Medical image display terminal and program

Abstract

To provide a medical image display system, medical image display terminal, and program that place less burden on the server and can suppress costs. [Solution] The medical image display system 100 comprises a server 10 and a medical image display terminal 20 that can communicate with the server 10. The server 10 comprises a storage unit 13 that stores medical image data in a storage format and a first transmission unit 12 that transmits medical image data in the storage format to the medical image display terminal 20. The medical image display terminal 20 comprises a first conversion processing unit 21 that converts the medical image data in the storage format transmitted by the server 10 into a viewing format that can be viewed by a web browser, and a display unit 22 that displays medical images based on the medical image data in the viewing format on a web browser.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a medical image display system, a medical image display terminal, and a program. [Background Art]

[0002] Conventionally, there has been known a medical image display system that enables a medical image display terminal to browse medical images stored in a server. Medical images are normally stored in the server in a storage format such as the DICOM standard. However, medical images in the storage format are not recognized as image files by a web browser installed on the medical image display terminal. Therefore, in order to browse medical images on the medical image display terminal, it is necessary to convert the medical images in the storage format into another format (browsing format) that can be browsed by the web browser of the medical image display terminal.

[0003] Accordingly, there have been known inventions including: an invention in which a medical image converted into a browsing format is stored in a server in advance separately from a medical image in a storage format (see Patent Document 1); and an invention in which a server converts a medical image in a storage format into a browsing format in response to an image display request (see Patent Document 2). [Prior Art Documents] [Patent Documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-324737 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2014-102835 [Summary of the Invention] [Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

[0005] However, the invention described in Patent Document 1 had the problem of increasing storage costs because it was necessary to store both the medical image in storage format and the medical image in viewing format on the server. Furthermore, the invention described in Patent Document 2 had the problem that when the server received a large number of image display requests simultaneously, the conversion process to the viewing format became burdensome.

[0006] This invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a medical image display system, a medical image display terminal, and a program that can reduce the burden on the server and suppress costs. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To solve the above problems, the invention described in claim 1 is: A medical image display system comprising a server and a medical image display terminal capable of communicating with the server, The aforementioned server is A storage unit for storing medical image data in a storage format, The system includes a first transmission unit that transmits medical image data in the aforementioned storage format to the medical image display terminal, The aforementioned medical image display terminal is A first conversion processing unit that converts the medical image data in the storage format transmitted by the server into a viewing format that can be viewed by a web browser, A display unit that displays medical images based on the aforementioned viewing format on a web browser, It is equipped with.

[0008] The invention described in claim 2 is a medical image display system according to claim 1, The storage unit stores a conversion processing program that converts medical image data in the storage format into a viewing format that can be viewed by a web browser. The first transmission unit transmits the conversion processing program to the medical image display terminal. The first conversion processing unit uses the transmitted conversion processing program to convert the medical image data in the stored format into a viewing format that can be viewed by a web browser.

[0009] The invention described in claim 3 is a medical image display system according to claim 1 or 2, The medical image data in the aforementioned storage format is in DICOM format.

[0010] The invention described in claim 4 is a medical image display system according to claim 1 or 2, The first conversion processing unit decompresses the medical image data in the storage format if it is losslessly compressed.

[0011] The invention described in claim 5 is a medical image display system according to claim 1 or 2, The server includes a splitting processing unit that performs splitting processing for each frame when the medical image data in the storage format to be transmitted to the medical image display terminal is a multi-frame image. The first transmission unit transmits medical image data in the storage format, which is divided into frames.

[0012] The invention described in claim 6 is a medical image display system according to claim 1 or 2, The server includes a determination unit that determines whether or not to cause the medical image display terminal to convert the medical image data in the stored format into a viewing format based on predetermined conditions, A second conversion processing unit that converts medical image data in the aforementioned storage format into a viewing format, Equipped with, If the determination unit determines that the medical image display terminal should not convert the medical image data in the stored format to the viewing format, the second conversion processing unit will convert the medical image data in the stored format to the viewing format.

