Medical Image Lesion Display for Related Detection States

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing medical image analysis systems fail to consider the display of other lesions related to a targeted lesion, such as those discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-37056 and WO 2021/020419, which do not provide comprehensive information about related lesions or their detection processing states.

Innovation Solution

An information processing apparatus and method that acquires and displays information about related lesions, including their detection processing states, by using a detection result acquisition unit, instruction reception unit, related lesion information acquisition unit, and display control unit to associate and display this information with the target lesion.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If the number of detection target lesions is increased to provide comprehensive medical analysis, then the diagnostic coverage is improved, but the complexity of displaying and managing detection results increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvediagnostic coverageVSAvoiddisplay and management complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the complex display of multiple lesion detection results by categorizing lesions into target lesions and related lesions. The display interface is divided into distinct regions: a first display region showing target lesion information and a second display region showing related lesion information. This segmentation allows comprehensive diagnostic coverage while maintaining organized, manageable display structures that reduce cognitive load on users.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Loss of information

If information about multiple related lesions is displayed together with target lesion information, then the completeness of medical information is improved, but the clarity and ease of identifying specific lesion states deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinformation completenessVSAvoidlesion identification ease
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by using distinct display styles for different lesion types. Target lesions are displayed with specific visual characteristics (e.g., in a first display region with certain formatting), while related lesions are displayed with different visual characteristics (e.g., in a second display region with different formatting). This differentiation maintains information completeness while ensuring that users can easily distinguish between target and related lesions through localized visual cues.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The patent organizes lesion information by adding a dimensional distinction between target lesions and related lesions in the display interface. Instead of mixing all lesion information uniformly, the system creates a hierarchical display structure where target lesion information and related lesion information are presented in separate dimensional spaces (display regions). This dimensional separation maintains comprehensive information while improving identifiability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

3Reliability

If detection processing is performed for all possible lesion types, then the diagnostic thoroughness is improved, but the processing time and computational resources increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvediagnostic thoroughnessVSAvoidprocessing time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements preliminary action by pre-establishing a database of related lesions that are associated with each target lesion type. Instead of performing detection processing for all possible lesion types from scratch, the system pre-identifies and stores relationships between target lesions and their related lesions. When a target lesion is detected, the system can quickly retrieve and display information about pre-identified related lesions, reducing processing time while maintaining diagnostic thoroughness.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP4181153B1Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program
Publication Date: 2026.01.07 CANON KK
  • EP4181153B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4181153B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4181153B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

According to an aspect of the present invention, an information processing apparatus includes a detection result acquisition unit configured to acquire a result of detecting a lesion from medical image data, an instruction reception unit configured to receive an instruction for specifying a target lesion based on the detection result, a related lesion information acquisition unit configured to acquire information about a lesion related with the specified target lesion, the lesion being of a different type from the target lesion, and a display control unit configured to control a display unit to display the information about the related lesion.