JP2005245961A - Image processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to appropriately and rapidly select a plurality of inputting images to be inputted. <P>SOLUTION: A central processing unit 2 can display various control screens in a display section 103a of a centralized control panel 103, by controlling a graphic section 10. When it is connected with a first endoscopic camera device 110a, an ultrasonic observing device 130, a second endoscopic camera device 110b and a third endoscopic camera device 110c, input images from these devices are captured in a time division manner by a capture processing section 4 based on the control of central processing unit 2, and the central processing unit 2 generates a thumbnail image from captured image data, an image selection screen composed of thumbnail images from each input channel of system controller 100 is displayed in the display section 103a of the centralized control panel 103. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus that processes a plurality of medical images.

  In a general endoscopic surgery system, an endoscope for observation, a camera head connected to the endoscope, an endoscopic camera device that processes an image signal captured by the camera head, and illumination light to the subject A light source device to be supplied, a monitor for displaying a subject image, a pneumoperitoneum device used to inflate the abdominal cavity, a processing device for performing a procedure and a high-frequency ablation device (hereinafter referred to as an electric knife) for excising or coagulating living tissue An endoscope is inserted into the region to be examined, illumination light from the light source device is irradiated onto the subject, an optical image of the subject is obtained with the endoscope, and an image signal of the subject image taken by the camera head Various treatments are performed while observing the treatment site that is signal-processed by the endoscope camera device and projected on the monitor.

Normally, each of these devices is mounted on a system trolley for an endoscope together with a system control device as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-303654 as an endoscope system with improved operability. in use.
JP-A-7-303654

  However, in endoscopic surgery, a procedure may be performed by a plurality of operators. In such a case, in order to obtain a subject image of the endoscope for each operator, a plurality of endoscopes are placed on a region to be examined. Although inserted, the system controller of the conventional endoscopic surgery system cannot recognize through which channel on the system the plurality of subject images are input.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 8, in the conventional endoscopic surgery system, for example, a plurality of buttons 1001 indicating a plurality of input channels connected to the system are simply displayed on the display unit of the centralized operation panel 1000, for example. Therefore, when the main surgeon wants to check the subject image on the side monitored by another surgeon, there is a problem that the input channel for the desired subject image cannot be selected appropriately and quickly.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an image processing apparatus that can appropriately and quickly select a plurality of input images to be input.

  The image processing apparatus of the present invention includes an image input unit that inputs a plurality of images, an image capture unit that captures the plurality of images input from the image input unit, and the image captured by the image capture unit. An image selection screen generating means for generating an image selection screen in which reduced images of a plurality of images are assigned for each input path of the image input means, and the image selection screen generated by the image selection screen generating means The image selecting means for selecting the reduced image above and the image output means for outputting the image of the reduced image selected by the image selecting means to the display means.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that a plurality of input images to be input can be selected appropriately and quickly.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 3 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a medical endoscope system, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the system controller of FIG. 1, and FIG. It is a figure which shows the image selection screen displayed on 1 centralized operation panel.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a first endoscope camera device 110a, a first light source device 111a, a high-frequency power ablation device (hereinafter referred to as an electric knife) 112, an insufflation device 113, and a VTR 114 that constitute a medical endoscope system. The ultrasonic observation device 130, the hospital network device 131, and the external storage device 132 are connected to the system controller 100, which is a medical image processing device that controls the entire system, and the second endoscope camera device 110b, second The light source device 111b, the third endoscope camera device 110c, and the third light source device 111c are connected to the relay unit 101. The relay unit 101 and the system controller 100 are connected by a relay cable 102 so that each device is centrally controlled by the system controller 100.

  The system controller 100 is operated from a centralized operation panel 103 operated by a nurse in a non-sterile area and a remote controller (hereinafter referred to as a remote controller) 104 operated by an operator in a sterilized area. The data of can be displayed.

  The central operation panel 103 includes a display unit 103a such as a liquid crystal display and a touch sensor 103b provided integrally on the display unit (see FIG. 2), and sets the status display and operation switches of each device. In addition to a display function for displaying as a screen, an operation function for performing an operation with an operation switch by touching a predetermined area of the touch sensor 103b is provided. Among the status displays and operation switches of each device connected to the system controller 100, the target one is displayed on the screen of the display unit 103a of the centralized operation panel 103.

  Each controlled device connected to the system controller 100 transmits data to the system controller 100 via a communication line. In the system controller 100, when communication with each device is established, a display relating to each device is displayed on the display unit 103a of the centralized operation panel 103, and an operation input can be performed with the touch sensor 103b of the centralized operation panel 103. To do.

