Program, image interpretation management device, diagnostic support information output device, image interpretation management system, and image interpretation management method.

Abstract

This will allow technicians to be aware that the diagnostic support information they provide has been reviewed by a physician. [Solution] The console's control unit acquires medical images, and when diagnostic support information from a technician regarding those medical images is input, the communication unit outputs the input diagnostic support information to the image server. When the communication unit receives confirmation information from the image server indicating that the confirmation status of the above diagnostic support information has been confirmed, the console's control unit acquires the received confirmation information and displays it on the display unit.

Description

Technical Field

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[0001] The present invention relates to a program, a radiology management device, a diagnostic support information output device, a radiology management system, and a radiology management method.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, STAT image reporting has begun to attract attention as one of the task shifts / shares from radiologists (hereinafter referred to as doctors) to radiological technologists (hereinafter referred to as technologists) in order to reform the work style of doctors. STAT image reporting means that a technologist quickly conveys an image with findings of a disease with high urgency related to the prognosis of life to a doctor after taking the image. In Japan, too, it has been recommended that technologists be involved in assisting with radiology reading according to the notice from the Director of the Medical Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (in 2010).

[0003] As a technique for conveying an image with findings of a disease to a doctor, for example, in Patent Document 1, when a specific injury or disease is detected from a medical image, among the medical staff related to the detected injury or disease, information on the medical staff who can be contacted is notified to the technologist together with the detection result of the injury or disease.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, with the technique described in Patent Document 1, a technologist cannot grasp that information indicating that a specific disease has been detected has been confirmed by a doctor. Therefore, for example, when a technologist outputs diagnostic support information indicating that an image is suspected of a specific disease to a doctor, no reminder can be given for the diagnostic support information that the doctor has not confirmed. Also, there is a concern that a technologist may give a reminder regarding the diagnostic support information that the doctor has already confirmed.

[0006] The objective of this invention is to enable technicians to understand that the diagnostic support information they provide has been reviewed by a physician. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To solve the above problems, the program according to the present invention Computers Acquisition unit for acquiring diagnostic support information related to medical images, A first determination unit that determines whether the aforementioned diagnostic support information is diagnostic support information provided by a technician, A second determination unit that determines whether or not the diagnostic support information determined to be diagnostic support information by the aforementioned technician is displayed. When the second determination unit determines that the diagnostic support information has been displayed, an output unit outputs to an external device information indicating that the confirmation status of the diagnostic support information has been confirmed. To make it function as such.

[0008] Furthermore, the program according to the present invention is Computers First acquisition unit for acquiring medical images, An output unit that outputs diagnostic support information from a technician regarding the aforementioned medical image. A second acquisition unit acquires confirmed information indicating that the confirmation status of the aforementioned diagnostic support information has been confirmed. A display control unit that displays the confirmed information on the display unit. To make it function as such.

[0009] Furthermore, the image interpretation management device according to the present invention is An acquisition unit that acquires diagnostic support information related to medical images, A first determination unit that determines whether the aforementioned diagnostic support information is diagnostic support information provided by a technician, A second determination unit that determines whether the diagnostic support information determined to be diagnostic support information by the aforementioned technician is displayed, When the second determination unit determines that the diagnostic support information has been displayed, an output unit outputs information to an external device indicating that the confirmation status of the diagnostic support information has been confirmed. It is equipped with.

[0010] Furthermore, the diagnostic support information output device according to the present invention is A first acquisition unit for acquiring medical images, An output unit that outputs diagnostic support information from a technician regarding the aforementioned medical image, A second acquisition unit that acquires confirmed information indicating that the confirmation status of the aforementioned diagnostic support information has been confirmed, A display unit that displays the confirmed information, It is equipped with.

[0011] Furthermore, the image interpretation management system according to the present invention is An acquisition unit that acquires diagnostic support information related to medical images, A first determination unit that determines whether the aforementioned diagnostic support information is diagnostic support information provided by a technician, A second determination unit that determines whether the diagnostic support information determined to be diagnostic support information by the aforementioned technician is displayed, When the second determination unit determines that the diagnostic support information has been displayed, an output unit outputs information to an external device indicating that the confirmation status of the diagnostic support information has been confirmed. It is equipped with.

