JPH1062877A - Method and device for discriminating insertion direction of sheet state recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To discriminate the accurate positional direction of an image automatically recorded in a sheet state recording medium by reading image data recorded in the sheet-like recording medium, converting the image data into digital data and discriminating the inserting direction of the sheet-shaped recording medium by using a dispersion value or standard deviation inside a candidate area previously set on the sheet-shaped recording medium. SOLUTION: An X-ray film 1 in which an X-ray image 3 is recorded, etc., are listed as the sheet-like recording medium. The film 1 having image record 2 is scanned, so that an analog signal on the film is converted to a digital signal. The X-ray film 1 in which ID information 2 displaying a patients ID, etc., is overprinted with the image 3 is processed into digitized medium. The plural areas on the film 1 are previously registered as the ID candidate area, the dispersion values or the standard deviation of the image data on the candidate areas are calculated, and the film insertion direction can be discriminated by specifying the candidate area having the highest dispersion value or the highest standard deviation as an ID part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for discriminating the insertion direction of a sheet-shaped recording medium, and more particularly to an X-ray image reading apparatus and an electronic image storage system used in the medical field.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A method of reading an image recorded on a sheet-shaped recording medium to obtain an image signal, performing appropriate image processing on the image signal to reproduce an image, and reading the read image signal on an optical disk or the like. There is proposed a system capable of searching and reproducing a file on a large-capacity recording medium.

In these systems, the precise position of the image is extremely important, and various proposals have been made as a method of knowing the position.

For example, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-127321, the insertion direction of the X-ray film is detected by a notch provided in advance on the X-ray film, which is one of the sheet-like recording media, and based on the detection result. A method has been used in which the position of the ID is detected, or a digital image is output after processing such as image rotation is added. In the method using a notched film, the position and size of the notch must be registered in advance,
In order to cope with a case where the type or size of the film changes, the detection mechanism becomes complicated, and as a result, the reliability of detection is impaired.

In the case of directly digitizing a film output from a self-developing machine, the insertion direction and the front and back are often random. In such a case, it is important in the operation of storing the X-ray image data to return the digital image data to a normal shape by performing rotation, inversion, and the like. Therefore, conventionally, X
Before the line film was input to the digitizer, the insertion direction was previously adjusted by human eyes. Although the method by the operator is reliable, in the case of digitizing the film output from the automatic processing machine as it is, the efficiency is low, and it cannot catch up with the throughput of the automatic processing machine, leading to a decrease in the number of processed sheets.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for automatically determining an accurate position and orientation of an image recorded on a sheet-shaped recording medium without such a drawback. I do.

[0007]

The above objects of the present invention have been attained by the following constitutions.

(1) A reading device for reading image data recorded on a sheet recording medium and converting it into digital data, a storage device for storing the read digital data of the image data, and a sheet recording medium And a device for determining the insertion direction of the sheet-shaped recording medium based on the information indicating the position direction of the image data pre-printed on the recording medium.

(2) The apparatus for discriminating the insertion direction of a sheet-shaped recording medium according to the above (1), wherein the discrimination of the insertion direction is performed using a variance or a standard deviation within a preset candidate area on the sheet-shaped recording medium. .

(3) The sheet-shaped recording medium insertion direction discriminating apparatus according to (1), wherein the means for discriminating the insertion direction is performed using a variance value or a standard deviation of a differential image of the candidate area.

(4) The sheet-shaped recording medium insertion direction discriminating apparatus according to (2) or (3), wherein the number of the candidate areas is two or more.

(5) calculating a variance value for each of the candidate areas;
5. The sheet-shaped recording medium insertion direction discriminating apparatus according to 2, 3, or 4, wherein the candidate area having the maximum variance value or standard deviation is used as an information section indicating a previously burned position direction.

(6) The information as described in (1), wherein the information indicating the position direction is patient ID information pre-burned in.
The sheet-shaped recording medium insertion direction discriminating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

(7) The image data recorded on the sheet-shaped recording medium is read, converted into digital data and read, the digital data of the read image data is stored, and the digital data is burned into the sheet-shaped recording medium in advance. A sheet recording medium insertion direction judging method, wherein the insertion direction of the sheet recording medium is judged based on the information indicating the position direction of the image data.

(8) The method of discriminating the insertion direction of the sheet-shaped recording medium according to the item 7, wherein the discrimination of the insertion direction is performed by using a variance value or a standard deviation within a preset candidate area on the sheet-shaped recording medium. .

(9) The method for judging the insertion direction of the sheet-shaped recording medium according to the item (7), wherein the means for judging the insertion direction is performed using a variance or a standard deviation of a differential image of the candidate area.

(10) The method for judging the sheet-shaped recording medium insertion direction according to the item (8) or (9), wherein the number of the candidate areas is two or more.

(11) A variance value is obtained for each of the candidate areas, and the candidate area having the maximum variance value or standard deviation is used as an information section indicating a previously imprinted position direction. 11. The method for determining the insertion direction of a sheet-shaped recording medium according to claim 9, 9 or 10.