[0013] The invention according to claim 7 is the medical image display system according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined condition is a size of the medical image data, the determination unit determines that, when the size of the medical image data is equal to or larger than a predetermined value, the medical image display terminal is not caused to convert the medical image data in the storage format into a browsing format.

[0014] The invention according to claim 8 is the medical image display system according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined condition is a processing capability of the medical image display terminal, the determination unit determines that, when the processing capability of the medical image display terminal is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, the medical image display terminal is not caused to convert the medical image data in the storage format into a browsing format.

[0015] The invention according to claim 9 is the medical image display system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the medical image display terminal comprises a first image editing unit that edits medical image data in a browsing format, and a second transmission unit that transmits edit information obtained by the first image editing unit to the server, the server comprises a second image editing unit that edits the medical image data in the storage format based on the edit information.

[0016] The invention according to claim 10 is a medical image display terminal capable of communicating with a server, wherein a conversion processing unit that converts medical image data in a storage format transmitted by the server into a browsing format that can be browsed on a web browser, and a display unit that displays, on a web browser, a medical image based on the medical image data in the browsing format, and comprising the above.

[0017] The invention according to claim 11 is a program, wherein causing a computer of a medical image display terminal capable of communicating with a server to A conversion processing unit that converts medical image data in a storage format transmitted by the aforementioned server into a viewing format that can be viewed by a web browser. A display unit that displays medical images based on the aforementioned viewing format on a web browser. To make it function as such. [Effects of the Invention]

[0018] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a medical image display system, a medical image display terminal, and a program that can reduce the burden on the server and suppress costs. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0019] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of the medical image display system according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] This is a functional block diagram of the server. [Figure 3] This is a schematic diagram of a list screen showing a list of medical image data. [Figure 4] This is a functional block diagram of a medical image display terminal. [Figure 5] This is a schematic diagram of the main screen that displays medical image data as medical images. [Figure 6] This is a ladder chart showing the image display flow according to this embodiment. [Figure 7] This is a ladder chart showing the image display flow for a modified version. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0020] Hereinafter, embodiments of the medical image display system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments described below are subject to various technically preferred limitations for carrying out the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments and illustrated examples.

[0021] [Configuration of the medical image display system] Figure 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of the medical image display system 100 in this embodiment. The medical image display system 100 comprises a server 10, a medical image display terminal 20, and a modality 30. The server 10, the medical image display terminal 20, and the modality 30 are interconnected by a network NW, enabling them to send and receive various data and signals from one another.

[0022] Figure 1 illustrates a medical image display system 100 in which one medical image display terminal 20 and one modality 30 are connected to one server 10, but the system is not limited to this configuration, and there may be multiple servers or modalities. Furthermore, while a wireless connection is preferred for the network NW, a wired connection is also acceptable.

[0023] 〔server〕 Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of server 10. As shown in Figure 2, the server 10 is composed of a control unit 11, a communication unit (first transmission unit) 12, a storage unit 13, etc., and each unit is connected by a bus.

[0024] Server 10 constitutes a PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System; medical image management system).

[0025] Server 10 is connected to modality 30 (for example, CR (Computed Radiography), CT (Computed Tomography), MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), etc.) and receives medical image data in a storage format obtained by acquiring images with modality 30 from modality 30. Server 10 then stores the received medical image data in a storage format in storage unit 13 and manages it for each patient.

[0026] In this embodiment, the server 10 and modality 30 conform to the DICOM (Digital Image and Communications in Medicine) standard, and communication between these devices is performed in accordance with DICOM. In this embodiment, "medical image data in storage format" refers to data in DICOM format. Medical image data in DICOM format consists of an image section and an ancillary information section. The image section contains the actual data as a medical image, and the ancillary information section contains various ancillary information related to the medical image.

[0027] Furthermore, "medical image data in a storage format" is not limited to data in DICOM format.

[0028] Furthermore, server 10 may be provided as a physical device and operated on-premises, or it may be provided in a cloud environment without a physical presence.

[0029] Furthermore, if the server 10 is provided as a device, a display unit and an operating unit may be provided on the device so that medical images P can be displayed and various image processing can be performed even in the vicinity of the server 10.

