JP4645141B2 - Medical device network connection method and medical network system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a network connection method, and a medical network system capable of communicating medical devices and medical information over the network.

  Conventionally, in hospitals, modality medical devices such as CT, CR, and MRI, digital medical devices such as image processing apparatuses that perform image processing of medical images acquired by these modality medical devices, and printers (imagers) that print on film are networks. Although connected, mutual registration of connection information in these digital medical devices requires very complicated work. For example, it becomes difficult to ensure the consistency of connection information between medical devices when a new medical device is added to the network or the connection setting of the medical device is changed.

  Patent Document 1 below discloses a medical system that facilitates connection and setting between medical devices and shortens the setting time. However, two medical devices are positioned at positions where optical signals can be transmitted and received, and optical systems are arranged. Since the connection is limited to one-to-one medical devices arranged close to each other, it cannot be applied to medical devices connected to a network arranged apart from each other.

The following Patent Document 2 discloses a method and apparatus for verifying network connectivity between a medical diagnosis system and a remote service facility, but this method and apparatus only verifies mutual connectivity. It does not perform mutual registration of connection information.
JP 2001-104334 A JP 2001-147972 A

In view of the prior art problems as described above, provides a network connection method, and a medical network systems mutual registration easily feasible medical equipment connection information in the medical device are interconnected on a network The purpose is to do.

In order to achieve the above object, a first medical device according to a reference example is a medical device capable of communicating medical information using service attribute information of DICOM standard via a network, and provides a predetermined service through the network. For communication with other medical devices using service attribute information of DICOM standard, and can be provided via the communication unit when newly connected to the network or when the network connection setting is changed A notification unit that notifies other medical devices of other services using service attribute information of the DICOM standard.

  According to the first medical device, when the first medical device is newly connected to the network or when the setting of the network connection is changed, the first medical device notifies the other medical device of the service that can be provided. The medical device can register the connection information based on the notification, and can easily register the mutual connection information.

The second medical device according to the reference example is a medical device capable of communicating medical information via the network using service attribute information of the DICOM standard, and with another medical device for providing a predetermined service through the network. A communication unit that performs communication using service attribute information of the DICOM standard, a determination unit that determines whether or not a service notified from another medical device via the communication unit is supported, and a service in the determination unit A reply unit that returns a result of the support determination to the other medical device using the service attribute information of the DICOM standard via the communication unit.

  According to the second medical device, it is determined whether or not the service requested by the other medical device is supported, and the determination result is returned to the other medical device. Connection information can be registered based on the determination result, and mutual connection information can be easily registered.

When the second medical device is newly connected to the network or the network connection setting is changed, services that can be provided via the communication unit are used for other medical devices using service attribute information of DICOM standard. And a notification unit that notifies the second medical device when it is newly connected to the network or when the network connection setting is changed. In this medical device, connection information can be registered based on the notification, and registration of mutual connection information can be easily realized.

  In addition, the notification unit can register mutual connection information by notifying connection information for connecting to the network about other medical devices that can support each other.

  Further, the connection information can be registered by further including a storage unit that stores connection information for connecting to the network. In this case, it is preferable that the storage unit stores and registers a list of other medical devices on the network and a list of services supported by the other medical devices.

In addition, a standard medical network protocol (DICOM) is used for communication in the network .

According to the medical device network connection method of the present invention, when the first medical device is newly connected to the network or when the network connection setting is changed, the service supported by the first medical device is displayed on the network. A step of notifying the second medical device using service attribute information of the DICOM standard, a step of determining whether or not the second medical device that has received the notification is a service supported by the second medical device, If the medical device is seen contains the steps of: returning the determination result using the service attribute information of the DICOM standard to the first medical device, the service at the second medical device is supported, The second medical device transmitting the service attributes to the first medical device; and the first medical device attributes the service. Transmitting to the second medical device; registering connection information including the service and its attributes; and registering connection information including the service and its attributes to the second medical device. And registering .

