Medical image management system and load distribution method

Abstract

To efficiently cope with the case where the capacity of an image server is full or a fault occurs in the image server.SOLUTION: When the free space of the image server 30a becomes equal to or less than the threshold value, abnormality information is notified (S3). When the modality 10a transmits image information to the load distribution device 20 (S4), since the specified image server 30a is in an abnormal state, the load distribution device 20 transmits the image information to the backup server (S5). The image server 30b, which is a spare server, stores the received image information with the attribute of server X (S6). When the free space of the image server 30a exceeds the threshold, the return information is notified (S7). The load balancer 20 notifies the image server 30b of an image restoration instruction (S8). If the image server 30b of the server Y has image information whose attribute is the server X, this image information is transmitted to the image server 30a of the server X (S9).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a medical image management system and a load balancing method that can efficiently deal with cases where an image server is full or where a failure occurs in the image server. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there is known a technique for storing image data from medical devices connected to an in-hospital network of a medical institution or the like in an image server via the in-hospital network (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this case, not only is it possible to store all of the image data of a medical institution in a single image server, but it is also possible to set up multiple image servers in advance, with one type of image data stored in image server 1 and another type of image data stored in image server 2. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-079266 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, if the image server is full or if a failure occurs in the image server, the image data cannot be saved, and therefore measures must be taken, such as increasing the storage area or retransmitting the data after the failure is resolved, which is inefficient.

[0005] The present invention has been made to solve the problems (issues) of the above-mentioned conventional technology, and aims to provide a medical image management system and load balancing method that can efficiently deal with situations where the image server's capacity is full or where a failure occurs in the image server. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a medical image management system that is installed in a hospital and has a plurality of medical image recording servers that store medical images captured by a plurality of modality devices, and that is interposed between the plurality of modality devices and the plurality of medical image recording servers, and is set to store a medical image captured by a first modality device in the first medical image recording server. When a new medical image is to be stored in the first medical image recording server, if the free space of the first medical image recording server is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the medical image captured by the first modality device and the previous medical image are stored in the first medical image recording server. The system is characterized in that it is equipped with a load balancing device that performs load balancing control so as to temporarily store the identification information of the first medical image recording server in a second medical image recording server other than the first medical image recording server, and the second medical image recording server transfers the temporarily stored medical images to the first medical image recording server when the free space of the first medical image recording server exceeds a predetermined threshold or when a failure that prevented new medical images from being stored in the first medical image recording server is resolved, and the first medical image recording server stores the medical images transferred from the second medical image recording server.

[0007] In the present invention, the plurality of modality devices are connected to a closed network.

[0008] Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that, in the above invention, the system further comprises a terminal device having a display unit for displaying a plurality of medical images stored in the plurality of medical image recording servers.

[0009] The present invention also provides a load balancing method for a medical image management system that is installed in a hospital and has a plurality of medical image recording servers that store medical images captured by a plurality of modality devices, the method comprising: interposing a load balancing unit between the plurality of modality devices and the plurality of medical image recording servers, and in a state in which a medical image captured by a first modality device is set to be stored in the first medical image recording server, when a new medical image is to be stored in the first medical image recording server, if the free space of the first medical image recording server is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, storing the medical image captured by the first modality device and the first medical image in the first medical image recording server; The system is characterized by including a load balancing process that performs load balancing control to temporarily store the identification information of the image recording server in a second medical image recording server other than the first medical image recording server; a transfer process in which the second medical image recording server transfers the temporarily stored medical images to the first medical image recording server when the free space of the first medical image recording server exceeds a predetermined threshold or when a failure that prevented new medical images from being stored in the first medical image recording server is resolved; and a storage process in which the first medical image recording server stores the medical images transferred from the second medical image recording server. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently deal with cases where the capacity of an image server is full or where a failure occurs in the image server. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram (part 1) of an overview of a medical image management system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram (part 2) illustrating an overview of the medical image management system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the system configuration of the medical image management system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the load balancing device shown in FIG. [Figure 5]FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the modality management data, the image server management data, the setting data, and the server status data shown in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the image server shown in FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the modality management data, the image server management data, and the image information data shown in FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for transmitting image information in the load distribution device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for image information transfer processing according to the first embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the system configuration of a medical image management system according to the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] [Embodiment 1] Hereinafter, a medical image management system and a load balancing method according to the first embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0013] <Outline of medical image management system according to embodiment 1> First, an outline of the medical image management system according to the present embodiment 1 will be described. Figures 1 and 2 are explanatory diagrams of the outline of the medical image management system according to the present embodiment 1. In the medical image management system according to the present embodiment 1, a plurality of modalities are provided to perform various examinations in a medical facility, and image information captured by each modality is stored in a plurality of image servers.

