JP5611580B2 - Removable media management device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for managing a removable medium that is connected to a device in which a medical data file is stored and stores the medical data file.

  In recent years, removable media have been used as storage media for medical data files in medical devices such as ultrasonic diagnostic equipment. Examples of removable media include USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory and USB-HDD (Universal Serial Bus-Hard Disk Drive). As a method for storing medical data files in these media, it is becoming mainstream that the method is performed in accordance with DICOM (Digital Imaging Communication in Medicine) standards.

  Here, DICOM is a standard for “digital images and communication in medical use” established by a committee formed by the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA). . By setting the image format and communication protocol based on this standard, medical images collected with different types of modalities such as X-ray CT apparatuses and MRI apparatuses, and medical images collected with different modalities of manufacturers Can be used as a common asset. In accordance with the DICOM standard, a medical data file, a directory record (hereinafter referred to as DR) that is management information (for example, patient information, examination information, image series information, and image information) of the medical data file, A storage medium in which the DICOMDIR file hierarchized with respect to the directory record is stored is hereinafter referred to as a DICOM medium.

  In recent years, there is a user's request to use a large-capacity removable medium such as the USB memory whose capacity has been increased year by year or a USB-HDD having a larger capacity as DICOM media. At this time, as the capacity of the removable media increases, the amount of data to be stored increases, and the size of the DICOMDIR file that is a file for managing these data increases.

  The use of such a large-capacity removable medium exceeds the assumption of the DICOM standard. That is, if the above-described large-capacity removable medium is used as usual, the response may be slow. As specific problems, for example, device recognition is slow, it takes time to display a list, which is data browsing, and it takes time to read and write data.

  An object of the present invention is to improve the slowness of responsiveness in device recognition, list display, data read / write, and the like when a large-capacity removable medium is used as a DICOM medium.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following measures.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a means for connecting to an external removable medium in which a medical data file relating to a medical image is stored , a management information file corresponding to incidental information of the medical data file , a patient information file , a management file, A patient information file creation unit for creating the patient information file composed of patient information of each of the medical data files, and a file creation means for storing the file on the external removable medium. If, on the basis of the supplementary information before Symbol medical data files, provide the management file creating section to create a plurality of management files corresponding to a plurality of patients, the removable media management system Ru comprising a.

  According to the removable management device of the present invention, it is possible to eliminate delays in responsiveness in device recognition, list display, data read / write, etc., when a large capacity removable medium is used as a DICOM medium, and a large capacity removable medium. Media responsiveness is improved.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a removable management device 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the DICOM media 1 constructed in the external removable media 115 by the removable management device 101 of FIG. 1 in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the removable media management apparatus 101 of FIG. FIG. 4 is an example of a management file created for each of a plurality of storage sections in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit when the external removable medium 115 is connected to the removable management apparatus 101 in the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the storage process to the external removable media 115 by the removable media management apparatus 101 in the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a process for reading a medical data file stored in the external removable medium 115 by the removable medium management apparatus 101 in the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is an example of a file list created by the list creation unit 106 for the medical data file in the selected virtual medium in the first embodiment. FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of a removable media management apparatus 201 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is an example of a patient information file for all medical data files stored in all storage areas in the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the storage process at the time of the first connection to the external removable medium 115 by the removable media management apparatus 201 in the second embodiment. FIG. 12 is an example of a management file created for each patient in the second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a procedure of additional storage processing to the external removable media 115 by the removable media management apparatus 201 in the second embodiment. FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a process for reading a medical data file stored in the external removable medium 115 by the removable medium management apparatus 201 in the second embodiment. FIG. 15 is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit when the external removable medium 115 is connected to the removable management apparatus 201 in the second embodiment and the third embodiment. FIG. 16 is an example of a file list of medical data files created by the list creation unit 106 in the second embodiment and the third embodiment. FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure constructed in the external removable medium 115 by the removable management apparatus 201 in the second embodiment. FIG. 18 is a block diagram of the removable media management apparatus 301 according to the third embodiment. FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the storage process at the time of the first connection to the external removable media 115 by the removable media management apparatus 301 in the third embodiment. FIG. 20 is an example of a management file created so that a plurality of patients correspond to each of a plurality of storage sections in the third embodiment. FIG. 21 is an example of a patient information file for all management files stored in all storage sections in the third embodiment. FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing a procedure of additional storage processing to the external removable media 115 by the removable media management apparatus 301 in the third embodiment. FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a process for reading a medical data file stored in the external removable medium 115 by the removable medium management apparatus 301 in the third embodiment. FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure constructed in the external removable medium 115 by the removable management device 301 in the third embodiment.

  Hereinafter, a removable media management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The removable media management apparatus according to this embodiment includes medical data relating to medical images generated by medical image generation apparatuses such as an X-ray computed tomography apparatus, an X-ray diagnosis apparatus, an ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus, a gamma camera, and a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus. It is an apparatus that performs management when saving from a device storing a file to an external removable medium and management when displaying from an external removable medium that stores a medical data file. The storage form according to the present embodiment is not particularly limited and can be applied to any storage form.

(First embodiment)
First, the configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1, which is a schematic diagram of the configuration and functions of the invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a removable media management apparatus 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention detachably connects an external removable media 115 (for example, a large capacity USB-HDD or a USB memory). Hereinafter, in order to specifically describe the present embodiment, the storage form is assumed to be based on the DICOM (Digital Imaging Communication in Medicine) standard.