  According to this network connection method for a medical device, when the first medical device is newly connected to the network or when the network connection setting is changed, the service that the first medical device can provide can be provided by the second medical device. The device notifies the device, determines whether the second medical device supports the service inquired from the first medical device, and returns the determination result to the first medical device. In the medical device and the second medical device, connection information can be registered based on the determination result, and registration of mutual connection information can be easily realized. Note that there may be a plurality of second medical devices on the network.

  In the network connection method, when the service is supported by the second medical device, the second medical device transmits an attribute of the service to the first medical device; A first medical device transmitting an attribute of the service to the second medical device, a step in which the first medical device registers connection information including the service and the attribute, and the service and the attribute. Including the step of the second medical device registering the connection information including the connection information.

  In addition, when the service is not supported by the second medical device, it is preferable that the second medical device replies to the first medical device that the service is not available.

In addition, a standard medical network protocol (DICOM) is used for communication in the network .

The medical network system according to the present invention is a system in which a first medical device and a second medical device are connected via a network by the above-described medical device network connection method .

  According to this medical network system, when the first medical device is newly connected to the network or when the network connection setting is changed, the first medical device notifies the second medical device of services that the first medical device can provide. The second medical device determines whether or not the second medical device supports the service inquired from the first medical device, and returns the determination result to the first medical device. In the second medical device, the connection information can be registered based on the determination result, and the mutual connection information can be easily registered. Note that there may be a plurality of second medical devices on the network.

  When the service is supported by the second medical device, the second medical device transmits an attribute of the service to the first medical device, and the first medical device The service attribute is transmitted to the second medical device, the connection information including the service and the attribute is registered by the first medical device, and the connection information including the service and the attribute is registered by the second medical device. By doing so, it is possible to easily register the mutual connection information.

According to the present invention, it is possible to register the mutual connection information in the medical device are interconnected in a network to provide a network connection method, and a medical network system easily feasible medical devices.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a medical network system according to the present embodiment.

  The medical network system shown in FIG. 1 includes an image generation device 3 that includes one type of various types of modality medical devices such as CT, MRI, and CR, and generates a medical image by photographing, and displays the generated medical image and performs image processing, etc. An image processing apparatus 4 that performs medical processing, a printer (imager) 2 that prints and outputs a medical image on a recording medium such as a film, and a gateway apparatus 1 that temporarily stores medical image information and distributes the medical image information to a printer or the like when the medical image is printed Are connected to each other by a network 10. For convenience of explanation, the image generating device 3 and the printer (imager) 2 are shown one by one in the figure, but a plurality of them may be arranged.

The network 10 in FIG. 1 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) laid in a single hospital, or even if the LAN is composed of a single LAN segment, it is interconnected via a router (or gateway). A plurality of LAN segments may be configured. Furthermore, the network may be a wide area network such as WAN (Wide Area Network) or the Internet to do a remote hospital LAN Ru is constructed by connecting via a dedicated line or the like.

  Here, each element (devices 1 to 4) constituting the network system is referred to as a node. That is, in FIG. 1, the gateway device 1 is a node A, the printer (imager) 2 is a node B, the image generation device 3 is a node C, and the image processing device 4 is a node D.

  A medical standard network protocol (DICOM) is used for communication between the nodes in the network 10. DICOM is an abbreviation for Digital Image COMunication for Medicine and is a basic standard for medical images.

  Each of the nodes A to D in FIG. 1 is configured so that the network connection information can be automatically set. This configuration will be described with reference to FIG. 2 taking the image processing apparatus 4 (node D) as an example. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a main configuration of the image processing apparatus of FIG.

  The image processing apparatus 4 can be composed of a personal computer. As shown in FIG. 2, the image processing apparatus 4 communicates with the other nodes A to C in FIG. A storage unit 14 that temporarily stores medical image information transmitted from C or stores other information, a display unit 13 that includes a liquid crystal panel or a CRT that displays the received medical image, and a user need An operation unit 12 including a pointing device such as a mouse and a keyboard for selecting and inputting various operations and information, and an image processing unit 18 that performs necessary image processing on a medical image displayed on the display unit 13. .