(12) The sheet-shaped recording medium insertion direction discriminating apparatus according to any one of (7) to (11), wherein the information indicating the position direction is patient ID information pre-burned.

The present invention will be described in more detail. In the present invention, examples of the sheet recording medium include an X-ray film on which an X-ray image is recorded. As a reading device for reading image data and converting it into digital data, a film digitizer LD-4500 (manufactured by Konica Corporation) is preferably used. Film digitizer L
D-4500 scans an X-ray film having an image record with a laser beam, and converts an analog signal on the film into a digital signal. As a storage device for storing image data, any recording device for a computer having a high recording capacity can be used.

In the present invention, any type of general-purpose computer can be used as a device for determining the insertion direction, and examples thereof include a Spark Station (manufactured by SUN).

According to the present invention, there is provided a digital image reading device for digitally reading a film, an image storage device for storing digital image data generated by the reading device, and digital processing of the digital image data. It consists of possible workstations. According to the film insertion direction determining method of the present invention, when digitizing an X-ray film in which ID information indicating a patient ID or the like is printed on a film together with an image, a plurality of regions on the film are set as ID candidate regions in advance. By registering and calculating the variance or the standard deviation of the image data in those candidate areas and specifying the highest variance or the standard deviation as the ID part, the film insertion direction can be identified. Is the way.

Alternatively, it is possible to determine a film insertion direction by creating a differential image of the ID candidate area, calculating a variance value or a standard deviation thereof, and specifying the highest value as an ID portion. This is a method of determining a film insertion direction that can be performed.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a flow sheet showing a conventional method.
The ID information is imprinted on the X-ray film, then the patient is X-rayed and developed. Specifically, FIG. 1 shows an X-ray recorded image as an example of the sheet recording medium of the present invention. ID information 2 on X-ray film 1, Konica KD-
It is burned into an X-ray film inserted in a W cassette (manufactured by Konica Corporation) using a Konica KD name printer.
The cassette is brought into close contact with the affected part of the patient, exposed to X-rays, then developed by an automatic developing machine, and an X-ray image 3 of the affected part of the patient is recorded. By using the Konica KD-W cassette and the Konica KD name printer, for example, as shown in FIG. Is the correct orientation of the image. Therefore, it is systematized so that the correct direction can be understood. This ID information is visually recognized by the operator,
Insert correctly into the reading device that converts to digital data. The image data and ID information digitized by the reading device are stored in the storage device.

On the other hand, the method of the present invention is shown as a flow sheet in FIG. 7, but the process up to film development is the same as the conventional method. And the developed film is
It is sent to a film digitizer mechanically as it is and converted into digital data. The converted digital data is automatically recognized by the ID section, and is stored as digital data of an image in a correct direction, as described later.
If the ID part is not automatically recognized, the digitized data is displayed, and the operator visually recognizes the ID part,
The position information is manually input and stored as digital data of an image in a correct direction. In the case of # 1, when the operator cannot visually recognize the image (for example, the image is out of focus), the operator performs an appropriate treatment.

In the present invention, the ID information is imprinted by
When the X-ray film 1 has a rectangular shape such as half-cut, four, or four, the ID information should not be imprinted at the center of the side as shown in FIG. 2A, and as shown in FIG. It is necessary to burn in the peripheral portion where the X-ray recording image is not taken.

On the other hand, when the X-ray film 1 has a square shape, such as a large angle, as shown in FIG. Then, the ID information 2 'is burned into a position where it does not overlap the original ID information 2.

After an X-ray film on which such ID information 2 and X-ray image 3 are recorded is processed by an automatic developing machine or the like, a film digitizer (for example, LD-4500 (manufactured by Konica Corporation) is randomly selected. )). At the entrance of the film digitizer, there is a sensor that automatically detects the vertical and horizontal size of the film, so a general-purpose computer that is an insertion direction discrimination device that identifies whether the film has been fed vertically or horizontally. Is sent as data.

The direction of the film fed to the film digitizer is fed in eight directions shown in FIGS. FIG. 3 (a) shows the correct direction, and FIG. 3 (b) shows the feed in a direction rotated by 180 °. FIGS. 3 (c) and (d) are examples that are turned over,
(E) to (h) show the case where the sheet is fed horizontally. In each case, ID information is recorded at position 2.

As shown in FIG. 4, the fed film is converted from a (1, 1) to a by a film digitizer.
Scanning is performed up to (m, n) to obtain digital data at each position.

As described above, since the ID information imprinted on the X-ray film exists in the peripheral portion where the X-ray recording image is not taken, the periphery of the ID information is relatively uniform image information. On the other hand, since the ID information is character information including a lot of edge information, the variance value is different. Therefore, by utilizing this characteristic, a candidate area estimated in advance (FIG. 3)
The variance values or standard deviations of the images of (a) to (h) 2) are compared, and the largest value is used as the ID part. With a sensor that automatically detects the vertical and horizontal sizes, in the case of a rectangular X-ray film, it is clear whether it is vertical or horizontal, so the candidate areas are also shown in FIGS. ), And the variance values or the standard deviations of the four ID information 2 areas are compared. By improving the processing speed, a variance value can be obtained from the thinned image data in the candidate area. The variance or standard deviation of the top two candidates is 1 /
Only in the case of 2 or more, create differential images of the top 2 candidates,
The one having a larger variance value of the differential image is defined as an ID part. The insertion direction is determined from the position of the ID part obtained in this manner,
3A to 3H are determined.

