JP4316645B2 - Maintenance support information management device for medical system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a medical system maintenance support information management apparatus, an X-ray CT system, and a maintenance service center apparatus.

  Recently, medical systems such as X-ray CT systems (X-ray computed tomography devices) have been used for hardware performance improvements such as improved detection sensitivity and resolution of detectors, and real prep scanning (intensity monitoring). Automatization of imaging timing), diversification of imaging techniques such as helical scanning and CT fluoroscopy, and further improvements in software functions such as reconstruction processing and image processing, have continued to expand.

  Therefore, in the unlikely event that a failure occurs, the adverse effects due to the stagnation of CT examination work are significant, and an immediate recovery is desired.

  In the event of a failure, it is no exaggeration to say that almost all correctness of the repair is to accurately identify the cause of the failure. If the cause is correctly identified, the repair manual will be effective in eliminating the failure.

  However, accurately identifying the cause of the failure is one of the most difficult tasks.

  An object of the present invention is to specify a cause of a failure in a medical system in a short time, and to shorten a malfunction period or a system downtime.

An aspect of the present invention provides a maintenance support information management apparatus connected to a plurality of medical systems and at least one maintenance service apparatus via an electronic communication line. When a failure occurs in any of a unit configured to receive a log file, a unit configured to store the plurality of log files, and the medical system, the stored log file is Analyzing the frequency of occurrence of past faults having substantially the same symptoms as the fault that has occurred with respect to the medical system in which the fault has occurred, and the frequency of use relating to the operation in which the fault has occurred with respect to the medical system in which the fault has occurred The unit configured to determine the ; And a unit configured to determine the priority of the maintenance services related faults the generated on the basis of the use frequency for.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to identify the cause of a failure in a medical system in a short time, and to shorten the malfunction period or system downtime.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described by way of preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings.
The system of the present invention relates to a medical system such as an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, an X-ray CT system (X-ray computed tomography apparatus), a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus (MRI), and a gamma camera. In the following description, an X-ray CT system will be described as an example, but the present invention can also be applied to other medical systems.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a maintenance support system according to the present embodiment. A plurality of X-ray CT systems (X-ray computed tomography devices) 1 are connected to a maintenance service center device 2, a maintenance support information management device 3, via an electronic communication line 5 such as a general public line or a dedicated line. And the reproduction test service device 4. A plurality of X-ray CT systems 1 are respectively installed at a plurality of hospital sites. The maintenance service center device 2 is installed in the maintenance service center site. The maintenance support information management device 3 is installed in a maintenance service center site, a maintenance support site, or a system manufacturer technical site. The reproduction test service device 4 is installed in the system manufacturer technical site.

  FIG. 2 shows configurations of the X-ray CT system 1, the maintenance service center apparatus 2, the maintenance support information management apparatus 3, and the reproduction test service apparatus 4. The X-ray CT system 1 includes a gantry 101, an operation panel 103, a display 104, and a communication device 105 connected via a data / control bus 100 with a host controller 102 as a center.

  The gantry 101 includes an X-ray tube, an X-ray detector, a DAS (data acquisition system), a rotation mechanism that rotatably holds the X-ray tube, the X-ray detector, and the like, a rotation drive unit, and the like. The signal detected by the X-ray detector is amplified and digitized by the DAS, and subjected to preprocessing such as sensitivity correction and logarithmic compression by the preprocessing unit 109, and then sent to the image reconstruction processing unit 110. In addition, after amplification and digitization by DAS, data before preprocessing is referred to as “pure raw data”, and data that has been preprocessed and immediately before reconstruction processing is referred to as “pure raw data”. This is referred to as “raw data”.

  A self-diagnosis control device 106, a log file storage device 107, and a reproducibility test control device 108 are further connected to the data / control bus 100 of the X-ray CT system 1. The self-diagnosis control device 106 activates a self-diagnosis program developed for the presence / absence of a failure and the cause of the failure periodically and when a failure occurs.

  The host controller 102 controls the operation of the entire system, and generates a log file that records all operating conditions from the power-on to power-off of the X-ray CT system 1. In the log file, the operation status on the operation panel 103, communication history, inspection plan setting contents, failure contents, and the like are written.