  The image processing apparatus 4 in FIG. 2 sends a list of services and service attributes that can be provided when newly connecting to the network and changing network connection settings to other nodes A to C via the communication unit 11. A notification unit 15 for notification, a determination unit 16 for determining whether or not a service received from another node A to C via the communication unit 11 is supported, and a service determined by the determination unit 16 as being supported Is further provided with a reply unit 17 that replies to other nodes A to C via the communication unit 11.

  The storage unit 14 stores connection destinations in the other nodes A to C, services supported by the connection destinations, and service attributes as connection information for each connection destination. The other nodes A to C also have the same functions as the units 14 to 18 in FIG.

Here, for example, there are the following DICOM services.
Print: Output to imager (printer)
Storage: Image information transmission and reception
MWM: Shooting information management
MPPS: Inspection progress information

SCP and SCU
SCP (Service Class Provider) is the service provider
SCU (Service Class User) is the service user
Both SCU and SCP must register each other's information.

  FIG. 1 shows a list of services a to d supported by the nodes A to D. That is, node A supports Print SCP (providing print service), Print SCU (using print service), Storage SCU (using sending service), and Storage SCP (providing receiving service) as shown in list a. Node B supports Print SCP as in list b, Node C supports Storage SCU as in list c, and Node D supports Print SCU, Storage SCU, Storage as in list d. Supports SCP.

  The correspondence of services between each node is as follows. Between the node B and the node D, Print SCP and Print SCU correspond to each other as shown in a frame bd in FIG. Between the node A and the node D, as shown in the frame ad, Print SCP and Print SCU, Storage SCU, Storage SCP, Storage SCP and Storage SCU correspond to each other. Further, as shown in the frame cd, between the node C and the node D, the Storage SCU and the Storage SCP correspond to each other. As described above, services that can be supported and supported by each node can be automatically set and registered in the medical network system of the present embodiment.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of DICOM service attributes using Print. FIG. 3 shows a list of information (attributes) supported by the SCP at the time of printing, and the printer 2 of the node B supports these attributes. Similarly, the attributes of services to be supported are set in the other apparatuses 1, 3, and 4.

When using DICOM services, it is necessary to pay attention to the following points.
・ SCU needs to send data within the range that SCP can handle, and processing that depends on the type of SCP is required before data processing.
-It is important for SCPs to manage SCU entries, and the operation mode of SCPs is determined by the type of SCU.
・ If the SCU and SCP settings are changed due to version upgrades, the settings must be matched. When multiple units are connected to each other, it is necessary to set each combination and verify it.

  Next, an operation when the image processing apparatus 4 (node D) is newly added to the network 10 as indicated by a broken line in the medical network system of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation (steps S01 to S11) when a new node is added in the medical network system of FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram conceptually showing a medical network system similar to that in FIG. 1. In particular, each communication / registration operation between nodes D and B (steps S02, S03, S05 to S10 in FIG. 4) is shown. This is schematically shown.

  First, when a node D (image processing apparatus 4) is newly added to the network 10 in FIG. 1 (S01), the node D notifies the addition of the node D to each of the nodes A to C (S02). The supported service list d (Print SCU, Storage SCU, Storage SCP) is notified to each of the nodes A to C (S03).

  Hereinafter, the relationship between the node D and the node B will be described as an example. The node B that has received the notification from the node D determines whether or not each service in the received list is supported (S04). Then, the node B returns a list of supported services (Print SCP) to the node D (S05). Also, a reply indicating that the service (Storage SCU, Storage SCP) that is not supported by the node B cannot be supported is returned (S06).

  Next, node D notifies node B of the attributes (AE title, port, film size, film type, output destination, interpolation function type, imager LUT, etc.) as shown in FIG. At the same time (S07), the node B notifies the node D of the attributes (AE title, port,..., Etc.) regarding the service that is also supported (S08).

