JP2019028480A - Image server, interpretation terminal device and medical image management system - Google Patents

Abstract

To improve working efficiency in the case of performing comparison diagnostic reading.SOLUTION: An image server is provided with an image storage region for storing image data for a medical image with which a patient ID is associated, and configured to communicate with a modality and terminal equipment for medical image diagnostic reading. The image server comprises a cache memory having a higher access speed than the image storage region, and when acquiring new image data from the modality, duplicates the image data stored in the image storage region in association with the same patient ID as the patient ID associated with the acquired image data and the new image data to the cache memory.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for improving the interpretation efficiency of medical images.

  Medical images obtained by examination using modalities such as CT (Computed Tomography) apparatus, MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) apparatus, and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) apparatus are generally used for medical use called PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System). Managed by the image management system.

  When an interpreting doctor interprets a medical image using PACS, the newly taken image of a patient and the past image of the same patient are displayed side by side on the screen, and both are compared. A method called “comparative interpretation” for confirming changes in disease is widely used.

  The image to be compared with the current image is not limited to the most recent past image, but may be a plurality of past images, and is limited to images of the same part acquired by the same modality among images of the same patient. May be narrowed down.

  The images are stored in the image server, and each image is associated with index information such as a patient ID, a modality type, an imaging region, and an examination date and time for uniquely identifying a patient. The index information is stored in an image server or a server different from the image server. Also, by referring to the index information, it is possible to grasp which image server stores the image data.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a conventional medical image management system. In the example of this figure, an interpretation terminal device 310, a modality 320, a plurality of image servers 330, and an index server 340 are included. The image server A 330a, the image server B 330b, and the index server 340 are connected to the hospital LAN together with the image interpretation terminal device 310 and the modality 320, and the image server X 330x is connected via the wide area network 350.

  The interpretation terminal device 310 includes an image browsing unit 311. The image browsing unit 311 is formed when the arithmetic device of the interpretation terminal device 310 executes medical image browsing software.

  When a medical image is captured by the modality 320, the image is transmitted to the interpretation terminal device 310 and can be viewed as the current image. Further, the image data 331 is stored in any one of the image servers 330, and the index information 341 is stored in the index server 340. In general, the image server 330 stores image data 331 in a medium such as a hard disk or a magnetic tape.

  When displaying a past image to be compared with the current image on the interpretation terminal device 310, the index information 341 is searched using the patient ID or the like as a key, and the past image data 331 of the same patient is stored. The server 330 is specified. Then, the image data 331 is acquired from the specified image server 330.

JP 7-134768 A

  In recent years, with the technological evolution of modalities, the volume of image data 331 generated in one inspection continues to increase, and it is not uncommon to exceed 1 GB. For this reason, when the image interpretation terminal device 310 acquires the image data 331 from the image server 330, a corresponding time is required.

  While the capacity of the image data 331 to be interpreted increases, the number of interpreting doctors is insufficient, and from the viewpoint of providing high-quality medical care, there is an urgent need for efficient interpretation work.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve work efficiency when performing comparative interpretation.

  In order to solve the above problems, an image server according to a first aspect of the present invention has an image storage area for storing image data of a medical image associated with a patient ID, and a terminal device for interpreting a modality and a medical image And a cache memory having a faster access speed than the image storage area, and acquiring new image data from the modality is the same as the patient ID associated with the acquired image data Image data associated with a patient ID and stored in the image storage area and the new image data are copied to the cache memory.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an image interpretation terminal device according to a second aspect of the present invention is an image interpretation terminal device that communicates with an image server that stores image data of a medical image associated with a patient ID. A cache that acquires a cache memory and a patient ID list indicating a future interpretation schedule, acquires image data associated with the patient ID indicated in the acquired patient ID list from the image server, and stores the image data in the cache memory And a management unit.

  In order to solve the above problems, a medical image management system according to a third aspect of the present invention includes an image server having an image storage area for storing image data of a medical image associated with a patient ID, and communication with the image server. A medical image management system including a terminal device for image interpretation, wherein the image server includes a cache memory having a higher access speed than the image storage area. A cache management unit that acquires a patient ID list to be shown and requests the image server to copy image data associated with the patient ID shown in the acquired patient ID list to the cache memory. Features.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve work efficiency when performing comparative interpretation.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the medical image management system of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the 1st Example of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the 2nd Example of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the 3rd Example of this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the conventional medical image management system.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a medical image management system 100 of the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the medical image management system 100 includes an interpretation terminal device 110, a modality 120, a plurality of image servers 130, and an index server 140.