  For example, the log file representing the setting contents of the inspection plan includes the following items. In general, the CT system 1 can perform various imaging techniques such as scano imaging, single scan, multi-slice scan, helical scan, lip scan, CT fluoroscopy, and cross-sectional fluoroscopy. In setting the inspection plan, any one or a plurality of imaging techniques are selected from these various imaging techniques, and their order is determined. Here, the selected imaging technique is referred to as a subplan. That is, the inspection plan is composed of a plurality of subplans arranged according to the inspection procedure. Along with the selection of subplans, shooting conditions, preprocessing conditions, reconstruction conditions, display conditions, etc. for each subplan are set.

  Imaging conditions include focus position, tube voltage, tube current, tilt angle, scan time, slice thickness, FOV (field of view), etc., and preprocessing conditions include offset correction coefficient, reference correction coefficient, and water correction coefficient. Etc. are included. The reconstruction condition includes a plurality of reconstruction parameters such as a reconstruction function, a filter, a reconstruction slice thickness, a reconstruction slice interval, a reconstruction matrix, and a center position of the reconstruction area. Details such as the number of subplans, subplan types, imaging conditions of each subplan, preprocessing conditions, reconstruction conditions, display conditions and the like are written in a log file together with patient information.

In other words, for example, all information related to the following operation is written in the log file.
・ Various adjustment values such as X-ray CT system imaging conditions
・ State of X-ray CT system (temperature of each part, voltage of each part, etc.)
・ Repair record of X-ray CT system (Substrate replacement and its SER.No., adjustment, etc.)
・ Maintenance records for X-ray CT system (overhaul of each part, etc.)
・ Inspection records of X-ray CT system (periodic inspection results, etc.)
・ Current version of X-ray CT system software, software version update history, hardware (including fixtures, options, etc.) upgrade record, hardware upgrade update history
・ Customization status of X-ray CT system
・ Images and imaging conditions at the time of abnormality of X-ray CT system (however, from the viewpoint of protecting the privacy of patients, it is assumed that there is a mechanism that automatically deletes all information that identifies patients and site information)
In the case of an MRI apparatus as a medical system, for example, the following information is written in the log file.
・ Various adjustment values (RF adjustment values, sequence adjustment values, magnetic field uniform adjustment values, etc.) of MRI equipment
・ MRI apparatus status (temperature of each part, voltage of each part, remaining amount of LHe (liquid helium), etc.)
・ Repair record of MRI equipment (Substrate exchange and its SER.No., adjustment, etc.)
・ Maintenance records of MRI equipment (LHe injection, overhaul of each part, etc.)
・ MRI inspection records (periodic inspection results, etc.)
・ Software / hardware upgrade record of MRI equipment (record of upgrade, installation record of equipment, options, etc.)
・ Customization status of MRI equipment
-Images and imaging parameters at the time of abnormality of the MRI apparatus (however, with regard to images, from the viewpoint of protecting the privacy of the patient, it shall have a mechanism that automatically deletes all information identifying the patient and site information)
The log file is sent to and stored in the log file storage device 107, and is also transmitted to the maintenance support information management device 3 via the communication device 105, as will be described later. The log file storage device 107 stores a plurality of log files that have occurred within a recent predetermined period, for example, the last one month, in accordance with a first-in first-out method (FIFO) due to restrictions on its storage capacity. It should be noted that the pure raw data (or raw data) at that time is associated with the log file at the time of failure occurrence and stored in the log file storage device 107.

  The reproducibility test control device 108 reads the log file and pure raw data at the time of failure from the log file storage device 107, and processes after data collection under the same situation as at the time of failure according to the inspection plan recorded in the log file. That is, it has a function for executing pure raw data preprocessing, data transfer processing, reconstruction processing, display processing, and the like. The process for reproducing the process under the same situation as that at the time of the failure and confirming that the failure has been recovered after the repair is referred to as a “reproducibility test”.

  The maintenance service center apparatus 2 is installed in a service center site that provides various services such as maintenance and repair to the user (X-ray CT system 1), and is a component that manages necessary parts procurement, inventory management, transportation, etc. The management device 205 includes a maintenance service management device 204 that performs actual work management such as dispatch of service personnel and scheduling of remote maintenance personnel, and maintenance and repairs. The component management device 205 and the maintenance service management device 204 are provided with data / The host controller 201, the operation panel 202, the display 203, and the communication device 206 are connected via the control bus 200.

  The maintenance support information management device 3 includes a host controller 301, a communication device 302, an operation panel 303, a customer management database 307 that stores customer information regarding a plurality of CT systems 1 in a contract group, its controller 306, and a plurality of CT systems 1. Log file database 305 that cumulatively stores sent log files, its controller 304, pure raw data database 309 that stores pure raw data at the time of failure sent from a plurality of CT systems 1, its controller 308, statistical processing The unit 312, the priority calculation unit 311, and the file search unit 310 are connected via the data / control bus 200.

