network and the patient name in kana notation. In addition, no information is stored in the storage areas of the modality 130d and the workstation 135d. The user of this system can directly input a patient name in Roman letters from the input unit of the modality 130a and the terminal device of the workstation 135a into the first storage area of the modality 130a and the workstation 135a. . In this case, the input patient name in Roman letters is held in the modality 130a and the first storage areas 132a and 137a of the workstation 135a.

  In addition, the user of this system inputs the patient name in Roman letters directly to only one of the modality 130a or the workstation 135a and holds it in the first storage area on the other side. You can send romaji notation. In this case, the received patient name in Roman letters is held in the first storage area by the workstation 135a or modality 130a, respectively.

  As described above, in one embodiment of the present invention, the patient name written in Roman letters or received directly by a doctor or the like is held in the first storage area of the modality or each information device. The same operation can be performed on the modality 130d and the workstation 135d to hold the patient names in Roman letters in the first and second storage areas. In this case, the patient ID and the patient name in kana notation must be input and held in the basic storage area.

  The user of this system transfers the patient name in romaji written in the first storage area without change to the second storage area of the modality or information device, and keeps it in the second storage area. be able to. This transfer is realized by transferring between the respective storage areas such as the above-mentioned memories corresponding to the first and second storage areas.

  Further, the modality or the information device has a change function for changing the romaji spelling of the patient name held in the second storage area to another romaji spelling of the same patient name. As a result, the second storage area of the modality or information device holds the same Roman letter spelling as the Roman letter spelling held in the first storage area or the Roman letter spelling with the changed patient name. The change function is changed when the user of this system accesses the second storage area. For example, by displaying the patient name in Roman letters stored in the second storage area on the display unit of the modality or information device, and accessing the second storage area from the input unit, the second storage area is displayed. The Roman name spelling of the patient name that is held is changed, and the changed result is displayed again on the display unit to confirm that the change has been made.

Table 1 shows an example of Roman alphabet notation capable of a plurality of notations.

  It is determined whether the change of the patient name described in the above Roman letters can be changed for each changed patient name. For example, TAKUZO can be written in four ways: TAKUZO, TAKUZO, TAKUZO, and TAKUZOH. However, other Roman letters are not possible.

  FIG. 5 schematically shows a medical information management system similar to FIG. 2 in which information that could not be received from the RIS is supplemented in the storage area. In FIG. 5, TAKAYAMA TAKUZO, which is the same as the patient name in RIS Romanized notation, is registered in the first and second storage areas in the storage unit of the modality 130a. It is shown that the Roman spelling of the patient name in the second storage area of this modality 130a has not been changed. In the first storage area 137a of the workstation 135a, the patient name TAKAYAMA TAKUZO in the same Roman alphabet as that of the first storage area 132a of the modality 130a is registered.

  However, different Romaji spelling TAKAYAMA TAKUZOU representing the same patient name is registered in the second storage area 138a in the storage unit of the workstation 135a. In other words, it indicates that the Roman spelling of the patient name has been changed when it is registered in the second storage area 138a of the workstation 135a.

  Even in the stand-alone modality 130d that is not connected to the RIS, the Roman spelling of the patient name in the second storage area has been changed by the user of the system. It has been described above that each modality and each workstation has a storage area composed of a basic storage area and first and second storage areas. This also applies to the image server 150 and the viewers 170a and 170b forming the PACS 140. The image server 150 and the viewers 170a and 170b also have a storage area composed of a basic storage area and first and second storage areas.

  The image server 150 of the PACS 140 and the viewers 170a and 170b hold patient information corresponding to one or more types of images for interpretation of one or more patients received from each modality.

  As described above, in each modality, the patient name in the original Roman alphabet is held in the first and second storage areas, and in the second storage area, the patient name in the Roman alphabet is identical if possible. It can be arbitrarily changed to a different romaji spelling that represents the patient.

  Accordingly, the first and second storage areas of the server 150 and the viewers 170a and 170b generally hold one or more different patient names in Roman letters that represent the same patient.

  The person skilled in the art does not limit the medical information management system according to the present embodiment to the information devices such as the modality or the workstation, the image server, and the viewer described above. If a storage area comprising a basic storage area and first and second storage areas is provided, the system can be connected.

  In this embodiment, the user of this system can unify the Roman spelling of the patient name held in the second storage area in each modality, workstation, image server, and viewer.

  FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B schematically show a patient name in Roman letters displayed on the screen of the viewer 170a or 170b.

  In FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, what is displayed is the patient ID, the name of the patient in Roman letters stored in the second storage area, and the name of the modality that captured the image. On the viewer screen, the patient IDs are sorted and only the same patient is displayed.

  In FIG. 6A, Roman letter spellings of different patient names are mixed for the same patient. In FIG. 6B, the spelling is unified into one of a plurality of Roman letters. This indicates that the patient names in Roman letters held in the second storage area of the viewer are unified.

  As described above, in each information device having a storage area connected to the medical information management system according to the present invention, such as a modality, a workstation, and an image server, a patient held in each second storage area You can unify the spelling of Roman names in your name. In one embodiment of the present invention, the romaji spelling of the patient name in the second storage area is unified by the user of the system with the second storage area for the same patient listed using the patient ID. This can be done by changing each roman letter spelling of the patient name that is held using the change function described above. In the example of FIG. 6B, it can be considered that the user has changed the patient names in Roman letters one by one.

  In another embodiment of the present invention, the unification of the patient names in the second storage area in the Roman alphabet is based on the modality, the workstation, and the image among the mixed alphabet spellings for the same patient ID. The information devices of the server and the viewer are arbitrarily selected and unified from the spelling of Roman characters held in the second storage area by the programs held in these storage units. In the example of FIG. 6B, it can be considered that the romaji spelling of the patient names of all modalities has been changed to the romaji spelling of the patient name corresponding to modality 1.

