JP2007089645A - Medical image output system and medical image output method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a medical image output system and a medical image output method by which the waste of toner or ink is controlled as much as possible when the medical image is formed in a recording medium such as paper or the like in toner or the ink. <P>SOLUTION: The medical image output method is to generate the medical image of a subject, to apply gradation processing to the generated medical image, to display the medical image after the gradation processing and to output the displayed medical image on the recording medium by a printer, and includes the step S11 of specifying and setting a prescribed region in the displayed image, the step S14 of extracting a contour of the subject outside the specified region, the step S15 of superposing the image in the specified region and the extracted contour, and the step S17 of outputting the superposed image on the recording medium by the printer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a medical image output system and a medical image output method for generating, displaying, and outputting a medical image of a subject on a recording medium.

  Conventionally, when a patient suffering from a clinic or private hospital needs to undergo surgery or when a situation requiring precise examination occurs, the patient can be referred to a well-equipped general hospital, etc. Widely done. A patient usually visits a referral hospital with a referral letter created at a clinic or the like in order to receive medical treatment such as surgery or a close examination (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below). In this case, a diagnostic film for diagnosis of the patient may be attached to the referral letter. However, the diagnostic film is expensive and may be unfavorable due to its relatively large size. .

  Therefore, it is conceivable to output a medical image to a recording medium such as paper and attach the recording medium for reference. For example, in the following Patent Document 2, an X-ray image is formed on paper or a transmissive film by an ink jet printer, and the density outside the subject area is made variable so that ink can be used according to the interpretation mode (paper or transmissive film). It saves and controls wasteful consumption of ink. For example, in a normal diagnostic film as shown in FIG. 6A, the ink is saved by reducing the density or preventing ink from being ejected as shown in FIG. 6B outside the effective area where the density is black. is doing.

  The reference print used for the above-mentioned introduction letter can be obtained by output from a low-cost electrophotographic laser printer. In this case as well, the density of the diagnostic film is black as in FIG. 6B. It is possible to suppress toner consumption by preventing output outside the effective area.

However, when an image used for diagnosis as described above is attached to a letter of introduction or the like, the entire image is not referred to and is often a part of it, and waste of toner and ink still occurs.
JP 2003-345900 A JP 2005-6885 A

  In view of the above-described problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a medical image output system and a medical image capable of suppressing waste of toner and ink as much as possible when a medical image is formed on a recording medium such as paper with toner or ink. An object is to provide an output method.

  In order to achieve the above object, a medical image output system according to the present invention includes an image generation device that generates a medical image of a subject, a gradation processing unit that performs gradation processing on the generated medical image, and the gradation A medical image output system comprising: a display unit that displays a processed medical image; and a printer that outputs the medical image displayed on the display unit onto a recording medium, wherein the image displayed on the display unit An area setting means for designating a predetermined area, an outline extraction means for extracting an outline of the subject outside the designated area, an image in the designated area, and an outline extracted by the outline extraction means Superimposing means for superimposing, and outputting the image superimposed by the superimposing means onto a recording medium by the printer.

  According to this medical image output system, a predetermined region can be specified and set as a region of interest in a display image, the contour of a subject is extracted from an image outside the region of interest, and the image in the region of interest and the contour are superimposed. By forming the image on the recording medium, only the region of interest that is a part of the display image and the outline of the surrounding line drawing can be output, and image formation outside the region of interest can be omitted. It is possible to minimize the waste of toner and ink of the printer used for forming, and the relative position of the region of interest in the entire image can be easily understood by displaying the outline, so even if only the image in the region of interest is output There is no hindrance to observation.

  The medical image output system includes means for changing the gradation of the image range designated by the area setting means so that the gradation within the designated image range (region of interest) is suitable for the output image from the printer. Can change.

  Further, it is preferable that the printer is an area gradation method using ink or toner as a consumable.

  The medical image output method according to the present invention generates a medical image of a subject, performs gradation processing on the generated medical image, displays the medical image subjected to the gradation processing, and displays the displayed medical image on a printer. A medical image output method for outputting on a recording medium at a step of specifying and setting a predetermined region in the displayed image, extracting a contour of the subject outside the specified region, The method includes a step of superimposing the image in the designated area and the extracted contour, and a step of outputting the superimposed image onto a recording medium by a printer.

  According to this medical image output method, a predetermined region can be specified and set as a region of interest in a display image, the contour of the subject is extracted from an image outside the region of interest, and the image in the region of interest and the contour are superimposed. By forming the image on the recording medium, only the region of interest that is a part of the display image and the outline of the surrounding line drawing can be output, and image formation outside the region of interest can be omitted. It is possible to minimize the waste of toner and ink of the printer used for forming, and the relative position of the region of interest in the entire image can be easily understood by displaying the outline, so even if only the image in the region of interest is output There is no hindrance to observation.

