Method and device for transmitting dicom file for remote medical system

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an image encoding / decoding method, a device, and a recording medium, the method comprising: a medical image conversion step of generating a medical image bitstream by converting medical image data on the basis of the medical image data and metadata of the medical image data; and a medical image transmission step of transmitting the medical image bitstream, wherein the conversion can be performed on the basis of a conversion syntax UID.

Description

Method and device for transmitting DICOM files for a telemedicine system

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a technology field for transmitting / receiving medical images and related metadata files based on the DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine) standard for a telemedicine system.

[0002] To store medical images, hospital systems use the Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM) standard to store medical images and related metadata. The majority of medical images can be stored as multi-frame images.

[0003] The present invention aims to provide a processing, compression and transmission device for effective transmission of a multi-frame DICOM file stored in a hospital system.

[0004] The image encoding method, device, and recording medium of the present disclosure include a medical image conversion step of generating a medical image bitstream by converting the medical image data based on medical image data and metadata of the medical image data, and a medical image transmission step of transmitting the medical image bitstream, wherein the conversion can be performed based on a conversion syntax UID.

[0005] In the video encoding method, device and recording medium of the present disclosure, the conversion can be performed based on whether the conversion syntax UID is a compressed image format and the number of frames of the metadata.

[0006] In the video encoding method, device and recording medium of the present disclosure, the frame rate of the conversion can be determined by checking the frame increment pointer (FIP) of the metadata.

[0007] In the video encoding method, device and recording medium of the present disclosure, when the frame increment pointer (FIP) points to the frame time (FT) of the metadata, the frame rate can be determined as 1000 / FT.

[0008] In the video encoding method, device and recording medium of the present disclosure, when the frame increment pointer (FIP) does not point to the frame time (FT) of the metadata, the frame rate may be determined by further considering whether the frame increment pointer (FIP) points to the frame time vector (FTV).

[0009] In the video encoding method, device and recording medium of the present disclosure, when the frame increment pointer (FIP) does not point to the frame time vector (FTV), the frame rate may be determined by further considering whether a recommended display frame rate (RDFR) of the metadata exists.

[0010] The image decoding method, device, and recording medium of the present disclosure include a medical image receiving step of receiving a medical image bitstream, and a medical image inverse transformation step of inversely transforming the medical image data based on medical image data obtained from the medical image bitstream and metadata of the medical image data, wherein the inverse transformation can be performed based on a transformation syntax UID.

[0011] In the image decoding method, device and recording medium of the present disclosure, the inverse transformation can be adaptively performed based on the result of comparing the profile information extracted from the medical image bitstream and the transformation syntax UID of the metadata.

[0012] According to the technical solution of the present disclosure described above, transmission efficiency can be increased due to increased compression efficiency by converting medical images stored in a multi-frame DICOM file format into video and transmitting them. In addition, a method can be proposed for re-saving the received video and DICOM metadata into a multi-frame DICOM file.

[0013] Figure 1 illustrates the relationship between the central server and users.

[0014] Figure 2 schematically illustrates a DICOM file transfer system.

[0015] Figure 3 illustrates a medical image conversion unit in the first embodiment.

[0016] Figure 4 illustrates a process for determining a converted video frame rate.

[0017] Figure 5 illustrates a specific execution process of the receiver.

[0018] Below, with reference to the attached drawings, embodiments of the present invention are described in detail so that those skilled in the art can easily implement them. However, the present invention may be implemented in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. In the drawings, irrelevant parts have been omitted for clarity of description, and similar reference numerals have been used throughout the specification to indicate similar elements.

[0019] Throughout the specification, when a part is said to be connected to another part, this includes not only direct connection but also electrical connection with other elements intervening. Furthermore, when a part is said to include a component, this does not exclude other components, but rather implies the inclusion of additional components, unless otherwise specifically stated.

[0020] Throughout this specification, when a part is said to include a certain component, this does not exclude other components, but rather implies the inclusion of other components, unless otherwise specifically stated. As used throughout this specification, the terms "degree" (step of) or "step of" (step of) do not imply a step for (step of) (step of) (step of).

[0021] Additionally, while terms such as "first," "second," etc. may be used to describe various components, these components should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used solely to distinguish one component from another.

[0022] In addition, the components shown in the embodiments of the present invention are independently depicted to represent different characteristic functions, and this does not mean that each component is composed of separate hardware or a single software component. That is, each component is described by listing each component for convenience of explanation, and at least two components among each component may be combined to form a single component, or a single component may be divided into multiple components to perform a function. Such integrated and separate embodiments of each component are also included in the scope of the present invention as long as they do not deviate from the essence of the present invention.

[0023]

[0024] Figure 1 illustrates the relationship between a central server and users. The central server can transmit and receive medical image data and related metadata in DICOM files to and from users via user devices. Unlike the central server, users can transmit and receive some of the medical image data and related metadata in DICOM files to and from each other via their user devices. Users can have separate user servers. Users can request to receive medical image data and related metadata in DICOM files from the central server according to their user permissions. Additionally, users can transmit medical image data and related metadata in DICOM files to the central server via their user devices or user servers.