  The statistical processing unit 312 analyzes the log file for each X-ray CT system 1 (user), and calculates statistical indexes such as the frequency of occurrence of failures and the frequency of use of plans. The priority calculation unit 311 calculates the priority of maintenance work for each X-ray CT system 1 (user) from the statistical index and customer information. Details of these processing units 311 and 312 will be described later.

  The reproduction test service device 4 includes a host controller 401, a communication device 404, an operation panel 402, a display 403, a log file storage device 405 for temporarily storing log files and pure raw data supplied from the maintenance support information management device 3, a gantry. Using a pseudo X-ray CT system (pseudo system) 407 having a data processing part from pre-processing to display excluding structures and a log file stored in the log file storage device 405 and pure raw data, A reproduction test control device 406 for executing a reproduction test in the system 407 is connected via the data / control bus 400. Details of the reproduction test will be described later.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
FIG. 3 shows the log file generation and storage procedure. When the self-diagnosis operation is executed periodically and when a failure occurs under the control of the self-diagnosis control device 106 of the X-ray CT system 1, the host controller 102 of the X-ray CT system 1 includes the self-diagnosis result A log file is generated (S5). The log file including the self-diagnosis result is sent to and stored in the log file storage device 107 of the X-ray CT system 1 (S6). The log file storage device 107 stores a plurality of log files that have occurred within a recent predetermined period, for example, the last month.

  The log file including the self-diagnosis result is transmitted from the communication device 105 to the maintenance support information management device 3 via the communication line 5 (S7) and stored in the log file database 305 (S8). The storage capacity of the log file database 305 is expanded as needed. For this reason, unlike the log file storage device 107 of the X-ray CT system 1, there is basically no capacity restriction. Accordingly, the log file database 305 cumulatively stores all log files generated since the X-ray CT system 1 was installed at the hospital site.

  The self-diagnosis is executed immediately after the CT system 1 is set up in the hospital. In the above description, the self-diagnosis program is started periodically and when a failure occurs. However, the self-diagnosis program is automatically started at a specific time such as a vacant time of a use schedule for each hospital date and time or a night set by the hospital. Anyway.

  Specifically, the self-diagnosis operation is performed as follows. The reconstruction processing unit 110 holds pure raw data (or raw data) for self-diagnosis, and during the self-diagnosis, between the gantry and the console (data transfer management board; DTB), between the DTB and the preprocessing unit 109 , Between the preprocessing unit 109 and the disk device, between the disk device and the DTB, between the disk device and the reconfigurable board, between a plurality of reconfigurable boards, between the reconfigurable board and the DTB, between each processing board, and the DTB and the system management board Raw data for self-diagnosis such as data transfer related, data processing related, management related data transfer, data processing, memory access, disk access, etc. (Or raw data) is processed within the standard prescribed time or the reconstructed image data and the reference image data Chuck and according to a plurality of check items, such as is normal operation, unstable operation, failure prediction, sensing a failure, and transmits the report results as a log file in the devices 2 and 3.

  The self-diagnosis program analyzes which hardware, board, or component has a defect from the chuck location and the content of the failure occurrence (automatically performed on a certain date or remotely) Sent to the devices 2 and 3 as log files. Based on this self-diagnosis history, it can be a sample to initially determine whether the cause of failure is in hardware or software.

  Prior to product shipment, a self-diagnosis is performed under a reconfiguration condition that places a load on the reconfiguration processing unit 110 by a program for hardware test and firmware test, test evaluation is performed, and pass / fail is determined. Further, when the CT system 1 is started up (when the power is turned on), the board, main components, transmission unit, and the like mounted on the reconstruction processing unit 110 are checked. Self-diagnosis mainly related to hardware is performed. The preprocessing unit 109 constantly monitors a part of the pure raw data entering the preprocessing, and immediately confirms that no data shift has occurred. During the reconfiguration process, the diagnostic program for data management, process management, and transmission management always monitors even during the reconfiguration process, and where on each reconfigurable board (the processing unit of the board, the division unit for each CPU) By recording whether a failure has occurred, it can help identify the cause of the failure.

  As a countermeasure against failure after shipment, each service is provided with a program for hardware test and firmware test, and the cause is requested. As a test for a faulty product, a load is applied to the board or system in which the fault is inherent in the reconfiguration condition that places a load on the reconfiguration processor 110 among all the reconfiguration conditions in the hardware test and firmware test programs. Test and identify the cause. This is a self-diagnosis system.