[0012] Furthermore, the image interpretation management system according to the present invention is A first acquisition unit for acquiring medical images, An output unit that outputs diagnostic support information from a technician regarding the aforementioned medical image, A second acquisition unit that acquires confirmed information indicating that the confirmation status of the aforementioned diagnostic support information has been confirmed, A display unit that displays the confirmed information, It is equipped with.

[0013] Furthermore, the image interpretation management method according to the present invention is The acquisition process involves obtaining diagnostic support information related to medical images, A first determination step of determining whether the diagnostic support information is diagnostic support information by a technician; A second determination step of determining whether the diagnostic support information that has been determined to be the diagnostic support information by the technician is displayed; an output step of outputting, to an external device, information indicating that the confirmation state of the diagnostic support information has been confirmed when it is determined in the second determination step that the diagnostic support information is displayed; and the method includes: <>

[0014] <> In addition, the radiographic examination management method according to the present invention includes: a first acquisition step of acquiring a medical image; an output step of outputting diagnostic support information by a technician regarding the medical image; a second acquisition step of acquiring confirmed information indicating that the confirmation state of the diagnostic support information has been confirmed; a display step of displaying the confirmed information; ]>and the method includes:

Effects of the Invention

[0015] >

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0017] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated examples.

[0018] [Configuration of the image interpretation management system] Figure 1 shows an example of the system configuration of the image interpretation management system 100 in this embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the image interpretation management system 100 includes a modality 1, a console 2, an image server 3, an image interpretation terminal 4, etc. Each device constituting the image interpretation management system 100 can send and receive data from each other via a communication network N such as a LAN (Local Area Network), WAN (Wide Area Network), or the Internet. Furthermore, each device constituting the image interpretation management system 100 conforms to the HL7 (Health Level Seven) and DICOM (Digital Image and Communications in Medicine) standards, and communication between each device is conducted in accordance with HL7 or DICOM. The number of each device is not particularly limited.

[0019] Modality 1 is an image generation device such as an X-ray imaging device (DR, CR), an ultrasound diagnostic device (US), a CT scanner, or an MRI scanner. Based on control from Console 2, Modality 1 takes images of the patient's target area and generates medical images. Modality 1 transmits the medical images obtained from the imaging to Console 2.

[0020] Console 2 is an imaging control device that controls imaging in Modality 1 in response to operations by the technician. Console 2 acquires medical images by causing Modality 1 to perform imaging based on examination order information transmitted from a RIS (Radiology Information System) or the like (not shown). Console 2 also adds supplementary information to the medical images acquired from Modality 1. For example, it writes supplementary information to the header of the medical image. Supplementary information includes, for example, patient information, examination information, and diagnostic support information. Patient information includes information such as patient ID, patient name, date of birth, age, gender, height, and weight. Examination information includes information such as examination ID, date and time of shooting, modality type, examination site, shooting procedure, and image identification information (series information, image information, etc.). Diagnostic support information includes diagnostic support information processed by computer or diagnostic support information provided by a technician. Details about diagnostic support information will be described later. Furthermore, Console 2 stores the examination information, diagnostic support information, etc., of the performed examinations in the storage unit 24 as examination execution information, associating it with the examination order information. Console 2 also transmits the medical images with the attached supplementary information to the image server 3. In other words, Console 2 functions as a diagnostic support information output device.

[0021] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of console 2. As shown in Figure 2, the console 2 includes a control unit 21, an operation unit 22, a display unit 23, a storage unit 24, a communication unit 25, and the like. The various parts of the console 2 are connected by a bus 26.

[0022] The control unit 21 consists of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., and comprehensively controls the processing operations of each part of the console 2. Specifically, the CPU of the control unit 21 reads various processing programs stored in the program storage unit 241 of the memory unit 24, loads them into RAM, and performs various processing in cooperation with the said programs. For example, the control unit 21 functions as a first acquisition unit, output unit, second acquisition unit, display control unit, and notification unit by executing the diagnostic support information output processing described later in cooperation with the programs stored in the program storage unit 241.