[0025]

[0026] Figure 2 schematically illustrates a DICOM file transfer system.

[0027] Referring to FIG. 2, the transmitter may include at least one of a DICOM file separation unit, a DICOM metadata transmission unit, a medical image conversion unit, or a video transmission unit.

[0028] The DICOM file separation unit can receive a DICOM file and separate the medical image data and DICOM metadata of the DICOM file. Here, the medical image data of the DICOM file can be transmitted to the medical image transcoding unit, and the DICOM metadata of the DICOM file can be transmitted to the DICOM metadata transmission unit.

[0029] The medical image conversion unit can convert DICOM medical image data received from the DICOM file separation unit into a format suitable for medical image transmission. At this time, the conversion can be performed with reference to the DICOM metadata of the DICOM file.

[0030] For example, conversion of medical image data can be performed based on the transfer syntax UID corresponding to the (0002, 0010) tag of DICOM metadata and the number of frames corresponding to the (0028, 0008) tag of DICOM metadata.

[0031] In a first embodiment, if the transfer syntax UID indicates a compressed image format and the number of frames is greater than a certain threshold, video encoding can be performed by decoding multiple images and then converting the video.

[0032] In a second embodiment, if the transfer syntax UID indicates a compressed image format and the number of frames is less than a certain threshold, the image can be transmitted without separate conversion.

[0033]

[0034] Figure 3 illustrates a medical image conversion unit in the first embodiment.

[0035] Referring to FIG. 3, a medical image video bitstream can be generated by inputting a multi-frame medical image and DICOM metadata separated from a DICOM file separation unit.

[0036] The image decoding unit can generate a raw data multi-image by performing decoding of a compressed multi-image frame. When checking the transfer syntax UID corresponding to the DICOM metadata (0002, 0010) tag, if the transfer syntax UID indicates a compressed image format (e.g., 1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.50 - JVEG Baseline or 1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.57 - JPEG Lossless), decoding of the compressed multi-image frame can be performed. The generated raw data multi-image can be transmitted to the video decoding unit. If the multi-image of the medical image conversion unit is already uncompressed raw data, the image decoding unit may be omitted, and decoding of the compressed multi-image frame may not be performed.

[0037] The frame rate determination unit can determine the converted video frame rate when a multi-frame image is converted into a video using DICOM metadata as input.

[0038] Figure 4 illustrates a process for determining a converted video frame rate.

[0039] First, to determine the converted video frame rate, we can check the frame increment pointer (FIP) tag corresponding to the (0028, 0009) tag of the DICOM metadata. If the FIP tag points to the frame time (FT) of (0008, 1063), the frame rate of the converted video can be determined as 1000 / FT. If the FIP tag does not point to the frame time (FT) of (0008, 1063), we can check whether the FIP tag points to the frame time vector (FTV) of (0018, 1065). If the FIP tag points to the frame time vector (FTV) of (0018, 1065), the frame rate of the video can be set to a variable frame rate (VFR) based on the FTV, where the frame time of each frame is written in milliseconds. If the FIP tag does not point to a frame time vector (FTV) of (0018, 1065), that is, if the tag pointed to by the FIP is not either (0008, 1063) or (0018, 1065), it can be checked whether a recommended display frame rate (RDFR) corresponding to the (0008, 2144) tag exists. If the RDFR exists, the frame rate of the converted video can be set to the value of the RDFR. If the RDFR also does not exist, it can be set to the default frame rate agreed upon on the transmitting side or the transmitting / receiving side.

[0040] In another embodiment, the frame rate determination unit may be omitted, and video encoding may be performed with the frame rate arbitrarily set to the default frame rate or RDFR of the (0008, 2144) tag.

[0041] The video encoding unit can perform video encoding using a frame rate determined through frame rate determination information or an arbitrarily set frame rate and a multi-frame image as input to generate a bitstream. The video encoding unit can perform encoding through a video coding standard such as H.264, H.265, H.266, VP9, ​​HEVC, AV1, etc., depending on the embodiment. At this time, the video encoding can be performed as lossless encoding or lossy encoding depending on the embodiment.

[0042] The video transmission unit can perform packetization, connection with a transmitter, and transmission processes based on a transmission protocol for transmitting a video bitstream generated through a medical image conversion unit over a network. Depending on the embodiment, the transmission protocol may be RTP (real-time transport protocol), webRTC, etc.

[0043] The DICOM metadata transmission section transmits metadata excluding DICOM image data, and the remaining information excluding the pixel data of (7FE0, 0010) among the DICOM tags can be transmitted. At this time, the metadata extracted through the DICOM file separation section for metadata transmission can be packaged in a specific byte stream format defined according to the transmitter / receiver agreement, and packetization for metadata transmission, connection with the transmitter, and transmission process based on the transmission protocol can be performed. At this time, SCTP (stream control transmission protocol) can be used as a protocol for metadata transmission.

[0044]

[0045] Referring to FIG. 2, the receiving unit may include at least one of a video receiving unit, a video decoding unit, a medical image inversion unit, a DICOM metadata receiving unit, or a DICOM file merging unit. The receiving unit may generate a DICOM file using DICOM metadata and video transmitted via a network.