  First, FIG. 2 which is an example of the data structure in the DICOM standard constructed on the external removable media 115 by the removable media management apparatus 101 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the storage area of the external removable medium 115 is divided into a plurality of storage sections by the removable medium management apparatus 101. Each storage section is defined as DICOM media 1 (disk image) having a data structure in the DICOM standard. Mounted on the DICOM medium 1 are object files 3, 4, and 5 mainly including medical data files and a DICOMDIR file 2 composed of directory records (hereinafter referred to as DR). Medical data files are medical image data files generated mainly by modalities such as X-ray computed tomography (CT), X-ray diagnostic equipment, ultrasonic diagnostic equipment, magnetic resonance imaging equipment, and gamma cameras. . Hereinafter, the object file is referred to as a medical data file. In addition, it is possible to have a non-DICOM file 6 that is not in DICOM format.

  The DICOMDIR file 2 is management information for all the medical data files 3, 4, and 5 stored in the storage category of the external removable medium 115. A plurality of DRs are mounted on the DICOMDIR file 2. The DRs include, for example, Patient DR 7-a, Study DR 8-a, Series DR 9-a, Image DR 10-a, Image DR 11-a, and Image DR 12-a. Patient DR7-a is mounted directly under the root directory. Study DR8-a is mounted under Patient DR7-a. Series DR9-a is mounted below Study DR8-a. Image DR10-a, Image DR11-a, and Image DR12-a are mounted below Series DR9-a. The subscript a represents the DR and medical data file for a patient a. Patient DR7-a, Study DR8-a, Series DR9-a, Image DR10-a, Image DR11-a, and Image DR12-a include the hierarchical information of each DR and each medical data file corresponding to each DR. The following details are described together with the address information. Hereinafter, each DR will be described.

  Patient DR7-a is a DR describing patient information such as a patient name and a patient ID. Study DR8-a is a DR describing examination information such as examination date and examination time. Series DR9-a is a DR that describes series information such as the modality of an image and the relationship between images. Image DR10, Image DR11, and Image DR12 are DRs that describe image information such as the number of pixels corresponding to each image and the image gradation (number of bits per pixel). The patient information, examination information, series information, and image information are information that forms supplementary information of the medical data files 3, 4, and 5.

  As described above, the DICOM media 1 stores the DICOMDIR file 2 related to the supplementary information of the medical data file together with the medical data file. The DR corresponding to the medical data file is assembled in a hierarchical structure to form the DICOMDIR file 2.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the removable media management apparatus 101 according to the present embodiment in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the removable media management apparatus 101 has a connector 102 that is connected to an external removable media 115. The external removable medium 115 is, for example, a USB-HDD or a USB memory. USB-HDD is a USB-connected external hard disk device. Whether the external removable medium 115 is a USB-HDD, a USB memory, or another storage medium, the operation of the removable medium management apparatus 101 described below is the same. The removable media management apparatus 101 includes a connection detection unit 103 that detects a connection with an external removable medium 115, a storage category recognition unit 104, a storage category division unit 105, a list creation unit 106, a display unit 107, and a recognition unit. Unit 108, management file creation unit 109, and allocation unit 110. In addition, the removable media management apparatus 101 is separately connected with a device 111 constituting, for example, a PACS (picture archiving and communication system) that stores medical data files. The device 111 storing a medical data file includes an input unit 112, a selection unit 114, and a medical data file storage unit.

  The connection detection unit 103 detects the connection with the external removable medium 115 via the connector 102 and sends the detected signal to the storage category recognition unit 104. Based on the signal from the connection detection unit 103, the storage classification recognition unit 104 recognizes information about whether or not the storage area is divided in the external removable medium 115 via the connector 102, that is, whether or not it is connected for the first time. . If the storage area of the external removable medium 115 is not divided, the undivided signal of the storage area is sent to the storage partition division unit 105. The storage partition division unit 105 divides the storage area of the external removable medium 115 into a plurality of storage sections (hereinafter, a plurality of virtual media) based on the undivided signal of the storage area.

  Although not shown, the input unit 112 includes operation devices such as a mouse and a keyboard for selecting a medical data file to be stored in the external removable medium 115. Based on the selection operation of the medical data file to be saved by the user via the input unit 112, the selection unit 114 causes the recognition unit 108 to read additional information of the medical data file from the medical data file storage unit 113.

  The recognizing unit 108 includes information on a management file (hereinafter referred to as DICOMDIR file 2) for managing the supplementary information of the read medical data file and the supplementary information of the medical data file stored in each virtual medium of the external removable medium 115. Are sent to the allocation unit 110. In addition, when a medical data file stored in the external removable medium 115 is read out, the DICOMDIR file 2 stored in each storage category (hereinafter referred to as virtual media) of the external removable medium 115 after detecting the connection with the external removable medium 115 is detected. And the information of the recognized DICOMDIR file 2 is sent to the display unit 107.