  In the improved embodiment of the present invention, when the spelling of the patient name in Roman characters held in the second storage area in the image server 150 in the PACS is unified, the same PACS is transmitted via the network. The names of patients in Roman letters stored in the second storage area of the same patient of all the viewers 170a and 170b connected to the same are set to be unified with the same patient name in Roman letters.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, each modality and the second storage area of each information device such as a workstation, an image server, and a viewer can have a plurality of Roman spellings of the patient name held in the second storage area. When there is a characteristic, the user of the medical information management system according to the present invention has a function of selecting which notation is unified for each modality or information device.

  In one embodiment, when there is a possibility of spelling of a plurality of Roman characters in the same patient, the user of the system determines which of these notations is unified, and the second storage area of each storage area The patient name in romaji can be unified.

  In another embodiment, each modality and the information devices of the workstation, the image server, and the viewer respectively search all the second storage areas for the same patient by a program held in the storage unit, If there is a spelling of different Roman letters in it, all the letters are displayed to the user of this system, and it is set to prompt the user to select which Roman letter name to be unified. .

  However, in this embodiment, if all notation methods for the Roman name spelling of the patient name are not accidentally listed in the search result, the number of options of the user is reduced.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, each modality and each information device such as a workstation, an image server, and a viewer have a function of performing sorting in the romanized notation of the patient name held in each second storage area. Have.

  FIG. 7A shows a first method of sorting patient names in roman letters held in the second storage area. In this method, first, a doctor name or the like directly inputs into the first storage area or transmits it via the network, thereby holding the patient name in Roman letters in the first storage area of the modality or information device. Subsequently, the patient name in Roman letters held in the first storage area is directly transferred to the second storage area. Thereafter, the spelling of the patient name in Roman letters held in the second storage area of the same patient is confirmed using the patient ID. If the spelling of the alphabet of the patient name mentioned in this process is not the same, the spelling of the patient name in Roman letters held in the second storage area is unified in accordance with the operation of the hospital. The process of unifying the spelling of the patient name is performed for all patients. Finally, sorting is performed with the patient names in Roman letters that are unified for each patient held in the second storage area.

  FIG. 7B shows a second method of sorting patient names in roman letters held in the second storage area. In this method, first, a doctor name or the like directly inputs into the first storage area or transmits it via the network, thereby holding the patient name in Roman letters in the first storage area of the modality or information device. Subsequently, the patient name in Roman letters held in the first storage area is directly transferred to the second storage area. Thereafter, according to the above-described method for unifying the patient names in Roman letters held in the second storage area, the patient names in Roman letters held in the second storage area are unified according to the operation of the hospital. Then, sorting is performed with the patient names in Roman letters stored in the second storage area. Finally, it is confirmed that there is no person with the same name and the same name among the patients listed by sorting using the patient ID. If all persons having the same patient name in the Roman alphabet have the same patient ID, the sorting is terminated. If a plurality of patient IDs are included in a person having the same patient name written in Roman letters, the sorting is finished by dividing the group into the groups for each patient using the patient ID.

1 shows a schematic configuration example of a medical information management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A schematic configuration example of a modality is shown. One area of the medical information management system according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is extracted so that the outline of the internal components can be seen. 1 schematically shows the entire storage area of a modality. FIG. 3 schematically shows the same medical information management system as in FIG. 2 in which information that could not be received from the RIS is supplemented in a storage area. The patient name in Roman letters displayed on the viewer screen is schematically shown. The patient name in Roman letters displayed on the viewer screen is schematically shown. Fig. 4 illustrates a first method of sorting patient names in romaji notation held in a second storage area. Fig. 4 illustrates a first method of sorting patient names in romaji notation held in a second storage area.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Medical information management system, 120 ... RIS, 130a ... Modality, 130d ... Modality, 135a ... Workstation, 135d ... Workstation, 140 ... PACS, 150 ... Image server, 170a ... Viewer, 170b ... Viewer, 132a ... First Storage area, 133a... Second storage area.

Claims (6)

An image storage unit for storing data of a plurality of medical images related to a plurality of subjects;
  An image selection unit that selects medical images from the stored plurality of medical images by alphabetical spelling of a subject name to be interpreted in Roman letters;
  An image display unit for displaying the selected medical image;
  Among the plurality of stored medical images, a medical image in which a specific character is included in the kana notation of the subject name is associated with a plurality of alphabetic spellings in different roman letters representing the same kana notation and stored. A medical image viewer system in which one alphabetic spelling in one Roman alphabet is associated with a medical image in which the specific character is not included in the kana notation of a subject name among a plurality of medical images.   A corresponding subject ID is associated with each of the plurality of medical images,
  The medical image viewer according to claim 1, wherein the image selection unit classifies medical images associated with the same alphabet spelling as the alphabet spelling representing the subject name to be interpreted by the subject ID. system.   3. The medical image viewer system according to claim 2, wherein the image display unit displays a list of alphabet spellings associated with the classified medical images for each subject ID.   One of the plurality of alphabetic spellings associated with a medical image in which a specific character is included in the kana notation of the subject name is expressed in a unified Roman alphabet notation for the specific character, The medical image viewer system according to claim 3.   The alphabetical spelling in which the subject name corresponding to the classified medical image is represented in the image display unit in a Romanized notation unified with respect to the specific character is displayed. Medical image viewer system.   The image display unit has a Roman alphabet notation that is not unified for the specific character among the plurality of alphabetic spellings associated with the medical image in which the specific character is included in the kana notation of the subject name. 5. The medical image viewer system according to claim 4, wherein an alphabetic spelling is displayed.

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