JP4900986B2 - Image handling method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image handling method and apparatus, and more particularly to an image handling method and apparatus for displaying an image stored in a server on a client.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As one of the image handling devices, one or more medical image pickup devices, one or more image storage devices (servers), and one or more image utilization devices (clients) are connected by a communication line. There is an image network system.
[0003]
In this medical image network system, an image captured by a medical image capturing apparatus is stored in a server, and a desired medical image is browsed by accessing the server from a client.
[0004]
The number of pixels of an image increases as the spatial resolution of imaging by a medical imaging device increases, and the number of bits of image data (data) per pixel increases as the resolution of density increases. Therefore, the amount of data stored in the server is extremely large.
[0005]
For such an image, the client side displays and observes an image that has been subjected to gradation conversion (window) processing so that a desired region of interest (ROI) has an appropriate density resolution. Alternatively, an image that has been enlarged or reduced (zoomed) so that the ROI has an appropriate size is displayed and observed. For a large image that cannot be displayed on the screen, the display range is moved (panning) to put a desired image on the display screen.
[0006]
In order to perform such image processing for display, there are a method of capturing an original image from a server to a client and performing image processing on the client side, and a method of performing image processing by operating the server from the client side.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, the method of acquiring and processing the original image from the server to the client involves the communication of the original image consisting of a large amount of image data, and the method of operating the server from the client side to perform image processing is each operation. Since communication is performed every time, there is a problem that the communication load becomes extremely large in all cases when attempting to increase the response speed to such an extent that real-time operation is possible.
[0008]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to realize an image processing method and apparatus that performs image processing for client display with high responsiveness without increasing communication load. .
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
(1) In one aspect of the invention for solving the above-described problem, when displaying an image stored in a server on a client, a part of image data constituting the stored image is transferred from the server to the server. The image processing is performed by the client, the image processing for display is performed by the client for the captured image data, the image processing conditions determined by the replay are transmitted from the client to the server, and based on the transmitted image processing conditions The stored image is processed by the server, and the processed image is captured and displayed on the client.
[0010]
As described above, when image processing is performed on the client side, the image actually required is often a part of the entire image, and not all data is required in the image processing. . In the invention from this point of view, a part of the image data constituting the original image is fetched from the server to the client, so that more data than necessary is not transferred.
[0011]
Further, from this point of view, in the invention in this aspect, the image data captured from the server to the client is a part of the image data constituting the original image, so that the responsiveness can be improved without increasing the communication load. In addition, since the image processing for display is performed by the client for this image data, it is possible to perform image processing with good responsiveness. In addition, the determined image processing conditions are transmitted to the server to perform image processing of the original image, and an image whose data amount has been reduced by the processing is captured and displayed on the client, so that the responsiveness is improved without increasing the communication load. can do.
[0012]
(2) Another aspect of the invention for solving the above problem is the image handling method according to (1), wherein the image stored in the server is a medical image.
[0013]
In the invention from this viewpoint, image processing for client display can be performed with high responsiveness without increasing the communication load for medical images.
(3) Another aspect of the invention for solving the above problem is an image handling apparatus for displaying an image stored in a server on a client, and a part of image data constituting the stored image Image capturing means for capturing the image data into the client, image processing replaying means for performing replay of image processing for display on the client side for the captured image data, and image processing conditions determined by the replaying are transmitted to the server Image processing condition transmission means, image processing means for processing the stored image on the server side based on the transmitted image processing conditions, and image display means for capturing and displaying the processed image on the client And an image handling apparatus.
[0014]
As described above, when image processing is performed on the client side, the image actually required is often a part of the entire image, and not all data is required in the image processing. . In the invention from this point of view, a part of the image data constituting the original image is fetched from the server to the client, so that more data than necessary is not transferred.
[0015]
Furthermore, from this point of view, according to the invention in this aspect, the image data captured from the server to the client is part of the image data constituting the original image by the image capturing means, so that responsiveness is not increased without increasing the communication load. Can be improved. Further, for this image data, the image processing replay means performs the display image processing replay on the client, so that it is possible to perform image processing with good responsiveness. Further, the image processing condition transmission means transmits the confirmed image processing conditions to the server to perform image processing of the original image, and the image whose data amount is reduced by the processing is captured and displayed on the client by the image display means. Responsiveness can be improved without increasing the communication load.
