JPH0310141B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an X-ray diagnostic device, an X-ray CT, an NMR-
For image storage devices that store various medical images such as CT, ultrasound diagnostic equipment, nuclear medicine diagnostic equipment, etc., the operator can give priority to the additional information of the medical images (e.g., date of imaging, body part, imaging modality, etc.) The present invention relates to an image retrieval device that can perform image retrieval according to each operator's request by ranking the images.

[Technical background of the invention]

Searches for general character and numerical databases are performed by keying in preset symbol strings from a keyboard or the like.

On the other hand, the following search method is used for databases that handle image data such as various medical images.

(1) Search method (search method using image identifier) An identifier is given to each image data in advance, and the operator searches for image data by inputting the identifier from a keyboard or the like.

(2) Search method (search method using supplementary information) As shown in FIG. 1, an original image storage device 122 stores the image number of each image, its supplementary information, and the address in the original image storage circuit as tabular information 121. and an original image display device 123.
A keyboard 120 is provided, and the operator inputs incidental information of the image desired to be searched into the keyboard 120.

Based on the input supplementary information, the address on the original image storage device 122 of the image that satisfies this condition is determined, and predetermined image data is sent from the original image storage device 122 to the original image display device 123 to display the image. be exposed.

(3) Search method (search method using hierarchical structure) As shown in Figure 2, images are stored in a predetermined hierarchical structure, and this image is displayed on an original image display device with a touch panel. do.

Based on the hierarchical positional relationship between the currently displayed image and the desired image, the operator moves on the hierarchical structure while applying pressure to a predetermined area of the touch panel with a finger or the like to search for and display a predetermined image.

That is, among the image numbers indicated by numbers 1 to 11 in circles in FIG. 2, image number 3
image is being displayed on the original image display device, and if you want to change it to image number 8, apply pressure with your finger to the operation area on the touch panel where you want to move it downward in the hierarchical structure. This is the translation.

[Problems with background technology]

Since all of the information in general character and numeric data is abstracted, there are few operational obstacles to a search method in which a symbol string such as a search key is input from a keyboard or the like.

However, it is not possible to abstract all of the information in image data such as medical images, and the information can only be abstracted through the human visual function.

In the case of the above-mentioned search method, the search method for general character and numerical data is simply applied to image data.

In the case of the search method, the operator is required to memorize the identifier of each image, which increases the burden.
Furthermore, in the case of the search method, the number of key-ins from a keyboard or the like increases, which poses a problem in terms of operability.

Furthermore, if there are multiple images that satisfy the input conditions, the display order of the images by the original image display device 123 is determined one-dimensionally, and the multiple images are not necessarily displayed in the order desired by the operator. do not have.

In the case of the search method, the operator operates the touch panel while looking at the displayed image, so the operability is good. However, if the currently displayed image and the new image to be displayed are located at different positions in the hierarchical structure, the desired image cannot be obtained on the original image display device unless the touch panel is pressed many times.

For example, when it is desired to compare image number 5 and image number 11 shown in circles in FIG. 2, many touch operations are required to change the search position, making it impossible to perform a quick image search.

This is because operators want to compare a plurality of images, but the comparison items differ from time to time for each operator, or even for a single operator.

In other words, sometimes there is a need to compare images taken with multiple modalities (models) of the same region, and at other times there is a request to compare images taken of different parts obtained with the same modality. Requirements change depending on the situation. When a hierarchical structure is predetermined as in a search method, there is a drawback that such requests cannot be dealt with flexibly.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is directed to original image storage devices for storing various medical images such as X-ray diagnostic equipment, X-ray CT, NMR-CT, ultrasound diagnostic equipment, and nuclear medicine diagnostic equipment. We developed an image search device that can respond to operator requests and perform flexible image search operations by prioritizing incidental information on medical images (date of imaging, site of imaging, imaging modality, etc.). It is intended for the purpose of providing.

[Summary of the invention]

The outline of the present invention for achieving the above object is as follows:
An image retrieval device for original image storage devices that store various medical images such as X-ray diagnostic equipment, X-ray CT, NMR-CT, ultrasound diagnostic equipment, nuclear medicine diagnostic equipment, etc., and stores supplementary information of various medical images. an auxiliary information storage circuit; a search hierarchical structure input means for setting a search hierarchical structure; and a search hierarchical structure determination circuit that determines a search hierarchical structure based on a signal from the search hierarchical structure input means; A search position selection means for selecting a search position on a search hierarchical structure, a search position determining means for determining a search position based on the selection result, and a search apparatus for creating an image showing the search hierarchical structure at the search position. A hierarchical structure image creation circuit, a search display image selection means for changing and displaying images belonging to the same search position, a display image determining circuit for determining a display image based on the selection result, and an additional information image of the display image. The present invention is characterized by comprising a supplementary information image creation circuit for creating an incidental information image, and a display device for each of the hierarchical structure image and the incidental information image.