[0046] The video receiver can receive a video bitstream via a network protocol.

[0047] The video decoding unit can decode a video bitstream transmitted from a video receiving unit and output raw video data.

[0048] The medical image inverse conversion unit can perform conversion of raw video data output from a video decoding unit and DICOM metadata received from a DICOM metadata receiving unit into a medical image format that conforms to the transfer syntax UID of the DICOM metadata, using the raw video data as input.

[0049]

[0050] Figure 5 illustrates a specific execution process of the receiver.

[0051] The profile information comparison unit may include a VPS extraction unit and a Transfer syntax UID verification unit. The VPS extraction unit may extract profile information of a medical image bitstream transmitted from a medical image reception unit. The Transfer syntax UID verification unit may verify the Transfer syntax UID of DICOM metadata. In addition, the profile information comparison unit may verify whether the Transfer syntax UID matches the profile information of the bitstream.

[0052] If the transfer syntax UID matches the profile information of the bitstream, the video decoding unit and the medical image conversion unit are omitted, and the medical image bitstream can be stored in the pixel data with the (7FE0, 0010) tag in the DICOM file merging unit.

[0053] If the transfer syntax UID and the profile information of the bitstream do not match, the video decoding unit and the medical image conversion unit may be performed.

[0054] The DICOM file merger unit can create a DICOM file in which a multi-frame medical image is stored by storing the multi-frame medical image output from the video conversion unit in the pixel data, which is the (7FE0, 0010) tag of the parsed DICOM metadata.

[0055]

[0056] While the exemplary methods of this disclosure are presented as a series of operations for clarity of description, this is not intended to limit the order in which the steps are performed, and individual steps may be performed simultaneously or in different orders, if desired. To implement a method according to this disclosure, additional steps may be included in addition to the steps illustrated, some steps may be excluded and the remaining steps included, or some steps may be excluded and additional steps included.

[0057] The various embodiments of the present disclosure are not intended to list all possible combinations but rather to illustrate representative aspects of the present disclosure, and the matters described in the various embodiments may be applied independently or in combinations of two or more.

[0058] Additionally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. In the case of hardware implementation, the embodiments may be implemented by one or more ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), DSPs (Digital Signal Processors), DSPDs (Digital Signal Processing Devices), PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), general processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, etc.

[0059] The scope of the present disclosure includes software or machine-executable instructions (e.g., operating systems, applications, firmware, programs, etc.) that cause operations according to the methods of various embodiments to be executed on a device or a computer, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium having such software or instructions stored thereon and executable on the device or computer.

[0060] The present disclosure can be utilized in the field of technology for transmitting / receiving medical images and related metadata files based on the DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine) standard for a telemedicine system.

Claims

1. A medical image conversion step for generating a medical image bitstream by converting the medical image data based on the medical image data and the metadata of the medical image data; and Including a medical image transmission step for transmitting the above medical image bitstream, A method for encoding an image, wherein the above conversion is performed based on a conversion syntax UID.

2. In paragraph 1, A video encoding method, wherein the above conversion is performed based on whether the conversion syntax UID is a compressed image format and the number of frames of the metadata.

3. In paragraph 2, A video encoding method, wherein the frame rate of the above conversion is determined by checking the frame increment pointer (FIP) of the above metadata.

4. In paragraph 3, A video encoding method, wherein the frame rate is determined as 1000 / FT when the above frame increment pointer (FIP) points to the frame time (FT) of the metadata.

5. In paragraph 3, A video encoding method, wherein, if the frame increment pointer (FIP) does not point to the frame time (FT) of the metadata, the frame rate is determined by further considering whether the frame increment pointer (FIP) points to the frame time vector (FTV).

6. In paragraph 5, A video encoding method, wherein if the above frame increment pointer (FIP) does not point to a frame time vector (FTV), the frame rate is determined by further considering whether a recommended display frame rate (RDFR) of the metadata exists.

7. A medical image receiving step for receiving a medical image bitstream; and A medical image inverse transformation step for inversely transforming the medical image data based on the medical image data obtained from the medical image bitstream and the metadata of the medical image data, An image decoding method in which the above inverse transformation is performed based on a transformation syntax UID.

8. In paragraph 7, An image decoding method, wherein the above inverse transformation is adaptively performed based on the result of comparing the profile information extracted from the medical image bitstream and the transformation syntax UID of the metadata.

9. A computer-readable recording medium storing a medical image bitstream generated by an image encoding method, The above image encoding method comprises a medical image conversion step of converting the medical image data and generating the medical image bitstream based on the medical image data and the metadata of the medical image data; and Including a medical image transmission step for transmitting the above medical image bitstream, A computer-readable recording medium in which the above conversion is performed based on a conversion syntax UID.

10. A medical image conversion unit that converts the medical image data and generates a medical image bitstream based on the medical image data and the metadata of the medical image data; and Including a video transmission unit for transmitting the above medical image bitstream, An image encoding device, wherein the above conversion is performed based on a conversion syntax UID.

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