  By changing the gradation of the image range specified in the specifying step in the medical image output method, the gradation in the specified image range (region of interest) can be changed to suit the output image from the printer.

  Further, it is preferable that the printer is an area gradation method using ink or toner as a consumable.

  Note that the extraction of the contour of the subject outside the specified region described above is performed, for example, by automatically recognizing the subject and displaying only the boundary region with the background portion as a line drawing (schema), or a plurality of schema diagrams corresponding to the region in advance. This can be done by preparing and automatically selecting a schema diagram based on the part information of the accompanying information. Further, the part information may be input by the operator looking at the display image.

  According to the medical image output system and the medical image output method of the present invention, when a medical image is formed on a recording medium such as paper with toner or ink, only a partial region of interest of the display image and its surrounding contour can be output. Therefore, waste of toner and ink can be suppressed as much as possible, and the position of the region of interest in the entire image can be easily recognized by the outline, and observation is not hindered.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a medical image output system according to the present embodiment.

  The medical image output system according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 radiates a subject with an ultrasonic device (US) 1 that generates a medical image inside the subject using ultrasound and a stimulable phosphor plate housed in a cassette. A cassette CR reading device 2 that shoots and generates a medical image inside the subject, and an image processing that displays a gradation-processed medical image by performing image processing such as gradation processing on the medical images generated by the devices 1 and 2 A display device 3; an image server 4 that stores and manages medical images generated by the devices 1 and 2 together with their supplementary information; a laser printer 5 that forms and outputs medical images on recording paper by an electrophotographic method; And a laser imager 6 for forming a medical image on the film and outputting it as a diagnostic film.

  The connection means 9 between the devices 1 to 6 in FIG. 1 is not particularly limited, and may be connected by a dedicated line or may be connected by a network.

  Next, a control system of the image processing display device 3 in FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of the image processing display device 3 of FIG.

  The image processing display device 3 can be composed of a personal computer (PC) including a computer main body, an input device such as a mouse and a keyboard, and a display device. As shown in FIG. 2, the image processing display device 3 receives the medical images transmitted from the US and CR medical image generation devices 1 and 2, temporarily stores and stores them, and displays the medical images. The display unit 12 including a liquid crystal panel, a CRT, and the like, a gradation processing unit 13 that performs gradation processing on a medical image displayed on the display unit 12, and a pointing device such as a mouse and a keyboard perform necessary operations. And an input unit 14 for selecting and inputting various information.

  2 further includes a region setting unit 15 that sets a predetermined region designated as a region of interest by the input unit 14 in the medical image displayed on the display unit 12, and a medical image outside the region of interest. The contour extracting unit 16 that extracts the contour of the image as a line drawing, the image superimposing unit 17 that superimposes the image in the region of interest and the extracted contour, and the contour corresponding to each part of the subject are prepared in advance as a line drawing (schematic diagram). A plurality of schema storage units 18, an output unit 19 that outputs the image data superimposed by the image superimposing unit 17 to the laser printer 5, and annotations (annotations) such as arrows, letters, numbers, and the like inside and outside the region of interest after printing And a control unit 10 including a central processing unit (CPU) that controls the entire apparatus including the units 11 to 20.

  The contour extraction unit 16 in FIG. 2 automatically recognizes the subject region, and performs contour extraction by displaying only the boundary region with the background portion as a line drawing (schema). The contour extracting unit 16 can also perform contour extraction by automatically selecting and displaying a schema diagram stored in the schema storage unit 18 based on the part information included in the accompanying information. In this case, the part information may be input by the operator looking at the image displayed on the display unit 12.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram (a) for explaining functions at the time of screen display by the gradation processing unit 13 in FIG. 2 and a diagram (b) for explaining functions in print output. The gradation processing unit 13 can vary the gradation processing for the medical image displayed on the display unit 12. For example, image data having a relationship between an input signal and an output signal, such as a one-dot chain line in FIG. When the screen is displayed on the display unit 12, the gradation processing can be changed so that the output signal is considerably larger than the input signal and the contrast is maximized as indicated by the solid line in FIG. In addition, the gradation processing unit 13 displays the gradation display most suitable for laser printing when the laser printer 5 outputs image data having a relationship between the input signal and the finished density as indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. The gradation processing can be changed so that the finished density is slightly larger than the input signal as indicated by the solid line in FIG.

  The image processing display device 3 in FIGS. 1 and 2 performs gradation processing on the medical images generated by the devices 1 and 2 and displays them on the display unit 12 as shown in FIG. Are stored in the image server 4 together with the accompanying information.