[Embodiments of the invention]

The principle of the present invention and embodiments for realizing the principle will be described in detail below.

3 to 5 illustrate the principle of the present invention, and for convenience of explanation, a case where a plurality of images of one patient are handled will be described here.

For example, when dealing with images represented by the nine image numbers 1 to 9 shown in Figure 3, the accompanying information includes the date of shooting,
There are three types of imaging: parts to be imaged and imaging modalities.
In addition, the part codes for the head and chest are 10 and 20, respectively.
Modality codes for X-ray CT and NMR-CT, respectively.
10, 20.

If you want to search and compare images of various modalities by body part and in order of date of photography, please use 9 above.
It is considered appropriate that these images are managed under a hierarchical structure as shown in FIG.

In the figure, D1 to D9 are called directories and are information that determines the hierarchical structure. Also, ○
The numbers 1 to 9 in the figure indicate image numbers.

Level values are given to the three levels of hierarchy shown in the figure, and these are set as 0, 1, and 2 in order from the top. In this example, the incidental information at level 0 is patient name (same person),
Level 1 indicates the area to be imaged, and Level 2 indicates the date of image capture.

The means for classifying and managing the above-mentioned nine images first by the photographed region and then by the date of photographing is called a search hierarchical structure.

Further, in FIG. 4, an arbitrary directory D2 and images belonging thereto are collectively referred to as nodes.

It is assumed that the relationship between each node in the search hierarchical structure is defined as shown in FIG. In other words, the parent node for a certain node Let it be the located node.

Also, under similar conditions, the younger brother node is the node located on the right side of the X node, and the child node is the node located on the leftmost side among the nodes that are one level higher in relation in the search hierarchical structure.

In this way, by creating a search hierarchical structure according to the operator's requests and performing operations such as moving on this search hierarchical structure, it is possible to perform operations faster than in the case of the conventional hierarchical structure shown in Figure 2. Image searches can be performed.

Next, a configuration example of an image retrieval device for realizing the principle of the present invention described above will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

In FIG. 6, 61 is an additional information image display device (for example, a kanji graphic display);
Additional information about images to be displayed, directory information, etc. are displayed.

Reference numeral 62 denotes a search hierarchical structure input means for determining supplementary information of the search hierarchical structure, and can be constituted by, for example, a keyboard.

When handling an image having supplementary information as shown in FIG. 3, an item image 71 as shown in FIG. 7a showing each supplementary information item and its item number is displayed on the supplementary information image display device 61. It is becoming more and more like this. In this item image 71, item number 1 is the date of photographing, item number 2 is the photographed part, and item number 3 is
is the shooting modality.

If the operator wants to classify the nine images shown in FIG. 3 by body part first and then by date of photographing, the operator inputs item number 2 from the search hierarchical structure input means 62, and then Just enter item number 1 in .

In this way, different search hierarchical structures can be created by changing the input order of item numbers 1, 2, and 3 as necessary.

Reference numeral 63 denotes a search position selection means, which can be constructed of, for example, a touch pad panel.

An operation area 64 is provided on the search position selection means 63. The UP area of the operation area 64 contains additional information of the parent node, the BEFORE area contains additional information of the older brother node, the NEXT area contains additional information of the younger brother node, and the DOWN area contains additional information of the child node or the child node. If the image is an original image rather than a directory, its image number is displayed.

For example, when the operator is searching the directory D5 shown in FIG. 4, information indicating the photographing date as shown in FIG. 7b is displayed on the supplementary information image display device 61.

The image representing the information shown in FIG. 7b is called a hierarchical structure image 72.

The operator changes the search position by applying pressure with a finger or the like to the operation area 64 of the search position selection means 63 corresponding to the search position to which the operator wants to move in accordance with the display of the hierarchical structure image 72.

Note that the END area is used when changing the search hierarchical structure shown in FIG. 4.

65 is an original image display device that displays the searched image. The original image display device 65 is provided with search display image selection means (for example, a touch panel) 66 having an operation area 67 .

If pressure is applied to the BEFOR area of the operation area 67, the image of the older brother node is displayed on the original image display device 65, and if pressure is applied to the NEXT area, the image of the younger node is displayed on the original image display device 65.

Furthermore, when pressure is applied to the UP area, the search position moves to the parent node, and the search position can be changed again via the search position selection means 63.

