Patent Description:
Generally, a medical imaging apparatus is an apparatus that captures information of a patient to obtain a medical image and displays the obtained medical image. At this time, a user of the medical imaging apparatus may determine whether or not the medical image can be used for diagnosis, and may reject the medical image by assigning a rejection code to the medical image determined to be unusable for diagnosis.

The rejection code assigned to the medical image may not be accurate because there is no procedure for determining whether or not the assigned rejection code corresponds to the reason why the medical image is not useable for diagnosis.

In addition, the rejection codes assigned to the medical images may be different in type depending on the medical imaging apparatus, and thus, there is a limitation in being managed in one server.

<CIT> discloses a system and a method for a medical imaging informatics peer review system.

<CIT> discloses an X-ray image photographing apparatus and a management method.

<CIT> discloses a failed image management apparatus, an operation method of a failed image management apparatus, and a failed image management system.

Therefore, it is an aspect of the disclosure to provide a server collectively managing rejection codes for each rejection type of a medical image and determining the accuracy of the rejection codes for the medical image transmitted from a medical imaging apparatus, and providing a feedback, and a method of controlling the server.

In addition, it is another aspect of the disclosure to provide a medical imaging apparatus inducing a user to assign correct rejection codes based on the feedback on the accuracy of the rejection codes received from the server, and a method of controlling the medical imaging apparatus.

In accordance with an embodiment, a server is provided as defined in the appended claims.

In accordance with another embodiment, a medical imaging apparatus is provided as defined in the appended claims.

In accordance with another embodiment, a method of controlling a medical imaging apparatus is provided as defined in the appended claims.

Among the above figures, the embodiment of <FIG> pertains to the claimed solution.

Embodiments described herein and configurations illustrated in the accompanying drawings are only certain examples of the disclosure, and various modifications may be made at the time of filing of the present application to replace the embodiments and drawings of the present specification.

It will be understood that when a component is referred to as being "connected" to another component, it can be directly or indirectly connected to the other component. When a component is indirectly connected to another component, it may be connected to the other component through a wireless communication network.

In addition, the terms used herein are intended to only describe certain embodiments, and shall by no means restrict and/or limit the disclosure. In the present specification, the terms such as "comprising," "having" or "including" are intended to designate the presence of characteristics, numbers, steps, operations, elements, parts or combinations thereof, and shall not be construed to preclude any possibility of the presence or addition of one or more other characteristics, numbers, steps, operations, elements, parts or combinations thereof.

In addition, although the terms including ordinal numbers such as "first" or "second" may be used herein to describe various elements, the elements should not be limited by such terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from a scope of the disclosure, a first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as the first component.

As used herein, the terms "portion," "unit," "block," "member," or "module" refer to a unit that can perform at least one function or operation. For example, these terms may refer to at least one piece of software stored in a memory or at least one piece of hardware, such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or at least one process that is processed by a processor.

Reference numerals used in operations are provided for convenience of description, without describing the order of the operations, and the operations can be executed in a different order from the stated order unless a specific order is definitely specified in the context.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a medical image management system including a medical imaging apparatus and a server according to embodiments of the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, a medical image management system may include a plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> including <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>, a server <NUM>, and a network <NUM>.

Each medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may be an apparatus that captures information of a patient and obtains a medical image (e.g., an X-ray image, an ultrasound image, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and a computed tomography (CT) image) regarding the patient.

For this purpose, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may correspond to an X-ray imaging apparatus and may correspond to an ultrasound imaging apparatus, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus, a computed tomography (CT) apparatus, and the like. However, the type of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> is not limited to the above-described example, and any apparatus that captures information of the patient and obtains the medical image regarding the patient may be included without limitation.

The medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may be connected to the server <NUM> through the network <NUM>. In other words, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may communicate with the server <NUM> by being connected to the network <NUM> through wireless communication or wired communication.

The wireless communication may include cellular communication using, for example, at least one of Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advance (LTE-A), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), wireless broadband (WiBro), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), or the like. The wireless communication may include, for example, at least one of wireless fidelity (WiFi), Bluetooth, Bluetooth low power (BLE), Zigbee, Near Field Communication (NFC), Magnetic Secure Transmission, Radio Frequency (RF), or Body Area Network (BAN). The wireless communication may include GNSS. The GNSS may refer to, for example, a Global Positioning System (GPS), a Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), a BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (hereinafter, referred to as "BeiDou"), and Galileo, an European global satellite-based navigation system.

The wired communication may include, for example, at least one of a Universal Serial Bus (USB), a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), a Recommended Standard <NUM> (RS-<NUM>), power line communication, or a plain old telephone service.