[0030] (Control Unit) The control unit 11 consists of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), etc. The control unit 11 comprehensively controls the processing operations of each part of the server 10. Specifically, in response to various signals (for example, image and data transmission request signals, etc.) received by the communication unit 12 from the medical image display terminal 20, the control unit 11 reads various processing programs stored in ROM and loads them into RAM, and the CPU performs various processing in cooperation with the processing programs.

[0031] (Communications Department) The communication unit 12 is comprised of a network interface and the like. The communication unit 12 transmits and receives data with external devices connected via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network), WAN (Wide Area Network), or the Internet.

[0032] (Storage part) The storage unit 13 is composed of an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive), etc. The storage unit 13 stores various processing programs, as well as parameters and files necessary for the execution of those processing programs.

[0033] Specifically, for example, the storage unit 13 stores a web server program that communicates with the web browser installed in the medical image display terminal 20 using the HTTP protocol and functions as a web server that provides various web content to the web browser. It also stores a web application program that runs on the web server and generates a web screen for displaying medical images P on the medical image display terminal 20 via the web browser. Furthermore, it stores a conversion processing program that converts medical image data in the stored format into a viewing format (e.g., BMP, JPEG, PNG, MPEG, etc.).

[0034] Furthermore, the memory unit 13 has a database for managing medical image data transmitted from modality 30. The ancillary information section of the medical image data includes predetermined ancillary information such as patient name, examination type, and date, making it possible to identify each medical image data.

[0035] The medical image data handled by the medical image display system 100 according to this embodiment includes single image data (single-frame images) and multiple images that appear as a series of videos when displayed in sequence (multi-frame images).

[0036] (Server operation) The server 10 configured in this way performs the following operations through software processing in cooperation with the control unit 11 and the programs stored in the storage unit 13.

[0037] For example, the control unit 11 extracts only the necessary information from the database for managing medical image data held by the storage unit 13, and then generates a list screen as shown in Figure 3. The "necessary information" here includes specific supplementary information such as patient name, examination type, and date, as shown in Figure 3, but does not include the medical image P itself.

[0038] Furthermore, when the control unit 11 receives an image transmission request from the medical image display terminal 20, if the target medical image data is a multi-frame image, it performs a splitting process to divide it into frames.

[0039] Furthermore, the control unit 11 has the function of compressing medical image data stored in the storage unit 13 based on an image transmission request received from the medical image display terminal 20, and also has the function of transmitting the compressed image data to the medical image display terminal 20 via the communication unit 12.

[0040] Furthermore, it is preferable to use a lossless compression format such as ZIP or JPEG2000, where the original data and the data after compression and decompression are completely identical.

[0041] [Medical image display terminal] Figure 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a medical image display terminal 20. As shown in Figure 4, the medical image display terminal 20 is composed of a control unit 21, a display unit 22, an operation unit 23, a communication unit (second transmission unit) 24, a storage unit 25, and the like. Each unit is connected by a bus.

[0042] The medical image display terminal 20 is a device for displaying medical images P, and is used by users such as doctors, nurses, and home care workers in facilities such as hospitals, clinics, home care service providers, and the homes of patients receiving home care.

[0043] The medical image display terminal 20 may be a PC (Personal Computer) installed in a designated location, or it may be a portable mobile device such as a tablet or smartphone.

[0044] (Control Unit) The control unit 21 consists of a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., and comprehensively controls the processing operations of each part of the medical image display terminal 20. Specifically, in response to operation signals input from the operation unit 23, it reads and executes application programs stored in the storage unit 25, thereby transmitting various display signals to the display unit 22.

[0045] (Display) The display unit 22 is configured with a monitor such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and displays various screens according to the instructions of the display signals input from the control unit 21. Based on the display data of various web screens received from the server 10, the display unit 22 displays, for example, a list screen of medical image data stored in the server 10. It also displays the medical image data selected on the list screen as medical image P.

[0046] (Operation unit) The operation unit 23 is comprised of a keyboard with various keys, a pointing device such as a mouse, or a touch panel stacked on the display unit 22. The operation unit 23 outputs operation signals to the control unit 21 according to the position of key operations on the keyboard, mouse operations, or touch operations on the touch panel.