  Returning to FIG. When an inspection plan is set in the X-ray CT system 1 (S2), a log file including the inspection plan setting contents is generated in the host controller 102 of the X-ray CT system 1 (S5). This log file is sent to and stored in the log file storage device 107 of the X-ray CT system 1 (S6), and is sent from the communication device 105 to the maintenance support information management device 3 via the communication line 5 (S7). And stored in the log file database 305 (S8).

  When an inspection plan is executed in the X-ray CT system 1 (S3), a log file including the inspection plan execution record is generated in the host controller 102 of the X-ray CT system 1 (S5). This log file is sent to and stored in the log file storage device 107 of the X-ray CT system 1 (S6), and is sent from the communication device 105 to the maintenance support information management device 3 via the communication line 5 (S7). And stored in the log file database 305 (S8).

  When a failure occurs in the X-ray CT system 1 (S4), a log file including an operation record at the time of the failure is generated in the host controller 102 of the X-ray CT system 1 (S5). This log file is sent to and stored in the log file storage device 107 of the X-ray CT system 1 together with the pure raw data at the time of failure (S6), and maintenance support information management from the communication device 105 via the communication line 5 It is transmitted to the apparatus 3 (S7) and stored in the log file database 305 (S8).

  Next, the operation when a failure occurs will be described with reference to FIG. When a failure occurs in any X-ray CT system 1 (S11), first, a self-diagnosis program is started under the control of the self-diagnosis control device 106 of the X-ray CT system 1 (S12), and self-diagnosis is performed. The operation is executed.

  The self-diagnostic program is accompanied by a specific function of the cause of the failure, causing the system to be in a system down (inoperable) state, or if only a specific operation is not performed, a failure occurs in other operations. It has a function to determine whether there is a failure to some extent. According to this determination result, a message is displayed on the screen of the display 104 to the CT system operator as to whether the entire system is unusable or only a specific operation is unusable (degenerate operation). For example, “Reconstruction process is slow”, “CT fluoroscopy mode (Immediately reconstructs an image for scanning) cannot be used”, “A failure with a diagnosis failure has occurred”, etc. Display a message. Message display, for example, displays the current failure status as an icon in a part that does not compress the image area of the screen, or displays icons such as the reconfiguration mode in which a failure occurred or the soft switch of the reconfiguration module It is conceivable to change the aspect to opaque, hazy, or a specific color. Further, during remote maintenance, a warning icon, a mark, and the like are displayed.

  When the cause of failure is specified by the self-diagnosis operation (S13), the log file at the time of failure and the specified cause of failure are transmitted to the maintenance service device 2 together with a repair request, and also transmitted to the maintenance support information management device 3. (S14).

  The maintenance support information management device 3 calculates the maintenance priority for the failure (S15).

  FIG. 5 shows a procedure for calculating the maintenance priority. First, the log file database 305 is searched by the file search unit 310, and all past log files related to the line CT system 1 in which the failure has occurred are read out by the statistical processing unit 312. The statistical processing unit 312 analyzes all past log files of the system 1 and calculates the occurrence frequency of past failures having the same symptoms as the current failure (S31). This occurrence frequency indicates whether or not the same failure has repeatedly occurred in the CT system 1 in which the failure has occurred, and indicates the recurrence. Its frequency of occurrence is normalized to obtain a relapse index. A high relapse index should correlate with increasing maintenance priority.

  The statistical processing unit 312 analyzes all past log files of the system 1 and calculates the use frequency of the inspection plan that is the same as or similar to the inspection plan in which the failure occurred in the CT system 1 in which the failure has occurred ( S32). If the frequency of use of this test plan is relatively high, it is considered that the hospital has a relatively high level of expertise in the test, that is, it has a relatively high impact on test work when the test plan cannot be used. If the frequency of use of the inspection plan is relatively low, the hospital has relatively low expertise in the inspection, and even if the inspection plan cannot be used, the degree of influence on the inspection work is considered to be relatively low. Its frequency of use is normalized to obtain a professional index. A high professional index should correlate with increasing maintenance priority.