[0023] The operation unit 22 is comprised of a keyboard equipped with cursor keys, character and number input keys, and various function keys, and a pointing device such as a mouse. The operation unit 22 outputs operation signals input by key operations on the keyboard and mouse operations to the control unit 21. The operation unit 22 may also be comprised of a touchscreen. The display unit 23 is configured to include a monitor such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). The display unit 23 displays various screens according to the instructions of the display signals input from the control unit 21.

[0024] The storage unit 24 is composed of an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), non-volatile semiconductor memory, etc. The storage unit 24 includes a program storage unit 241. The program storage unit 241 stores various programs, including a program for executing the diagnostic support information output processing shown in Figure 4, and an image analysis program that generates diagnostic support information by analyzing medical images using computer processing. Here, image analysis by computer processing includes, for example, detection of candidate lesion areas using CAD (Computer-Aided Diagnosis) and detection of candidate lesion areas using AI analysis with AI (Artificial Intelligence).

[0025] Furthermore, the memory unit 24 includes an inspection order information memory unit 242. The inspection order information memory unit 242 stores inspection order information obtained from a RIS (Not shown) or the like. The inspection order information memory unit 242 also stores inspection execution information of inspections performed based on the inspection order information, associating it with the inspection order information. Furthermore, the memory unit 24 stores parameters, files, and other information necessary for executing the program stored in the program memory unit 241.

[0026] The communication unit 25 is composed of a network interface and the like, and performs data transmission and reception with external devices connected via the communication network N.

[0027] Image server 3 is, for example, a PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) server. When the image server 3 receives a medical image from the console 2, it stores the medical image in the image database 342, associating it with image identification information and associated information such as patient information, examination information, and diagnostic support information. Furthermore, when the image server 3 receives a medical image from the console 2, it acquires the diagnostic support information attached to the medical image and determines whether or not it is diagnostic support information provided by a technician. If it determines that it is diagnostic support information provided by a technician, the image server 3 displays a notification on the image interpretation terminal 4 indicating that there is diagnostic support information provided by a technician. When the diagnostic support information provided by a technician is displayed on the image interpretation terminal 4, the image server 3 sends confirmation information of the diagnostic support information provided by a technician to the console 2. In other words, the image server 3 functions as an image interpretation management device. Furthermore, the image server 3 extracts records of examinations based on predetermined conditions from the image database 342 to generate examination list information and transmits it to the image interpretation terminal 4. Furthermore, the image server 3 reads the medical images of the examination requested by the image interpretation terminal 4 from the image database 342 and transmits them to the image interpretation terminal 4.

[0028] Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of image server 3. As shown in Figure 3, the image server 3 includes a control unit 31, an operation unit 32, a display unit 33, a storage unit 34, a communication unit 35, and the like. The various parts of the image server 3 are connected by a bus 36.

[0029] The control unit 31 consists of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., and comprehensively controls the processing operations of each part of the image server 3. Specifically, the CPU of the control unit 31 reads various processing programs stored in the program storage unit 341 of the storage unit 34, loads them into RAM, and performs various processing in cooperation with said programs. For example, the control unit 31 functions as an acquisition unit, a first judgment unit, a second judgment unit, an output unit, and a control unit by executing the diagnostic support information notification processing described later in cooperation with the programs stored in the program storage unit 341.

[0030] The operation unit 32 is comprised of a keyboard equipped with cursor keys, character and number input keys, and various function keys, and a pointing device such as a mouse. The operation unit 32 outputs operation signals input by key operations on the keyboard and mouse operations to the control unit 31. The display unit 33 is configured with a monitor such as an LCD. The display unit 33 displays various screens according to the instructions of the display signals input from the control unit 31. The operation unit 32 may be configured with a touchscreen.