[0047] (Communications Department) The communication unit 24 is composed of network interfaces and the like, and transmits and receives data with external devices (server 10 and modality 30) connected via a communication network N such as a LAN, WAN, or the Internet.

[0048] The communication unit 24 may also perform wireless communication using a mobile phone line or the like, and send and receive data with external devices connected via the communication network N.

[0049] (Storage part) The storage unit 25 is composed of an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive), etc. The storage unit 25 stores programs for the control unit 21 to execute various processes, as well as parameters and files necessary for program execution. In particular, it stores a web browser program for implementing a web browser.

[0050] (Operation of medical image display terminal) The control unit 21 of the medical image display terminal 20 configured in this way will perform the following operations upon receiving medical image data in the storage format and various processing programs from the radiographic imaging device 2.

[0051] For example, the control unit 21 acts as a first conversion processing unit, rendering medical image data in the storage format using a conversion processing program and converting it to a viewing format. In particular, if the medical image data in the storage format received from the server 10 is losslessly compressed image data, it is decompressed using a decompression processing program and then converted to a viewing format.

[0052] Furthermore, the control unit 21 causes the display unit 22 to display a list screen as shown in Figure 3, or a main screen having a display area for medical image data in the center, as shown in Figure 5, for example.

[0053] Furthermore, the control unit 21 displays the medical image data in the viewing format as medical image P in the display area (display unit 22) of the main screen.

[0054] In this embodiment, the main screen and the medical images P displayed therein are web content displayed by the browser inherently built into the medical image display terminal 20. Using a browser eliminates the need for explicit installation of applications or other software on the medical image display terminal 20. Furthermore, even if the first medical image display terminal 20 malfunctions or runs out of battery, it can be replaced by a second medical image display terminal 20 connected to the network NW. Moreover, maintenance such as updating the applications of the medical image display terminal 20 in conjunction with updates to the console program is also unnecessary, which is preferable.

[0055] Furthermore, various processing programs can also be sent to the medical image display terminal 20 as web content. In that case, it is desirable to use JavaScript (registered trademark) or WebAssembly, which can be executed on a web browser.

[0056] Furthermore, the list screen and main screen are not limited to the forms shown in Figures 3 and 5. In particular, it is also possible to have a configuration in which only the medical image P selected on the list screen is displayed on the display unit 22, without a main screen.

[0057] Furthermore, the medical image P displayed on the main screen is not limited to just one; multiple images may be displayed for the purpose of comparative interpretation.

[0058] [Operation of the medical image display system] Next, the operation of the medical image display system 100 will be described. Figure 6 is a ladder chart illustrating the image display process in the medical image display system 100, in which the medical image display terminal 20 converts medical image data in a storage format stored on the server 10 into a viewing format and displays it as a medical image P in a web browser.

[0059] This ladder chart is initiated when a user of the medical image display terminal 20 enters a specific URL, represented by the IP information of server 10, into a web browser and undergoes login authentication.

[0060] First, when a user of the medical image display terminal 20 instructs the display of the list screen via the operation unit 23, the control unit 21 sends a signal to the server 10 via the communication unit 24 requesting the web page for the list screen (step S101).

[0061] When the communication unit 12 of the server 10 receives a signal from the medical image display terminal 20, the control unit 11 generates a list screen based on the contents of the medical image data database stored in the storage unit 13 (step S102), and transmits it to the medical image display terminal 20 via the communication unit 12 (step S103).

[0062] When the communication unit 24 of the medical image display terminal 20 receives the list screen, the control unit 21 displays the list screen on the display unit 22 (step S104).

[0063] Next, when the user of the medical image display terminal 20 instructs the display of the medical image P from the list screen via the operation unit 23, the control unit 21 sends a signal to the server 10 via the communication unit 24 requesting the display of the medical image P (step S105).

[0064] When the communication unit 12 of the server 10 receives a transmission request signal for medical image data from the medical image display terminal 20, the control unit 11 generates the main screen (step S106). The control unit 11 also extracts the corresponding medical image data from the storage unit 13 (step S107) and determines whether the medical image data is a multi-frame image or not (step S108).