  Note that a self-learning function may be introduced into these statistical processes. As an example of self-learning, it is only necessary to record the number of times executed for each reconstruction mode assigned to the expert plan used, and the reconstruction mode used for batch reconstruction should also be recorded. It is. The number of times is stored in a certain recording medium, and the number of times of the reconstruction mode is recorded and updated each time reconstruction is performed. Self-learning units may be processed in units of weeks, months, years, etc. from the start of the specification to the present. Batch reconstruction means reconstructing pure raw or raw data that has already been collected under the same reconstruction conditions as those at the time of scanning or changed reconstruction conditions. The number of reconstruction modes used is normalized by the maximum number of self-learned reconstruction modes such as weeks, months, and yearly units from the start of the specification to the present. Continue to update the weighting factor. If a failure occurs in a reconfiguration mode with a large weight, an immediate response is required, which is a priority determination material. At the time of resale of the system, the mode (the weighting factor corresponding to the history is reflected in the heavy state) should be cleared.

  The recurrent index and the specialty index are respectively multiplied and added by the weighting coefficient in the statistical processing unit 312, thereby calculating the seriousness of failure (S 33). The weighting coefficient of the recurrent index and the weighting coefficient of the professional index are typically the same value, but can be arbitrarily set to different values. In the statistical processing unit 312, the elapsed time since the replacement of software such as reconfiguration processing, the version of the software being used, the update history of the software version, the broken part is the main part (if there is no such part The failure seriousness can be corrected based on individual system circumstances such as whether or not the system does not hold, and the determination depends on the operator.

  Next, the customer importance is calculated based on the customer information stored in the customer management database 307 by the statistical processing unit 312 (S34). Customer information used to calculate customer importance includes whether or not the hospital site has a strong social impact of sales expansion, whether it is a hospital site that has been switched from another company's system, customer sentiment, system scale, and CT for the entire hospital Or, the customer's individual circumstances such as delivery results combined with other systems are included. In practice, the database administrator draws these customer-specific circumstances from the sales department, etc. at the time of system delivery and from time to time, appropriately quantifies them, registers and updates them, and statistically processes the latest numerical values for each piece of information. It is conceivable to perform weighted addition in the unit 312.

  Finally, the priority calculation unit 311 calculates the maintenance priority based on the failure severity and the customer importance (S35). For example, the maintenance priority is calculated by simply adding or weighting the failure seriousness and the customer importance.

  Returning to FIG. The maintenance priority calculated as described above is transmitted from the communication device 302 of the maintenance support information management device 3 to the maintenance service center device 2 via the communication line 5 (S16). The maintenance service center device 2 refers to the maintenance priority and the cause of failure specified by the self-diagnosis, and confirms the repair timing and repair contents with confirmation of the current status of the maintenance system such as parts inventory confirmation and serviceman schedule. A maintenance plan including this is artificially made by the maintenance manager (S17).

  According to the determined maintenance plan, repair work is carried out remotely or actually by a service person visiting the site (S18). In order to confirm whether or not the X-ray CT system 1 has recovered from the failure, the log file and the pure raw data at the time of the failure are read from the log file storage device 107 to the reproducibility test control device 108 after the repair work (S19). Under the same control, a reproducibility test is performed under the same conditions as at the time of failure (S20).

  Here, the reproducibility test is distinguished from the reproducibility test. Although the details of the reproducibility test will be described later, the reproducibility test is performed strictly at the system manufacturer site for the purpose of identifying the cause of the failure, while the reproducibility test is performed locally (hospital site) to confirm failure recovery. As described above, this test is only to confirm whether or not the failure recurs in the same situation as at the time of the failure.

  If the failure is resolved in this reproducibility test (S21), the repair work is completed. However, if the failure has not been resolved in the reproducibility test, it cannot be denied that there is an error in the cause of the failure identified by the self-diagnosis program. This situation should be handled in the same way as a case where the self-diagnostic program could not identify the cause of the failure.

  When the cause of the failure cannot be specified by the self-diagnosis program (S13), a reproduction test request is transmitted from the maintenance service center apparatus 2 to the reproduction test service apparatus 4 (S22). Similarly, if the failure has not been resolved in the reproducibility test, a reproduction test request is transmitted from the maintenance service center apparatus 2 to the reproduction test service apparatus 4 (S22).