[0014] 1, when each image server 30 is operating normally, the modality 10 transmits captured image information to the load distribution device 20 (S1), and the image information is stored in the default image server 30 (S2). At this time, the name of the default storage destination server is associated with the stored image information as an attribute.

[0015] Specifically, image information captured by modality 10a of department A is stored in image server 30a with attribute server X, and image information captured by modality 10b of department B is stored in image server 30b with attribute server Y.

[0016] If the specified image server 30 is in an abnormal state, the image information is stored in a spare server. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 2(a), if the free space of the image server 30a falls below a threshold, it is determined to be in an abnormal state and the load distribution device 20 is notified of the abnormality information (S3).

[0017] When the modality 10a transmits the captured image information to the load distribution device 20 (S4), the load distribution device 20 transmits the image information to the backup server 30b because the default image server 30a is in an abnormal state (S5). The backup image server 30b stores the received image information with the attribute Server X (S6).

[0018] When the specified image server 30 that was in an abnormal state returns to a normal state, the image information stored in the backup image server 30 is sent to the default image server 30. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 2(b), if the free space in image server 30a exceeds a threshold, it is determined to be in a normal state and notifies the load balancer 20 of the restoration information (S7). Then, the load balancer 20 notifies image server 30b of an image restoration instruction (S8).

[0019] The image server 30 that has received the image restoration instruction extracts image information having attributes different from its own device and transmits it to the image server 30 that corresponds to this attribute. For example, if the image server 30b of server Y has image information with the attribute server X, it transmits this image information to the image server 30a of server X (S9). Then, the image server 30a stores the received image information.

[0020] In this way, in the medical image management system of this embodiment 1, image information captured by a modality is stored on either the default image server or a spare image server depending on the state of the image server, and if stored on the spare image server, the image information stored on the spare image server is re-saved to the default image server once the default image server returns to normal operation. This allows for efficient handling of situations where the image server is full or where a failure occurs in the image server.

[0021] <System Configuration of Medical Image Management System According to First Embodiment> Next, a description will be given of the system configuration of the medical image management system according to the present embodiment 1. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the system configuration of the medical image management system according to the present embodiment 1.

[0022] 3, a medical facility is equipped with a plurality of modalities 10, for example, a modality 10a in department A and a modality 10b in department B. Each modality 10 is connected to a network N within the medical facility, and a load balancing device 20, an image server 30, and a department PC 40 are connected to this network N.

[0023] The modality 10 is an imaging device such as MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) or CT (Computed Tomography) installed in a medical department. When the modality 10 captures an image of a patient and acquires the image, it adds the imaging date and time, the patient name, the patient ID, the type, and attributes to the image and notifies the load distribution device 20 of the image information. The attributes indicate the server name (e.g., server X or server Y) of the image server 30 that stores the image information.

[0024] The load distribution device 20 is a device that notifies image information according to the status of the image servers 30. Upon receiving device information related to the modalities 10 and the image servers 30, the load distribution device 20 stores the respective information in the modality management data and the image server management data, and notifies all the image servers 30.

[0025] Furthermore, when the load distribution device 20 receives information about the specified server and the backup server that store the image information of the modality 10, the load distribution device 20 stores this information in the setting data.

[0026] Furthermore, when the load distribution device 20 receives normal information or recovery information from the image server 30, it stores the status of the server status data corresponding to this image server 30 as "normal" and updates it. When the load distribution device 20 receives abnormality information from the image server 30, it stores the status of the server status data corresponding to this image server 30 as "abnormal" and updates it.