[0065] If the medical image data is not a multi-frame image (i.e., a single-frame image) (step S108; No), the main screen and the medical image data are transmitted to the medical image display terminal 20 by the communication unit 12 (step S110).

[0066] If the medical image data is a multi-frame image (step S108; Yes), the control unit 11 performs a splitting process to divide the multi-frame image into individual frames (step S109), and transmits the main screen and the divided medical image data to the medical image display terminal 20 frame by frame via the communication unit 12 (step S110).

[0067] When the communication unit 24 of the medical image display terminal 20 receives medical image data from the server 10, the control unit 21 determines whether or not the medical image data is a lossless compressed image (step S111).

[0068] If the medical image data is not a lossless compressed image (i.e., an irreversible compressed image) (step S111; No), the control unit 21 converts the medical image data to a viewing format using a conversion processing program (step S113).

[0069] If the medical image data is a lossless compressed image (step S111; Yes), the control unit 21 decompresses the medical image data using the decompression processing program (step S112), and then converts it to a viewing format using the conversion processing program (step S113).

[0070] The decompression processing program and conversion processing program used in steps S112 and S113 may be stored in the storage unit 13 and transmitted by the communication unit 12 along with the medical image data. Alternatively, the medical image display terminal 20 may acquire them from another server. Furthermore, they may be stored in the storage unit 25 of the medical image display terminal 20 in advance, and are not particularly limited.

[0071] Then, the control unit 21 displays the main screen, which includes the medical image P based on the medical image data converted to a viewing format in step S113, on the display unit 22 (step S114).

[0072] [Effects of the invention] As described above, the medical image display system 100 according to this embodiment comprises a server 10 and a medical image display terminal 20 capable of communicating with the server 10. The server 10 comprises a storage unit 13 for storing medical image data in a storage format and a communication unit 12 as a first transmission unit for transmitting medical image data in the storage format to the medical image display terminal 20. The medical image display terminal 20 comprises a control unit 21 as a first conversion processing unit for converting medical image data in the storage format transmitted by the server 10 into a viewing format viewable by a web browser, and a display unit 22 for displaying a medical image P based on the medical image data in the viewing format on a web browser. With this configuration, the server 10 does not need to store medical image data in viewing format, which suppresses the increase in the capacity of the storage unit 13 and reduces costs. In addition, since the medical image display terminal 20 converts the medical image data from the storage format to the viewing format, rather than the server 10, the burden on the server 10 is reduced.

[0073] Furthermore, the control unit 21, which functions as the first conversion processing unit of the medical image display terminal 20, decompresses the medical image data if it is losslessly compressed. With this configuration, losslessly compressed image data can be stored in the storage unit 13 of the server 10, eliminating the need to increase the capacity of the server 10 and further reducing costs. In addition, the amount of communication between the server 10 and the medical image display terminal 20 can be reduced.

[0074] Furthermore, when the medical image data to be transmitted to the medical image display terminal 20 is a multi-frame image, the server 10 includes a control unit 11 which performs frame-by-frame splitting processing, and the server 10 transmits the medical image data in a storage format that has been split frame by frame. This configuration allows even large-capacity multi-frame images to be easily transmitted to the medical image display terminal 20. Furthermore, it reduces the amount of communication between the server 10 and the medical image display terminal 20.

[0075] In the above example, the server 10 generates the list screen and the main screen, but this is not the only example; the medical image display terminal 20 may also generate them.

[0076] [Differentiation] In the above example, the server 10 always transmits medical image data to the medical image display terminal 20, and the medical image display terminal 20 converts it to a viewing format. However, if certain conditions are met, the server 10 may convert the medical image data to a viewing format.

[0077] The image display processing in this configuration will be explained based on the ladder chart in Figure 7. Detailed explanations of steps S201 to S209, which overlap with the image display processing according to the above embodiment, will be omitted.