  Here, the outline of the reproduction test will be described first. Since the reproduction test necessary for failure resolution is necessary, when the log file is input to the pseudo system 407 using the above-mentioned log file, the pseudo system automatically logs the reconfiguration conditions at the time of the failure. Reading from the storage device 405 is started. In the case of a failure where the cause cannot be identified by the service at the site where the failure occurred, what kind of reconstruction conditions were necessary for pursuing the failure, whether there was raw data for reproduction test, immediately before Information such as what was being done in the process is required. Reproduction test using pseudo system 407 and reproducibility test using reconstruction processing unit, reproduction using pseudo system 407 (system configured as if there is no gantry or bed and a gantry is simulated from the console) A test is conceivable. The simplest method is that a log file (reconstruction conditions, system parameters, etc.) that records the situation when a failure occurs at the site where the CT system 1 is installed is stored in the reproducibility test controller 108 of the CT system 1. Introduce a method that can reproduce the phenomenon that occurred at the failure site simply by loading. As a result, in order to deal with failures, it is absolutely necessary to be able to perform reproducibility tests, and in the case where reproduction is difficult, such as rare cases, a great amount of labor is required. By having a mechanism that can be reproduced as long as the log file exists, the time until the cause is identified is extremely shortened, and human error is eliminated.

  When a failure is reproduced by the reconstruction processing unit of the pseudo system 407, pure raw data (or raw data) is required together with the log file. Since the reconfiguration processing unit is not a complete product, the system management software installed in the product system is often different, and is not suitable for handling a failure involving the system management software. However, since there is a failure destination log file, the same system parameters can be used, so that failure reproduction can be easily performed anywhere. The pseudo system 407 is a CT system in which even the system management software is mounted on the reconfiguration processing unit, and moves as if the gantry is installed, so that the pursuit of failure is further facilitated. Even without preparing a complete CT system with a large gantry and bed, the cause of failure can be pursued with a pseudo CT system having the same mechanism as a similar product CT system.

  At the time of reproduction, a list of what scans or reconstruction tests will be performed is displayed on the system, all displayed items (depending on the history), the most recent scan, reconstruction, etc. The reproduction tester can select whether or not only the process is performed. The log file output from the CT system 1 describes reconstruction conditions and the like, and can be used for pursuing failures that occur in accordance with the processing order. In many cases, a failure does not occur alone, but often involves a process. In that case, it is possible to load the log file into the pseudo system 407 and perform the shortest failure test while tracing the history. By using system parameters, reconstruction conditions, scan conditions, pure raw data, and raw data stored at the time of the failure, you can check whether the failure has been reproduced. If the failure is not reproduced, go back to the past from the latest history and continue the reproduction test while reading the reconstruction conditions and so on.

  That is, in the failure test, the pseudo system 407 and its control device 406 automatically track the failure. The reproduction test is automatically performed while returning the previous history one by one. Fault monitoring is continued by hardware and software diagnostic analysis programs. The failure can be reproduced and if a failure occurs, the tester is informed of the failure by the notification function such as wireless, sound, light, screen flash, etc. The pseudo system 407 stops in a state where the log file is output. Therefore, it is not necessary for the person in charge to stick at the time of the failure test.

  During the reproduction test period, when the load of each individual unit being used becomes maximum, the pseudo system 407 is temporarily stopped. During the reproduction test period, notification is given to the surroundings with a display and sound to inform others that the reproduction test is in progress. In addition, all the persons in charge related to the pseudo system 507 are informed of the state of the situation at any time by wireless, wired, e-mail, or the like. A lamp notifying that the reproduction test is being performed is turned on so that the pseudo system 407 is not inadvertently operated during the failure test. When a person approaches the pseudo system 407 during the test operation, there may be a mechanism for notifying danger using an ultrasonic sensor or the like.

  After the reproduction test operation is completed, if the person in charge has forgotten to take the reproduction test data, the pseudo system 407 automatically stores the reproduction test log file, reproduction data, scan conditions, and images in the specified location for reproduction. Notify that the test is complete. Therefore, it is not necessary for the person in charge to stick during the reproduction test. After the reproduction is completed, the pseudo system 407 automatically returns and returns to the initial state.

  Returning to FIG. The host controller 401 of the reproduction test service device 4 that has received the reproduction test request first sends all logs to the maintenance support information management device 3 since the last system start-up related to the X-ray CT system 1 in which the failure has occurred. A download of a file and pure raw data at the time of failure is requested (S23). The latest system start-up time is, for example, the time when the system is turned on in the morning of the failure day, or the previous system power-on time if the X-ray CT system 1 that caused the failure is a 24-hour system. . In this case, the previous system power-on time may go back several days or even weeks. These downloaded log files and pure raw data are temporarily stored in the log file storage device 405.