[0027] Furthermore, when the load balancing device 20 receives image information from the modality 10, it identifies the server ID corresponding to the modality ID contained in the image information, and if the status of the image server 30 corresponding to the prioritized server ID is "normal," it notifies the image server 30 of the received image information.

[0028] Furthermore, when the load distribution device 20 receives restoration information from the image servers 30, it notifies all the image servers 30 of an image restoration instruction.

[0029] The image server 30 is a device that stores image information. Upon receiving the modality management data and the image server management data from the load distribution device 20, the image server 30 stores the received data.

[0030] Furthermore, when the image server 30 is powered on, if the free space of the image server 30 exceeds a threshold, the image server 30 determines that the image server 30 is in a normal state and notifies the load distribution device 20 of the normal state. If the free space is equal to or less than the threshold, the image server 30 determines that the image server 30 is in an abnormal state and notifies the load distribution device 20 of the abnormal state.

[0031] Furthermore, if the image server 30 is in a normal state and the free space falls below the threshold, causing the image server 30 to enter an abnormal state, the image server 30 notifies the load distribution device 20 of abnormality information. If the image server 30 is in an abnormal state and the free space exceeds the threshold, causing the image server 30 to enter a normal state, the image server 30 notifies the load distribution device 20 of recovery information.

[0032] Furthermore, when the image server 30 receives image information from the load distribution device 20, it stores the received image information in the image information data.

[0033] Furthermore, when the image server 30 receives an image restoration instruction from the load distribution device 20, it extracts image information having attributes other than those corresponding to its own device, and notifies the image server 30 corresponding to the attributes of the extracted image information of this image information. Then, when it receives an image receipt notification, it deletes the extracted image information.

[0034] Furthermore, when an image server 30 receives image information from another image server 30, it stores the image information and then sends an image reception notification to the other image server 30 that sent the image information.

[0035] Furthermore, when the image server 30 receives a viewing request from the department PC 40 that has viewing authority, it notifies the department PC 40 of the image information corresponding to this viewing request.

[0036] The department PC 40 is a device that displays image information. When the department PC 40 receives a request for an image to be viewed, it notifies the image server 30 of the received request and the viewing authority assigned to the department PC 40 as a viewing request. Then, when the department PC 40 receives image information from the image server 30, it displays the image information.

[0037] <Configuration of the Load Balancer 20> Next, a description will be given of the configuration of the load balancing device 20 shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 4 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the load balancing device 20 shown in Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. 4, the load balancing device 20 has a display operation unit 21, a communication unit 23, a storage unit 25, and a control unit 26.

[0038] The display operation unit 21 is an input / output device such as a touch display device, etc. The communication unit 23 is an interface unit for communicating data between the modality 10 and the image server 30 via the network N.

[0039] The storage unit 25 is a storage device such as a hard disk drive or a nonvolatile memory, and stores modality management data 25a, image server management data 25b, setting data 25c, and server status data 25d.

[0040] The modality management data 25a is data indicating device information related to the modality 10. The image server management data 25b is data indicating device information related to the image server 30. The setting data 25c is data indicating the default server and spare server that store image information. The server status data 25d is data indicating the status of the image server 30.

[0041] The control unit 26 is a control unit that performs overall control of the load balancing device 20, and includes a device management unit 26a, a setting unit 26b, a server status management unit 26c, a server selection unit 26d, and an image restoration instruction unit 26e. In practice, these programs are loaded into a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and executed, causing the device management unit 26a, the setting unit 26b, the server status management unit 26c, the server selection unit 26d, and the image restoration instruction unit 26e to execute processes corresponding to each of them.

[0042] The device management unit 26a is a processing unit that manages the modality management data 25a and the image server management data 25b. Upon receiving device information related to the modality 10 and the image server 30 from the display operation unit 21, the device management unit 26a stores the information in the modality management data 25a and the image server management data 25b, and notifies all the image servers 30 of the information.