The network <NUM> may include at least one of a telecommunications networks, for example, a computer network (e.g., local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN)), the Internet, or a telephone network.

Accordingly, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may transmit a rejected medical image and a rejection code assigned to the rejected medical image that cannot be used for diagnosis among the obtained medical images to the server <NUM> through the network <NUM>. At this time, the rejection code may correspond to a series of digital codes corresponding to rejection reason or rejection type of the rejected medical image.

The medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may correspond to an apparatus located in one hospital managed by the server <NUM> and may be an apparatus located in a plurality of hospitals managed by the server <NUM>. In other words, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may be included without limitation as long as the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> can be connected to the server <NUM> through the network <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates three medical imaging apparatuses <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>. However, the number of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> connected to the server <NUM> through the network <NUM> is not limited, which is merely an example.

The server <NUM> can communicate with the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> through the network <NUM>.

Particularly, the server <NUM> may receive rejected medical images and rejection codes assigned to the rejected medical images from each of the medical imaging apparatuses <NUM>.

In this way, the server <NUM> may generate and manage statistical information for each of the medical imaging apparatuses <NUM>. At this time, the statistical information may include information such as a rejection ratio according to each capturing of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> and may include information such as the occurrence frequency for rejection type.

In addition, the server <NUM> displays the rejected medical images of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> and the rejection codes assigned to the rejected medical images so that an administrator can identify an operation state of each medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

In this way, the server <NUM> may receive predetermined information from each medical imaging apparatus <NUM>, process the received information and provide the processed information to the administrator, or may provide feedback to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>. The description of this will be descripted in detail later.

In this case, the server <NUM> may correspond to a Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) server for receiving and storing the medical image obtained from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>, and may correspond to a device separately provided from the PACS server.

Hereinafter detailed operations of the respective components of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> will be described with reference to an external view.

<FIG> is an external view illustrating a configuration in which a medical imaging apparatus is implemented as an X-ray imaging apparatus according to embodiments of the disclosure, and <FIG> is a control block diagram of a medical imaging apparatus according to embodiments of the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may include a capturer <NUM> for capturing information of the patient, an inputter <NUM> for receiving an input from a user, a communication circuitry <NUM> for communicating with the server <NUM> through the network <NUM>, a controller <NUM> for controlling various configurations of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>, a display <NUM> for displaying the obtained medical image and various information, and a storage <NUM> for storing the various information necessary for controlling the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

The capturer <NUM> may capture information of the patient and obtain the medical image regarding the patient.

As described above, the medical image obtained by the capturer <NUM> may be any one of various types of medical images such as the X-ray image, the ultrasound image, a magnetic resonance image, and a computed tomography image.

Accordingly, the capturer <NUM> may correspond to any one of various types of imaging apparatuses such as an X-ray imaging apparatus, an ultrasound imaging apparatus, a MRI imaging apparatus, and the CT apparatus. Hereinafter for convenience of description, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may correspond to the X-ray imaging apparatus, but the disclosure is not limited thereto.

For example, the capturer <NUM> may include an X-ray source <NUM>-<NUM> for irradiating an X-ray to the patient and an X-ray detector <NUM>-<NUM> for detecting the X-ray passed through the patient, in order to obtain the X-ray image regarding the patient.

Particularly, referring to <FIG>, guide rails <NUM> may be installed on a ceiling of an inspection room where the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> is located, the X-ray source <NUM>-<NUM> may be connected to a moving carriage <NUM> configured to move along the guide rails <NUM> to move the X-ray source <NUM>-<NUM> to a position corresponding to the patient.

An exterior illustrated in <FIG> is an example of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>, which corresponds to a case where the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> corresponds to the X-ray imaging apparatus and relates to a ceiling type X-ray imaging apparatus in which the capturer <NUM> is connected to the ceiling of the inspection room.

When the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> is implemented as the ceiling type, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may include at least one motor for providing power necessary to linearly move or rotate the X-ray source <NUM>-<NUM> and a driving circuit for driving the motor. The controller <NUM> may control the driving circuit to adjust the position and posture of the X-ray source <NUM>-<NUM>.

The X-ray source <NUM>-<NUM> may include an X-ray tube for generating the X-ray and a collimator for adjusting a region to be irradiated with the X-ray generated by the X-ray tube. Therefore, the X-ray source <NUM>-<NUM> is also referred to as a tube head unit (THU).