  The allocation unit 110 associates the incidental information of the medical data file sent from the recognition unit 108 with the information of the DICOMDIR file 2 that manages the incidental information of the medical data file stored in the virtual medium of the external removable medium 115. Based on this information, one of the virtual media is assigned as a storage destination to the medical data file sent in accordance with a predetermined rule. Here, the predetermined rule refers to patient information (patient directory record or less patient DR) in the DICOMDIR file 2 that manages incidental information of medical data files stored in the virtual media in any of a plurality of virtual media. It is stipulated that if the patient information that is a part of the supplementary information of the medical data file to be saved matches with the medical data file, the storage section in which the DICOMDIR file 2 is saved is assigned to the medical data file. . Based on the alphabet of the name in the patient information that is a part of the incidental information of the medical data file, based on the rules for assigning the virtual media to the medical data file to be saved and the date and time when the medical data file was created, It is also possible to use a rule for allocating virtual media to medical data files to be saved. Further, after the assignment, the medical data file is stored in the virtual medium.

  The management file creation unit 109 creates the storage address information of the medical data file in the virtual media allocated by the allocation unit 110 and the DICOMDIR file 2 including the supplementary information of the medical data file in each of the plurality of virtual media. According to the DICOM standard, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, one record of the DICOMDIR file 2 describes each DR associated with the supplementary information of one medical data file and the storage address of this medical data file. After the management file is created, the DICOMDIR file 2 associated with the virtual medium assigned to the medical data file in the assigning unit 108 is saved in the same virtual medium as that storing the medical data file. In any one of a plurality of virtual media, the patient DR of the DICOMDIR file 2 that manages the supplementary information of the medical data file stored in the virtual media and the patient that is a part of the supplementary information of the medical data file to be stored If the information matches, the DICOMDIR file 2 of the allocated virtual medium is updated based on the storage address information of the medical data file in the allocated virtual medium and the incidental information of the medical data file.

  When the external removable media 115 storing the medical data file is connected to the removable media management apparatus 101 and one of a plurality of virtual media is selected by the user, the list creation unit 106 adds the selected virtual media to the selected virtual media. A file list of medical data files is created based on the corresponding DICOMDIR file. The information of this file list is sent to the display unit 107 and displayed as a list.

  In addition to displaying the file list, the display unit 107 displays a list of virtual media based on the information of the DICOMDIR file 2 recognized by the recognition unit 108. A list of a plurality of virtual media is displayed on the display unit 107 as shown in FIG. 5, for example.

(Operation)
Next, a description will be given of operations for saving and reading data to / from an external removable medium (hereinafter referred to as an actual medium) 115 in the removable medium management apparatus 101. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the storage process to the physical medium 115 in the removable media management apparatus 101.

  First, the connection detection unit 103 detects the connection of the physical media 115 (step Sa1), and the storage category recognition unit 104 divides the storage area of the physical media into a plurality of storage categories (hereinafter, a plurality of virtual media). Is determined (step Sa2). If not divided, the storage partition division unit 105 divides the storage area of the physical medium into a plurality of virtual media (step Sa3). For example, when the size of the storage area of the actual media is 400 GB, the size of one storage section is equally 10 GB, and the storage area of the actual media is divided into 40 storage sections. In this way, the actual media is divided into a plurality of virtual media, and the DICOMDIR file is individually provided for the virtual media, thereby improving access responsiveness.

  Next, the recognizing unit 108 recognizes the medical data file to be saved selected by the selection unit 114 via the input unit 112 by the user (step Sa4), and the allocating unit 110 performs the medical data to be saved according to a predetermined rule. The data file is assigned based on the incidental information of the medical data file to be saved, with any of the storage categories (hereinafter referred to as virtual media) as the save destination (step Sa5). Based on this assignment, the medical data file to be saved is saved in the assigned virtual medium (step Sa6). If the management file (hereinafter referred to as DICOMDIR file) associated with the medical data file stored in the assigned virtual medium does not exist in the assigned virtual medium, the management file creation unit 109 creates the DICOMDIR file and assigns it. Save to virtual media. If a DICOMDIR file associated with the medical data file stored in the allocated virtual medium exists in the allocated virtual medium, the storage address information of the medical data file stored in the allocated virtual medium and the medical data file The supplementary information of the medical data file to be saved is newly incorporated into the record of the DICOMDIR file based on the supplementary information (step Sa7).

  Further, until the user selects removal of the physical medium (step Sa8), the recognition unit 108 selects removal of the physical medium from the process (step Sa4) of recognizing the medical data file to be saved selected by the user. The procedure up to the determination process (step Sa8) is repeated.

  Next, a procedure for reading a medical data file stored in the external removable medium (hereinafter referred to as an actual medium) 115 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the connection detection unit 103 detects the connection of the physical media 115 (step Sb1), and the recognition unit 108 reads out each management file (hereinafter referred to as DICOMDIR file) existing in each storage category (hereinafter referred to as virtual media) (step Sb2). ). Based on the read DICOMDIR file, the display unit 107 displays a list of a plurality of drive names corresponding to a plurality of storage sections (hereinafter, a plurality of virtual media) (step Sb3). This list display is represented as a plurality of virtual media on the screen as shown in FIG. 5, for example.

  When any of the plurality of virtual media displayed in the list is selected by the selection unit 114 via the input unit 112 by the user, the list creation unit 106 is based on the DR of the DICOMDIR file corresponding to the selected virtual media. Creates a file list for the medical data file in the selected virtual medium (step Sb4). FIG. 8 shows an example of a file list created by the list creation unit. The items of the created file list are, for example, the patient name, examination name, series number, and image number.

  Next, the file list created by the display unit 107 is displayed (step Sb5). Based on the medical data file selected by the user from the displayed file list, the medical data file selected by the user is read from the virtual medium storing the selected medical data file (step Sb6). Until the end of reading of the medical data file is selected (step Sb7), the procedure from the process of creating the file list (step Sb4) to the process of determining the end of reading of the medical data file (step Sb7) is repeated.