[0031] The storage unit 34 is composed of an HDD, non-volatile semiconductor memory, etc. The storage unit 34 includes a program storage unit 341. The program storage unit 341 stores various programs, including a program for executing the diagnostic support information notification process shown in Figure 8. Furthermore, the storage unit 34 includes an image database 342. The image database 342 stores medical images received from the console 2, associating them with image identification information and associated information such as patient information, examination information, and diagnostic support information. In the image database 342, the diagnostic support information provided by the technician can store information indicating the status of confirmation by the physician. This confirmation status indicates whether or not the physician has confirmed the diagnostic support information provided by the technician. By default, the confirmation status is set to "unconfirmed". Furthermore, the memory unit 34 stores parameters, files, and other information necessary for executing the program stored in the program memory unit 341.

[0032] The communication unit 35 is composed of a network interface and the like, and performs data transmission and reception with external devices connected via the communication network N.

[0033] The image interpretation terminal 4 is, for example, a PACS client (PACS viewer), and reads medical images from the image server 3, etc., in response to the physician's operation and displays them for interpretation. Also, when the image interpretation terminal 4 receives notification information from the image server 3 indicating that there is diagnostic support information from a technician, it displays the notification information indicating that there is diagnostic support information from a technician.

[0034] [Operation of the image interpretation management system] Next, we will explain the output of diagnostic support information by technicians and the display operation of confirmed information of said diagnostic support information in the image interpretation management system 100.

[0035] Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the diagnostic support information output processing performed by the control unit 21 of console 2. The diagnostic support information output processing is performed through the cooperation of the control unit 21 and the program stored in the program storage unit 241.

[0036] In the diagnostic support information output processing, first, the control unit 21 acquires a medical image by performing imaging using modality 1 based on the examination order information selected by the technician using the operation unit 22 (step S1).

[0037] Next, the control unit 21 performs computer-based image analysis on the acquired medical image and obtains computer-based diagnostic support information (step S2). The control unit 21 analyzes the medical image based on the image analysis program stored in the program storage unit 241 and generates (obtains) computer-based diagnostic support information. Computer-based diagnostic support information includes, for example, information such as the presence or absence of candidate lesion areas, the location of detected candidate lesion areas, and the type of detected candidate lesion.

[0038] Next, the control unit 21 displays the acquired medical image on the display unit 23 (step S3). Figure 5 shows an example of the medical image display screen 231 displayed on the display unit 23 in step S3. As shown in Figure 5, the medical image display screen 231 displays patient information 231a, examination information 231b, medical image 231c, etc. The medical image display screen 231 is also provided with a diagnostic support information input field 231d, a send button 231e, etc. The diagnostic support information input field 231d is a field for the technician to input diagnostic support information (findings, comments, opinions, etc.) by operating the operation unit 22. Furthermore, on the medical image display screen 231, it is also possible for the technician to add annotations (markers) to areas suspected of being lesions on the medical image 231c as diagnostic support information by operating the operation unit 22.

[0039] In this embodiment, the technician observes the medical images obtained through imaging and, if they determine that there is a suspicion of a disease (lesion) that should be reported to a physician, they input diagnostic support information. Examples of diseases that should be reported to a physician include, for example, highly urgent diseases as defined in the STAT image reporting guidelines mentioned above (e.g., pneumothorax). Furthermore, the medical image display screen 231 may display diagnostic support information processed by computer along with the medical image, such as the presence or absence of a candidate lesion area, a mark indicating the location of the detected candidate lesion area, and the type of candidate lesion. In addition, the system may allow technicians to input supplementary information to the computer-processed diagnostic support information as diagnostic support information.

[0040] When the transmission button 231e is pressed by the operation unit 22 and the transmission of a medical image is instructed, the control unit 21 determines whether or not diagnostic support information has been entered by the technician (step S4). If it is determined that diagnostic support information has been entered by the technician through the operation unit 22 (step S4; YES), the control unit 21 outputs the computer-processed and technician-provided diagnostic support information to the image server 3 via the communication unit 25, along with the medical image (step S5). In other words, the control unit 21 sends the computer-processed and technician-provided diagnostic support information, along with patient information and examination information, to the image server 3.