For example, the hierarchical structure image 72 is displayed on the incidental information display device 6.
If pressure is applied to the DOWN area while the image is being displayed on the operation area 64 of No. 1, the image with image number 4 will be displayed on the original image display device 65. At this time, all the supplementary information of image number 4 as shown in FIG. 7c is displayed on the supplementary information image display device 61.

An image including such additional information is referred to as an additional information image 73.

Next, when the UP area of the operation area 68 is input, the display content of the additional information image display device 61 is displayed in the item image 7.
Return to 1.

The operator's operating procedure described above is shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, the operator's operation procedure for the image search position described above can be roughly divided into the following three steps.

Step 1: Input the supplementary information of each hierarchical level from the inspection hierarchical structure input means 62 to set the inspection hierarchical structure.

Step 2: Operate the search position selection means 63 to select a search position.

Step 3: Operate the search display image selection means 66 to select an image to be displayed.

Next, an example of the circuit configuration of the image search device and its operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

In FIG. 9, 91 is an additional information storage circuit, and this additional information storage circuit 91 stores the additional information data 111 of the nine images described above in a tabular structure as shown in FIG. 11a. There is. Furthermore, Figure 11a
In the figure, a to i indicate addresses within the original image storage circuit of the original image storage device. Reference numeral 92 denotes a search hierarchical structure input means, and the search hierarchical structure input means 62
corresponds to Input signal B sent from this search hierarchical structure input means 92 and additional information storage circuit 9
Both input signals A sent from 1 are input to the search hierarchical structure determination circuit 101 of the search operation support means 93, where the order of the supplementary information data 111 is changed.

In the example described above, level 1 of the search hierarchical structure is set as the imaging site, and level 2 is set as the imaging date.

In this case, the imaged region code is used as the first sort key, the imaged date is used as the second sort key, and the value of the first sort key is followed by the value of the second sort key.For example, a comparison of the magnitude of a total of 6 digits is performed using a hierarchical structure for searching. The determining circuit 101 changes the order of the supplementary information data 111 so that it is in ascending order.

The content after the change becomes supplementary information data 112 as shown in FIG. 11b, which is rearranged and stored in the supplementary information storage circuit 102.

Next, the search hierarchical structure determination circuit 101 checks the contents of the rearrangement supplementary information storage circuit 102 again and determines the directory information.

For example, the directory information data 113 for the supplementary information data 112 is as shown in FIG. 12, and is stored in the directory information storage circuit 103.

In FIG. 10, reference numeral 104 is a search position storage register, which stores the directory in which the operator is currently located. The initial value of this directory is D1. When the image search device operates up to this stage, the search hierarchical structure determining circuit 101 no longer accepts the input signal B.

Reference numeral 105 denotes a hierarchical structure image creation circuit, which is located in the UP area, DOWN area, BEFORE area, and NEXT area with respect to the directory indicated by the contents of the search position storage register 104 based on the signal D from the search position selection means 95. Directory information is obtained from the contents of the directory information storage circuit 103, a predetermined hierarchical structure image for search is created, and the result is sent as a signal C to the hierarchical structure image display device 94.

When the signal D corresponding to the operation area is input from the search position selection means 95 to the hierarchical structure image creation circuit 105, the contents of the directory information storage circuit 103 are operated according to the contents of this signal D, and a new search position is determined. This is stored in the search position storage register 104, a hierarchical structure image at the changed search position is created, and this is sent as a signal C to the hierarchical structure image display device 94. In this way, the search position storage register 104 and the directory information storage circuit 103 constitute a search position determining means.

If the content of the signal D corresponds to the operation of the DOWN area and the child node of the current node is not a directory but an original image, the image number is stored in the display image storage register 106.

Thereafter, the hierarchical structure image creation circuit 105 no longer accepts the signal D.

If the content of the signal D corresponds to the operation of the END area, a reset signal R1 is output from the hierarchical structure image creation circuit 105 to the search hierarchical structure determining circuit 101, and the rearrangement is performed based on this reset signal R1. Information storage circuit 102, directory information storage circuit 103, and search position storage register 1
The contents of 04 are reset, and the search hierarchical structure determination circuit 101 is in a state of accepting signal B again.

In FIG. 10, 107 is a display image determining circuit, which determines the address of the original image data corresponding to the image number stored in the display image storage register 106 by rearranging the address and scanning the contents of the additional information storage circuit 102. , send this address to signal G
It is sent to the original image storage device 98 as an original image storage device 98.

Based on the signal G, the original image storage device 98 sends the digitized gradation status information H of the original image to the original image display device 99. The digitized gradation information H is D/A converted in the original image display device 99 and displayed in gradation on the screen.

Reference numeral 108 denotes an additional information image creation circuit, which rearranges the additional information corresponding to the image number stored in the display image storage register 106, scans and obtains the contents of the additional information storage circuit 102, and uses this as a signal E to display the additional information image. Send to device 96.

