JPH05346963A - Image display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the image display device which can automatically move and display a sectional image without receiving an instruction for section movement from an input device by utilizing continuous image display technique like a cinema display method. CONSTITUTION:This image display device is equipped with an image memory 3 which stores three-dimensional data gathered from a three-dimensional area of a body to be inspected, a setting means which sets section for the three- dimensional area, an image restoring device 4 which inputs part of the three- dimensional data in the image memory 3 according to the position of the section set by the setting means and form a sectional image of the section, a display device 5 which displays the sectional image formed by the image restoring device 4, and a means which controls the setting means so that the position of the section set by the setting means is moved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to MPR (Multi Planar Recon) which is one of the three-dimensional display methods of the internal tissue of a subject.
The present invention relates to an image display device that adopts the struction) display method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The MPR display method means, as shown in FIG. 7A, three cross-sections orthogonal to the subject P, that is, an axial plane AP that crosses the body axis of the subject P. A sagittal plane SP that runs longitudinally back and forth,
Each cross-sectional image of the coronal plane CP that is vertically crossed left and right, that is, the axial image AI, the sagittal image SI, and the coronal image C
As shown in FIG. 7B, I is a display method of simultaneous display (multi-display) for the purpose of three-dimensional grasp of the internal tissue of the subject. Each of these images AI, S
Three types of line cursors, that is, an axial line AL, a sagittal line SL, and a coronal line CL are displayed on I and CI, and the position of each plane can be changed by arbitrarily adjusting the position of each line. The cross-sectional image can be moved and displayed.

An image display device adopting such an MPR display method uses three-dimensional volume data obtained by X-ray computer tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as original data, An image memory for storing this three-dimensional volume data, a coordinate input device such as a mouse or a trackball for moving the position of each line cursor, and a cross-sectional image of a plane corresponding to the position of the line cursor as data in the image memory. Based on an image restoration device that restores the image from the image display device, an image display device that displays a cross-sectional image thereof, and a central processing unit (CPU) that is a control center of each of these components, Each sectional image is displayed while moving the sectional position. It is possible to grasp three-dimensional information such as the three-dimensional size of the lesion by comprehensively evaluating the multiple cross-sectional images associated with this movement with anatomical knowledge. It is possible to carry out a more effective diagnosis as compared with the case where the above is evaluated alone.

[0004]

However, in the conventional image display device, in order to move and display the cross-sectional image, the input device must be operated at all times, and the observer is supposed to read the original image. As a result of this operation, the attention required for the operation was scraped off, and the problem that a slight lesion was missed was likely to occur.

The present invention has been made to address the above-mentioned circumstances, and its object is to utilize a continuous image display technique such as a cine display method without receiving an instruction to move a cross section from an input device. An object of the present invention is to provide an image display device capable of moving and displaying a cross-sectional image.

[0006]

An image display apparatus according to the present invention comprises a storage means for storing three-dimensional data collected from a three-dimensional area of a subject, and a setting means for setting a cross section in the three-dimensional area. Forming means for forming a cross-sectional image of the cross-section by inputting a part of the three-dimensional data of the storage means according to the position of the cross-section set by the setting means, and the cross-sectional image formed by the forming means. It is characterized by comprising a displaying means and a means for controlling the setting means so as to move the position of the cross section set by the setting means.

[0007]

According to the image display device of the present invention, the position of the cross section set by the setting means is moved by the control means, a cross sectional image is created according to the movement of the cross sectional position, and the cross sectional image is displayed on the display means. Changes.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the image display device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of this embodiment. Conventionally, the image display device moves the position of a cross section (axial plane AP, sagittal plane SP, coronal plane CP) by operating a manual input device such as a mouse, and the cross-sectional image (axial image AI, sagittal image SI, While the coronal image CI) was moved and displayed, the movement of the cross-sectional position is controlled by the CPU 1 regardless of the input from the input device, and the cross-sectional image is moved and displayed according to the movement. is there.

As shown in FIG. 1, an input device 2, an image memory 3, an image restoration device 4, and an image display device 5 are connected to a CPU 1 via a data / control signal bus 6. The input device 2 is an input means for inputting a moving condition of a plane (cross section) position, and a keyboard for inputting a moving pitch P and a moving speed V (display switching speed),
Further, it is provided with coordinate input means such as a mouse or a trackball for inputting the movement section SW (start point and end point). The image memory 2 is provided with a storage medium such as a magnetic disk or an optical disk and a management unit (management system) for the storage position thereof. As shown in FIG. 2, the image memory 2 includes X-ray computer tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance. The three-dimensional volume data VD that can be obtained by an imaging device (MRI) or the like is stored in a virtual space IS having an XYZ coordinate system similar to the real space. Image restoration device 4
Is a two-dimensional array of the data output from the image memory 2 according to the array in the real space, and restores the cross-sectional image. The image restoration device 4 appropriately performs interpolation processing to create insufficient data and obtains a dense image. The image display device 5 is, for example, a CRT (cathode ray tube) display for displaying an image.

Next, the processing flow of the image display apparatus having the above-described configuration will be described. FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing when the sagittal image SI is targeted for movement display, and the intervention operation by the observer is indicated by a dotted line. It is assumed that the sagittal image SI, the axial image AI, and the coronal image CI corresponding to the current position of each line cursor have already been created and displayed. Even if the axial image AI and the coronal image CI are targets for moving display, similar processing is performed except that the moving directions of the planes are different.

