JP2019069178A - Medical image processing apparatus, medical image processing method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a medical image processing apparatus that displays an affected area in a medical image on a display screen in an easy-to-see manner.SOLUTION: An acquisition unit 211 of a medical image processing apparatus 20 acquires a dermoscopy image taken via a dermoscope. An identifying unit 213 identifies a skin affected area from the dermoscopy image. An adjustment unit 215 aligns the skin affected area identified by the identifying unit 213 with the axis of the coordinate system displayed on a display unit 23 so that the skin affected area is in contact with the axis. A display control unit 217 causes the skin affected area aligned with the axis of the coordinate system by the adjustment unit 215 to be displayed together with the coordinate system on the display unit 23.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a medical image processing apparatus, a medical image processing method, and a program.

In the medical field, there is one in which a doctor photographs an affected area of a patient and displays it on a screen so that the size of the affected area can be known (for example, see Patent Document 1).
The invention described in Patent Document 1 provides a simpler and more accurate ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus, and generates ultrasonic image data for display of position, shape, and size based on the position and orientation of a captured marker. And displaying the display ultrasonic image based on the display ultrasonic image data on the display living body image acquired by imaging the appearance of the living body.

When photographing a skin affected area with a camera with a magnifying glass such as a dermoscope, a doctor confirms an image showing the skin affected area on a display screen such as a camera or a PC after photographing. In this case, the skin affected area in the image is preferably displayed in a manner that is easy for the doctor to see.
In the invention described in Patent Document 1, although the size of the ultrasonic image which is the affected area can be grasped by comparison with the appearance of the living body, it is not clear to the actual size.
Here, Patent Document 2 discloses that a subject in a photographed image is specified, and an actual scale is fixed and displayed around the specified subject.

JP, 2014-221175, A JP, 2009-27402, A

  However, in Patent Document 2 described above, it is not sufficient from the viewpoint of easy-to-see for doctors, simply by fixedly displaying the actual scale. In particular, medical images used in medical fields are required to be easier to view than general images in terms of observation and accurate diagnosis by a doctor.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a medical image processing apparatus and the like which display an affected area in a medical image in an easy-to-see manner on a display screen.

In order to achieve the above object, a medical image processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is:
An identifying means for identifying a skin affected area from a dermoscopy image taken via a dermoscope;
An adjustment means for aligning the skin affected area so that the skin affected area specified by the specifying means is in contact with the axis of the actual scale of the scaled coordinate system displayed on the display means;
Display control means for displaying on the display means, together with the coordinate system, a skin affected part aligned with the axis of the coordinate system by the adjusting means;
It is characterized by having.

  According to the present invention, the affected area in the medical image can be displayed on the display screen in an easy-to-see manner.

It is a figure showing a medical image processing device and an imaging device concerning an embodiment. It is a figure which shows the mode of a dermoscopy diagnosis. It is a figure which shows the example of a dermoscopy image. It is a block diagram showing composition of a medical image processing device concerning an embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the dermoscopy image after HDR conversion. It is a figure which shows an example of the flowchart of display control processing. It is a figure which shows the state which displayed the skin affected part with the axis | shaft of a coordinate system. It is a figure which shows the state which plotted the several point on the outline of a skin affected part. It is a figure which shows the state which drew two line segments in the skin affected part. It is a figure which shows the state which rotated the skin affected part. It is a figure which shows the state which moved the skin affected part linearly to the Y-axis. It is a figure which shows the state which moved the skin affected part linearly to the X-axis. It is a figure which shows the state which gave the scale of the full scale to the axis of the coordinate system. It is a figure which shows the state which displayed the skin affected part on the display part. It is a block diagram showing composition of a medical image processing device concerning a modification. It is a figure which shows the example of the dermoscopy image which concerns on a modification. It is a figure which shows the state which displayed the pseudo affected part with the axis of a coordinate system. It is a figure which shows the state which drew two line segments in the false affected part. It is a figure which shows the state which moved the pseudo | simulation affected part linearly. It is a figure which shows the state which displayed the pseudo affected part on the display part. It is a figure which shows the state which piled up the skin affected part and displayed it on the display part. It is a figure which shows the state which accumulated the center of the skin affected part on the origin of a coordinate system, and was displayed on the display part.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a view showing a medical image processing apparatus 20 and an imaging apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The imaging device 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 is a camera, and can communicate with the medical image processing device 20 via a wired (USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable or the like). The imaging device 10 is used when a doctor examines the patient K, and takes a medical image for patient diagnosis based on the operation of the doctor.