  The image server A 130a, the image server B 130b, and the index server 140 are connected to the hospital LAN together with the image interpretation terminal device 110 and the modality 120, and the image server X 130x is connected via the wide area network 150. Each image server (image server A 130a, image server B 130b,...) Is represented by the image server 130 when it is not necessary to distinguish between them.

  Although not shown, a hospital information system such as an examination reservation system and an electronic medical record system may be available in the hospital LAN. In addition, the number of interpretation terminal devices 110, modalities 120, and image servers 130 can be arbitrarily changed.

  The image interpretation terminal device 110 includes an image browsing unit 111. The image browsing unit 111 is formed when the arithmetic device of the interpretation terminal device 110 executes medical image browsing software. The interpretation terminal device 110 may be a general-purpose information processing device such as a personal computer.

  When a medical image is captured by the modality 120, the image is transmitted to the interpretation terminal device 110, and can be viewed as the current image. Further, the image data 131 is stored in any one of the image servers 130, and the index information 141 is stored in the index server 140. The index information 141 may be stored in the image server 130 without providing the index server 140.

  Since the image server 130 needs to store a large amount of image data 131, the image data 131 is stored in an image storage area using a hard disk, a magnetic tape, or the like in consideration of economy.

  In the present embodiment, the interpretation terminal device 110 includes a cache memory 113, and the image server 130 includes a cache memory 133. The cache memory 113 and the cache memory 133 are high-speed media having a higher access speed than media such as a hard disk and a magnetic tape. For example, an SSD (solid state drive) that is a storage device using a semiconductor element, a DRAM, an SRAM, or the like The semiconductor memory can be used. The cache memory originally provided in the image interpretation terminal device 110 and the image server 130 may be diverted.

  The image browsing unit 111 of the interpretation terminal device 110 includes a cache management unit 112 that manages the operation of the cache memory 113, and the image server 130 includes a cache management unit 132 that manages the operation of the cache memory 133. .

  Next, a first example of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the first embodiment, the cache management unit 132 and the cache memory 133 of the image server 130 perform characteristic operations. For this reason, the cache memory 113 of the interpretation terminal device 110 may be omitted.

  When the image server 130 receives the newly captured image data 131 from the modality 120, the image server 130 newly stores it in a normal storage area such as a hard disk or a magnetic tape (S101), and the cache management unit 132 newly captures the captured image data. The data 131 and past image data 131 of the same patient are stored (replicated) in the cache memory 133 (S102).

  The image data 131 newly captured by the modality 120 is an image that is very likely to be interpreted later. For this reason, the past image data 131 of the same patient used for comparison is stored in the cache memory 133.

  Thus, when an acquisition request for past image data 131 of the same patient is received from the interpretation terminal device 110 that displays the newly captured image data 131, the image is newly captured from the cache memory 133 having a high access speed. The current image and past image data 131 can be read and transmitted. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the time required to acquire image data used for comparative interpretation and improve interpretation efficiency.

  In addition, in order to store the image data 131 in the cache memory 133 of the image server 130, when there are a plurality of interpretation terminal devices 110, the acquisition request is accepted from any interpretation terminal device 110. Can be read and transmitted.

  The image data 131 stored in the cache memory 133 can be erased by known logic such as LRU (Least Recently Used), FIFO (First In First Out), or elapse of a predetermined time. Further, the capacity of the cache memory 133 is ensured to be about the capacity of the image data 131 to be read out for 2 to 3 days, for example.

  The image data 131 stored in the cache memory 133 is not limited to all past images of the same patient, but is limited to images taken with the same modality of the same patient or images of the same part. You may make it leave.

  Next, a second example of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the second embodiment, the cache management unit 112 and the cache memory 113 of the interpretation terminal device 110 perform characteristic operations. For this reason, the cache memory 133 of the image server 130 may be omitted.