[0041] When the image server 3 receives a medical image from console 2, the diagnostic support information notification process described later is executed, and notification information indicating that there is diagnostic support information from a technician is displayed on the image reading terminal 4. When the diagnostic support information from the technician is displayed on the image reading terminal 4, that is, when the diagnostic support information from the technician is confirmed by the physician, the image server 3 sends confirmation information to console 2. The confirmation information indicates that the confirmation status of the diagnostic support information from the technician has been confirmed.

[0042] Next, the control unit 21 determines whether or not confirmed information has been obtained from the image server 3 by the communication unit 25 (step S6). If it is determined that confirmed information has not been obtained (step S6; NO), the control unit 21 decides whether or not to send a reminder prompting the technician to confirm the diagnostic support information (step S7). Here, for example, as shown in Figure 6, after the diagnostic support information is sent by the technician and before the confirmed information is received, the control unit 21 displays a re-notification button 231f on the medical image display screen 231. The re-notification button 231f is a button that instructs the control unit 21 to send a notification to the image server 3 prompting the technician to confirm the diagnostic support information. In step S7, the control unit 21 determines whether or not the re-notification button 231f has been pressed. If the re-notification button 231f has been pressed, the control unit 21 determines to send a re-notification prompting the technician to confirm the diagnostic support information. Furthermore, the control unit 21 may send re-notifications at predetermined intervals, regardless of the technician's operation, after the technician has sent diagnostic support information to the image server 3 and until confirmed information is received.

[0043] If it is determined in step S7 not to send a re-notification (step S7; NO), the control unit 21 returns to step S6. If it is determined to send a re-notification (step S7; YES), the control unit 21 sends a re-notification prompting the technician to confirm the diagnostic support information (step S8), and returns to step S6.

[0044] In step S6, if it is determined that confirmed information has been obtained (step S6; YES), the control unit 21 displays the confirmed information on the display unit 23 (step S9) and terminates the diagnostic support information output process. In step S9, for example, the control unit 21 displays a message 231g such as "Confirmed" on the medical image display screen 231 as confirmed information, as shown in Figure 7. This allows the technician to understand that the diagnostic support information provided by the technician has been confirmed by the physician.

[0045] On the other hand, if in step S4 it is determined that no diagnostic support information has been input by the technician (step S4; NO), the control unit 21 outputs the computer-processed diagnostic support information to the medical image via the communication unit 25 to the image server 3 (step S10). Then, the control unit 21 terminates the diagnostic support information output process.

[0046] Furthermore, the confirmed information and the re-notification button may be displayed on the row corresponding to the relevant test in the test list screen (not shown), which displays a list of test order information and test execution information. This allows the technician to grasp the physician's confirmation status for multiple tests and which tests require re-notification at once.

[0047] Next, we will describe the diagnostic support information notification process performed on image server 3. Figure 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of the diagnostic support information notification process executed by the control unit 31 of the image server 3. The diagnostic support information notification process is executed in cooperation with the control unit 31 and the program stored in the program storage unit 341 when a medical image is received from the console 2 by the communication unit 35.

[0048] In the diagnostic support information notification process, first, the control unit 31 acquires diagnostic support information related to the received medical image (step S21). That is, the control unit 31 acquires the diagnostic support information attached to the received medical image.

[0049] Next, the control unit 31 determines whether the acquired diagnostic support information includes diagnostic support information provided by a technician (step S22). If the control unit 31 determines that the acquired diagnostic support information does not include diagnostic support information provided by a technician (step S22; NO), it terminates the diagnostic support information notification process.

[0050] If the control unit 31 determines that the acquired diagnostic support information includes diagnostic support information provided by a technician (step S22; YES), the control unit 31 sends notification information indicating the presence of diagnostic support information provided by a technician to the image interpretation terminal 4 via the communication unit 35 and displays the notification (step S23). The notification information includes information such as the examination ID corresponding to the diagnostic support information provided by the technician.

[0051] When the image interpretation terminal 4 receives notification information from the image server 3 indicating that there is diagnostic support information from a technician, it displays a notification based on that information on the display unit 43. For example, the image interpretation terminal 4 displays the notification on the currently displayed screen. Alternatively, the image interpretation terminal 4 displays a pop-up notification on the currently displayed screen. This allows the physician to be notified that there is diagnostic support information from a technician, regardless of what screen the physician is viewing on the image interpretation terminal 4.