  The medical image processing device 20 is, for example, a PC (Personal Computer), receives a medical image from the imaging device 10, and performs image processing on the medical image. The medical image may not be wired, but may be received via near field communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or an SD (Secure Digital) card in the imaging device 10.

  In this embodiment, the user of the imaging device 10 and the medical image processing apparatus 20 is a doctor, and the doctor confirms the medical image of the patient K photographed by himself / herself with the medical image processing apparatus 20. The medical image processing apparatus 20 performs image processing on the medical image before the confirmation and displays the medical image after the image processing.

  Here, prior to the specific description of the medical image processing apparatus 20, an imaging apparatus 10, a medical image, and the like that a doctor uses for diagnosis in a medical site serving as a premise will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the state of dermoscopy diagnosis. The dermoscopy diagnosis is a diagnosis using the dermoscope 100 which observes a skin affected area 10 to 30 times as enlarged. The dermoscope 100 is a magnifying glass provided with a light source such as a halogen lamp or a white LED (Light Emitting Diode) and a polarization filter that suppresses reflected light. As shown in the figure, the dermoscope 100 is used in a state of being attached to the imaging device 10 via an attachment or the like.

  According to this dermoscopy diagnosis, since diffuse reflection by the horny layer of the skin disappears, the doctor can enlarge and diagnose the affected area of the skin capturing the pigment distribution from the epidermal layer of the skin to the superficial dermis layer.

  Then, the doctor specifies the skin affected area and photographs the skin affected area of the patient K with the imaging device 10 with the dermoscope 100. FIG. 3 shows an example of a dermoscopy image which is an image photographed through the dermoscope 100. By observing the skin affected area in this dermoscopy image, the doctor can diagnose whether the skin affected area is benign (such as mole) or malignant (such as melanoma).

  In this embodiment, the medical image processing apparatus 20 performs image processing so that the skin affected area in the dermoscopy image as shown in FIG. 3 is easy for a doctor to see and easy to diagnose.

The specific configuration of the medical image processing apparatus 20 will be described with reference to FIG. 4 on the premise of the above medical site.
The medical image processing apparatus 20 is installed in a doctor's examination room and performs image processing on a dermoscopy image received from the imaging apparatus 10. The medical image processing apparatus 20 includes a control unit 21, an input unit 22, a display unit 23, a communication unit 24, and a storage unit 25.

  The control unit 21 is configured by, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) or a read only memory (ROM). The control unit 21 controls the functions of the respective units (the acquisition unit 211, the image conversion unit 212, the identification unit 213, the line segment extraction unit 214, the adjustment unit 215, the display control unit 217) by performing control according to the program stored in the ROM. To realize. The functions of these units will be described later.

The input unit 22 includes, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and is used by a doctor who is a user to input operation content.
The display unit 23 is configured of, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an EL (Electroluminescence) display.

The communication unit 24 is a communication interface (such as a USB port) for communicating with the imaging device 10. The control unit 21 receives a dermoscopy image from the imaging device 10 via the communication unit 24.
The storage unit 25 is configured of a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk drive (HDD), and stores a dermoscopy image received from the imaging device 10 and various data. The storage unit 24 stores, as data, information necessary to obtain the actual size of the affected area of the skin in the dermoscopy image. The information necessary for obtaining the actual size is, for example, information on the focal length and the angle of view of the imaging device 10.

  In addition, since the imaging device 10 mounts | wears with the dermoscope 100 and image | photographs, it can not calculate | require an exact size correctly only with the information regarding the focal distance of the imaging device 10, and an angle of view. For this reason, the user (doctor) mounts the dermoscope 100 on the imaging device 10 before photographing a dermoscopy image, and photographs and calibrates a scale (for example, a ruler of about 5 mm) with an actual scale. Then, the imaging device 10 stores calibration information (information on subject distance, focal length, angle of view) at the time of shooting.

  Then, when receiving a dermoscopy image from the imaging device 10, the medical image processing device 20 also receives the calibration information. This calibration information may be received as additional information (Exif: Exchangeable Image File Format) of the dermoscopy image.

  Next, the functions of the units (acquisition unit 211, image conversion unit 212, identification unit 213, line segment extraction unit 214, adjustment unit 215, display control unit 217) of the control unit 21 will be described.

