JPH11120327A - Image processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a system for displaying a lumen such as a luminal organ created based on volume data obtained from an imaging device such as an X-ray CT device or an MRI device, from an organ entrance to a target The shortest route to the part is searched and displayed in a short time. SOLUTION: When a start point end point part 6 is operated to designate a certain position on a pipe as a start point and an arbitrary position (target part) existing on the pipe as an end point, a center line extraction unit 2 is provided.
Extracts a line (center line) passing through the centers of a plurality of pipes leading to the target portion, and the shortest path calculation unit 4 selects the shortest one from the plurality of center lines. Then, the search route synthesizing unit 8 displays the shortest center line so as to overlap the outer shape display image of the corresponding tube. As a result, it is possible to search for and display the shortest path to the target site in a short time even if the organs are intricately intertwined.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention displays a lumen such as a luminal organ based on three-dimensional volume data obtained from an imaging device such as an X-ray CT device or a nuclear magnetic resonance device (MRI device). The present invention relates to a suitable image processing apparatus provided in an image diagnosis system or the like, and in particular, searches for and displays the shortest path from a desired starting point of a complicatedly entangled luminal organ to a target organ, thereby improving operability of the image diagnosis system. The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus that improves the image quality and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, based on tomographic images obtained from an X-ray CT apparatus, an MRI apparatus, or the like, for example, only contour information of an organ such as a bronchial lumen is extracted, and an image of the inside of the organ is obtained. By creating by using perspective projection (perspective) instead of parallel projection,
2. Description of the Related Art There is known an image diagnostic system that displays a stereoscopic image as if an endoscope is inserted and an actual inside is viewed.

[0003] In the image diagnostic system, for example, when observing a target organ such as an organ having a tumor, a lumen image is sequentially created from an entrance of the target organ to a target site such as a tumor. To display. Thereby, the lumen image is displayed in such a manner that the viewpoint moves sequentially in the lumen until reaching the target part.

[0004] Alternatively, when the operator designates a target site on an image of the target organ viewed from the outside, the image diagnostic system creates and displays a lumen image including the target site. Thus, the target part can be observed while the viewpoint is moved directly to the target part.

[0005]

However, the conventional image diagnosis system, when observing a target organ, sequentially creates and displays the lumen images until the target organ is reached. As for a complicated organ such as a blood vessel or a bronchus, there is a problem that it takes time until an image of a target portion is actually displayed.

As described above, this problem can be solved by directly specifying a target portion and directly displaying the target portion, but in this case, a route to reach the target portion cannot be displayed. The information indicating the route to reach the target site is information required for planning an operation plan, and is desired to be displayable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and allows a shortest route to a target portion to be searched for and displayed in a short time, and that a lumen image is sequentially displayed along the shortest route. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus that can reduce the time required to display an image of a target part by displaying the image.

[0008]

An image processing apparatus according to the present invention converts a three-dimensional image of an object using a parallel projection method based on image information supplied from the outside to solve the above-mentioned problems. A parallel projection image creating means to be created, and an arbitrary tubular body on the three-dimensional image created by the parallel projection image creating means is designated as a start point and a target through which the tubular body passes is designated as an end point. And the center point of the inner tube of each tubular body present between the tubular body designated by the designating means and the arrival at the target is detected, and each center point of each tubular body is lined with each other. Path detecting means for detecting a plurality of paths along the shape of the tubular body from the tubular body designated by the designating means to the target. Further, together with each of these means, a shortest path detecting means for detecting the shortest path among the plurality of paths detected by the path detecting means,
At least a combination display means for combining and displaying the shortest path detected by the shortest path detection means with the three-dimensional image of the object created by the parallel projection image creation means.

In such an image processing apparatus, the path detecting means detects a plurality of paths along the shape of the tubular body from the tubular body specified by the specifying means to reach the target, and A route detecting unit detects a shortest route among the plurality of routes detected by the route detecting unit. Then, the combination display unit combines and displays at least the shortest path detected by the shortest path detection unit with the three-dimensional image of the object created by the parallel projection image creation unit. Thereby, the shortest path from the tubular body specified by the specifying unit to the target can be displayed by being synthesized with the three-dimensional image of the target, and the doctor can make a surgical plan. For example, effective information can be promptly provided.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus for creating a three-dimensional image of an object using a perspective projection method based on image information supplied from the outside in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. Projection image creation means, and at least control means for controlling the perspective projection image creation means so as to create, at predetermined intervals, an inner tube image of the tubular body along the shortest path detected by the shortest path detection means. And a configuration having:

