JPH07122897B2 - Image communication system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Object of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an image signal system that enables data communication between a database and a workstation.

(Prior Art) An image communication system is configured by connecting an image filing device 1 and a workstation 2 via a communication line, as shown in FIG. 15, for example. A database of grayscale images is formed by the image file device 1, and the workstation 2
Can obtain desired image data from this database as needed. At the workstation 2, image interpretation diagnosis of an image is performed by displaying an image based on the captured image data.

By the way, in the workstation 2, an original image, for example, a slice image formed by an X-ray CT apparatus is not displayed as it is, but a three-dimensional image (hereinafter , "3D image") may be created and displayed.

The area designation necessary for creating the 3D image is left to the operator's discretion at the workstation 2, but the area designation method and the transfer data format are different depending on whether the area designation is easy or difficult.

For example, when creating a 3D image of a bone part, it is sufficient to extract a region having a CT value of 1000 or more, so that the region can be easily designated by the CT value. In this case, as shown in FIG. 16, the image filing apparatus 1 creates a plurality of binary images from a series of slice images by a binarization process with a CT value of 1000 as a threshold in response to a request from the workstation 2. Then transfer it to workstation 2. Workstation 2
Performs a projection process on a desired visual plane using the transferred binary image group to create a 3D image.

Also, in the case of the liver, etc., it is not possible to easily specify the area by CT value. In this case, as shown in FIG. 17, all of the series of slice images are displayed as grayscale images from the image file device 1 to the workstation. 2), and in this workstation 2, specify the region by setting the region of interest (ROI) for each slice image, and set 3 in this region.
D image creation processing will be performed.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) When the area cannot be easily specified like the liver, the method of transferring the binary image from the image filing apparatus 1 to the workstation 2 as shown in FIG. 16 cannot be adopted. However, since there is no choice but to adopt the method of transferring a series of slice images in the state of grayscale images as shown in FIG. 17, there is a drawback that the amount of data communication increases and the communication time and communication cost increase.

Therefore, the present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks, and an object thereof is to reduce the data communication amount from the image filing device to the workstation when creating a 3D image of a region where the area cannot be easily specified. An object is to provide an improved image communication system.

[Configuration of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, in the image communication system according to the present invention, the image communication system is arranged on the workstation side and is extracted from a series of grayscale images in the image filing device. 2 of a series of grayscale images in the image file device based on the sample image
A first means for setting the binarization processing condition and a second means arranged on the image file device side and set by the first means.
Second means for binarizing a series of grayscale images in the image filing apparatus according to the binarization processing conditions, and third means for sending the binary image data created by the binarization processing to the workstation. It has and.

(Operation) When the binarization processing condition is set by the first means based on the sample images extracted from the series of grayscale images in the image filing device, the binarization processing condition is set in accordance with the set binarization processing condition. The binarization process of a series of grayscale images in the image filing apparatus is executed by the second means, and the binarized image created by the process is transferred to the workstation by the third means.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a series of slice images can be transferred from an image filing device to a workstation in a binary image state even in the case of creating a 3D image of a liver or the like, as shown in FIG. In comparison with transferring a series of slice images in the form of grayscale images, the amount of data communication is greatly reduced.

(Examples) Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to Examples.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an image communication system according to the present invention.

The image filing device 4 and the workstation 5 are connected by a communication circuit 6.

The image file device 4 has an image storage unit 4a, a first arithmetic processing unit 4b, a second arithmetic processing unit 4c, a control unit 4d, and a first interface (I / F) 4e. The storage unit 4a stores a plurality of slice images (grayscale images), and the first arithmetic processing unit 4b performs a matching process between the sample image and the trace information. Here, the sample image is one extracted from a series of slice images in the image storage unit 4a. The trace information is curve information input by tracing a desired portion of the sample image, and this trace information is an example of the binarization processing condition in the present invention.
The second arithmetic processing unit 4c executes a series of binarization processing of slice images using the matching processing result of the first arithmetic processing unit 4b as a template. The second arithmetic processing unit 4c is an example of the second means of the present invention. The binary image created by the binarization process is sent to the communication line 6 via the first interface 4e. The first interface 4e is an example of the third means of the present invention. The control unit 4b controls the operation of the entire image file device 4.

The workstation 5 includes a second interface (I / F) 5a, a third arithmetic processing unit 5b, an input unit 5c, a memory 5d, and a CRT.
It has a display 5e. The sample image captured via the communication line 6 is transferred to the CRT via the third arithmetic processing unit 5b.
It is displayed on the display 5e, and the desired portion on this display image is traced by the input unit 5c. The input unit 5c includes a trackball or the like. The input unit 5c is an example of the first means of the present invention. The trace information is sent to the communication line 6 via the second interface 5a. The third arithmetic processing unit 5b has a function of creating a 3D image using the binary image transferred from the image filing device 4. The created 3D image is displayed on the CRT display 5e and is used for diagnostic interpretation.

Next, the operation of the embodiment apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, when a request for transferring a sample image is made from the workstation 5 to the image file device 4 (S1), for example, the 10th image from the series of slice images in the image storage unit 4a under the control of the control unit 4d. An image is extracted every time, and this is transferred to the workstation 5 as a sample image.
(S2). A series of slice images used for 3D image creation
Assuming 100 images, there will be 10 sample images.

The sample images transferred to the workstation 5 are stored in the memory 5d and are sequentially displayed on the CRT display 5e. While watching the displayed sample image, the operator traces a desired site on the sample image, such as the liver, via the input unit (trackball or the like) 5c (S3). This tracing can be performed by moving the base point superimposed and displayed on the sample image with a trackball or the like. This tracing is performed on all the sample images (10 in this case) previously transferred from the image file device 4. Then, this trace information is transferred to the image filing device 4 via the second interface 5a (S
Four).