  The acquisition unit 211 acquires a dermoscopy image taken via the dermoscope 100. Here, the acquisition unit 211 only needs to be able to acquire a dermoscopy image, so the method of acquisition may be either active or passive. For example, the acquisition unit 211 may acquire a dermoscopy image from the imaging device 10 in response to an image acquisition request, or may receive and acquire a dermoscopy image transmitted from the imaging device 10. The acquisition unit 211 corresponds to an acquisition unit.

  The image conversion unit 212 converts the acquired dermoscopy image into an image. Specifically, the image conversion unit 212 performs HDR (High Dynamic Range) conversion on the dermoscopy image (see FIG. 3). The HDR conversion is a conversion that extends the dynamic range of an image by dividing the image contrast into several steps, adjusting them, and combining them again. Thereby, the color tone of the dermoscopy image and the skin affected area (dermoscopy structure) can be grasped more clearly (see FIG. 5).

  Note that the image conversion unit 212 is not limited to the HDR conversion, and in the case of diagnosing another affected skin part (for example, hemangioma or the like) in the dermoscopy image, the blood vessel emphasis conversion may be performed. This blood vessel emphasizing transformation is a transformation that makes the blood vessel part stand out, and after converting the color space of the dermoscopy image (from RGB color space to CIELab color space), various filter processing (processing such as luminance component decomposition filter or edge emphasis filter) Make the color space back again and emphasize the blood vessels in the dermoscopy image.

  Returning to FIG. 4, the identification unit 213 identifies a skin affected area from the dermoscopy image after HDR conversion. Although this specific method is optional, for example, the skin affected area can be extracted by extracting the outline of the skin affected area. The extraction of the contour line is performed by binarizing the dermoscopy image (processing to make monochrome with the pixel value threshold being “1” and less than the threshold being “0”), or an edge that makes the density gradient of the contour portion steep. It may be emphasized.

  Also, as another method, pattern matching between the template image of a plurality of skin affected areas and the skin affected area in the dermoscopy image may be performed, or the feature value of the color or shape in the dermoscopy image is extracted to specify the skin affected area. You may As the feature amount, for example, an HOG (Histograms of Oriented Gradients) feature amount for extracting a brightness gradient and a brightness intensity from a local region of an image can be used. The specifying unit 213 corresponds to a specifying unit.

  The line segment extraction unit 214 has a first line segment connecting between two points on the outline of the affected area of the skin affected by the identification unit 213, and a second line segment perpendicular to the middle point of the first line segment. To extract. The extraction method will be described later. The line segment extraction unit 214 corresponds to a line segment extraction unit.

  The adjusting unit 215 aligns the skin affected area so that the identified skin affected area is in contact with an axis of a two-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system (hereinafter referred to as a coordinate system) displayed on the display unit 23 which is a display. Specifically, the skin affected area is moved such that the identified skin affected area is in contact with the axis of the coordinate system displayed by the moving unit 216 included in the adjustment unit 215 on the display unit 23. The moving method will be described later. The adjusting unit 215 corresponds to the adjusting unit, and the moving unit 216 corresponds to the moving unit.

  The display control unit 217 displays the skin affected area moved by the moving unit 216 on the display unit 23 together with the coordinate system. The display control unit 217 corresponds to display control means.

  The control unit 21 of the medical image processing apparatus 20 including the above-described units appropriately executes the display control process by appropriately controlling the units according to the program stored in the ROM. This display control process will be described with reference to FIG. As a premise of the display control process, the medical image processing apparatus 20 acquires, from the imaging apparatus 10, a dermoscopy image and calibration information at the time of dermoscopy image photographing.

  Then, it is assumed that the doctor performs a display operation of the dermoscopy image through the input unit 22 in order to confirm the dermoscopy image photographed during or after diagnosis of the patient K on the display unit 23 of the medical image processing apparatus 20. The display control process is started upon receiving the display operation of the dermoscopy image.

  First, the image conversion unit 212 performs image conversion on the dermoscopy image (step S11). Specifically, the image conversion unit 212 performs HDR conversion on the dermoscopy image (see FIG. 3) as described above (see FIG. 5).