[0016]
(4) According to another aspect of the invention for solving the above problem, the image stored in the server is a medical image. The image handling apparatus according to (3), wherein the image is a medical image.
[0017]
According to the invention from this viewpoint, it is possible to realize a medical image handling apparatus that performs image processing for client display with high responsiveness without increasing communication load.
[0018]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiment. FIG. 1 shows a conceptual diagram of a medical image network system (network system). This system is an example of an embodiment of an image handling apparatus of the present invention. An example of an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention is shown by the configuration of the system. An example of an embodiment of the method of the present invention is shown by the operation of the system.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 1, the system includes a server 200, a client 300, and medical image capturing apparatuses 400 and 500 connected via a communication line 100 such as an intranet. Server 200 is an example of an embodiment of a server in the present invention. The client 300 is an example of an embodiment of a client in the present invention.
[0020]
A plurality of servers and clients are provided, but each one is representatively illustrated. In addition, two medical image capturing apparatuses are also representative, but usually more than that are connected. The communication line 100 is not limited to an intranet, and may be a network of another appropriate system such as the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), and a WAN (Wide Area Network). The communication line 100 may be a wireless network.
[0021]
Each of the server 200 and the client 300 is a data processing device provided with a communication unit, such as an engineering workstation (EWS) or a personal computer (PC).
[0022]
The medical image capturing apparatuses 400 and 500 include, for example, an X-ray CT (Computed Tomography) apparatus, an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) apparatus, an ultrasonic imaging apparatus, an X-ray imaging apparatus, a PET (Positron Emission Tomography), and a gamma camera (γ camera). Etc. The medical image capturing apparatuses 400 and 500 both have communication means, and can transmit captured images to the server 200.
[0023]
The server 200 includes an image library that stores medical images transmitted from the medical image capturing apparatuses 400 and 500. The client 300 accesses the image library of the server 200 to acquire a desired medical image and displays it on the display unit for use in diagnosis or the like. Hereinafter, the image library is simply referred to as a library.
[0024]
FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the server 200. As shown in the figure, the server 200 has a data processing unit 202. A communication unit 204 is connected to the data processing unit 202 so that data communication can be performed through the communication line 100. An image storage unit 206 is also connected to the data processing unit 202. The medical images received from the medical image capturing apparatuses 400 and 500 are stored here to constitute an image library.
[0025]
FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the client 300. As shown in the figure, the client 300 has a data processing unit 302. A display unit 304 and an operation unit 306 are connected to the data processing unit 302 to enable an interactive operation by an operator.
[0026]
A communication unit 308 is also connected to the data processing unit 302 so that data communication can be performed through the communication line 100. An image memory 310 is further connected to the data processing unit 302, and medical images captured from the server via communication are stored here. The data processing unit 302 performs various image processing for display on the medical image stored in the image memory 310 based on the operation of the operator. Hereinafter, a medical image is simply referred to as an image.
[0027]
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the data processing unit 202 of the server 200 and the data processing unit 302 of the client 300 from the viewpoint of performing image processing for display. The function of each block shown in the figure is realized by, for example, a computer program. The data processing unit 202 and the data processing unit 302 are connected via communication.
[0028]
As shown in the figure, the data processing unit 302 of the client 300 has an image data request unit 312. The image data request unit 312 requests image data from the server 200 based on the operation of the operator. When requesting image data, the operator inputs information for specifying a desired image and information regarding data processing. The image data request unit 312 transmits these pieces of information to the server 200.
[0029]
When the image processing is, for example, window processing, the information related to data processing is information indicating that the processing is window processing, and an expected value of a window level and a window width.
[0030]
The data processing unit 202 of the server 200 has an image data procurement unit 212. The image data procurement unit 212 procures image data in response to a request from the image data request unit 312. That is, the image specified by the client is read out from the library, and the image data is selected according to information related to data processing.
[0031]
When the information regarding the data processing is the window level and the window width, the window processing based on the information is performed. However, the window processing is performed by setting the window width here to a value that is, for example, several times the window width transmitted from the client 300. By such window processing, only data that falls within the window is selected from the image data constituting the original image. The selected image data has a volume (volume) that is reduced to, for example, about a fraction of the volume of the image data constituting the original image.