  First, the interpretation terminal device 110 acquires a patient ID list scheduled to be interpreted on that day, for example (S201). The patient ID list may be acquired in cooperation with, for example, an electronic medical record system or examination reservation system that can be used in the in-hospital LAN, or may be input by an operator such as an interpretation doctor based on the reservation. Good. Further, when an image is acquired from the modality 120, the patient ID of the patient may be added to the patient ID list.

  Then, the following processing is performed for each patient ID shown in the patient ID list. First, an inquiry is made to the index server 140 in order to specify the image server 130 storing the past image data 131 of the patient indicated by the patient ID (S202). By obtaining this answer from the index server 140, the image server 130 of the storage destination is specified (S203).

  When the storage destination image server 130 is specified, the past image of the patient is acquired from the image server 130 and stored in the cache memory 113 of the interpretation terminal device 110 (S204). If the current image is actually captured for the patient, the newly captured current image is also stored in the cache memory 113 of the interpretation terminal device 110 (S205).

  Thus, when a patient is interpreted according to the interpretation schedule, the past image data 131 of the patient can be read from the cache memory 113 of the interpretation terminal device 110 instead of the image server 130. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the time required to acquire image data used for comparative interpretation and improve interpretation efficiency.

  The deletion of the image data 131 stored in the cache memory 113, the capacity of the cache memory 113, and the conditions for narrowing down the image data 131 stored in the cache memory 113 can be the same as in the first embodiment.

  Next, a third example of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the third embodiment, the cache management unit 112 of the interpretation terminal device 110, the cache management unit 132 of the image server 130, and the cache memory 133 perform characteristic operations.

  First, the interpretation terminal device 110 obtains, for example, a patient ID list scheduled for interpretation on that day (S301). For example, the patient ID list may be acquired in cooperation with an examination reservation system that can be used in the hospital LAN, or may be input by an operator such as an interpretation doctor based on the reservation. Further, when an image is acquired from the modality 120, the patient ID of the patient may be added to the patient ID list.

  Then, the following processing is performed for each patient ID shown in the patient ID list. First, an inquiry is made to the index server 140 in order to identify the image server 130 storing the past image data 131 of the patient indicated by the patient ID (S302). By obtaining this answer from the index server 140, the image server 130 of the storage destination is specified (S303).

  When the storage destination image server 130 is specified, the image server 130 is requested to store (copy) the past image of the patient in the cache memory 133 of the image server 130 (S304). In response to this request, the image server 130 stores the past image of the patient in the cache memory 133 (S305). When the current image is actually captured for the patient, the newly captured current image is also stored in the cache memory 133 (S306).

  Thereby, when a patient is interpreted according to the interpretation schedule, the past image data 131 of the patient can be read from the cache memory 113 of the image server 130. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the time required to acquire image data used for comparative interpretation and improve interpretation efficiency.

  The deletion of the image data 131 stored in the cache memory 113, the capacity of the cache memory 113, and the conditions for narrowing down the image data 131 stored in the cache memory 113 can be the same as in the first embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Medical image management system, 110 ... Interpretation terminal device, 111 ... Image browsing part, 112 ... Cache management part, 113 ... Cache memory, 120 ... Modality, 130 ... Image server, 131 ... Image data, 132 ... Cache management part 133 ... Cache memory 140 ... Index server 141 ... Index information 150 ... Wide area network

Claims (3)

An image server having an image storage area for storing image data of a medical image associated with a patient ID and communicating with a terminal device for modality and medical image interpretation,
A cache memory having a faster access speed than the image storage area;
When new image data is acquired from the modality, the image data stored in the image storage area in association with the same patient ID as the patient ID associated with the acquired image data and the new image data are An image server for copying to the cache memory. An interpretation terminal device that communicates with an image server that stores image data of a medical image associated with a patient ID,
Cache memory,
A cache management unit that acquires a patient ID list indicating a future interpretation schedule, acquires image data associated with a patient ID indicated in the acquired patient ID list from the image server, and stores the image data in the cache memory;
A terminal device for image interpretation, comprising: An image server having an image storage area for storing image data of a medical image associated with a patient ID;
A medical image management system including an interpretation terminal device that communicates with the image server,
The image server
A cache memory having a faster access speed than the image storage area;
The interpretation terminal device comprises:
Cache management for acquiring a patient ID list indicating a future interpretation schedule and requesting the image server to copy image data associated with the patient ID indicated in the acquired patient ID list to the cache memory A medical image management system comprising a unit.