In the image file device 4, when the trace information is taken in, the first arithmetic processing unit 4b performs a matching process between the sample image and the trace information (S5). This process is performed as follows.

As shown in FIG. 3, the area to be extracted in the n + m (where 0 ≦ m ≦ 10) slice image is close to the traces of the n-th slice image and the n + 10th slice image to which the trace is given. Should be. That is, there should be a boundary between a region to be extracted and a region not to be extracted in the shaded region in FIG. 4 which is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG.
Now, consider a profile on a line that vertically crosses the trace curves given by the nth slice image and the n + 10th slice image on the slice image. For example, in FIGS. 6 and 7 in which the rectangular areas 7 and 8 on the n-th image in FIG. 5 are enlarged, the profile on the line perpendicular to the trace curve is as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. It is believed that Next, as shown in FIG. 10, two trace curves T _n and T _{n + 10}
A curve M passing through the middle of is defined. A line (P _M ) intersecting perpendicularly to the curve M for many points P _M on the curve M.
, The intersection of (P _M ) and T _n is K, and (P _M ) and T
_Let L be the intersection with _{n + 10} . Then, the profile on the line (P _M ) of the nth slice image is PR _n, and n +
_Let the profile on the line (P _M ) of the mth slice image be PR _{n + m,} and the line of the n + 10th slice image (P _M )
Let us assume that the profile above is PR _{n + 10} and that each profile is as shown in Fig. 11 (however,
The origins on the horizontal axis in Fig. 11 are K, M, and L, respectively).

Correlation function r (n, n + m; x) between profile PR _n and PR _{n + m}
Is (See Fig. 12), and profile PR _{n + 10}
And the correlation function r (n + 10, n + m; x) between PR _{n + m} is (See Fig. 13). Here, the peak position with the higher peak value is adopted. In FIGS. 12 and 13, the peak value at the peak position a is higher than the peak value at the peak position b, so the peak position a is adopted in this case. From this, it is estimated that there is a region boundary in P _{Ma where} it deviates by a from P _M. In this way, multiple points P _Ma are determined, and they are connected to form the boundary of the region (see Fig. 14).

When the area boundary is obtained by the above-mentioned matching processing, the binarization processing of the slice image is executed in the second arithmetic processing unit 4c based on this. That is, the value of each pixel is determined to be 1 or 0 depending on whether or not it falls within the obtained area boundary. The binary image created by this processing is transferred to the workstation 5 via the first interface 4a (S7). At the workstation 5, a 3D image is created using the transferred binary image (S8), and the created 3D image is displayed on the CRT display 5e.

As described above, in the system of this embodiment, binary image transfer from the image filing device 4 to the workstation 5 is performed, except for the transfer of the sample image, even when the 3D image of the region where the area cannot be easily specified is created. Since it can be performed, the amount of data communication can be significantly reduced as compared with the case where a series of slice images are transferred in the state of grayscale images, and the communication time and communication cost can be reduced.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the trace information is transferred from the workstation 5 to the image filing device 4, but the workstation 5 uses the sample image based on
The CT value of the 3D image creation target portion may be confirmed for each sample image, and the CT value may be transferred to the image file device 4 as a binarization processing condition (threshold value in this case). For example, if the threshold value for the nth slice image (sample image) and the threshold value for the n + 10th slice image (sample image) are determined in the workstation 5, then n + m (where ≦ m ≤1
0) It is possible to easily estimate the threshold value for the slice image.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the first means is realized by the input unit 5c has been described, but the first means may be realized by AI (artificial intelligence).

Furthermore, although the number of workstations is one in the above-described embodiment, the present invention can be applied to a system in which a plurality of workstations are connected via a communication line centering on an image file device.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, according to the present invention, since all the images can be binarized by sending a small number of images to the workstation, a 3D image of a region where the area cannot be easily specified is displayed. It is possible to provide an image communication system in which the amount of data communication from the image file device to the workstation is reduced when the image communication system is created.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image communication system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the apparatus of this embodiment, and FIGS. 3 to 14 are of the apparatus of this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a trace curve explanatory view, FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a view showing a slice image, FIG. 6 and FIG. Is an enlarged view of the rectangular area in FIG. 5, FIGS. 8 and 9 are FIGS. 6 and 7.
Fig. 10 is a characteristic diagram showing a profile on a line in the figure, Fig. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a relationship between two trace curves, Fig. 11 is a characteristic diagram showing a profile on a line in each slice image, and Figs. 12 and 13 are correlations of profiles. FIG. 14 is a characteristic diagram for explaining functions, FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of area boundaries, FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a conventional system, and FIGS. 16 and 17 are data transfer explanatory diagrams in the conventional system. 4 ... Image file device, 4c ... Second arithmetic processing section (second means), 4e ... First interface (third means), 5 ... Workstation, 5c ... Input section (first section) 1 means), 6 ... communication line.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image filing device for filing a grayscale image, and a workstation connected to the image filing device via a communication line, enabling data communication between the image filing device and the workstation. In the image communication system, the binarization processing condition of the series of grayscale images in the image file device is set based on the sample image that is arranged on the workstation side and extracted from the series of grayscale images in the image file device. The first means,
Second means arranged on the side of the image file device for performing a binarization process of a series of grayscale images in the image file device according to the binarization condition set by the first means;
An image communication system comprising: a third means for transmitting the binary image data created by the binarization process to the workstation.