[0032]
The image data procurement unit 212 transmits the procured image data to the client 300. As a result, the client 300 acquires the requested image data. The acquired image is displayed on the display unit 304. The portion composed of the image data request unit 312 and the image data procurement unit 212 is an example of the embodiment of the image capturing means in the present invention.
[0033]
As described above, when image processing is performed on the client side, the image actually required is often a part of the entire image, and not all data is required in the image processing. . In the invention from this point of view, a part of the image data constituting the original image is fetched from the server to the client, so that more data than necessary is not transferred.
[0034]
Since the volume of the image data is reduced from that of the original image, the image data can be captured with high responsiveness to the operation of the operator. Further, since the window processing performed in the process of procuring image data is performed without the operator's involvement from the client 300 side, responsiveness is not hindered. Therefore, the requested image is displayed on the display unit 304 instantly.
[0035]
In the client 300, image processing is performed for the captured image data by the image processing processing unit 314. Image processing is performed based on the operation of the operator. The image processing preliminary unit 314 is an example of an embodiment of the image processing preliminary unit in the present invention.
[0036]
The operator adjusts the window for the captured image. That is, the operation unit 306 is operated to adjust the window level and the window width so that the display image has a desired gradation. Since the window adjustment by the operator is performed on the image data captured in the client 300, the responsiveness to the operation is good.
[0037]
Note that this window processing is not window processing for the original image, but window processing for an image that has been window processed in advance by the image data procurement unit 212, but this is a problem because it is a window processing in a range narrower than the window width of the previous window processing. Can be done without.
[0038]
The window level and the window width determined by the window adjustment are input to the processing condition transmission unit 316. The processing condition transmission unit 316 transmits the determined image processing conditions to the server. The processing condition transmission unit 316 is an example of an embodiment of image processing condition transmission means in the present invention.
[0039]
In the server 200, the image processing unit 214 processes the original image under the transmitted image processing conditions. That is, the original image is windowed based on the transmitted window level and window width. The image processing unit 214 is an example of an embodiment of image processing means in the present invention.
[0040]
An image obtained by windowing the original image is transmitted to the client 300. The client 300 displays an image using the image display unit 318. As a result, the window-processed image is displayed on the display unit 304. The image display unit 318 is an example of an embodiment of the image display means in the present invention.
[0041]
The window processing in the image processing unit 214 does not impede responsiveness because there is no operator involvement from the client 300 side. Further, since the amount of image data is reduced by the window processing, the responsiveness is not lowered. Accordingly, an image obtained by windowing the original image is instantaneously displayed on the display unit 304.
[0042]
The image displayed on the display unit 304 is an image obtained by performing window processing on the original image based on the window processing conditions determined by the preliminary run. That is, the same image as that obtained by performing window adjustment on the original image from the beginning can be obtained. In addition, this image can be obtained with much better responsiveness than when the original image is taken into the client and the window is adjusted as in the prior art, or when the window is adjusted by operating the server from the client side.
[0043]
The image processing is not limited to window processing, and may be zooming processing, panning processing (pan and zoom), or the like. Pan and zoom is performed as follows.
[0044]
The image data request unit 312 transmits information representing pan and zoom as information related to data processing based on the operation of the operator. Based on this information, the image data procurement unit 212 of the server 200 transmits to the client 300 image data in which the matrix size of the original image is halved, for example.
[0045]
As described above, when image processing is performed on the client side, the image actually required is often a part of the entire image, and not all data is required in the image processing. . In the invention from this point of view, a part of the image data constituting the original image is fetched from the server to the client, so that more data than necessary is not transferred.
[0046]
As a result, image data in which the volume of the image data constituting the original image is reduced to a quarter is obtained, and the resulting image is displayed on the display unit 304. Since the volume of the image data to be captured is smaller than that of the original image, the image data can be captured with high responsiveness to the operation of the operator. Further, since the matrix reduction process performed in the process of procuring image data is performed without the operator's involvement from the client 300 side, the responsiveness does not decrease. Therefore, the requested image is displayed on the display unit 304 instantly.
[0047]
This image data is subjected to pan and zoom replay by the image processing replay unit 314. Image processing is performed based on the operation of the operator. That is, the operation unit 306 is operated to perform panning and zooming of an image, and an image displaying a desired ROI in a desired size is obtained. Since panning and zooming by the operator is performed on the image data captured in the client 300, the responsiveness to the operation is good.