  6 and 7, the management file has been described using the DICOMDIR file 2 as an example of the DICOM standard. However, a management file other than the DICOM standard can be used. In addition, a USB-HDD, a USB memory, or another storage medium can be used as the external removable medium 115.

  According to the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained.

  The removable media management apparatus 101 divides the storage area of the external removable medium 115 into a plurality of virtual media that are a plurality of storage sections, and stores the medical data file and the medical data file in the virtual media corresponding to the divided storage areas. Save the management file based on the incidental information. When a medical data file is read from the external removable medium 115, a plurality of drive names corresponding to a plurality of virtual media that are a plurality of storage categories are displayed in a list. Subsequently, when one of the plurality of virtual media is selected by the user, the management file of the selected virtual media is read. A list of medical data files in the virtual media selected based on the read management file is displayed. From the above, the removable media management apparatus 101 divides the storage area of the external removable media 115 into a plurality of storage sections, and manages medical data files for each storage section. Accordingly, when accessing the external removable medium 115, the amount of data at the time of access can be limited by accessing each storage section, and the problem that the responsiveness at the time of accessing the external removable medium 115 is slow can be solved. .

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of a removable media management apparatus 201 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. With respect to the configuration of the removable media management apparatus 201 in the present embodiment, the same components as those in FIG. 3 that is the configuration diagram of the first embodiment described above are denoted by the same reference numerals in order to avoid duplicate description. Detailed description will be omitted, and different components will be described. In addition, for example, the device 111 constituting the PACS that stores the medical data file separately connected to the external removable media 115 connected to the connector 112 and the removable media management device 201 in the present embodiment, the components are 3 is the same as FIG. 3, and the same reference numerals are given to avoid redundant description, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  3 differs from FIG. 3 in that the storage category recognition unit 104 and the storage category division unit 105 in FIG. 3 do not exist and a patient information file creation unit 220 is provided.

  The patient information file creation unit 220 creates a patient information file related to patient information for all medical data files stored in all storage areas of the external removable medium 115. An example of a conceptual diagram of the patient information file 77 is shown in FIG. In FIG. 10, a patient information file 77 is composed of a plurality of patient information and storage address information of a management file for managing medical data files of the plurality of patients.

  As an example, the removable management apparatus 201 in the present embodiment constructs the data structure shown in FIG. 17 for the external removable medium 115 based on the DICOM standard. The constructed data structure has the following differences compared to the first embodiment. The first difference is that in this embodiment, the storage area of the external removable medium 115 is not divided into storage sections. The second difference is that in the present embodiment, the DICOMDIR file 2 shown in FIG. 2 is divided into a patient information file and a management file. FIG. 17 and the patient information file and management file will be described in detail in the following operations.

(Operation)
Next, operations of storage, additional storage, and reading by the first connection to the external removable medium 115 in the removable media management apparatus 201 will be described. The external removable medium 115 is, for example, a USB-HDD or a USB memory, and the operation of the removable medium management apparatus 201 described below is the same even if it is another storage medium. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the storage process by the first connection to the external removable medium 115 in the removable media management apparatus 201.

  First, the connection detection unit 103 detects the connection of the external removable medium 115 (step Sc1). The recognizing unit 108 reads the medical data file to be saved selected by the selection unit 114 via the input unit 112 by the user (step Sc2), and extracts patient information from the incidental information of the read medical data file (step Sc2). Sc3). The patient information file creation unit 220 creates a patient information file 77 for all medical data files including the extracted patient information and stored in all storage areas of the external removable medium 115 (step Sc4). The read medical data file to be stored and the created patient information file 77 are stored in the storage area of the connected external removable medium 115 (step Sc5).

  Next, the management file creation unit 109 creates a plurality of management files corresponding to the plurality of patients, respectively (step Sc6). An example of a conceptual diagram of the created management file is shown in FIG. In FIG. 12, the created management file is a management target for a plurality of medical data files in one patient, and includes storage address information of the stored medical data file and part of the incidental information of the stored medical data file. including.

  The management file in this embodiment and the management file created in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4, that is, the DICOMDIR file created in each storage section, are files having different management target ranges. The management file in the present embodiment shown in FIG. 12 has a plurality of medical data files for one patient as management targets. On the other hand, the management file created in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4 has a plurality of medical data files for a plurality of patients as management targets. In this way, by dividing the DICOMDIR file 2 that manages the incidental information of the medical data file into the patient information file 77 and the management file corresponding to each patient, the responsiveness of access to the external removable media 115 is improved. Let

  Returning to the flowchart, the management file created by the management file creation unit 109 is stored in the storage area of the connected external removable medium 115 in association with the patient information of the patient information file 77 and the patient information of the management file (step). Sc7).

  Next, an additional storage process to the external removable medium 115 in the removable medium management apparatus 201 will be described. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a procedure of additional storage processing in the present embodiment. In order to avoid duplication of explanation for the same processing as in FIG. 11, the same reference numerals are given and detailed description thereof is omitted, and only different processing will be described.

  A different process in FIG. 13 and FIG. 11 is a process of creation in step Sc4 and step Sc6 in FIG. By changing the process of creation to the process of update, step Sc44 and step Sc66 of FIG. 13 are obtained. The process of updating in step Sc44 is a process of newly incorporating the patient information of the medical data file to be additionally saved into the patient information file 77 created by the saving process by the first connection.