When information indicating that a square X-ray film has been sent is received from a sensor that automatically detects the vertical and horizontal sizes of the film, the candidate area is determined as shown in FIGS.
(H), but as described with reference to FIG.
Since the D information 2 is burned into a strict position, (a)
To (h) do not overlap,
For example, FIGS. 5A and 5G can be identified. FIG.
The direction of film insertion in (a) to (h) is shown in FIG.
To (h). Therefore, in the case of a square, it is determined by comparing the variance values or standard deviations at eight locations.

The variance or standard deviation is obtained by calculating the average value Ave of each candidate area from the image data a _i of the candidate area,
The variance value σ and the standard deviation SD are obtained by the following equations.

[0034]

(Equation 1)

When the above case is determined, a (1,1) to a (m, n) obtained as primary data are accumulated in a normal direction. For example, in the case of FIG. 3A, a (1, 1) →
a (2,1) → ・ ・ ・ → a (1, n) → ・ ・ ・ → a
(M, n), but in the case of FIG.
(M, n) → a (m−1, n) →... → a (1, n)
→... → a (1,1) may be accumulated in this order. The storage order is as follows. (C): a (m, 1) → −x direction priority → a (1, n) (d): a (1, n) → x direction priority → a (m, 1) 1) (e): a (m, 1) → priority in y direction → a (1, n) (f): a (1, n) → priority in −y direction → a (m, 1) (g): a (M, n) → −y direction priority → a (1,1) (h): a (1,1) → y direction priority → a (m, n) Also,
Since everything is stored in the correct direction, a correct image is always obtained when a doctor or X-ray technician reproduces the data. Therefore, when the X-ray film is inserted into the film digitizer, the X-ray film can be inserted without concern for the direction. Furthermore, it becomes possible to realize the insertion method based on the center of the insertion method that was the reference at the left end and the insertion method at the right end,
The problem of the insertion position has disappeared. At the same time, the application to save only image information at the correct position from the read area has become possible. The information for determining the insertion direction may be not only image information for forming characters but also image information indicating barcode information.

[0036]

According to the present invention, the accurate position and direction of the image recorded on the sheet recording medium can be automatically determined.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram of image data recorded on a sheet recording medium of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a burning position of ID information to be recorded on a sheet-shaped recording medium.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a positional relationship of image data recorded on a sheet recording medium of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for describing an image signal for each pixel obtained by reading image data according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a positional relationship of image data recorded on a square sheet recording medium.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a conventional insertion direction determination method.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an insertion direction determination method according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 X-ray film 2 ID information 3 X-ray image

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A reading device for reading image data recorded on a sheet-shaped recording medium and converting the image data into digital data, a storage device for storing digital data of the read image data, and a sheet-shaped recording medium. A device for determining the insertion direction of the sheet-shaped recording medium based on the information indicating the position direction of the image data which has been burned in advance. 2. The sheet-shaped recording medium insertion direction discriminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discrimination of the insertion direction is performed using a variance or a standard deviation within a preset candidate area on the sheet-shaped recording medium. . 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for determining the insertion direction is performed by using a variance or a standard deviation of a differential image of the candidate area. 4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the number of the candidate areas is two or more. 5. The method according to claim 2, wherein a variance value is obtained for each of the candidate areas, and the candidate area having the maximum variance value or standard deviation is used as an information section indicating a previously imprinted position direction. 5. The sheet-shaped recording medium insertion direction determination device according to claim 3, or 4. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information indicating the position direction is pre-burned patient ID information.
The sheet-shaped recording medium insertion direction determining device according to any one of claims 1 to 6. 7. Image data recorded on a sheet-shaped recording medium is read, converted into digital data, and read.
Storing digital data of the read image data;
A sheet recording medium insertion direction discriminating method, wherein the insertion direction of the sheet recording medium is discriminated based on information indicating the position direction of the image data previously burned into the sheet recording medium. 8. The method for determining the insertion direction of a sheet-shaped recording medium according to claim 7, wherein the determination of the insertion direction uses a variance value or a standard deviation within a preset candidate area on the sheet-shaped recording medium. . 9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the means for determining the insertion direction is performed using a variance or a standard deviation of a differential image of the candidate area. 10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the number of the candidate areas is two or more. 11. The method according to claim 8, wherein a variance value is obtained for each of the candidate areas, and the candidate area having the maximum variance value or standard deviation is used as an information section indicating a previously imprinted position direction. 11. The method for determining the insertion direction of a sheet-shaped recording medium according to claim 9, 9 or 10. 12. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the information indicating the position direction is patient ID information pre-burned.
12. The sheet-shaped recording medium insertion direction discriminating apparatus according to claim 11.