[0048]
This pan-and-zoom is not a process for the original image, but a process for an image with a reduced matrix size. However, since there is no problem in displaying an ROI image, pan-and-zoom can be performed appropriately. .
[0049]
The ROI position and zoom magnification determined by pan and zoom are transmitted to the server through the processing condition transmission unit 316. In the server 200, the image processing unit 214 processes the original image in accordance with the transmitted ROI position and zoom magnification. An image obtained by panning and zooming the original image is transmitted to the client 300 and displayed on the display unit 304 by the image display unit 318.
[0050]
Responsiveness is not hindered because there is no operator involvement from the client 300 side in the image processing process in the image processing unit 214. Further, the data after the pan-and-zoom process is composed of a part of the original image data, and since the data amount is reduced, the responsiveness is not lowered. Therefore, an image obtained by zooming the ROI of the original image is instantaneously displayed on the display unit 304.
[0051]
The image displayed on the display unit 304 is an image obtained by processing the original image based on the ROI and zoom magnification determined by the pre-run. That is, it is possible to obtain the same image as that obtained by performing pan and zoom on the original image from the beginning. In addition, this image can be obtained with much better responsiveness than when the original image is taken into the client and panning and zooming is performed as in the prior art, or when panning and zooming is performed by operating the server from the client side.
[0052]
As mentioned above, although the example which handles a medical image was demonstrated, this invention can be applied to the handling of the image of not only a medical image but various other fields, and there can exist the same effect in those fields. Needless to say.
[0053]
【Effect of the invention】
As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize an image processing method and apparatus for performing image processing for client display with high responsiveness without increasing communication load.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an example of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a server in the apparatus shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a client in the apparatus shown in FIG.
4 is a block diagram of a data processing unit shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Communication line 200 Server 202,302 Data processing part 204,308 Communication part 206 Image storage part 300 Client 304 Display part 306 Operation part 310 Image memory 400,500 Medical imaging device

Claims (8)

The image stored on the server is processed for display on the client and displayed on the client.
With respect to the image data constituting the original image stored in the server, the image data in which the data amount is reduced from the original image by the window process which is a gradation conversion process is fetched from the server to the client,
For the captured image data, the client performs a window process for displaying on the client, and confirms the processing conditions of the process,
The processing conditions determined by the rehearsal are transmitted from the client to the server,
Under the transmitted processing conditions, the server performs window processing for displaying the image stored in the server on the client,
An image handling method, wherein a processed image after performing window processing for display on a client according to the transmitted processing conditions is captured from the server and displayed on the client. 2. The image handling method according to claim 1, wherein the window processing for obtaining the image data in which the data amount is reduced from the original image is performed based on the processing conditions transmitted from the client. The image handling method according to claim 1, wherein the processing conditions of the window processing are a window level and a window width. 4. The image according to claim 3, wherein the window processing for obtaining the image data in which the data amount is reduced from the original image is processed under a processing condition larger than the window width transmitted from the client. Handling method. An image handling device that performs image processing for display on a client for images stored on a server and displays the image on a client.
An image capturing unit that captures, into the client, image data in which the data amount of the original image stored in the server is smaller than that of the original image by window processing that is gradation conversion processing;
Image processing replaying means for performing replay of window processing for displaying on the client with respect to the captured image data, and determining processing conditions of the processing;
Image processing condition transmission means for transmitting the processing conditions determined by the replay to the server;
Image processing means for performing window processing on the server for displaying the image stored in the server on the client under the transmitted processing conditions;
Image display means for fetching and displaying the processed image after performing window processing for display on the client according to the transmitted image processing conditions from the server to the client;
An image handling apparatus comprising: 6. The image handling apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the window processing for obtaining the image data in which the data amount is reduced from the original image is performed based on the processing condition transmitted from the client. The image handling apparatus according to claim 5 or 6 , wherein the processing conditions of the window processing are a window level and a window width. 8. The image according to claim 7 , wherein the window processing for obtaining the image data in which the data amount is reduced from the original image is processed under a processing condition larger than the window width transmitted from the client. Handling equipment.

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