  Next, the identifying unit 213 identifies a skin affected area (step S12). Specifically, the specifying unit 213 specifies a skin affected area by the above-described arbitrary method (for example, by outline extraction) on the dermoscopy image after HDR conversion. The identified skin affected area is processed inside the medical image processing apparatus 20 (that is, without displaying on the display unit 23) with the axis of the coordinate system. This internal process will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 7, in order to facilitate understanding, the identified skin affected area D will be described as a symmetrical elliptical shape. In practice, the identified skin affected area is often in the form of an asymmetrical oval. In addition, the skin affected area D includes a plurality of pigment small spheres indicated by oval black dots. The pigmented globules in fact exhibit different shades of color (e.g. tea, blue, ash etc) depending on the amount of melanin pigment.
When the skin affected area is specified in step S12, as shown in FIG. 7, the skin affected area is displayed along with the axis of the coordinate system as the inside of the medical image processing apparatus 20.

  Returning to FIG. 6, the line segment extraction unit 214 plots a plurality of points on the contour line of the identified skin affected area (step S13). The state which plotted the several point is shown in FIG. The plurality of points are used when extracting line segments in the process after step S13.

  Next, the line segment extraction unit 214 extracts the first line segment (step S14). Specifically, the line segment extraction unit 214 extracts a plurality of line segments between two points connecting the base point and another point, using an arbitrary point as a base point among the plurality of points in FIG. 8. Subsequently, the line segment extraction unit 214 repeats line segment extraction until extraction of line segments is completed for all base points, with a point different from an arbitrary point as a new base point.

  That is, the line segment extraction unit 214 extracts line segments in a round-robin manner while changing the base point. After extracting all the line segments, the line segment extraction unit 214 extracts the longest line segment as a first line segment among a plurality of line segments connecting two points (solid line in FIG. 9). When there are a plurality of longest line segments, the line segment extraction unit 214 sets one arbitrarily selected line segment as a first line segment.

  Returning to FIG. 6, the line segment extraction unit 214 extracts the second line segment (step S15). Specifically, the line segment extraction unit 214 extracts a line segment that intersects perpendicularly with the middle point of the first line segment as a second line segment (broken line in FIG. 9). These first and second line segments serve as a reference for alignment and contact with the axis, and the first line segment is a line segment of the X axis, and the second line segment is a line segment of the Y axis , Each function.

  Next, the moving unit 216 rotates the skin affected area D (step S16). Specifically, the moving unit 216 performs a second line segment (Y axis) so that the first line segment (line segment of the X axis) of the skin affected area D is parallel to the X axis for alignment. The skin affected area D is rotated so that the line segment of (1) is parallel to the Y axis. The rotation direction is preferably the direction in which the axial alignment can be made at the shortest, and in the case of the example of FIG. 9, the moving unit 216 rotates the skin affected area D clockwise. After this rotation, the skin affected area D is in the state shown in FIG.

  Next, the moving unit 216 linearly moves the skin affected area D along the Y axis (step S17). Specifically, the moving unit 216 sets the skin affected area D such that an end point closer to the Y axis of the two end points of the first line segment shown by a solid line in FIG. 10 contacts the Y axis. Move in a straight line. Thereby, the skin affected area D contacts the Y axis (see FIG. 11).

  Next, the moving unit 216 linearly moves the skin affected area D along the X axis (step S18). Specifically, the moving unit 216 sets the skin affected area D such that an end point closer to the X axis of the two end points of the second line segment shown by a broken line in FIG. 11 contacts the X axis. Move in a straight line. Thereby, the skin affected area D contacts the X axis (see FIG. 12).

  In addition, since the skin affected area D only needs to contact both the X axis and the Y axis as a result, the processes of steps S17 and S18 may be interchanged. In addition, depending on the shape of the skin affected area D (because the actual skin affected area is asymmetrical with many left and right ovals), the end points closer to the axes of the first and second line segments are both axes (X axis and Y May not touch the shaft).

  That is, there is a case where only the X axis or the Y axis is in contact with the actual skin affected area even after the movement processing. In this case, either one may be in contact. It is because it becomes easy to see if at least one contacts even if they do not contact both.

  Next, the control unit 21 assigns a scale of actual size to the axis (step S19). Specifically, the control unit 21 obtains the length of the actual size of the skin affected area D based on calibration information of the dermoscopy image received in advance, and uses the same scale as the obtained length (for example, the skin affected area D If the unit is millimeter, the scale of the actual size is given to the axes (X axis and Y axis) of the coordinate system (in the same millimeter) (see FIG. 13).