[0052] Figure 9 shows an example of a notification 431 displayed on the image interpretation terminal 4 indicating that diagnostic support information from a technician is available. As shown in Figure 9, the display unit 43 of the image interpretation terminal 4 displays a message indicating that diagnostic support information from a technician has been received, along with an "Open" button 431a, etc. When the "Open" button 431a is pressed, the image interpretation terminal 4 notifies the image server 3 that the "Open" button 431a has been pressed and the examination ID, etc., corresponding to the received diagnostic support information. The control unit 31 of the image server 3 reads the medical image and diagnostic support information from the image DB 342 corresponding to the notified examination ID and transmits the read medical image and diagnostic support information to the image interpretation terminal 4 via the communication unit 35. When the image interpretation terminal 4 receives the medical image and diagnostic support information from the image server 3, it displays the medical image and diagnostic support information on the display unit 43. The image interpretation terminal 4 also transmits information to the image server 3 indicating that the medical image and diagnostic support information have been displayed.

[0053] In the image server 3, after sending the notification in step S23, it determines whether or not the diagnostic support information provided by the technician has been displayed (step S24). For example, if the control unit 31 receives information from the communication unit 35 indicating that the medical image and diagnostic support information from the image interpretation terminal 4 have been displayed, it determines that the diagnostic support information provided by the technician has been displayed.

[0054] If the control unit 31 determines that diagnostic support information provided by the technician has been displayed (step S24; YES), it stores the status of the technician's diagnostic support information related to the received medical image in the image database 342 as "confirmed" (step S25). The control unit 31 then outputs the confirmation information that the technician's diagnostic support information has been confirmed to the console 2 via the communication unit 35 (step S26), and terminates the diagnostic support information notification process.

[0055] In the above explanation, when the control unit 31 determines that diagnostic support information provided by the technician has been displayed, it automatically sets the physician's confirmation status of the diagnostic support information provided by the technician to "confirmed." However, a confirmation instruction means may also be displayed on the display unit 43 of the image reading terminal 4. The confirmation instruction means is a means (for example, an operation button) for manually instructing the physician to set the physician's confirmation status of the diagnostic support information provided by the technician to "confirmed." For example, the control unit 31 displays the confirmation instruction means on the image reading screen 432, which is displayed on the display unit 433 of the image reading terminal 4 and shows the medical image 432b and the diagnostic support information 432c provided by the technician.

[0056] Figure 10 shows an example of an image interpretation screen 432 with a "Confirmation Instruction" button 432a displayed as a confirmation instruction means. When the "Confirmation Instruction" button 432a is pressed, the image interpretation terminal 4 sends information to the image server 3 instructing it to set the physician's confirmation status of the technician's diagnostic support information 432c to "Confirmed". When the control unit 31 of the image server 3 receives the information instructing it to set the physician's confirmation status of the technician's diagnostic support information 432c to "Confirmed", it stores the physician's confirmation status of the technician's diagnostic support information as "Confirmed" in the image DB 342. The control unit 31 then outputs confirmation information, indicating that the confirmation status of the technician's diagnostic support information 432c has been confirmed, to the console 2 via the communication unit 35.

[0057] As explained above, the control unit 21 of console 2 acquires a medical image, and when diagnostic support information from a technician regarding the medical image is input, the input diagnostic support information is output to the image server 3 via the communication unit 25. When the communication unit 25 receives confirmation information from the image server 3 indicating that the confirmation status of the above diagnostic support information has been confirmed, the control unit 21 acquires the received confirmation information and displays it on the display unit 23. Therefore, the technician can understand that the diagnostic support information provided by the technician has been confirmed by a physician.

[0058] Furthermore, if the control unit 21 does not obtain confirmation information of the diagnostic support information provided by the technician from the image server 3, it will send a reminder prompting the technician to confirm the diagnostic support information. Therefore, it is possible to easily remind the doctor if the diagnostic support information provided by the technician has not been confirmed by the doctor.