  Next, the node D stores and registers the connection destination (node B), the service to be supported, and the attribute of the service (S09). Similarly, the node B stores and registers the connection destination (node D), the supported service, and the service attribute (S10).

  Next, the above steps S04 to S10 are repeated for each of the nodes A and C until a response indicating that the above services can be supported / not supported is received from the other nodes A and C (S11).

  In addition, each operation (S01 to S11) of each node in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 described above is controlled by, for example, each unit 11 to 18 of the image processing device 4 according to a program stored and started in a storage device or the like of each node. Necessary information processing is executed.

  As described above, when a node D (image processing apparatus 4) is newly added in the medical network system in which the nodes A to C are connected to each other as shown in FIG. 1, for example, the printer 2 supports Print SCP. When the image processing apparatus 4 supports the Print SCU, the other party, its service, and its attributes are automatically registered with each other by the notification and reply as described above, and the node D (image processing apparatus 4) and Each service provided by the node B (printer 2) can be automatically set in the printer 2 and the image processing apparatus 4.

  Also, between the node D and the node A, and between the node D and the node C, the other party, its service and its attribute are automatically registered with each other by the same notification and reply as described above. Each service can be set automatically.

  In addition, when the network connection setting is changed in each already connected node instead of adding a new node, the changed connection information can be automatically set in each node in the same way. When the connection setting is changed, the consistency of the connection information between the medical devices can be ensured.

  Conventionally, when a new medical device is added to the network or when connection settings are changed, mutual registration of connection information in each medical device requires a very complicated operation, and matching of the connection information between the medical devices is also required. However, according to this embodiment, each node automatically registers a service (Print, Storage, etc.) and its attributes, and a service provided by each node (Print , Storage, etc.) can be automatically set, so that mutual connection information can be registered easily.

  As described above, the best mode for carrying out the present invention has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to these, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. For example, in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, the node D added to the medical network system has been described as an image processing apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Further, an image server device that stores and manages medical image information, an image reference device that refers to a medical image at the time of diagnosis, or the like may be used.

  The medical device according to the present invention includes, but is not limited to, the image generation device, the image processing device, the printer (imager), the image server device, the image reference device, the gateway device, and the like as described above. Any device can be used as long as it can be connected to a medical network system.

It is a figure which shows notionally the medical network system by this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows roughly the principal part structure of the image processing apparatus of FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a list of information (attributes) supported by SCP at the time of printing in the present embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement (step S01-S11) at the time of adding a new node in the medical network system of FIG. It is a figure which shows notionally the same medical network system as FIG. 1, and each operation | movement of communication and registration between the node D and the node B (step S02, S03, S05-S10 of FIG. 4) especially typically Represents.

Explanation of symbols

1 Gateway device 2 Printer (imager)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Image generator 4 Image processing apparatus 10 Network 11 Communication part 12 Operation part 13 Display part 14 Storage part 15 Notification part 16 Determination part 17 Reply part 18 Image processing part AD

Claims (3)

When the first medical device is newly connected to the network or when the network connection setting is changed, the service supported by the first medical device is provided to the second medical device on the network according to the DICOM standard service. A step of notifying using attribute information;
Determining whether the second medical device receiving the notification supports a service; and
Look including the steps of: returning the determination result using the service attribute information of the second medical device is the first medical device to the DICOM standard,
If the service is supported by the second medical device,
The second medical device transmitting the service attributes to the first medical device;
The first medical device transmitting its service attributes to the second medical device;
The first medical device registering connection information including the service and its attributes;
And a second medical device registering connection information including the service and the attribute thereof . Wherein when the service is not supported by the second medical device, according to claim 1, wherein the second medical device returns said service to the first medical device is not available Medical device network connection method. A medical network system in which a first medical device and a second medical device are connected via a network by the medical device network connection method according to claim 1 .

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