[0078] In steps S207 to S209, the control unit 11 extracts the specified medical image data for the medical image display terminal 20 and, if it is a multi-frame image, performs a frame-by-frame splitting process. The control unit 11 then determines whether predetermined conditions are met (step S210), and if the predetermined conditions are met (step S210; Yes), it instructs the medical image display terminal 20 to convert the medical image data into a viewing format (steps S212 to S215).

[0079] In this modified example, the "specified condition" refers to whether the capacity of the medical image data is below a specified value. In other words, only when the capacity of the medical image data is less than or equal to a predetermined value (step S210; Yes), the medical image data in the storage format is transmitted to the medical image display terminal 20, causing the control unit 21, which acts as the second conversion processing unit, to perform the format conversion (steps S211 to S215).

[0080] On the other hand, if the capacity of the medical image data exceeds a predetermined value (Step S210; No), the control unit 11 determines that the server 10 will perform a format conversion of the medical image data. Then, it determines whether the medical image data is a lossless compressed image (Step S216), and if it is a lossless compressed image (Step S216; Yes), it performs a decompression process (Step S217) and then converts the medical image data to a viewing format (Step S218). If it is a lossy compressed image (Step S216; No), it converts the medical image data to a viewing format as is (Step S218).

[0081] The control unit 11, which has converted the medical image data into a viewing format, transmits the main screen and medical image data to the medical image display terminal 20 via the communication unit 12 (step S219), causing the display unit 22 to display the main screen including the medical image P based on the medical image data (step S215).

[0082] As described above, in this embodiment, the control unit 11 of the server 10 is used as a determination unit, and only when a predetermined condition is met that the capacity of the medical image data is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the control unit 21, which acts as the second conversion processing unit of the medical image display terminal 20, is instructed to convert it to a viewing format; otherwise, the control unit 11, which acts as the first conversion processing unit of the server 10, is instructed to convert it. Typically, the server 10 has superior processing power compared to the medical image display terminal 20. If the size of the medical image data for which a display request has been received is too large (for example, if the medical image data is a mammogram), having the control unit 21 of the medical image display terminal 20 convert the medical image data to a viewing format may slow down the overall processing speed. However, as shown in this modified example, by having the server 10 or the medical image display terminal 20 decide whether to convert the medical image data to a viewing format based on its size, the overall processing speed can be increased.

[0083] Furthermore, the specified conditions are not limited to the capacity of medical image data, but may also include, for example, the processing capacity of the medical image display terminal 20. In other words, before transmitting the medical image data in the storage format, the processing capacity of the medical image display terminal 20 may be measured by sending a processing performance measurement program to the medical image display terminal 20. If it is determined in step S210 that the medical image display terminal 20 does not have enough CPU or memory to convert to the viewing format, the control unit 11 of the server 10 may perform the format conversion.

[0084] Furthermore, for example, the communication speed estimated from the communication standard between the server 10 and the medical image display terminal 20 may be set as a predetermined condition. Specifically, for wired LAN connections, the determination is made based on whether the link speed is 100Mbps or 1000Gbps. For wireless LAN connections, the determination is made based on whether the maximum communication speed is defined by a communication standard such as 802.11a / b / g / n / ac.

[0085] Furthermore, the specified conditions are not limited to one; multiple conditions may be set. In this case, if even one of the multiple specified conditions is met, it may be decided to perform a format conversion using one of the methods, or the decision may be made after assigning weights to each of the multiple specified conditions.

[0086] Alternatively, the system may be configured to prioritize conversion to the viewing format on server 10, and if server 10 does not have sufficient CPU or memory to perform the conversion, it may be determined that the medical image display terminal 20 should perform the format conversion. Furthermore, the system may estimate and compare the processing speed of format conversion performed on server 10 and format conversion performed on medical image display terminal 20, and then determine which method is faster to perform the conversion.

[0087] [Other configurations] When an image is displayed on the medical image display terminal 20, if the image is edited by the control unit 21, which acts as the first image editing unit, and a secondary capture is performed, it is preferable to send only the image editing information to the server 10, and have the control unit 11, which acts as the second image editing unit, edit the medical image data based on the image editing information. With this configuration, the amount of communication between the server 10 and the medical image display terminal 20 can be reduced compared to sending secondary captures to the server 10.