In such an image processing apparatus, the control means includes:
The perspective projection image creating means is controlled so as to create an inner tube image of the tubular body along the shortest path detected by the shortest path detecting means at predetermined intervals. Thereby, since the inner tube image can be created and displayed along the shortest path, the inner tube image of the tubular body from the tubular body specified by the specifying means to the target can be quickly displayed. And the time required for displaying the inner tube image can be shortened.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of an image processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

The image processing apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to, for example, an image diagnostic system. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of an image diagnostic system according to this embodiment. For example, image data (volume data) from an imaging device such as an X-ray CT device or an MRI device, or magneto-optical data from these imaging devices. The contour data of the organ surface extracted based on the image data recorded and reproduced on a storage medium such as a disk is supplied via an input terminal 1.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, a three-dimensional image is created based on a plurality of tomographic images obtained from an imaging device such as an X-ray CT device or an MRI device. The input terminal 1 is created by extracting an image of a target organ from the three-dimensional image and extracting an outline of the image.
Supplied to The contour data supplied via the input terminal 1 is supplied to a center line extracting unit 2, a perspective image creating unit 3, and a parallel projection image creating unit 7, respectively.

The perspective image creating section 3 creates a lumen image as a three-dimensional image of a luminal organ by a so-called perspective projection method as shown in FIG. 3B based on the supplied contour data. Then, this is supplied to the image switching unit 9 and the image saving unit 11. Further, the parallel projection image creating unit 7 creates an outer shape display image which is a three-dimensional image showing the appearance of the luminal organ by the so-called parallel projection method as shown in FIG. This is supplied to the search path synthesis unit 8 and the image switching unit 9 via the search path synthesis unit 8. The image switching unit 9 selects an image designated by the operator from the lumen image and the outer shape display image, and supplies the image to the image display monitor 10. As a result, an outer shape display image or a lumen image as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B is displayed on the monitor.

When a rotation angle or a viewpoint position is designated, the display image of the lumen image or the outline display image is changed and displayed in accordance with the designation. Further, when an arbitrary point is clicked on the outline display image using, for example, a mouse device, the perspective image creating unit 3 creates a lumen image corresponding to the clicked position and displays it on the monitor. .

Here, if the operator wants to know the shortest path from any of the plurality of luminal organs leading to the target organ to the target organ, an image display monitor as shown in FIG. A display operation is performed on the outer shape display image on the display 10, and a start point / end point designation unit 6 is operated to designate an arbitrary point on a desired luminal organ as a start point S, and designate a target organ as an end point.

When this designation is made, the center line extracting unit 2
First, as shown in FIG. 4A, from the starting point S,
The search point is advanced linearly toward the back of the target organ.
Next, when the search point is linearly advanced as described above, the collision point collides with the wall of the luminal organ. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), a radiation vector from the wall surface of the collided luminal organ is calculated. Create (assume) a plane parallel to the radiation vector. As a result, a point at which the contour of the organ lumen intersects with the plane is determined, and the center point of the plane is determined from the contour of the lumen.
Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, the center point and the start point S are connected by a straight line, and this is set as a center line along the organ lumen.

The above-mentioned center point is not obtained as the center point of a plane parallel to the radiation vector, but a circle is created which abuts on the wall surface of the luminal organ with which the search point has collided, and the center of this circle is described above. It may be determined as the center point.

By sequentially repeating such operations and sequentially connecting the respective center points, search vectors corresponding to all luminal organs leading to the target organ can be obtained. ) And (e), the luminal organ may be branched. In this case, the center line extracting unit 2 performs a branching process described below.

In other words, if an attempt is made to find the center line at this branch, a plurality of inner wall surfaces appear as contact points on the search vector. Therefore, in this case, as a branching process, the radiation vectors are calculated for all the contact points to determine the respective center points, and all the determined center points are connected to the start point S as shown in FIG. To form a search vector. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5A, search vectors A to C corresponding to all luminal organs leading to the target organ can be obtained. After obtaining the search vectors A to C in this manner, the center line extraction unit 2 supplies search vector data indicating these to the shortest path calculation unit 4 shown in FIG.

