Medical Image Processing Apparatus for Lesion Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical imaging technologies, such as ultrasonic endoscopes, face challenges in accurately identifying lesions within medical images due to overlapping organs and varying diagnostic results among doctors, leading to potential missed lesions or incorrect diagnoses.
Innovation Solution
An image processing apparatus that detects specific image regions indicating sites and lesions within medical images, determines their consistency and positional relationship, and adjusts the display mode to enhance visibility and accuracy, using AI image recognition and display control processes to ensure clear differentiation between sites and lesions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If AI image recognition is used to detect lesions in medical images, then measurement precision of lesion detection is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional processing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the image processing into distinct functional modules: a lesion detection unit that identifies potential lesions, a site detection unit that identifies anatomical sites, and a determination unit that correlates them. This segmentation allows each module to specialize in specific tasks, improving overall detection accuracy while making the complex system more manageable and interpretable
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary determination unit that acts as a mediator between the lesion detection and site detection results. This unit determines whether detected lesions correspond to actual anatomical sites, serving as a bridge that validates and correlates information from multiple detection sources, thereby improving reliability without requiring complete system redesign
2Loss of information
If multiple detection results are displayed simultaneously, then information completeness is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to difficulty in grasping critical information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing different display treatments to different types of detection results based on their reliability and significance. High-confidence lesion-site correlations are displayed with prominent visual indicators, while low-confidence or uncertain detections receive different visual treatment or are displayed in less prominent positions, allowing users to quickly identify critical information without being overwhelmed by all data equally
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes color changes and visual indicators to encode the reliability and significance of different detection results. Different colors or visual styles are applied to represent different confidence levels, correlation strengths, or detection certainties, enabling users to rapidly assess the quality of detection results through visual cues rather than requiring detailed analysis of each result
Data Source
AI summary
An image processing apparatus includes a processor. The processor detects a first image region and a second image region from a medical image obtained by capturing an image of an observation target region including a site of a human body and a lesion, the first image region indicating the site, the second image region indicating the lesion. The processor causes a display apparatus to display a result of detection of the first image region and the second image region in a display mode in accordance with a positional relationship between the first image region and the second image region.