  Next, the operation of the medical image output system of FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the medical image output system of FIGS. FIG. 4 is a diagram (a) schematically showing an image in which the region of interest displayed on the image processing display device 3 in FIGS. 1 and 2 and an outline by a line drawing are superimposed, and a superimposed image output to a recording sheet by a printer. FIG.

  First, radiography is performed with a cassette containing a photostimulable phosphor plate, for example, in the lung field, which is a diagnostic part of the subject (patient) (S01), and a medical image of the lung field of the subject is generated by the cassette CR reader 2. (S02) This medical image is displayed on the display unit 12 of the image processing display device 3 of FIG. 2 (S03), and gradation processing is performed by the gradation processing unit 13 as shown in FIG. 5A (S04). The medical image subjected to gradation processing is exposed and output to a photosensitive film by the laser imager 6 of FIG. 1 (S05), and the diagnostic film is used for diagnosis by a doctor (S06). Further, the medical image data subjected to the gradation processing is stored in the image server 4 together with the accompanying information (S07).

  Next, when outputting a medical image on a recording sheet for attaching a referral letter to a general hospital or the like, the image processing display device 3 reads the medical image data from the image server 4 together with the auxiliary information (S08), and FIG. As shown in (a), the read-out rectangular medical image I is displayed on the screen 12a of the display unit 12 (S09).

  Next, the image data read out from the image server 4 has been subjected to gradation processing as shown in FIG. 5A. Therefore, in order to match the gradation of the image with the laser printer 5, as shown in FIG. Gradation conversion processing is performed on the entire image (S10), and the most interesting image (left lung field in the example of FIG. 4A) that requires diagnosis, treatment, etc. is necessary for the medical image I displayed on the display unit 12. The region of interest I1 to be included is designated and set (S11). As shown in FIG. 4A, the region of interest I1 can be set by, for example, specifying the upper left corner c1 and the lower right corner c2 with the mouse of the input unit 14 or the like. Also, with respect to the region of interest I1 in FIG. 4A, the annotation adding unit 20 designates an annotation such as an arrow to be added to the region of interest after printing.

  Next, the gradation conversion process is performed again so that the image in the set region of interest I1 expresses the maximum contrast in the printer 5, and the image after the gradation process is displayed (S12). Then, gradation conversion processing is performed until the gradation becomes OK (S13). If the gradation is satisfactory, the outline of the medical image outside the region of interest I1 is extracted as a line drawing I2 (S14). The outline extraction unit 16 in FIG. 2 automatically recognizes a medical image (subject region) I, for example, and creates a line drawing only in the boundary region with the background portion, as shown in FIG. The right lung field and neck / shoulder lines are displayed in line drawing I2.

  Next, the image in the region of interest I1 and the line drawing (schema) I2 representing the contour are superimposed (S15). On the other hand, when an annotation such as an arrow is added in step S11, the data is processed so that it can be reproduced by printing (S16), and the patient ID is printed in the area outside the subject as shown in FIG. The patient ID area I3 is designated with a mouse or the like in the same manner as in step S11 (S17).

  Next, the above-described superimposed image data is displayed on the screen of the event unit 12, and is output via a general printer driver that is preinstalled in the image processing display device 3, for example, operating on a Windows OS. As shown in FIG. 4B, the superimposed image is formed on the recording paper S by the laser printer 5 of FIG. 1 and output (S18). Note that the magnification is automatically determined by the printer driver described above by designating the paper size at the time of output, as in the case of general output on a PC screen.

  Due to the above-described print output, on the recording sheet S in FIG. 4B, the print region of interest P1 corresponding to the region of interest I1 displayed on the screen 12a of the display unit 12, and the print line drawing corresponding to the line drawing (schema) I2. (Schema) P2 is formed to be reduced according to the size of the recording paper S.

  In addition, a printed patient ID portion P3 corresponding to the patient ID region I3 is formed in the blank portion P3 of the recording paper S in FIG. 4B, and the patient ID is stored in the patient ID portion P3 based on the incidental information of the image data. Printed automatically. In addition, the patient ID area | region I3 like Fig.4 (a) may detect the area | region outside a to-be-photographed automatically by the control part 10, and may enable it to display a patient ID automatically.

  In addition, when the medical image output system of FIG. 1 supports DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine), which is a standard for medical digital images and communication, the image portion of the medical image I and the incidental information portion are treated separately. When a new window is opened on the display unit 12 of the image processing display device 3 and the ratio between the patient ID area I3 and the entire medical image I is changed, the patient ID is output from the laser printer 5 in, for example, A4 size. The patient ID portion P3 can be printed large so that it can be easily read, and the patient ID can be displayed on the recording paper S in an easy-to-read manner.

  When, for example, an annotation with an arrow is designated by the annotation adding unit 20 in FIG. 2, an arrow R indicating the print region of interest P1 is formed on the recording paper S as shown in FIG. Easy to understand. Note that the frame line surrounding the print region of interest P1 may be a broken line or a thick line.