When each of the search vector data is supplied, the shortest path calculation unit 4 calculates a longest path from the start point S to the target organ along the center line of the extracted luminal organ based on each of the search vector data. The tracking processing for detecting the distance (distance) is performed. Then, of the search vector data in which the length from the start point S to the target organ is detected by this tracking processing, for example, as shown in FIG.
Search vector data with the shortest distance from the target organ to the target organ (search vector data of the path where the length of the center line is the shortest) is detected, and this search vector data is searched vector data indicating the shortest path to the target organ. The shortest route data is supplied to the search route synthesis unit 8.

The search path synthesizing unit 8 is supplied with an outline display image from the parallel projection image generating unit 7 in addition to the shortest path data. The search route synthesizing unit 8 maps the shortest route data to the outline display image, and supplies this to the image display monitor 10 via the image switching unit 9.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 3A, an arrow indicating the shortest path from the start point S specified by the operator to the target organ is displayed on the corresponding luminal organ in the outline display image.

As described above, in the diagnostic imaging system according to the present embodiment, the operator specifies a desired point as a start point on the external display image displayed on the monitor and specifies a desired target organ as an end point. Thus, the center line extracting unit and the shortest path calculating unit can search for the shortest path from the start point to the target organ, and display an arrow indicating the shortest path on the outer shape display image. For this reason, a doctor or the like can make an operation plan while watching the arrow indicating the shortest route, and can greatly contribute to future medical use.

Next, the image diagnostic system of the present embodiment can display a lumen image along the shortest path.

That is, when the operator specifies display of a lumen image together with a desired interval such as the number of pixels, mm, or inch after searching for the shortest path, the search path automatic tracing unit 5 sets the specified path. The perspective image creation unit 3 is controlled so as to create a lumen image of a lumen organ corresponding to the shortest path for each pixel number or desired interval.
When the perspective image creation unit 3 creates the lumen images sequentially at the desired intervals or the like, it supplies them to the image display monitor 10 via the image switching unit 9 (automatic tracing). Thereby, the lumen image of the luminal organ corresponding to the shortest path can be sequentially displayed on the monitor along the shortest path.

As described above, the image diagnostic system according to the present embodiment can automatically and automatically display the lumen images created at predetermined intervals along the shortest path. Then, when the operator issues an instruction to suspend automatic tracing or the like, the perspective image creating unit 3 suspends creation of a lumen image along the shortest path in response to the instruction, and again, It is in a standby state until an instruction to create a lumen image is issued.

When an instruction to change the display direction is issued during the automatic tracing, the perspective image creating unit 3
Create a lumen image corresponding to the indicated display direction,
This is displayed on the monitor. When an instruction to create a lumen image along a route other than the shortest route is given, the perspective image creating unit 3 creates a lumen image along the designated route and displays this on a monitor. . Thus, it is possible to change the display direction, create a lumen image along a different route, and the like even during the once determined process (the process of creating a lumen image along the shortest route). Thus, the operability of the diagnostic imaging system can be improved.

Further, the diagnostic imaging system according to the present embodiment can record and reproduce a lumen image (and an outline display image) created along the shortest path or a path other than the shortest path.

That is, when recording of a lumen image is instructed by the operator, the perspective image creating section 3 creates a lumen image created along the shortest route or a lumen image created along a route other than the shortest route. The image is supplied to the image saving unit 11. When the lumen image is created, the image saving unit 11 adds the lumen information together with additional information such as a patient identification number, a photographing date and time, a patient name, and an image number continuously assigned to the lumen image. The image is recorded on a recording medium such as a magneto-optical disk.

In the image diagnostic system, for example, a first reproduction mode for reproducing only one lumen image designated by inputting the image number by the operator, and a reproduction mode created along the shortest path are provided. A second reproduction mode for sequentially reproducing the recorded lumen images at predetermined time intervals, and displaying all or part of the recorded lumen images along the shortest path on one screen at a time. A third reproduction mode and the like are provided.

First, when the operator wants to display one desired lumen image, the operator designates the first reproduction mode and inputs the image number of the desired lumen image and the like. When this designation and input are performed, the image saving unit 11
Reproduces the lumen image corresponding to the image number input by the operator from the plurality of lumen images recorded on the recording medium, and controls the display on the image display monitor 10. Thereby, one lumen image desired by the operator can be displayed on the monitor.

When the operator wants to continuously reproduce the lumen image created and recorded along the shortest path at predetermined time intervals, the operator designates the second reproduction mode. When this designation is made, the image saving unit 11 sequentially reproduces the lumen images created along the shortest path recorded on the recording medium at predetermined time intervals, and controls the display on the image display monitor 10. I do. Thereby, a series of lumen images along the shortest path can be displayed continuously. The interval between the previous and next image reproduction in the continuous reproduction may be a predetermined time on the system side, or may be arbitrarily selectable by the operator.