  Using the downloaded log file and pure raw data, the reproduction test control device 406 has a pseudo X-ray CT system (pseudo system) 407 having a data processing part from preprocessing to display excluding the gantry structure. A reproduction test is carried out (S24). The point that the reproducibility test differs greatly from the reproducibility test is that the reproducibility test only reproduces the operating state at that time when a failure occurred. On the other hand, in the reproduction test, until the cause of the failure is identified, it starts from the reproduction of the subplan at the time of the failure, and the subplan executed before and the subplan executed before that are reproduced one by one in order. However, if the failure cannot be reproduced, the previous inspection plan and the inspection plan executed before that are sequentially reproduced one by one. This goes back to the most recent operation at system startup.

  In such a reproduction test, a failure that does not occur when the subplan alone is executed, that is, a linkage between the subplan and the subplan, or a failure that occurs only when the plan is linked, that is, a system such as “data transmission control or working memory control”. Enables the identification of very rare but very serious failures that occur due to bugs and errors in the very basic parts of the root of Cases have been reported where such failures are rarely caused by situations such as data transmission errors or working memory data erasure errors in unique situations, for example, when the same or different types of sub-plans are executed one after the other. ing.

  When the cause of the failure is identified by such a retrospective reproduction test (S25), the cause of the failure is transmitted to the maintenance service center apparatus 2 together with information on the countermeasure (for example, firmware update) formulated by the manufacturer. (S26).

  The maintenance service center device 2 makes a maintenance plan according to the cause of the failure and the coping method (S17) and repairs accordingly (S18).

  Next, the reproduction test performed by the reproduction test service device 4 at the manufacturer site will be described in detail. FIG. 6 shows a reproduction test procedure. FIG. 7 shows an example of inspection plans and sub-plans executed by the X-ray CT system 1 during the period from system startup to the occurrence of a failure. Here, for convenience of explanation, two types of variables, N and n, are introduced. N represents a plan number for plan identification, and n represents a subplan number for subplan identification. Please note that the plan number and sub-plan number are assigned with younger numbers. That is, in the example of FIG. 7, the inspection plan with plan number 3 is first executed after the system is activated. The inspection plan with plan number 3 includes two subplans. First, the subplan with subplan number 2 is executed, and then the subplan with subplan number 1 is executed. After the inspection plan of plan number 3, the inspection plan of plan number 2 is executed. The inspection plan with plan number 2 includes four subplans, which are executed in order from the subplan with subplan number 4 to the subplan with subplan number 1. After the inspection plan of plan number 2, the inspection plan of plan number 1 is executed. The inspection plan with plan number 1 includes three subplans, and the subplan with subplan number 3 to the subplan with subplan number 1 are executed in order. Here, it is assumed that a failure has occurred during the execution of the subplan of subplan number 1 in the inspection plan of plan number 1.

  As shown in FIG. 6, all log files related to the X-ray CT system 1 in which the failure has occurred and the download of pure raw data at the time of failure are downloaded from the maintenance support information management device 2 and stored in the log file. It is temporarily stored in the device 405 (S41). The reproduction test control device 406 analyzes the downloaded log file, and extracts all plans and sub-plans included in each plan from the time of the latest system startup to the occurrence of a failure (S42).

Then, the maximum value N _MAX of the plan number variable N is set to the total number of plans executed since the system startup (S43). In the example of FIG. 7, the maximum value N _MAX of the plan number N is set to “3”. Also, the plan number N is initialized to 1, and the subplan number n is initialized to 1 (S44). Here, it is assumed that a failure has occurred during the execution of the subplan number 1 in the plan number 1 plan. Further, the maximum value n _MAX of the subplan number n is set to the total number of subplans in the plan of the plan number 1.

  After the above initial preparation is completed, the reproduction test is actually started. First, the pure raw data collected in the subplan number n (= 1) of the plan number N (= 1), that is, the subplan 1 of the plan 1 at the time of the failure (latest) is stored in the pseudo system 407. The data is sent to the preprocessing unit and subjected to the preprocessing, the reconstruction processing, and the display processing in order under the same conditions (data transmission conditions, reconstruction conditions, display conditions, etc.) as the subplan 1 (S46).

If the failure is not reproduced in this first reproduction test (S47), 1 is incremented to the subplan number n, and the subplan number n is replaced with 2 (S48). If it does not exceed the maximum value n _MAX (here, 3) (S49), a reproduction test is performed retroactively to the previous subplan 2 (S46). That is, the same operation as that of the subplan 2 executed immediately before the subplan at the time of failure is reproduced, and subsequently, the same operation as that of the subplan 1 at the time of failure is reproduced.