  Although the method of obtaining the actual size is known, for example, the length of one side of the dermoscopy image is obtained based on the subject distance, the focal length, and the angle of view at the time of dermoscopy image shooting included in the calibration information The actual length per pixel (mm / pix) is obtained from the number of pixels on one side of the image. Then, the actual size of the skin affected area D may be determined.

  Returning to FIG. 6, the display control unit 217 displays the skin affected area D along with the axis of the coordinate system on the display unit 23 (step S20). As a result, as shown in FIG. 14, the skin affected area D is displayed on the display unit 23 of the medical image processing apparatus 20 together with the axis with the actual scale. At this time, the display control unit 217 also causes the display unit 23 to display numerical values (X: 7 mm, Y: 3.5 mm in the example of FIG. 14) of the actual size of the skin affected area D. Thereafter, the process ends.

  As described above, in the display control process described with reference to FIG. 6, the medical image processing apparatus 20 includes the respective units (the acquisition unit 211, the image conversion unit 212, the identification unit 213, the line segment extraction unit 214, the moving unit 216, the display control unit By including 217), the skin affected area can be moved so that the identified skin affected area is in contact with the axis of the coordinate system displayed on the display unit 23. Therefore, the skin affected area in the dermoscopy image, which is a medical image, can be displayed on the screen of the display unit 23 in an easy-to-see manner.

  In addition, the axes of the coordinate system displayed on the display unit 23 have actual scale marks. Therefore, the doctor can immediately grasp the actual size of the affected area of the skin, so that the diagnosis can be performed promptly.

  In addition, in the display control process shown in FIG. 6, although the timing which gives a scale of an actual size to an axis | shaft was demonstrated taking the example after the movement by the movement part 216 as an example, it is not restricted to this. The point is that the scale of the actual size may be given before displaying on the display unit 23. For example, even if the actual size is obtained at the stage where the skin affected area D is specified in step S12, the scale is provided on the axis of the coordinate system. Good. In this case, a scale will be provided at the stage of FIG.

  Moreover, in the display control process shown in FIG. 6, although linear movement was performed after rotation of the skin affected part D by the movement part 216, it is not restricted to this. The point is that as long as the skin affected area D comes in contact with the axis (X axis and Y axis) after movement, the process may be appropriately changed within the range not inconsistent with this. For example, rotation may be performed after linearly moving the skin affected area D, or movement may be performed while rotating.

Further, in the display control process shown in FIG. 6, the first line segment is described as a line segment on the X axis, and the second line segment is described as a line segment on the Y axis. The display control process may be performed with the line segment and the second line segment as the X-axis line segment.
Moreover, in the display control process shown in FIG. 6, although it demonstrated on the assumption of the skin affected part D of a symmetrical elliptical shape, it is needless to say that the shape of the skin affected part D is not limited to this. The display control process can be applied to almost all possible shapes of the skin affected area (linear or non-linear, such as polygons such as triangles and quadrilaterals, and distorted circles other than ellipses).

  Further, in the display control process shown in FIG. 6, it has been described on the premise that the internal process of the medical image processing apparatus 20 is performed until the skin affected area D is displayed on the display unit 23 with the axis of the coordinate system in step S20. However, it is not limited to this. For example, when the skin affected area is specified in step S12, it may be displayed on the display unit 23 together with the axis, and all the subsequent processing (FIGS. 7 to 13) may be displayed on the display unit 23.

  This is the end of the description of the embodiment, but it is a matter of course that the above embodiment is an example, and the configuration of the medical image processing apparatus 20 and the contents of the display control process are not limited to those described in the above embodiment. .

(Modification 1)
In the embodiment described above, it has been described on the premise that the identifying unit 213 can identify the affected skin area from the dermoscopy image. However, in reality, there is a case where the skin affected area can not be identified because the outline of the skin affected area can not be extracted. For example, even if the skin affected area can be identified if it is a pigmented skin disease such as melanoma or mole, it may not be possible if the skin affected area is a hemangioma involving a blood vessel.

  Therefore, the medical image processing apparatus 20 'of FIG. 15 according to the first modification has a function provided when a skin affected area can not be identified. The medical image processing apparatus 20 ′ differs from the medical image processing apparatus 20 in that the reception unit 218 is provided. The following description will focus on this difference.

  When the identifying unit 213 can not identify a skin affected area, the receiving unit 218 receives a pseudo affected area that substitutes for the skin affected area based on a user operation. FIG. 16 shows an example of the dermoscopy image G when the skin affected area can not be identified. The dermoscopy image G of FIG. 16 is composed of a blood vessel indicated by a solid line and a plurality of pigment globules.