[0043] The setting unit 26b is a processing unit that manages the setting data 25c. When the setting unit 26b receives information about the specified server and the backup server that store the image information of the modality 10 from the display operation unit 21, the setting unit 26b stores this information in the setting data 25c.

[0044] The server status management unit 26c is a processing unit that manages the server status data 25d. When the server status management unit 26c receives normal information or recovery information from the image server 30, it stores the status of the server status data 25d corresponding to this image server 30 as "normal" and updates it.

[0045] Furthermore, when the server status management unit 26c receives abnormality information from the image server 30, it updates the server status data 25d corresponding to this image server 30 by storing the status as "abnormal."

[0046] The server selection unit 26d is a processing unit that selects an image server 30 that will store image information. When the server selection unit 26d receives image information from the modality 10, it extracts the server ID corresponding to the modality ID included in the image information from the setting data 25c. Then, if the status of the image server 30 corresponding to the prioritized server ID is "normal" in the server status data 25d, it selects this image server 30.

[0047] For example, if the modality ID is "M11", the corresponding default server ID is "S11", the spare 1 server ID is "S12", and the spare 2 server ID is "S13". If the image server 30 with the server ID "S11" is "normal", this image server 30 is selected. If the image server 30 with the server ID "S11" is "abnormal" and the image server 30 with the server ID "S12" is "normal", this image server 30 is selected. If the image server 30 with the server ID "S12" is "abnormal" and the image server 30 with the server ID "S13" is "normal", this image server 30 is selected.

[0048] Furthermore, once the server selector 26d has selected the image server 30, it notifies the image server 30 of the image information received from the modality 10.

[0049] The image restoration instruction unit 26e is a processing unit that issues an image restoration instruction. Upon receiving restoration information from the image server 30, the image restoration instruction unit 26e issues an image restoration instruction to all image servers 30.

[0050] Next, an example of data stored in the storage unit 25 of the load distribution device 20 shown in Fig. 4 will be described. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the modality management data 25a, the image server management data 25b, the setting data 25c, and the server status data 25d shown in Fig. 4.

[0051] The modality management data 25a shown in Figure 5(a) associates modality ID "M11" with a state in which the attribute is "Department A" and the type is "CT", modality ID "M12" with a state in which the attribute is "Department B" and the type is "MRI", and modality ID "M13" with a state in which the attribute is "Department C" and the type is "X-ray".

[0052] The image server management data 25b shown in FIG. 5(b) associates a state in which the attribute is "Server X" and the type is "CT" with the server ID "S11," a state in which the attribute is "Server Y" and the type is "MRI" with the server ID "S12," and a state in which the attribute is "Server Z" and the type is "X-ray" with the server ID "S13."

[0053] The setting data 25c shown in Figure 5(c) associates the modality ID "M11" with a state in which the default server ID is "S11", the spare 1 server ID is "S12", and the spare 2 server ID is "S13", the modality ID "M12" with a state in which the default server ID is "S12", the spare 1 server ID is "S13", and the spare 2 server ID is "S11", and the modality ID "M13" with a state in which the default server ID is "S13", the spare 1 server ID is "S11", and the spare 2 server ID is "S12".

[0054] The server status data 25d shown in Figure 5(d) indicates that the status of the image server 30 with server ID "S11" is "abnormal", the status of the image server 30 with server ID "S12" is "normal", and the status of the image server 30 with server ID "S13" is "normal".

[0055] <Configuration of image server 30> Next, we will explain the configuration of the image server 30 shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the image server 30 shown in Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. 6, the image server 30 has a display operation unit 31, a communication unit 33, a storage unit 35, and a control unit 36.

[0056] The display operation unit 31 is an input / output device such as a touch display device. The communication unit 33 is an interface unit for communicating data with the load balancing device 20, the department PC 40, and other image servers 30 via the network N.

[0057] The storage unit 35 is a storage device such as a hard disk drive or a nonvolatile memory, and stores modality management data 35a, image server management data 35b, and image information data 35c.

[0058] The modality management data 35a is data indicating device information related to the modality 10. The image server management data 35b is data indicating device information related to the image server 30. The image information data 35c is data indicating image information, and includes the patient name, patient ID, attributes, etc.