  Various images including the endoscope camera devices 110 a and 110 b are displayed on the observation monitors 118 a and 118 b via the system controller 100.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the system controller 100 receives an input image input from the first endoscope camera device 110a, the VTR 114, and the ultrasonic observation device 130, and the relay controller 101 and the relay cable 102. A switcher processing unit 1 is provided for inputting input images input from the second endoscope camera device 110b and the third endoscope camera device 110c.

  The switcher processing unit 1 outputs, for example, an input image from the second endoscopic camera device 110b among the input images input based on the control of the CPU unit 2 to the observation monitor 118a as a live observation image. For example, an input image from the first endoscope camera device 110 a is output to the observation monitor 118 b as a live observation image, and each input image data is output to the internal bus 3.

  Each input image data output to the internal bus 3 is captured in a time division manner by the capture processing unit 4 based on the control of the CPU unit 2, and the captured image data is stored in the internal recording unit 5 via the internal bus 3. It is to be recorded.

  Control state information of each device such as the first endoscope camera device 110 a, the first light source device 111 a, the electric knife 112, the pneumoperitoneum device 113, and the external storage device 132 is sent to the internal bus 3 via the I / F conversion unit 6. And the CPU 2 monitors the control state information.

  The control state information of each device such as the second endoscope camera device 110b, the second light source device 111b, the third endoscope camera device 110c, and the third light source device 111c is the I / F in the relay unit 101. The control state information input via the conversion unit 7 is transmitted through the relay cable 102 and output to the internal bus 3 via the serial I / F unit 12 in the system controller 100, and the control state information is transmitted to the CPU unit 2. Has come to monitor.

  The in-hospital network device 131 is connected via the LAN I / F unit 8, and various medical information (for example, preoperative examination data of patients, medical image data such as CT images) via an in-hospital server (not shown) is received. The data is output to the internal bus 3 via the LAN I / F unit 8, and the CPU unit 2 monitors these various medical information. Further, operation data from the remote controller 104 is output to the internal bus 3 via the remote controller I / F unit 9, and the CPU unit 2 can control each device based on the operation data from the remote controller 104.

  The CPU unit 2 can display various control screens on the display unit 103 a of the centralized operation panel 103 by controlling the graphic unit 10, and the control screen displayed on the display unit 103 a of the centralized operation panel 103. The operation of the upper finger or the like is detected by the touch sensor 103b, and operation data is output to the internal bus 3 via the touch sensor I / F unit 11, thereby enabling various control instructions on the centralized operation panel 103. Yes. In addition, various data screens based on various control instructions or operation instructions of the remote controller 104 can be displayed on the central display panel 105 on the central operation panel 103.

  In addition, the centralized display panel 105 can display the image captured by the capture processing unit 4 as a moving image. Similar to the observation monitors 118a and 118b, the first endoscope camera device 110a and An input image from the sound wave observation device 130, the second endoscope camera device 110b, or the third endoscope camera device 110c can be displayed as a live image of a moving image. That is, under the endoscopic image observation by the observation monitors 118a and 118b, a moving image of a desired device can be simultaneously observed on the central display panel 105 as a reference moving image.

  The operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described. The first endoscopic camera device 110a and the ultrasonic observation device 130 are connected to the system controller 100, and the second endoscopic camera device 110b and the third endoscopic device are connected via the relay unit 101 and the relay cable 102. When the camera device 110c is connected, input images from these devices are captured in a time-division manner by the capture processing unit 4 based on the control of the CPU unit 2, and the captured image data is internally transmitted via the internal bus 3. Recorded in the recording unit 5.

  Then, the CPU unit 2 generates a thumbnail image from the captured image data recorded in the internal recording unit 5, and, as shown in FIG. 3, the display unit 103a of the centralized operation panel 103 is displayed for each input channel of the system controller 100. An image selection screen 200 composed of thumbnail images 201 is displayed.

  Therefore, the thumbnail image 201 can easily visually recognize which channel is connected to a plurality of live images from the endoscope camera device or the like input to the system controller 100 on the image selection screen 200. It becomes. Therefore, for example, the main surgeon instructs the nurse or the like during the procedure to activate the touch sensor 103b to display a desired live image on the central display panel 105.