This process starts when the CPU 1 is supplied with the movement pitch P, the movement speed V, and the movement conditions of the movement section SW which are input by the key operation and the coordinate input operation of the input device 2 (S1). FIG. 4 shows this movement section S
It is a figure which shows the input screen of W, and the movement area SW operates the input device 2 and adjusts the display position of the sagittal line SL,
It is set by sequentially specifying the start point R1 and the end point R2.

When the moving condition is input to the CPU 1 from the input device 2, the CPU 1 sets the sagittal line SL to the starting point R1 as an initial setting (S2). The CPU 1 recognizes the coordinates of the sagittal plane SP in the virtual space IS at this time, and the coordinates are supplied to the image memory 3 as an address signal (S3). In response to this address signal, the data on the sagittal plane SP is read from the image memory 3 (S4). The data read out from the image memory 3 is supplied to an image restoration device 4, where interpolation processing is appropriately performed to increase the data density, and the sagittal image S, which is a two-dimensional image and is two-dimensionally arranged according to the real space arrangement.
It is restored to I (S5). This restored sagittal image S
I is supplied to the image display device 5, and is configured and displayed on one display screen together with other images (axial image AI, coronal image CI) already created.

Then, as shown in FIG. 5A, the CPU 1 moves the sagittal plane SPn (here, n = 1) by the movement pitch P in the virtual space IS toward the end point S2, and moves to the next sagittal plane SPn +. 1 is set (S7), it is determined whether the X coordinate of the sagittal plane SPn + 1 is within the movement range SW (S8), and if it is within the movement range SW, based on this sagittal plane SPn + 1. And above S
The processes from 3 to S8 are performed again. FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a change on the display screen due to the loop processing. The sagittal line SLn is moved to the SLn + 1 and the sagittal image SIn is moved to the SIn + 1 in accordance with the loop processing. It In addition, when the axial image AI or the coronal image CI is the target of the moving display, the axial plane A
The P or the coronal plane CP moves along the Y axis and the Z axis, respectively. The display switching interval from the sagittal image SIn to SIn + 1 is CP depending on the moving speed V.
It is controlled by U1. Such loop processing from S3 to S8 is repeated until the sagittal plane SP deviates from the movement range SW (the X coordinate exceeds the X coordinate of the end point R2), and the sagittal image SI starts from the cross section position at the start point R1. From the end point to the end point R2, the display is switched while moving by the pitch P.

When the X-coordinate of the sagittal plane SP exceeds the X-coordinate of the movement range SW, the CPU 1 makes a decision in decision step S8, and the processing loop returns to the initial setting of S1. Is set as the starting point R1 and the same processing is started again. The observer appropriately operates the input device 2 to perform a pause of the display screen and an operation of correcting the moving condition to sufficiently observe the image and correct the moving range, moving speed, and moving pitch. You can

In the above description, the cross-sectional image of the moving object is described as one cross-sectional image, but it goes without saying that a plurality of cross-sectional images may be set as the moving object. Figure 6 shows the sagittal image S
1 is an example of a display screen showing the moving ranges SW1 (starting point R1, ending point R2) and SW2 (starting point R11, ending point R12) when I and the axial image AI are set as moving targets, and the widths of the moving ranges SW1 and SW2 Are not necessarily the same.
In this case, adjust each movement pitch and movement speed mutually,
The synchronous mode that operates so that the time from the display time at the start point position to the display time at the end point position is the same, and the asynchronous mode that operates independently without this adjustment are set and selectively used. To do.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the cross-sectional image can be moved and displayed based on the moving range, the moving speed, and the moving pitch inputted as the initial conditions, whereby the observer sets the initial conditions. It is released from the trouble of operating the input device to move the position of the cross section,
You can concentrate on the original image observation.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but can be modified in various ways. For example, in the above description, each plane (cross section) is supposed to move along one direction from the start point to the end point, but after moving it along the direction from the start point to the end point and reaching the end point, May be a reciprocating movement that moves along the direction from the end point to the start point, or the observer may select one of them.

Further, the cross section handled by the MPR according to the present invention is not limited to the three orthogonal cross sections of axial, sagittal and coronal, and can be applied to any cross section. In this case, an oblique treatment which is already known in the field of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image display may be applied.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, a sectional image can be moved and displayed based on a desired moving range, moving speed, and moving pitch without receiving an instruction to move the section from the input device. An image display device can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a cross section set in a virtual space.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure by the image display device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of a moving range of a sagittal line when a sagittal image is a moving object.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing a movement of a sagittal plane in a virtual space and showing a change of a display screen due to the movement.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of a moving range of a sagittal line and an axial line when a sagittal image and an axial image are set as moving objects.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an MPR display method.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... CPU, 2 ... Input device, 3 ... Image memory, 4 ... Image restoration device, 5 ... Display device, 6 ... Data / control signal bus.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A storage unit for storing three-dimensional data collected from a three-dimensional region of a subject, a setting unit for setting a cross-section for the three-dimensional region, and a position of the cross-section set by the setting unit. Accordingly, a forming means for inputting a part of the three-dimensional data of the storage means to form a cross-sectional image of the cross-section, a means for displaying the cross-sectional image formed by the forming means, and the setting by the setting means An image display device comprising: means for controlling the setting means so as to move the position of the cross section.