  If the failure is not reproduced even in this one reproducibility test (S47), the reproducibility test is carried out by going back to the previous subplan 3 through S48 and S49 (S46). That is, the same operation as the subplan 3 of the plan 1, the same operation as the subplan 2 of the plan 1, and the same operation as the subplan 1 of the plan 1 are continuously performed on the pseudo system 407.

  If the failure is not reproduced even at this stage (S47), the plan number N is incremented by 1 through S48 and S49 (S50). This means that the reproduction plan is traced back to the previous plan before the plan in which the failure occurred.

Since the plan number N increased by 1 (here 2) does not exceed the total number of plans (maximum plan number N _MAX (here 3)) since the system startup (S51), the process proceeds to S51. The maximum value n _MAX of the subplan number is reset to the total number of subplans of the previous plan 2 (S52).

  Then, the process returns to S46, and this time, the reproduction test is restarted from the latest subplan 1 in the previous plan 2.

  Until the failure is reproduced in this manner, the reproduction test is performed by going back one subplan at a time, and further, the reproduction test is carried out by going back one plan at a time. When the failure is reproduced at any stage (YES in S47), the process proceeds to the elucidation of the cause of the failure based on the reproduced failure state (S53).

  After the system is started, if the failure is not reproduced even if a reproduction test is performed starting from the subplan (subplan number 2) of the plan that was executed first (plan number 3 in this case) It is determined that there is a low possibility that the cause of the failure is inherent in the X-ray CT system 1 (YES in S51). In that case, assuming that the cause of the failure exists in the surrounding environment where the X-ray CT system 1 in which the failure has occurred is installed, the process proceeds to the surrounding environment investigation (S54).

  Until the failure is reproduced in this way, the failure is not caused by the execution of the sub-plan alone by performing the reproduction test by going back the sub-plan one by one, and possibly performing the reproduction test by going back one step at a time. In other words, troubles that occur only when subplans and subplans are linked, and even when plans are linked, that is, bugs and errors in very basic parts that are related to the fundamentals of systems such as data transmission control and working memory control. It is possible to identify a very rare but very serious failure caused by.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the cause of failure of the medical system can be specified in a short time, whereby quick repair can be performed, and thereby the malfunction period or system downtime can be shortened. This embodiment works effectively in a system down situation where the medical system cannot be used at all. However, not only that, but some functions cannot be used and some modes cannot be used. Although it is not, it works very effectively on failures that are limited in operation.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention at the stage of implementation. Furthermore, the above embodiment includes various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements. For example, some constituent requirements may be deleted from all the constituent requirements shown in the embodiment.

The figure which shows the whole structure of the maintenance assistance system by embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the structure of each of the X-ray CT system of FIG. 1, a maintenance service center apparatus, a maintenance assistance information management apparatus, and a reproduction test service apparatus. The flowchart which shows the generation | occurrence | production procedure of the log file stored in the log file database of FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure when a failure occurs in the present embodiment. The flowchart which shows the determination procedure of the maintenance priority of FIG. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the reproduction test of FIG. It is a supplementary figure of the reproduction test procedure of FIG. 6, Comprising: The figure which shows an example of the plan execution order from the time of system starting.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... X-ray CT system, 2 ... Maintenance service center apparatus, 3 ... Maintenance support information management apparatus, 4 ... Reproduction test service apparatus, 5 ... Electronic communication line.

Claims (4)

In a maintenance support information management apparatus connected to a plurality of medical systems and at least one maintenance service apparatus via an electronic communication line,
A unit configured to receive a plurality of log files representing respective operation records from the medical system;
A unit configured to store the plurality of log files;
When a failure occurs in any of the medical systems, the stored log file is analyzed, and the frequency of occurrence of past failures having substantially the same symptoms as the generated failure with respect to the medical system in which the failure has occurred, A unit configured to determine the frequency of use related to the operation in which the failure occurred and substantially the same operation with respect to the medical system in which the failure occurred;
Maintenance support information, comprising: a unit configured to determine a priority of a maintenance service related to the generated failure based on the determined occurrence frequency of the failure and the usage frequency related to the determined operation. Management device. The maintenance support information management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the log files are stored cumulatively. Before the priority of the texture Maintenance service, maintenance support information management apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that it is provided in accordance with a request from the maintenance service system. The priority of the maintenance service is determined by simple addition or weighted addition of customer importance set in advance for each medical system to the weighted addition result of the use frequency and the failure occurrence frequency. The maintenance support information management apparatus according to claim 1.

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