  In addition, in the process of updating in step Sc66, if the patient information in the management file and the patient information in the medical data file to be additionally saved are the same, the incidental information of the medical data file to be additionally saved is used as the management file. It is processing to be incorporated into. On the other hand, if the patient information in the management file and the patient information in the medical data file to be additionally stored are not the same, the update process in step Sc66 is based on the patient information in the medical data file to be additionally stored. This is a process for creating a new management file. In addition, as a procedure for performing a plurality of times of saving, unless the end of saving of the medical data file is selected by the user (step Sc8), the medical data file to be saved selected by the selecting unit 114 via the input unit 112 by the user The procedure from the process of recognizing (Step Sc2) to the process of saving the management file in the storage area of the external removable medium 115 (Step Sc7) is repeated.

  Next, the procedure for reading the medical data file stored in the external removable medium 115 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the connection detection unit 103 detects the connection of the external removable medium 115 (step Sd1). An example of a screen displayed on the display unit 107 after detecting the external removable medium 115 is shown on the left side of FIG. When the external removable medium 115 is detected, for example, only one medium shown on the left side of the arrow in FIG. 15 is represented.

  Subsequently, the recognizing unit 108 reads out the patient information file 77 for all the medical data files stored in the entire storage area (step Sd2). Based on the read patient information file 77, the list creation unit 106 creates a patient list (step Sd3). The items of the patient list to be created are, for example, name, date of birth, and sex.

  When the user selects the media shown on the left side of the arrow in FIG. 15, the display unit 107 displays the patient list created by the list creation unit (step Sd4). An example of a screen on which the display unit 107 displays the created patient list is shown on the right side of the arrow in FIG. In the example of the patient list in FIG. 15, the patient name, patient ID, date of birth, and sex are displayed as examples of the patient list items.

  In the patient list shown on the right side of the arrow in FIG. 15, the management file corresponding to the selected patient is read based on the patient selected by the selection unit 114 via the input unit 112 by the user (step Sd5). Based on the read management file, the list creation unit 106 creates a file list of the medical data file (step Sd6). FIG. 16 shows an example of a file list created by the list creation unit 106. The items of the created file list are, for example, examination name, series number, image number, and the like. Regarding the items of the file list, the difference between the file list shown in FIG. 16 and the file list shown in FIG. 8 in the first embodiment is that the patient name is not included. The reason that the patient name is not included in the items of the file list in the present embodiment is that the file list is created based on the selection of the patient by the user from the patient list. Next, the display unit 107 displays the created file list (step Sd7). At this time, patient information may be added to the file list in accordance with the convenience of the user.

  Based on the medical data file selected by the user in the displayed file list, the selected medical data file is read from the external removable medium 115 (step Sd8). Unless the end of reading of the medical data file is selected (step Sd9), from the process of reading the management file corresponding to the patient selected by the user (step Sd5) to the determination process of ending the reading of the medical data file (step Sd9) Repeat the above procedure.

  With reference to FIG. 17, which is an example of the data structure in the DICOM standard that is built on the external removable medium 115 by the removable media management apparatus 201 in the present embodiment, the external removable medium 115 by the removable media management apparatus 101 in the first embodiment described above. In order to avoid duplication of description, the same reference numerals are given to components that are the same as those in FIG. 2, which is an example of the data structure in the DICOM standard constructed in FIG. explain.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the storage area of the external removable medium is defined as a DICOM medium (disk image) having a data structure in the DICOM standard. The patient information file 77 in correspondence with the DICOM standard is a DICOMDIR file composed only of the patient DR. The management file in correspondence with the DICOM standard has the same configuration as the DICOMDIR file 2 except that the scope of management is one patient. The total number of DICOMDIR files for one patient is equal to the total number of patients DR included in the patient information file 77. That is, the patient DR7-b for a patient b in the DICOMDIR file 77 configured only by the patient DR and the DICOMDIR file 2-b for the patient b are associated with each other.

  Mounted on the DICOM media are object files 3, 4, and 5, mainly medical data files, a DICOMDIR file 77 composed of only patients DR, and a DICOMDIR file for one patient that is the same as the total number of patients. Is done. A plurality of patient DRs are mounted on the DICOMDIR file 77 composed only of the patient DRs. A plurality of DRs are mounted on the DICOMDIR file 2-b for one patient. That is, the Study DR 8-b is mounted below the Patient DR 7-b. Series DR9-b is mounted under Study DR8-b. Image DR10-b, Image DR11-b, and Image DR12-b are mounted below Series DR9-b. The dotted arrows from the Image DR 10-b, Image DR 11-b, and Image DR 12-b indicate the image files 10-b, Image DR 11-b, and Image DR 12-b, and the object file 3-b stored in the storage area. The object file 4-b and the object file 5-b are associated with each other. The subscript b represents the DR and medical data file for a patient b.

  11, 13, and 14, as an example corresponding to the DICOM standard, a DICOMDIR file including only patient information DR is used for the patient information file, and a DICOMDIR file for one patient is used for the management file. Is also possible. Further, as the external removable medium 115, a USB-HDD, a USB memory, and other storage media can be used.

  According to the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained.