[0059] The control unit 36 ​​is a control unit that performs overall control of the image server 30, and includes a device management unit 36a, a status notification unit 36b, an image information management unit 36c, an image information transfer unit 36d, an image information receiving unit 36e, and an image viewing control unit 36f. In practice, by loading these programs into the CPU and executing them, the device management unit 36a, the status notification unit 36b, the image information management unit 36c, the image information transfer unit 36d, the image information receiving unit 36e, and the image viewing control unit 36f will execute their respective corresponding processes.

[0060] The device management unit 36a is a processing unit that manages the modality management data 35a and the image server management data 35b. Upon receiving the modality management data and the image server management data from the load distribution device 20, the device management unit 36a stores the received data in the modality management data 35a and the image server management data 35b.

[0061] The status notification unit 36b is a processing unit that notifies the status of the device itself. When the power of the device itself is turned on, if the free space in the storage unit 35 exceeds a threshold, the status notification unit 36b determines that the device is in a normal state and notifies the load distribution device 20 of the normal state. If the free space is equal to or less than the threshold, the status notification unit 36b determines that the device is in an abnormal state and notifies the load distribution device 20 of the abnormal state.

[0062] Furthermore, if the free space falls below a threshold and the device enters an abnormal state while the device itself is in a normal state, the status notification unit 36b notifies the load distribution device 20 of abnormality information. If the free space exceeds the threshold and the device enters a normal state while the device itself is in an abnormal state, the status notification unit 36b notifies the load distribution device 20 of recovery information.

[0063] The image information management unit 36c is a processing unit that manages the image information data 35c. When the image information management unit 36c receives image information from the load distribution device 20, the image information management unit 36c stores the received image information in the image information data 35c.

[0064] The image information transfer unit 36d is a processing unit that transfers image information. When the image information transfer unit 36d receives an image restoration instruction from the load distribution device 20, it performs the following process: extracts image information having attributes other than the attributes corresponding to its own device from the image information data 35c; notifies the image server 30 corresponding to the attributes of the extracted image information; and, when it receives an image receipt notification, deletes the extracted image information from the image information data 35c.

[0065] The image information receiving unit 36e is a processing unit that receives image information from another image server 30. When the image information receiving unit 36e receives image information from another image server 30, it stores the image information in the image information data 35c. Then, it sends an image reception notification to the other image server 30 that sent the image information.

[0066] The image viewing control unit 36f is a processing unit that controls image viewing by the medical department PC 40. When the image viewing control unit 36f receives a viewing request from the medical department PC 40 with viewing authority, it extracts image information corresponding to the viewing request from the image information data 35c and notifies the medical department PC 40 of the extracted image information.

[0067] Next, a description will be given of an example of data stored in the storage unit 35 of the image server 30 shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the modality management data 35a, the image server management data 35b, and the image information data 35c shown in Fig. 6.

[0068] The modality management data 35a shown in Figure 7(a) associates modality ID "M11" with a state in which the attribute is "Department A" and the type is "CT", modality ID "M12" with a state in which the attribute is "Department B" and the type is "MRI", and modality ID "M13" with a state in which the attribute is "Department C" and the type is "X-ray".

[0069] The image server management data 35b shown in FIG. 7(b) associates the server ID "S11" with a state in which the attribute is "Server X" and the type is "CT," the server ID "S12" with a state in which the attribute is "Server Y" and the type is "MRI," and the server ID "S13" with a state in which the attribute is "Server Z" and the type is "X-ray."

[0070] The image information data 35c shown in Figure 7(c) corresponds to the date and time "2024.07.01 10:20" with the patient name being "Patent Taro", the patient ID being "KJ1234", the type being "CT", the image being "CT202407011020.jpg", and the attribute being "Server X".

[0071] In addition, image information data 35c associates the date and time "2024.07.01 10:30" with a state in which the patient name is "Kaihatsu Hanako," the patient ID is "KJ5678," the type is "MRI," the image is "MR202407011030.jpg," and the attribute is "Server Y."