  As described above, in this embodiment, when a desired reference moving image is displayed on the central display panel 105 under observation of an endoscopic image, the thumbnail image 201 for each input channel is displayed on the display unit 103a of the central operation panel 103. Since it is displayed, a desired live image 201 can be appropriately and quickly selected as a reference moving image from a plurality of live input images input to the system.

  4 and 5 relate to the second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a key input screen displayed on the centralized operation panel, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an image selection screen displayed on the centralized operation panel. .

  Since Example 2 is almost the same as Example 1, only different points will be described.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a key input screen 300 is displayed on the display unit 103a of the centralized operation panel 103 before the procedure, and characters indicating an input image for each input channel of the system are displayed on the key input screen 300. Enter. FIG. 4 shows a state where “CAMERA 1” indicating an input image from the first endoscope camera apparatus 110a is input to the channel “Video A”.

  By inputting characters indicating an input image for each input channel of the system on such a key input screen 300, a desired reference moving image is displayed on the centralized display panel 105 while observing the endoscopic image during the procedure. As shown in FIG. 5, the image selection screen 200 at the time of the image display displays the input character information superimposed on the thumbnail image 201 for each input channel.

  Thereby, in this embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, it is possible to select a desired live image more easily than the first embodiment.

  6 and 7 relate to the third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a first diagram showing an image selection screen displayed on the centralized operation panel, and FIG. 7 shows an image selection screen displayed on the centralized operation panel. FIG.

  Since the third embodiment is almost the same as the second embodiment, only different points will be described.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, thumbnail images 201 displayed on the image selection screen 200 are displayed in the first endoscope camera device 110a, the ultrasonic observation device 130, as in the first and second embodiments. Not only the thumbnails of live images from the second endoscope camera device 110b and the third endoscope camera device 110c, but also the thumbnails of recorded images recorded in the VTR 114 and the in-hospital network device 131. It consists of thumbnails of pre-operative CT images of patients who have undergone surgery. In this case, for example, the character information to be superimposed on the thumbnail of the preoperative CT image is not input on the key input screen 300, but the file information storing the preoperative CT image is read and the file name “CT001.jpg” is read. "Or the like can be superimposed.

  When the image is being recorded on the VTR 114, characters such as “recording” can be displayed on the thumbnail of the image being recorded on the VTR 114, as shown in FIG.

  As described above, in this embodiment, in addition to the effects of the second embodiment, not only a live image but also a recorded image can be selected appropriately and quickly as a reference moving image.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a medical endoscope system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the system controller of FIG. The figure which shows the image selection screen displayed on the centralized operation panel of FIG. The figure which shows the key input screen displayed on the centralized operation panel which concerns on Example 2 of this invention. The figure which shows the image selection screen displayed on the centralized operation panel which concerns on Example 2 of this invention. FIG. 10 is a first diagram illustrating an image selection screen displayed on the centralized operation panel according to the third embodiment of the invention. The 2nd figure which shows the image selection screen displayed on the centralized operation panel which concerns on Example 3 of this invention. The figure which shows the image selection screen displayed on the conventional centralized operation panel

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Switcher processing part 2 ... CPU part 3 ... Internal bus 4 ... Capture processing part 5 ... Internal recording part 6, 7 ... I / F conversion part 8 ... LAN I / F part 9 ... Remote control I / F part 10 ... Graphic part DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Touch sensor I / F part 12 ... Serial I / F part 100 ... System controller 101 ... Relay unit 103 ... Centralized operation panel 103a ... Display part 103b ... Touch sensor 104 ... Remote control 105 ... Centralized display panel 110a ... 1st inside view Mirror camera device 111a ... first light source device 110b ... second endoscope camera device 111b ... second light source device 110c ... third endoscope camera device 111c ... third light source device 112 ... electric knife 113 ... pneumothorax Device 114 ... VTR
118a, 118b ... Observation monitor 130 ... Ultrasound observation device 131 ... In-hospital network device 132 ... External storage device Agent Patent attorney Susumu Ito

Claims (3)

Image input means for inputting a plurality of images,
Image capture means for capturing the plurality of images input from the image input means;
An image selection screen generation means for generating an image selection screen in which reduced images of the plurality of images captured by the image capture means are assigned for each input path of the image input means;
Image selection means for selecting the reduced image on the image selection screen generated by the image selection screen generation means;
An image processing apparatus comprising: an image output unit that outputs an image of the reduced image selected by the image selection unit to a display unit. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of images include at least a live image during operation. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a character input unit that inputs character data to be superimposed on the reduced image.

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