When the signal F corresponding to each operation area is input from the search display image selection means 97 to the display image determination circuit 107, the display image determination circuit 107 receives the signal F.
and according to the image number of the current display image storage register 106, scan the contents of the directory information storage circuit 103 to obtain the number of a new display image,
This is stored in the display image storage register 106.

As described below, the display image determination circuit 107,
Original image storage device 98, additional information image creation circuit 10
8 operates, and the new image and its additional information are displayed by the original image display device 99 and the additional information image display device 96, respectively.

If the content of signal F corresponds to the operation of the UP area, a reset signal R2 is sent from the display image determining circuit 107 to the hierarchical structure determining circuit 105, and the display image storage register 106 is reset based on this reset signal R2. The contents will be reset, and
The hierarchical structure image creation circuit 105 creates a hierarchical structure image corresponding to the contents of the search position storage register 104, outputs this as a signal C, and receives the signal D again.

FIG. 13 shows another example of the hierarchical structure for searching images represented by the nine image numbers shown in FIG. In this case, each imaging modality is set to level 1, each imaging region is set to level 2, and the information is created when the incidental information is input in the order of item numbers 3 and 2 using the search hierarchical structure input means 62 shown in FIG. It is something that

Such a search hierarchical structure is suitable when it is desired to search and compare images in the order of each imaging modality, each imaging site, and each imaging date.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist.

For example, although the explanation has been made using only various medical gray scale images as search targets, document images such as electrocardiograms, medical records, and various clinical chemistry tests can also be binarized and input into the original image storage device from a facsimile machine, etc., and then searched. It can also be targeted.

In addition, although we have explained that only one image is displayed on the image display device, all images belonging to a certain hierarchy can be displayed in multi-format format on the image display device, and you can search and display images or display them on the touch panel. You can also display only that image by directly instructing it.

Furthermore, a light pen, joystick, etc. can be used instead of the touch panel.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention detailed above, an X-ray diagnostic apparatus,
A search hierarchical structure that can be changed at any time can be formed for image storage devices that store various medical images such as X-ray CT, NMR-CT, ultrasound diagnostic equipment, and medical diagnostic equipment. Therefore, it is possible to provide an image search device that can perform a flexible image search corresponding to the operator's requests.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional image retrieval method, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a hierarchical structure in another example of the conventional image retrieval method, and Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing nine image numbers to be searched and their ancillary information. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the hierarchical structure for searching in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between each node in the hierarchical structure for searching. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between nodes in the hierarchical structure for searching. 7a is an explanatory diagram showing an item image, FIG. 7b is an explanatory diagram showing a hierarchical structure image, and FIG. 7c is an explanatory diagram showing ancillary information image. , FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operator's procedure, FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a specific circuit configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 10 is a specific circuit configuration of the search operation support means shown in FIG. 9. A block diagram showing an example; FIG. 11a is an explanatory diagram showing tabular supplementary information data; FIG. 11b is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the order of table-format supplementary information data has been changed;
The figure is an explanatory diagram showing directory information data.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the hierarchical structure for search. 61,96...Additional information image display device, 62,9
2... Hierarchical structure input means for search, 63, 95... Search position selection means, 65, 99... Original image display device, 6
6, 97...Search display image selection means, 91...Additional information storage circuit, 93...Search operation support means, 94...Hierarchical structure image display device, 96...Additional information image display device, 98...Original image storage device, 101...Search hierarchical structure determination circuit, 105...hierarchical structure image creation circuit,
107...Display image determination circuit, 108...Additional information image creation circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image retrieval device for an original image storage device that stores various medical images such as an X-ray diagnostic device, an X-ray CT, an NMR-CT, an ultrasound diagnostic device, a nuclear medicine diagnostic device, etc., which stores supplementary information of various medical images. An additional information storage circuit, a search hierarchical structure input means for setting a search hierarchical structure, and a search that forms parent-child nodes in association with additional information input by an operator based on a signal from the search hierarchical structure input means. a search hierarchical structure determining circuit for determining a search hierarchical structure; a search position selection means for selecting a search position on the search hierarchical structure by an operator inputting additional information; and a search position determining circuit based on the selection result. a search position determining means for determining a search position, a search hierarchical structure image creation circuit for creating an image showing a search hierarchical structure at the search position, a search display image selection means for changing and displaying images belonging to the same search position; A display image determining circuit that determines a display image based on a selection result, an additional information image creation circuit that creates an additional information image of the display image, and each display device for the hierarchical structure image and the additional information image, and a comparison image. An image search device characterized by being capable of performing search operations.