  As described above, according to the medical image output system of FIG. 1, a predetermined region can be set as the region of interest I1 in the image I displayed on the display unit 12, and the contour of the subject is drawn as a line drawing for an image outside the region of interest. I2 is extracted, and the image in which the image in the region of interest I1 and the contour are superimposed is printed on the recording paper S, so that only the contour of the region of interest I1 that is part of the display image I and the surrounding line drawing I2 is obtained. Since output and image formation outside the region of interest can be omitted, wasteful consumption of toner of the laser printer 5 used to form a medical image on the recording paper S can be suppressed.

  Further, when the gradation processing of the image in the region of interest I1 displayed on the display unit 12 is changed and the image displayed on the display unit 12 after the gradation change is output to the recording paper S, the laser printer 5 Is output in a gradation range narrower than the displayable gradation range in the display unit 12 as shown in FIG. 5B, the region of interest I1 is adapted to the laser printer 5 and has the maximum contrast. Since gradation processing is changed for the image inside, the gradation range expressing the image can be made as wide as possible. For this reason, a medical image can be output on the recording paper S in the gradation range as wide as possible.

  As described above, the reference print used for the hospital referral letter can be obtained by the low-cost electrophotographic laser printer 5, but in this case, the outside of the region of interest is displayed as an outline by a line drawing (schema) and is unnecessary. Since it is not necessary to output the image portion, wasteful toner consumption can be suppressed, and the relative position of the region of interest with respect to the entire region can be displayed, so the relative position of the region of interest I1 in the print attached to the introduction letter or the like. Is easily understood and observation is not hindered. In addition, the area other than the region of interest and the outline of the line drawing (schema) on the recording paper S can be used as a memo writing by a doctor or the like.

  As described above, the best mode for carrying out the present invention has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to these, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. For example, as a device for generating a medical image, a CR (computed radiography) / US (ultrasound) modality device is used in FIG. 1, but a CT (computed tomography) other than CR / US or MRI (magnetic) is used. Of course, various modality devices such as resonance imaging (nuclear magnetic resonance imaging apparatus) and DR (digital radiography) may be used.

  The printer may be an area gradation type ink jet printer that uses ink as a consumable.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the medical image output system by this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the control system of the image processing display apparatus 3 of FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the medical image output system of FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1A schematically shows an image in which the region of interest displayed on the image processing display device 3 in FIGS. 1 and 2 and an outline by a line drawing are superimposed, and a superimposed image output to recording paper by a printer are schematically shown. FIG. FIG. 3A is a diagram for explaining functions during screen display by the gradation processing unit 13 of FIG. 2 and FIG. 3B is a diagram for explaining functions in print output. FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams for explaining a configuration for saving ink when a medical image is formed by a conventional inkjet printer. FIGS.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ultrasonic device (US), medical image generator 2 Cassette CR reader, medical image generator 3 Image processing display device 4 Image server 5 Laser printer 10 Control unit 11 Storage unit 12 Display unit 12a Screen 13 Tone processing unit 14 Input unit 15 Area setting unit 16 Outline extraction unit 17 Image superimposition unit 18 Schema storage unit 19 Output unit I Medical image, display image I1 Region of interest I2 Line drawing, schema I3 Patient ID region P1 Print region of interest P2 Print line drawing (schema)
P3 Print patient ID part S Recording paper (recording medium)

Claims (6)

An image generation apparatus that generates a medical image of a subject, a gradation processing unit that performs gradation processing on the generated medical image, a display unit that displays the medical image subjected to the gradation processing, and a display on the display unit A medical image output system comprising: a printer that outputs a medical image on a recording medium,
Area setting means for designating a predetermined area in the image displayed on the display means;
Contour extracting means for extracting the contour of the subject outside the designated area;
Superimposing means for superimposing the image in the designated area and the contour extracted by the contour extracting means;
A medical image output system, wherein the image superimposed by the superimposing means is output onto a recording medium by the printer.   The medical image output system according to claim 1, further comprising means for changing a gradation of an image range designated by the area setting means.   The medical image output system according to claim 1, wherein the printer is an area gradation method using ink or toner as a consumable. A medical image for generating a medical image of a subject, performing gradation processing on the generated medical image, displaying the medical image subjected to the gradation processing, and outputting the displayed medical image on a recording medium by a printer Output method,
Designating and setting a predetermined area in the displayed image;
Extracting the contour of the subject outside the specified area;
Superimposing the image in the specified area and the extracted contour;
And outputting the superimposed image on a recording medium with a printer.   The medical image output method according to claim 4, wherein the gradation of the image range designated in the designation step is changed. 6. The medical image output method according to claim 4, wherein the printer is an area gradation method using ink or toner as a consumable.

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