  The removable media management apparatus 201 divides a DICOMDIR file for managing incidental information of a medical data file stored in the storage area of the external removable medium 115 into a patient information file 77 and a management file, and stores them in a hierarchy. When reading a medical data file from the external removable medium 115, first, the patient information file 77 stored in the storage area of the external removable medium 115 is read, and a list of patients is displayed based on the read patient information file 77. Next, when the user selects a patient, the management file of the selected patient is read, and medical data files related to the selected patient are displayed in a list. From the above, the removable media management apparatus 201 according to the present embodiment manages the management file for managing the incidental information of the medical data file stored in the external removable media 115 by dividing it into hierarchies. Therefore, when accessing the external removable medium 115, the management file is accessed for each layer, so that the amount of data at the time of access can be limited, and the problem of slow response when accessing the external removable medium 115 is solved. be able to.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 18 is a block diagram of the removable media management apparatus 301 according to this embodiment. Regarding the configuration of the removable media management apparatus 301 in the present embodiment, the same components as those in FIG. 3 which is the configuration diagram of the first embodiment and FIG. 9 which is the configuration diagram of the second embodiment are described. In order to avoid duplication, detailed description thereof will be omitted, and components that perform different processing will be described with different reference numerals. Further, the configuration of the external removable media 115 connected to the connector 112 and the device 111 constituting the PACS storing the medical data file connected to the removable media management apparatus 301 in the present embodiment is also included. Since the elements are the same as those in FIGS. 3 and 9, the same reference numerals are given to avoid redundant description, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Components that perform processing different from those in FIGS. 3 and 9 are an allocation unit 310 and a management file creation unit 309. The allocation unit 310 stores the medical data file to be stored so that a plurality of patients correspond to a plurality of storage categories according to a predetermined rule based on the patient information extracted from the supplementary information of the medical data file to be stored. Assign one of the storage categories to the storage location. In other words, the same storage section is assigned to medical data files corresponding to a plurality of storage sections and a plurality of patients and having the same patient information such as patient names and patient IDs. Here, the predetermined rule is defined so that each storage section is assigned to each patient in the medical data file to be stored based on the alphabet of the name in the patient information of the medical data file. It is also possible to use a rule for assigning a storage category to a medical data file to be saved based on the date and time when the medical data file to be saved was created.

  The management file creation unit 309 creates a plurality of management files corresponding to each of the plurality of storage categories. That is, one management file is created for one storage section allocated by the allocation unit 310. The above allocation will be described in detail in the following operation.

  As an example, the removable management device 301 in the present embodiment constructs the data structure shown in FIG. 24 for the external removable medium 115 based on the DICOM standard. The data structure of FIG. 24 will be outlined below. The storage area of the external removable medium 115 is divided into a plurality of storage sections. The DICOMDIR file for managing the incidental information of the medical data file is divided into a patient information file composed only of the patient DR and a management file created for each of a plurality of patients. The patient information file is stored in the storage area of the external removable medium 115. The management file and the medical data file related to the management file form one DICOM medium 1. A DICOM media 1 formed for each patient is assigned to each storage section. FIG. 24, the patient information file, and the management file will be described in detail in the following operations.

(Operation)
Next, operations of storage, additional storage, and reading by the first connection to the external removable medium 115 in the removable media management apparatus 301 will be described. The external removable medium 115 is, for example, a USB-HDD or a USB memory, and the operation of the removable medium management apparatus 301 described below is the same even if it is another storage medium. FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the storage process by the first connection to the external removable medium 115 in the removable media management apparatus 301.

  First, the connection detection unit 103 detects the connection of the external removable medium 115 (step Se1), and divides the storage area of the external removable medium 115 connected by the storage partition division unit 104 into a plurality of storage partitions (step Se2). For example, when the storage area of the external removable medium 115 is 400 GB, the storage area of the external removable medium 115 is divided into 40 storage sections, with the size of one storage section being equally 10 GB. In this way, the responsiveness to the external removable medium 115 is improved by dividing the storage area of the external removable medium 115 into a plurality of storage sections.

  Next, the recognition unit 108 recognizes the medical data file to be saved selected by the selection unit 114 via the input unit 112 by the user (Step Se3), and extracts patient information from the incidental information of the recognized medical data file. (Step Se4). Based on the extracted patient information, the assigning unit 310 assigns one of the storage categories as a storage destination to the recognized medical data file so that a plurality of patients correspond to the plurality of storage categories according to a predetermined rule (step Se5). Based on this assignment, the medical data file is stored in the assigned storage section (step Se6).

  Next, the management file creation unit 309 creates a plurality of management files corresponding to each of the plurality of storage sections (step Se7). An example of a conceptual diagram of the management file in this embodiment is shown in FIG. In FIG. 20, the created management file is a management target for a plurality of medical data files for one patient, and part of the stored address information of the stored medical data file and the accompanying information of the stored medical data file. Including.

  The management file in this embodiment and the management file created in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4, that is, the DICOMDIR file created in each storage section, are files having different management target ranges. The management file in this embodiment shown in FIG. 20 has a plurality of medical data files for one patient as management targets. On the other hand, the management file created in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4 has a plurality of medical data files for a plurality of patients as management targets. The description of the management file so far is the same as the management file of the second embodiment shown in FIG. The difference between the management file of this embodiment and the second embodiment is that each management file of this embodiment is assigned to each of a plurality of storage sections as the storage destination of the management file of this embodiment. Is a point.