[0088] Furthermore, when sending various processing programs from the server 10 to the medical image display terminal 20, the processing programs may include processes to cache the previously acquired processing programs within the browser, or to reacquire the processing programs only if the versions are different. This is preferable from the standpoint of speeding up processing, as it eliminates the need to send and receive processing programs unnecessarily during subsequent image displays.

[0089] Furthermore, the processing program may include a process to erase medical image data and parameters stored in the storage unit 25 based on operations such as closing the browser. This is preferable from a security standpoint, as it ensures that no patient personal information remains on the medical image display terminal 20 after image display is complete. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0090] 100 Medical Image Display Systems 10 servers 11 Control Unit (Splitting Processing Unit, Determination Unit, Second Transformation Processing Unit, Second Image Editing Unit) 12. Communications Section (First Transmitting Section) 13 Storage section 20 Medical image display terminals 21 Control Unit (First Conversion Processing Unit, First Image Editing Unit) 22 Display section 24 Communications Department (Second Transmitting Department) P Medical Images

Claims

1. A medical image display system comprising a server and a medical image display terminal capable of communicating with the server, The aforementioned server, A storage unit for storing medical image data in a storage format, The system includes a first transmission unit that transmits medical image data in the aforementioned storage format to the medical image display terminal, The aforementioned medical image display terminal is A first conversion processing unit that converts the medical image data in the storage format transmitted by the server into a viewing format that can be viewed by a web browser, A display unit that displays medical images based on the aforementioned viewing format on a web browser, A medical image display system equipped with [a specific feature].

2. The storage unit stores a conversion processing program that converts medical image data in the storage format into a viewing format that can be viewed by a web browser. The first transmission unit transmits the conversion processing program to the medical image display terminal. The medical image display system according to claim 1, wherein the first conversion processing unit converts the medical image data in the stored format into a viewing format viewable by a web browser using the transmitted conversion processing program.

3. The medical image display system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the medical image data in the storage format is in DICOM format.

4. The medical image display system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first conversion processing unit decompresses the medical image data in the storage format if the medical image data is losslessly compressed.

5. The server includes a splitting processing unit that performs splitting processing for each frame when the medical image data in the storage format to be transmitted to the medical image display terminal is a multi-frame image. The medical image display system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first transmission unit transmits medical image data in the storage format divided into frames.

6. The server includes a determination unit that determines whether or not to cause the medical image display terminal to convert the medical image data in the stored format into a viewing format based on predetermined conditions, A second conversion processing unit that converts medical image data in the aforementioned storage format into a viewing format, Equipped with, The medical image display system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein if the determination unit determines that the medical image display terminal should not convert the medical image data in the stored format to the viewing format, the second conversion processing unit converts the medical image data in the stored format to the viewing format.

7. The aforementioned predetermined condition is the capacity of the medical image data, The medical image display system according to claim 6, wherein the determination unit determines that if the capacity of the medical image data is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the medical image display terminal will not convert the medical image data in the stored format to a viewing format.

8. The aforementioned predetermined condition is the processing capacity of the medical image display terminal, The medical image display system according to claim 6, wherein the determination unit determines that if the processing capacity of the medical image display terminal is below a predetermined value, the medical image display terminal will not be allowed to convert the medical image data in the stored format to a viewing format.

9. The aforementioned medical image display terminal includes a first image editing unit that edits medical image data in a viewing format, The system comprises a second transmission unit that transmits editing information from the first image editing unit to the server, The medical image display system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the server comprises a second image editing unit that edits medical image data in a storage format based on the editing information.

10. A medical image display terminal capable of communicating with a server, A conversion processing unit converts medical image data in a storage format transmitted by the aforementioned server into a viewing format that can be viewed by a web browser. A display unit that displays medical images based on the aforementioned viewing format on a web browser, A medical image display terminal equipped with [a specific feature].

11. A computer for a medical image display terminal that can communicate with the server, A conversion processing unit that converts medical image data in a storage format transmitted by the aforementioned server into a viewing format that can be viewed by a web browser. A display unit that displays medical images based on the aforementioned viewing format on a web browser. A program that makes it function as such.

Images