When the operator wants to display all or a part of the lumen image created and recorded along the shortest path on one screen at a time, the operator specifies the third reproduction mode. When this designation is performed, the image saving unit 11 reproduces all or a part (two or more) of the lumen images created along the shortest path recorded on the recording medium, and performs a thinning process or the like. To control the display on the image display monitor 10 as image information for one screen. Thus, a series of lumen images along the shortest path can be divided and displayed on one screen (multi-screen display). In this multi-screen display, a plurality of lumen images may be selected by, for example, inputting an image number by an operator, and these may be displayed at a time.

If the luminal organs are intricately entangled with each other, it is difficult to determine which part of the current display corresponds to the entire display even when the lumen image is reproduced. The system automatically searches for and displays the shortest path from the start point S to the target organ by designating the site of the desired luminal organ as the start point S and designating the target organ as the end point, A lumen image can be automatically created and displayed at predetermined intervals along the shortest path. For this reason, it is possible to perform the reproduction while recognizing which part of the whole lumen image is currently reproduced.

The lumen image created in this way is
Since it is created along the shortest path searched, the time required until a lumen image of a target portion is created can be reduced, which contributes to shortening the time required for planning an operation. can do.

Lastly, in the description of the above-described embodiment, the created lumen image is displayed on a monitor and recorded on a recording medium. Output may be made to an output medium such as a film, and printing or recording may be performed. In addition, various changes can be made according to the design and the like within a range not departing from the technical idea according to the present invention. Of course there is.

[0038]

The image processing apparatus according to the present invention can search and display the shortest path to a target site in a short time even for a complicated organ such as a blood vessel or a bronchus. For this reason, it can contribute to planning of an operation plan and the like.

Further, by sequentially displaying the lumen images along the searched shortest route, the time required for displaying the image of the target portion can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image diagnostic system according to an embodiment to which an image processing device according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram conceptually showing input data supplied to the image diagnostic system of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a lumen image, a contour display image, and a shortest path to a target organ which is mapped on the contour display image and display-controlled in the image diagnostic system of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining how to search for the shortest route to the target organ.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing how a shortest route is selected from a plurality of routes to the target organ.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Input terminal, 2 ... Center line extraction part, 3 ... Perspective image creation part 4 ... Shortest path calculation part, 5 ... Search path automatic trace part, 6
... Start point end point designation section 7 ... Parallel projection image creation section 8 ... Search path synthesis section 9 ... Image switching section 10 ... Image display monitor 11 ... Image saving section

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A parallel projection image creating means for creating a three-dimensional image of an object using a parallel projection method based on image information supplied from the outside, and a three-dimensional image created by the parallel projection image creating means. Designating an arbitrary tubular body on the image as a starting point, and designating means for designating a target as a target as an end point, and between reaching the target from the tubular body designated by the designating means. By detecting the center point of the inner tube of each existing tubular body and connecting each center point of each tubular body with a line, it is possible to reach the target from the tubular body designated by the designation means. Path detecting means for detecting a plurality of paths along the shape of the tubular body, of the plurality of paths detected by the path detecting means,
A shortest path detecting means for detecting a shortest path; and a synthesizing means for synthesizing and displaying at least a shortest path detected by the shortest path detecting means on a three-dimensional image of the object created by the parallel projection image creating means. An image processing apparatus comprising: a display unit. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the path detecting unit forms a straight line from the designated tubular body toward the target.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a radiation vector is formed from a portion of the tubular body contacting the inner tube, a plane parallel to the radiation vector is detected, and a center of the plane is detected as the center point. Image processing device. 3. The pipe detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the branch detecting section is a section where the plurality of tubular bodies are concentrated, and the inner pipe of the tubular body contacts a straight line formed from the designated tubular body toward the target. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein a radiation vector is formed from each of the plurality of points, a plane parallel to each radiation vector is detected, and a center of each plane is detected as the center point. Image processing device. 4. A perspective projection image creating means for creating a three-dimensional image of an object using a perspective projection method based on the image information supplied from the outside, and at least the shortest path detecting means detects the three-dimensional image. 4. A control means for controlling said perspective projection image creating means so as to form an inner tube image of a tubular body along a shortest path at predetermined intervals.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1.