  Returning to the flowchart, the management file created by the management file creation unit 309 is saved in the same storage category as the stored medical data file (step Se8), and the saved address information is extracted from the incidental information of the management file (step Se9).

  Based on the patient information extracted from the supplementary information of the medical data file to be stored by the patient information file creation unit 220 and the storage address information of the stored management file, all the medical data files stored in all the storage categories are stored. A target patient information file 77 is created (step Se10). An example of a conceptual diagram of the created patient information file is shown in FIG. In FIG. 21, the patient information file is composed of a plurality of patient information and management file address information corresponding to each of the plurality of patients. The description of the patient information file so far is the same as the patient information file of the second embodiment shown in FIG. The difference between the patient information file in the present embodiment and the patient information file in the second embodiment is that the address information of each management file assigned to each of a plurality of storage sections is included. As described above, the DICOMDIR file 2 for managing the incidental information of the medical data file is divided into the patient information file 77 and the management file corresponding to each patient and storage category, thereby responding to the access to the external removable medium 115. Improve sexiness.

  The created patient information file 77 is stored in the connected external removable medium 115 in association with the patient information in the patient information file 77 and the patient information in the management file (step Se11).

  Next, an additional storage process to the external removable medium 115 in the removable medium management apparatus 301 will be described. FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing a procedure of additional storage processing in the present embodiment. In order to avoid duplication of description, the same reference numerals are assigned to those processes that are the same as those in FIG. 19, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted, and only different processes are described.

  The different processing in FIG. 22 and FIG. 19 is processing called creation in step Se7 and step Se10 in FIG. By changing the process of creation to the process of update, step Se77 and step Se101 in FIG. 22 are obtained. If the patient information in the management file created in the saving process by the first connection and the patient information in the medical data file to be additionally saved are the same, the update process in step Se77 is performed. Is included in the management file. On the other hand, if the patient information in the management file created in the saving process by the first connection and the patient information in the medical data file to be additionally saved are not the same, the update process in step Se77 creates a new management file. It is processing to do. The process of updating in step Se101 is a process of newly incorporating the patient information of the medical data file to be additionally saved into the patient information file 77 created by the saving process by the first connection. In addition, as a procedure for performing the saving a plurality of times, unless the end of saving of the medical data file is selected by the user (step Se12), the medical data file to be saved selected by the selection unit 114 via the input unit 112 by the user The procedure from the process of recognizing (Step Se3) to the process of updating the patient information file (Step Se101) is repeated.

  Subsequently, the operation of reading the medical data file stored in the external removable medium 115 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the connection detection unit 103 detects the connection of the external removable medium 115 (step Sf1), and the recognition unit 108 recognizes the patient information file 77 for all the medical data files stored in all the storage categories (step Sf1). Sf2). FIG. 15 shows an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 107 at this time. After detecting the external removable medium 115, for example, the display unit 107 displays only one drive name of the external removable medium 115 shown on the left side of the arrow in FIG. The difference from the first embodiment is that the external removable medium 115 is displayed as one drive name for the user, and the user is not aware of a plurality of storage categories. After the user selects the drive name, the list creation unit 106 creates a patient list based on the recognized patient information file 77 (step Sf3). Subsequently, the patient list created by the display unit 107 is displayed (step Sf4). At this time, the display unit displays a list of patients as shown on the right side of the arrow in FIG. The items of the patient list to be created are, for example, name, date of birth, and sex.

  Next, in the patient list shown on the right side of the arrow in FIG. 15, based on the patient selected by the selection unit 114 via the input unit 112 by the user, the management file in the storage section corresponding to the selected patient is stored. Read (step Sf5). Based on the read management file, the list creation unit 106 creates a file list of medical data files (step Sf6), and the display unit 107 displays the created file list (step Sf7). FIG. 16 shows an example of a file list created by the list creation unit 106. The items of the created file list are, for example, examination name, series number, image number, and the like. Regarding the items of the file list, the difference between the file list shown in FIG. 16 and the file list shown in FIG. 8 in the first embodiment is that the patient name is not included. The reason that the patient name is not included in the items of the file list in the present embodiment is that the file list is created based on the selection of the patient by the user from the patient list. In addition, the difference between the present embodiment and the second embodiment in creating a file list of medical data files is that the second embodiment is created from a storage area in which all files are stored. In the present embodiment, it is created from the storage section corresponding to the patient selected by the user.

  In the displayed file list, based on the medical data file selected by the user, the selected medical data file is read from the storage section where the selected medical data file is stored (step Sf8). Thus, the responsiveness to the external removable medium 115 is improved by reading the medical data file from each storage section corresponding to each patient.

  Unless the end of reading of the medical data file is selected (step Sf9), the process of reading the management data in the storage section corresponding to the patient selected by the user (step Sf5) is judged to end the reading of the medical data file (step Sf9). The procedure up to Sf9) is repeated.

  With respect to FIG. 24, which is an example of the data structure in the DICOM standard constructed on the external removable media 115 by the removable media management device 301 in the present embodiment, the removable media management device 101 in the first embodiment described above and the second described above. In FIG. 2 and FIG. 17, which are examples of the data structure in the DICOM standard constructed on the external removable media 115 by the removable media management apparatus 201 in the embodiment of FIG. Reference numerals are assigned and detailed description thereof is omitted, and different components will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 24, the storage area of the external removable media 115 is divided into a plurality of storage sections by the removable media management device 301. Each storage section is defined as DICOM media 1 (disk image) having a data structure in the DICOM standard. The patient information file 77 in correspondence with the DICOM standard is a DICOMDIR file composed only of the patient DR. The management file corresponding to the DICOM standard in the DICOM media 1 has the same configuration as the DICOMDIR file 2 except that the scope of management is one patient. The total number of DICOM media including the DICOMDIR file for one patient is equal to the total number of patients DR included in the patient information file 77. That is, the patient DR7-b for a patient b in the DICOMDIR file 77 composed only of the patient DR and the DICOM media 1 for the patient b are associated with each other.