  In this case, the display control unit 217 displays the image area of the dermoscopy image G on the display unit 23 along with the axis of the coordinate system. Then, the receiving unit 218 receives an operation by the input unit 22 such as a doctor's mouse. FIG. 17 shows the case where the doctor inputs a portion shown by a solid line as the pseudo affected area P. The receiving unit 218 receives the pseudo affected area P. The accepting unit 218 corresponds to an accepting unit.

  When the receiving unit 218 receives the pseudo affected area P, the medical image processing apparatus 20 'performs the process after step S13 in the display control process described above with the pseudo affected area P instead of the skin affected area D.

  Specifically, the line segment extraction unit 214 of the medical image processing apparatus 20 ′ performs the processing of steps S13 to S15 inside the apparatus to plot a plurality of points on the outline of the pseudo affected area P, and And the second line segment are extracted (see FIG. 18).

Next, the moving unit 216 performs the processes of steps S16 to S18 inside the apparatus to rotate and translate the pseudo affected area P to bring it into contact with the axis (X axis and Y axis) (see FIG. 19).
Next, after the control unit 21 applies a scale to the axis in step S19, the display control unit 217 displays the pseudo affected area P along with the axis of the coordinate system on the display unit 23 (see FIG. 20).

  As described above, according to the medical image processing apparatus 20 'according to the first modification, when the identifying unit 213 can not identify the skin affected area, the pseudo affected area replacing the skin affected area is received based on the operation of the doctor. Then, the received pseudo affected area is moved so as to contact the axis of the coordinate system and displayed on the display unit 23.

  Therefore, even if the skin affected area is difficult to identify, such as hemangioma, as long as the doctor can determine the affected area from the dermoscopy image, the pseudo affected area based on the determination is displayed on the display 23 with the actual size. be able to.

  In the first modification described above, the pseudo affected part may be distorted depending on the operation of the doctor. In this case, if the end point closer to one of the first line segment (line segment of X axis) or the second line segment (line segment of Y axis) contacts the X axis or the Y axis Good.

  Moreover, in the first modification described above, the doctor inputs the pseudo area P via the input unit 22 such as a mouse, but the present invention is not limited to this. Of course, if the display unit 23 is a touch panel, the doctor may input the pseudo area P by tracing with a touch pen or the like.

(Modification 2)
The embodiment described above is described on the premise that there is only one skin affected area displayed on the display unit 23, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when there are a plurality of skin affected parts in the same place photographed by the doctor in time series (for example, when the doctor photographed the same skin affected part in the first and second diagnoses), they may be displayed overlappingly.

  Specifically, when there are a plurality of dermoscopy images different in photographing time, the display control unit 217 moves the skin affected area specified from the plurality of dermoscopy images, respectively, and then superimposes them on the display unit 23 in time series. Display (see FIG. 21). The skin affected area D1 shown by a dotted line in FIG. 21 is taken before the skin affected area D2 shown by a solid line.

  With this layer display, temporal changes in the skin affected area (for example, changes in the size of the skin affected area itself, movement trajectories of pigment microspheres, etc.) can be grasped, so that diagnosis by a doctor can be facilitated.

(Modification 3)
In the embodiment described above, the skin affected area after movement has been described on the premise that it is the first quadrant of the coordinate system, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, they may be displayed in the second to fourth quadrants. In addition, the center of the skin affected area D after movement may be further moved to the origin (see FIG. 22). If the display part of the skin affected area D is received in advance from the doctor, display can be made according to the preference of the doctor. The center of the skin affected area D does not have to be the center of a strict figure, and a predetermined error may be provided according to the shape.

  The above-described modifications 1 to 3 may be combined as appropriate as long as no contradiction arises. Moreover, in embodiment and the modification which were mentioned above, although medical image processing apparatuses 20 and 20 ', such as PC, demonstrated that image processing was performed, it is not restricted to this. For example, a program for the imaging device 10 to perform display control processing may be stored, and the imaging control device 10 may perform display control processing. In this case, the skin affected area after movement is displayed on the display unit of the imaging device 10.