[0072] <Processing Procedure for Image Information Transmission Processing in the Load Distribution Apparatus 20 According to the First Embodiment> Next, a description will be given of a processing procedure for transmitting image information in the load distribution apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment 1. Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for transmitting image information in the load distribution apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment 1.

[0073] As shown in FIG. 8, when the load balancing device 20 receives image information from the modality 10 (step S101; Yes), it uses the setting data 25c and the server status data 25d to check the status of the specified image server 30 corresponding to this image information (step S102).

[0074] If the specified image server 30 is normal (step S102; Yes), the image information is sent to this specified image server 30 (step S105), and the process ends there.

[0075] If the specified image server 30 is abnormal (step S102; No), a spare image server 30 in a normal state is selected using the setting data 25c and the server status data 25d (step S103), and image information is sent to this selected image server 30 (step S104), and the process ends.

[0076] <Processing Procedure for Transferring Image Information According to the First Embodiment> Next, a description will be given of a processing procedure for transferring image information according to the present embodiment 1. Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure for transferring image information according to the present embodiment 1.

[0077] As shown in FIG. 9, when the load distribution device 20 receives restoration information from the image servers 30 (step S201; Yes), it notifies all the image servers 30 of an image restoration instruction (step S202).

[0078] When the image server 30 receives the image restoration instruction, it checks the attributes of each data item in the image information data 35c (step S203). If all the attributes belong to the image server 30 itself (step S203; No), it ends the process.

[0079] If there is image information indicating another server whose attribute is different from that of the own device (step S203; Yes), the corresponding image information is sent to the image server 30 corresponding to the attribute (step S204). Then, if an image receipt notification is received from this image server 30 (step S205; Yes), the corresponding image information is deleted from the image information data 35c (step S206), and the process ends.

[0080] As described above, in the medical image management system of this embodiment 1, image information captured by a modality is stored on a default image server or a spare image server depending on the state of the image server, and if stored on a spare image server, the image information stored on the spare image server is re-saved to the default image server once the default image server returns to normal operation. This allows for efficient handling of situations where the image server is full or where a failure occurs in the image server.

[0081] In the first embodiment, an image server is configured to notify abnormality information when its own free space falls below a threshold, and to notify recovery information when this free space exceeds the threshold, but the present invention is not limited to this. The image server may also be configured to notify abnormality information when a failure occurs that prevents new image information from being saved, and to notify recovery information when the failure that prevents new image information from being saved is resolved.

[0082] In the first embodiment, the image server is configured to process both normal and abnormal conditions with the same program or application, but the present invention is not limited to this. The image server may be configured to use a normal program (application) when normal, and switch to an abnormal program (application) when abnormal.

[0083] [Embodiment 2] In the first embodiment, a configuration for efficiently managing image information in a modality and an image server installed in a single medical facility has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. When modalities and image servers are distributed across multiple medical facilities, the devices in the multiple medical facilities can be connected via an external network to manage image information.

[0084] In this second embodiment, we will describe a medical image management system that connects devices within multiple medical facilities via an external network and manages image information when modalities and image servers are distributed across multiple medical facilities.

[0085] <System Configuration of Medical Image Management System According to Second Embodiment> A description will be given of the system configuration of the medical image management system according to the second embodiment. Fig. 10 is a diagram showing the system configuration of the medical image management system according to the second embodiment.

[0086] 10, medical facility J has departments A and B, each equipped with a modality 10a and a modality 10b. Each modality 10 is connected to a network N1 within medical facility J, and a load balancing device 20, an image server 30a, an image server 30b, and a department PC 40a are connected to this network N1.

[0087] The medical facility K has a medical department C, in which a modality 10c is installed. The modality 10c is connected to a network N2 within the medical facility K, and an image server 30c and a medical department PC 40b are connected to this network N2.

[0088] The network N1 and the network N2 are each connected to the Internet, and the devices connected to the network N1 and the network N2 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other via the Internet.

[0089] When all the image servers 30 are in a normal state, the modalities 10a, 10b, and 10c notify the captured image information to the image servers 30a, 30b, and 30c, respectively, via the load balancer 20. For example, in the case of the modality 10c, the image information is notified in the following order: modality 10c → network N2 → internet → network N1 → load balancer 20 → network N1 → internet → network N2 → image server 30c.