[0059] Furthermore, when the control unit 31 of the image server 3 receives diagnostic support information related to medical images from the console 2 via the communication unit 35, it determines whether the acquired diagnostic support information is provided by a technician. The control unit 31 also determines whether the diagnostic support information determined to be provided by a technician is displayed, and if it is determined to be displayed, it sends information to the console 2 via the communication unit 35 indicating that the confirmation status of the diagnostic support information has been confirmed. Therefore, it becomes possible to send information to the console 2 indicating that the diagnostic support information provided by the technician has been confirmed by a physician, so that the technician can be aware that the diagnostic support information provided by the technician has been confirmed by a physician.

[0060] For example, when the control unit 31 determines that diagnostic support information provided by the technician has been displayed, it sets the status of that diagnostic support information as confirmed and outputs information indicating that the diagnostic support information has been confirmed to the console 2. Therefore, when diagnostic support information provided by the technician is displayed, its status can be automatically set as confirmed.

[0061] Alternatively, if the control unit 31 determines that diagnostic support information provided by the technician has been displayed, it displays a confirmation instruction means to indicate that the confirmation status of the diagnostic support information has been confirmed. If the confirmation status is indicated as confirmed using the confirmation instruction means, the control unit 31 transmits information to the console 2 indicating that the confirmation status of the diagnostic support information has been confirmed. Therefore, the confirmation status of the diagnostic support information can be indicated as confirmed in response to the operation of the confirmation instruction means by the physician.

[0062] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0063] For example, in the above embodiment, the console 2, which serves as a diagnostic support information output device, was described as having a function to analyze medical images by computer processing and acquire diagnostic support information, but this function is not essential.

[0064] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the image server 3 sends notification information indicating that it has acquired diagnostic support information from the technician to the image reading terminal 4 for display, but it may also be sent to the physician's mobile device (smartphone, tablet, etc.) for display.

[0065] Furthermore, although the above embodiment described the image server 3 for managing medical images and the image interpretation terminal 4 for displaying medical images for interpretation by physicians as separate components, they may be configured as an integrated unit.

[0066] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the functions of each part of the image interpretation management device of the present invention are provided on the image server 3, but they may also be provided on the image interpretation terminal 4. Alternatively, the functions of the image interpretation management device of the present invention may be distributed between the image server 3 and the image interpretation terminal 4 to constitute an image interpretation management system. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the functions of each part of the diagnostic support information output device of the present invention are provided on console 2, but they may also be provided on an image viewing device or RIS (not shown). Alternatively, they may be provided on a PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System). Alternatively, the functions of the diagnostic support information output device of the present invention may be distributed among multiple such devices to constitute the image interpretation management system of the present invention.

[0067] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the control unit 31 of the image server 3 outputs confirmation information to the console 2 indicating that the diagnostic support information provided by the technician has been confirmed. However, the external device to which the confirmation information is output is not limited to the console 2. For example, it may be the technician's mobile terminal (smartphone, tablet, etc.), RIS, etc.

[0068] Furthermore, while the above description discloses examples using hard disks, semiconductor non-volatile memory, etc., as computer-readable media for the program according to the present invention, the invention is not limited to these examples. Portable recording media such as CD-ROMs can also be used as other computer-readable media. In addition, carrier waves can be used as a medium for providing the data of the program according to the present invention via a communication line.

[0069] Furthermore, the detailed configuration and operation of each device constituting the image interpretation management system can also be modified as appropriate, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0070] Although embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated in detail above, the disclosed embodiments are for illustrative purposes only and are not limiting. The scope of the present invention should be interpreted by the terms of the appended claims. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0071] 100 Image Interpretation Management System 1 Modality 2 Console 21 Control Unit 22 Control section 23 Display section 24 Memory section 241 Program Storage Unit 242 Inspection Order Information Storage Unit 25 Communications Department 26 bus 3 Image Server 31 Control Unit 32 Operation section 33 Display section 34 Storage section 341 Program Storage Unit 342 Image Database 35 Communications Department 36 bus N Communication Network

Claims

1. Computers Acquisition unit for acquiring diagnostic support information related to medical images, A first determination unit that determines whether the aforementioned diagnostic support information is diagnostic support information provided by a technician, A second determination unit that determines whether or not the diagnostic support information determined to be diagnostic support information by the aforementioned technician is displayed, When the second determination unit determines that the diagnostic support information has been displayed, an output unit outputs to an external device information indicating that the confirmation status of the diagnostic support information has been confirmed. A program designed to function as such.