Also, each function of the medical image processing apparatus 20 of the present invention can be implemented by a computer such as a normal PC.
Specifically, in the above embodiment, it has been described that the program of the display control process performed by the medical image processing apparatus 20 is stored in advance in the ROM of the control unit 21. However, the program for this display control process is stored in a computer readable recording medium such as a flexible disk, a compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disc (DVD) and a magneto-optical disc (MO). By distributing the program and installing the program in a computer, the above-described units (acquisition unit 211, image conversion unit 212, identification unit 213, line segment extraction unit 214, adjustment unit 215, movement unit 216, display control unit 217) can be obtained. You may comprise the computer which can implement | achieve a function. Further, the program may be stored in a disk device or the like included in a server device on a communication network such as the Internet so that, for example, a computer can download or the like.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments, and the present invention includes the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof. Be In the following, the invention described in the original claims of the present application is appended.

(Supplementary Note 1)
An identifying means for identifying a skin affected area from a dermoscopy image taken via a dermoscope;
An adjusting means for aligning the skin affected area so that the skin affected area specified by the specifying means is in contact with the axis of the coordinate system displayed on the display means;
Display control means for displaying on the display means, together with the coordinate system, a skin affected part aligned with the axis of the coordinate system by the adjusting means;
A medical image processing apparatus comprising:

(Supplementary Note 2)
The adjusting means includes moving means for moving the skin affected area so that the skin affected area specified by the specifying means is in contact with the axis of the coordinate system displayed on the display means.
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that

(Supplementary Note 3)
The axes of the coordinate system are scaled with actual dimensions,
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that

(Supplementary Note 4)
The identification means extracts the outline of the affected area of the skin by binarizing or edge emphasizing the dermoscopy image, and identifies the affected area of the skin.
The medical image processing apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 3, characterized in that

(Supplementary Note 5)
The specifying means includes a means for converting the dermoscopy image into a high dynamic range (HDR) process.
The medical image processing apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 4, characterized in that:

(Supplementary Note 6)
Line segment extraction for extracting a first line segment connecting between two points on the outline of the skin affected area specified by the specifying means, and a second line segment perpendicular to the middle point of the first line segment Equipped with
The moving means is
Rotation means for rotating the skin affected area such that the first line segment is parallel to the X axis of the coordinate system and the second line segment is parallel to the Y axis of the coordinate system;
First linear moving means for linearly moving the affected area of the skin such that an end point closer to the Y axis among the two end points of the first line segment contacts the Y axis;
Second linear moving means for linearly moving the affected area of the skin such that an end point closer to the X axis among the two end points of the second line segment contacts the X axis;
including,
The medical image processing apparatus according to appendix 2, characterized in that

(Appendix 7)
The line segment extraction unit extracts, as the first line segment, a line segment having the longest line segment connecting two points among a plurality of points on the outline.
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that

(Supplementary Note 8)
The moving means further moves the affected area of the skin such that the center of the affected area of the skin overlaps the origin of the coordinate system after moving the affected area of the skin.
The medical image processing apparatus according to appendix 2, characterized in that

(Appendix 9)
The display control means, when there are a plurality of dermoscopy images different in photographing time, the skin affected area specified by the plurality of dermoscopy images is moved by the moving means, and then the skin affected area after the movement is displayed as the display means Display multiple time series on top of each other,
The medical image processing apparatus according to appendix 2, characterized in that

(Supplementary Note 10)
The display control means displays the numerical value of the actual size of the skin affected area on the display means.
The medical image processing apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 9, characterized in that

(Supplementary Note 11)
When the specifying unit can not specify the affected area of the skin, the receiving unit is provided with an accepting unit for receiving a simulated affected part replacing the affected part of the skin based on a user operation.
The adjusting means aligns the pseudo affected area so that the pseudo affected area received by the receiving means is in contact with the axis of the coordinate system displayed on the display means.
The display control means displays, on the display means, the pseudo affected area aligned with the axis of the coordinate system by the adjusting means, together with the coordinate system.
The medical image processing apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 10, characterized in that

(Supplementary Note 12)
Identifying a skin affected area from a dermoscopy image taken via a dermoscope;
Adjusting the skin affected area so that the skin affected area identified in the identifying step comes into contact with the axis of the coordinate system displayed on the display means;
A display control step of displaying a skin affected part aligned with an axis of the coordinate system in the adjustment step on the display means together with the coordinate system;
A medical image processing method comprising:

(Supplementary Note 13)
Computer,
Identification means for identifying a skin affected area from a dermoscopy image taken via dermoscope,
An adjusting means for aligning the skin affected area so that the skin affected area specified by the specifying means is in contact with the axis of the coordinate system displayed on the display means;
Display control means for displaying on the display means a skin affected part aligned with an axis of the coordinate system by the adjusting means, together with the coordinate system;
Program to function as.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Imaging device, 20, 20 '... Medical image processing apparatus, 21 ... Control part, 22 ... Input part, 23 ... Display part, 24 ... Communications part, 25 ... Storage part, 100 ... Dermoscope, 211 ... Acquisition part, 212 ... image conversion unit, 213 ... identification unit, 214 ... line segment extraction unit, 215 ... adjustment unit, 216 ... moving unit, 217 ... display control unit, 218 ... reception unit

In order to achieve the above object, a medical image processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is:
An identifying means for identifying a skin affected area from a dermoscopy image taken via a dermoscope;
Display control means for causing the display unit to display the identified skin affected area;
Coordinate axis display control means for displaying coordinate axes of a predetermined coordinate system on the display unit;
An adjusting unit configured to adjust the center of the identified skin affected area so as to overlap the origin of the coordinate axis;
It is characterized by having.

Claims (12)

An identifying means for identifying a skin affected area from a dermoscopy image taken via a dermoscope;
An adjustment means for aligning the skin affected area so that the skin affected area specified by the specifying means is in contact with the axis of the actual scale of the scaled coordinate system displayed on the display means;
Display control means for displaying on the display means, together with the coordinate system, a skin affected part aligned with the axis of the coordinate system by the adjusting means;
A medical image processing apparatus comprising: The adjusting means includes moving means for moving the skin affected area so that the skin affected area specified by the specifying means is in contact with the axis of the actual scale of the scaled coordinate system displayed on the display means.
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: The identification means extracts the outline of the affected area of the skin by binarizing or edge emphasizing the dermoscopy image, and identifies the affected area of the skin.
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The specifying means includes a means for converting the dermoscopy image into a high dynamic range (HDR) process.
The medical image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: Line segment extraction for extracting a first line segment connecting between two points on the outline of the skin affected area specified by the specifying means, and a second line segment perpendicular to the middle point of the first line segment Equipped with
The moving means is
Rotation means for rotating the skin affected area such that the first line segment is parallel to the X axis of the coordinate system and the second line segment is parallel to the Y axis of the coordinate system;
First linear moving means for linearly moving the affected area of the skin such that an end point closer to the Y axis among the two end points of the first line segment contacts the Y axis;
Second linear moving means for linearly moving the affected area of the skin such that an end point closer to the X axis among the two end points of the second line segment contacts the X axis;
including,
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that: The line segment extraction unit extracts, as the first line segment, a line segment having the longest line segment connecting two points among a plurality of points on the outline.
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that: The moving means further moves the affected area of the skin such that the center of the affected area of the skin overlaps the origin of the coordinate system after moving the affected area of the skin.
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that: The display control means, when there are a plurality of dermoscopy images different in photographing time, the skin affected area specified by the plurality of dermoscopy images is moved by the moving means, and then the skin affected area after the movement is displayed as the display means Display multiple time series on top of each other,
The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that: The display control means displays the numerical value of the actual size of the skin affected area on the display means.
A medical image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that. When the specifying unit can not specify the affected area of the skin, the receiving unit is provided with an accepting unit for receiving a simulated affected part replacing the affected part of the skin based on a user operation.
The adjusting means aligns the pseudo affected area so that the pseudo affected area received by the receiving means is in contact with the axis of the scale system with the actual scale displayed on the display means.
The display control means displays, on the display means, the pseudo affected area aligned with the axis of the coordinate system by the adjusting means, together with the coordinate system.
The medical image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: Identifying a skin affected area from a dermoscopy image taken via a dermoscope;
Adjusting the skin affected area so that the skin affected area identified in the identifying step comes into contact with the axis of the actual scale scaled coordinate system displayed on the display means;
A display control step of displaying a skin affected part aligned with an axis of the coordinate system in the adjustment step on the display means together with the coordinate system;
A medical image processing method comprising: Computer,
Identification means for identifying a skin affected area from a dermoscopy image taken via dermoscope,
Adjustment means for aligning the skin affected area so that the skin affected area specified by the specifying means comes into contact with the axis of the actual scale of the scaled coordinate system displayed on the display means.
Display control means for displaying on the display means a skin affected part aligned with an axis of the coordinate system by the adjusting means, together with the coordinate system;
Program to function as.

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