[0090] Furthermore, if the image server 30b is in an abnormal state and the other image servers 30 are normal, the modality 10b notifies the captured image information to the image server 30c, which is a backup server, via the load balancer 20. Specifically, the image information is notified in the following order: modality 10b → network N1 → load balancer 20 → network N1 → Internet → network N2 → image server 30c. At this time, the attribute of the image information saved in the image server 30c is stored as "server Y."

[0091] As described above, in the medical image management system of this embodiment 2, when modalities and image servers are distributed across multiple medical facilities, the devices within the multiple medical facilities are connected via an external network and image information is managed, so that it is possible to efficiently deal with situations where the image server is full or where a failure occurs in the image server.

[0092] Note that the configurations illustrated in the above embodiments are merely functional schematics and do not necessarily have to be physically configured as shown. In other words, the distribution and integration of each device is not limited to that illustrated, and all or part of the devices can be functionally or physically distributed and integrated in any unit depending on various loads, usage conditions, etc. [Industrial Applicability]

[0093] The medical image management system and load balancing method according to the present invention are suitable for efficiently dealing with cases where the capacity of an image server is full or where a failure occurs in an image server. [Explanation of symbols]

[0094] N, N1, N2 networks 10, 10a, 10b, 10c modalities 20 Load balancer 21 Display operation section 23 Communications Department 25 Memory section 25a Modality Management Data 25b Image server management data 25c setting data 25d Server Status Data 26 Control Unit 26a Equipment management department 26b Setting section 26c Server Status Management Unit 26d Server Selection Department 26e Image restoration instruction section 30, 30a, 30b, 30c Image Server 31 Display operation section 33 Communications Department 35 Storage section 35a Modality Management Data 35b Image server management data 35c Image information data 36 Control Unit 36a Equipment management department 36b Status notification section 36c Image information management department 36d Image information transfer section 36e Image information receiving unit 36f Image viewing control unit 40, 40a, 40b Clinical department PC

Claims

1. A medical image management system having a plurality of medical image recording servers installed in a hospital and storing medical images captured by a plurality of modality devices, a load distribution device that is interposed between the plurality of modality devices and the plurality of medical image recording servers, and that performs load distribution control such that when a new medical image is to be stored in the first medical image recording server in a state in which a medical image captured by a first modality device is set to be stored in the first medical image recording server, if the available capacity of the first medical image recording server is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the medical image captured by the first modality device and identification information of the first medical image recording server are temporarily stored in a second medical image recording server other than the first medical image recording server; The second medical image recording server When the free space of the first medical image recording server exceeds a predetermined threshold, or when a failure that prevented new medical images from being stored in the first medical image recording server is resolved, the temporarily stored medical images are transferred to the first medical image recording server; The first medical image recording server storing the medical images transferred from the second medical image recording server; A medical image management system characterized by:

2. The plurality of modality devices include:

2. The medical image management system according to claim 1, which is connected to a closed network.

3. 3. The medical image management system according to claim 1, further comprising a terminal device having a display unit for displaying the plurality of medical images stored in the plurality of medical image recording servers.

4. A load balancing method in a medical image management system having a plurality of medical image recording servers installed in a hospital and storing medical images captured by a plurality of modality devices, comprising: a load balancing step of performing load balancing control to temporarily store the medical image captured by the first modality device and identification information of the first medical image recording server in a second medical image recording server other than the first medical image recording server if the available capacity of the first medical image recording server is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value when a new medical image is to be stored in the first medical image recording server in a state where the device is interposed between the plurality of modality devices and the plurality of medical image recording servers and is set to store a medical image captured by a first modality device in the first medical image recording server; a transfer step in which the second medical image recording server transfers the temporarily stored medical images to the first medical image recording server when the free space of the first medical image recording server exceeds a predetermined threshold or when the failure that prevented new medical images from being stored in the first medical image recording server is resolved; a storage step in which the first medical image recording server stores the medical images transferred from the second medical image recording server; A load balancing method comprising:

Images