2. The aforementioned computer, further, When the second determination unit determines that the diagnostic support information has been displayed, the control unit determines that the confirmation status has been confirmed. To make it function as, The program according to claim 1, wherein the output unit outputs to the external device information indicating that the confirmation status of the diagnostic support information has been confirmed when the confirmation status has been confirmed by the control unit.

3. The aforementioned computer, further, When the second determination unit determines that the diagnostic support information provided by the technician has been displayed, the control unit functions as a unit that displays a confirmation instruction means to mark the confirmation status as confirmed. The program according to claim 1, wherein the output unit outputs to the external device information indicating that the confirmation status of the diagnostic support information has been confirmed when the confirmation status is confirmed using the confirmation instruction means.

4. Computers First acquisition unit for acquiring medical images, An output unit that outputs diagnostic support information from a technician regarding the aforementioned medical image. A second acquisition unit acquires confirmed information indicating that the confirmation status of the aforementioned diagnostic support information has been confirmed. A display control unit that displays the confirmed information on the display unit. A program designed to function as such.

5. The aforementioned computer, further, A notification unit that issues a reminder prompting the aforementioned technician to confirm the diagnostic support information. The program according to claim 4, which functions as such.

6. An acquisition unit that acquires diagnostic support information related to medical images, A first determination unit that determines whether the aforementioned diagnostic support information is diagnostic support information provided by a technician, A second determination unit that determines whether the diagnostic support information determined to be diagnostic support information by the aforementioned technician is displayed, When the second determination unit determines that the diagnostic support information has been displayed, an output unit outputs information to an external device indicating that the confirmation status of the diagnostic support information has been confirmed. A picture interpretation management device equipped with the following features.

7. A first acquisition unit for acquiring medical images, An output unit that outputs diagnostic support information from a technician regarding the aforementioned medical image, A second acquisition unit that acquires confirmed information indicating that the confirmation status of the aforementioned diagnostic support information has been confirmed, A display unit that displays the confirmed information, A diagnostic support information output device equipped with the following features.

8. An acquisition unit that acquires diagnostic support information related to medical images, A first determination unit that determines whether the aforementioned diagnostic support information is diagnostic support information provided by a technician, A second determination unit that determines whether the diagnostic support information determined to be diagnostic support information by the aforementioned technician is displayed, When the second determination unit determines that the diagnostic support information has been displayed, an output unit outputs information to an external device indicating that the confirmation status of the diagnostic support information has been confirmed. A picture interpretation management system equipped with the following features.

9. A first acquisition unit for acquiring medical images, An output unit that outputs diagnostic support information from a technician regarding the aforementioned medical image, A second acquisition unit that acquires confirmed information indicating that the confirmation status of the aforementioned diagnostic support information has been confirmed, A display unit that displays the confirmed information, A picture interpretation management system equipped with the following features.

10. The acquisition process involves obtaining diagnostic support information related to medical images, A first determination step of determining whether the aforementioned diagnostic support information is diagnostic support information provided by a technician, A second determination step of determining whether the diagnostic support information determined to be diagnostic support information by the aforementioned technician is displayed, If it is determined in the second determination step that the diagnostic support information has been displayed, an output step is performed to output to an external device information indicating that the confirmation status of the diagnostic support information has been confirmed. Image interpretation management methods including...

11. The first acquisition step involves obtaining medical images, An output process that outputs diagnostic support information by a technician regarding the aforementioned medical image, A second acquisition step involves acquiring confirmed information that the confirmation status of the aforementioned diagnostic support information has been confirmed, A display step that displays the confirmed information, Image interpretation management methods including...

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