  A DICOMDIR file 77 composed only of the patient DR is mounted in the storage area of the external removable medium 115. A plurality of patient DRs are mounted on the DICOMDIR file 77 composed only of the patient DRs. Mounted on the DICOM medium 1 are object files 3-b, 4-b, 5-b mainly including medical data files, and a DICOMDIR file and a non-DICOM file 6 for one patient. A plurality of DRs are mounted on the DICOMDIR file 2-b for one patient. That is, the Study DR 8-b is mounted below the Patient DR 7-b. Series DR9-b is mounted under Study DR8-b. Image DR10-b, Image DR11-b, and Image DR12-b are mounted below Series DR9-b. Further, solid arrows from Image DR 10-b, Image DR 11-b, and Image DR 12-b indicate Image DR 10-b, Image DR 11-b, Image DR 12-b, Object file 3-b, Object file 4-b, The object file 5-b is associated with each other. The subscript b represents the DR and medical data file for a patient b.

  19, 22, and 23, as an example of the DICOM standard, the patient information file has been described using the patient information DICOMDIR file 77 and the management file using the storage classification DICOMDIR file. A file other than the DICOM standard can also be used. Further, as the external removable medium 115, a USB-HDD, a USB memory, and other storage media can be used.

  According to the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained.

  According to the removable media management apparatus 301, the storage area of the external removable media 115 is divided into a plurality of storage sections, and medical data files are allocated and stored so that a plurality of patients correspond to the storage sections. A DICOMDIR file for managing supplementary information of a medical data file stored in the storage area of the external removable medium 115 is a patient information file (patient information DICOMDIR file) 77 and a management file (storage) corresponding to each patient information of each storage category. (Divided into DICOMDIR files) and saved in hierarchies. When a medical data file is read from the external removable medium 115, the patient information file 77 stored in the root directory of the external removable medium 115 is read, and then a patient list corresponding to each of a plurality of storage categories is displayed. Next, when the user selects a patient, the management file in the storage category corresponding to the selected patient is read, and medical data files related to the selected patient are displayed in a list. From the above, the removable management device 301 according to the present embodiment automatically divides the storage area of the external removable medium 115. Next, the removable management apparatus 301 according to the present embodiment divides and hierarchically manages the DICOMDIR file, which is a management file for managing the incidental information of the stored medical data file, in each storage category corresponding to each patient. To do. Therefore, when accessing the external removable medium 115, the management file is accessed for each storage section, so that the amount of data at the time of access can be limited to a small amount, and the responsiveness at the time of accessing the external removable medium 115 is slow. Can be eliminated. Further, when the storage section is copied to another removable medium, the storage section DICOMDIR file becomes the conventionally used DICOM media 1.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

  1 ... DICOM media, 2 ... DICOMDIR file, 2-b ... DICOMDIR file for a patient b, 3 ... object file, 4 ... object file, 5 ... object file, 6 ... non-DICOM file, 7 ... Patient DR, 8 ... Study DR, 9 ... Series DR, 10 ... Image DR, 11 ... Image DR, 12 ... Image DR, 77 ... Patient information file, 101 ... Removable media management device in the first embodiment, 102 ... Connector, 103 ... Connection detection , 104 ... Storage section recognition section, 105 ... Storage section division section, 106 ... List creation section, 107 ... Display section, 108 ... Recognition section, 109 ... Management file creation section in the first embodiment, 110 ... First Allocation unit in the embodiment, 111... Device storing medical data file, 112... Input unit, 113. Data file recording unit, 114 ... selection unit, 115 ... external removable media, 201 ... removable media management device in the second embodiment, 210 ... allocation unit in the second embodiment, 220 ... patient information file creation unit, 301 ... Removable media management device in the third embodiment, 309 ... Management file creation section in the third embodiment, 310 ... Allocation section in the third embodiment

Claims (3)

Means for connecting to an external removable medium in which medical data files relating to medical images are stored;
A file of management information corresponding to the incidental information of the medical data file is divided into a patient information file and a management file, and stored in the external removable medium;
The file creation means includes:
A patient information file creation unit for creating the patient information file composed of patient information of each of the medical data files ;
Based on the additional information of the previous SL medical data file, a management file creating section to create a plurality of management files corresponding to a plurality of patients,
Removable media management device Ru equipped with.   The patient information file is composed of a plurality of patient directory records,
  Each of the management files is a file of the management information for one patient,
  The patient information file is located in a higher hierarchy of the management file,
  The patient information file and the management file are related by the patient information;
  The removable media management device according to claim 1. A list creation unit that creates a file list of the medical data file based on the management file corresponding to the selected patient when any of the patients in the patient information file is selected by a user;
  Displaying the patient information file as a list, corresponding to the selected patient triggered by the selection of the patient, and displaying the file list of the management file located in a lower hierarchy of the patient information file;
  The removable media management device according to claim 1, further comprising:

Images