Meanwhile, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may be implemented as the above-described ceiling type X-ray apparatus or a mobile type X-ray apparatus. When the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> is implemented as the mobile type, a main body connected to the capturer <NUM> (e.g., an X-ray source) is freely movable and an arm connecting the capturer <NUM> to the main body is also rotatable and linearly movable, and thus the capturer <NUM> may be freely movable in a three-dimensional space.

The X-ray detector <NUM>-<NUM> may be implemented as a fixed-type X-ray detector fixed on a stand <NUM> or a table <NUM>, may be detachably installed at installation parts <NUM> and <NUM>, or may be implemented as a portable X-ray detector usable at an arbitrary position. The portable X-ray detector may be a wired type X-ray detector or a wireless type X-ray detector according to a data transmission method and a power supply method thereof.

According to an embodiment, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may include a work station <NUM> provided at a position spaced apart from the X-ray source <NUM>-<NUM> and providing a user interface. A shielding curtain B may be provided between the X-ray source <NUM>-<NUM> and the work station <NUM> to prevent unnecessary radiation exposure for the user such as a radiologist or a doctor.

The work station <NUM> may be provided with a first inputter <NUM> for receiving the user's input and a first display <NUM> for displaying various information and images. The inputter <NUM> of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may include the first inputter <NUM> provided in the work station <NUM>, and the display <NUM> of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may include the first display <NUM> provided in the work station <NUM>.

The inputter <NUM> may receive the input from the user. Particularly, the inputter <NUM> may receive the rejection code for the medical image obtained from the user.

That is, the user of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may examine the medical image displayed on the display <NUM> to determine whether the medical image has a quality enough to be used for medical examination. Further, when the medical image has the rejection reason or rejection type that cannot be used for medical examination, the user may input the rejection code corresponding to the rejection reason or rejection type through the inputter <NUM>.

For this, the inputter <NUM> may be provided in the main body of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> and may be implemented with mechanical buttons, knobs, touch pad, touch screen, stick-type manipulation device, trackball, or the like. At this time, the inputter <NUM> provided with a touch pad or a touch screen may be provided on the display <NUM>.

The inputter <NUM> may be connected to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> by wire or wirelessly, and may be provided as a separate input device such as a keyboard and a mouse.

The communication circuitry <NUM> may communicate with the server <NUM> through the network <NUM>.

At this time, the communication circuitry <NUM> may perform communication with the server <NUM> by wire or wirelessly.

To this end, the communication circuitry <NUM> may include, for example, a cellular module, a WiFi module, a Bluetooth module, a GNSS module, an NFC module, and an RF module.

At least some (e.g., two or more) of the cellular module, the WiFi module, the Bluetooth module, the GNSS module, or the NFC module may be included in one Integrated Chip (IC) or IC package. The RF module may transmit and receive, for example, a communication signal (e.g., an RF signal). The RF module may include, for example, a transceiver, a Power Amp Module (PAM), a frequency filter, a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA), or an antenna. At least one of the cellular module, the WiFi module, the Bluetooth module, the GNSS module, or the NFC module may transmit and receive the RF signal through separate RF module.

Also, the communication circuitry <NUM> may include a USB module, an HDMI module, an R2-<NUM> module, and a POTS module for wired communication.

The communication circuitry <NUM> may transmit the medical image and the rejection code assigned to the medical image to the server <NUM> under the control of the controller <NUM> and may receive the rejection code for the medical image determined by the server <NUM>.

The communication circuitry <NUM> may also receive a predetermined rejection code for each rejection type from the server <NUM> under the control of the controller <NUM>. When the rejection code for each rejection type is updated, the communication circuitry <NUM> may receive the rejection code for the updated rejection type.

When a new rejection type and a new rejection code that are not included in the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type are input through the inputter <NUM>, the communication circuitry <NUM> may also transmit the new rejection type and the new rejection code to the server <NUM>.

The controller <NUM> may control various configurations of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

Particularly, the controller <NUM> may control the communication circuitry <NUM> to transmit the medical image and the assigned rejection code to the server <NUM> when the rejection code for the medical image is assigned from the user through the inputter <NUM>.

That is, when the rejection code for the medical image is received from the user through the inputter <NUM> according to the determination that the medical image cannot be used for diagnosis, the controller <NUM> may control the communication circuitry <NUM> to transmit the medical image and the rejection code for the medical image to the server <NUM>.

When receiving a comparison result, which represents that the rejection code assigned by the user and the rejection code determined by the server <NUM> are different from each other, from the server <NUM> through the communication circuitry <NUM>, the controller <NUM> may control the display <NUM> to display the comparison result.

For this, the user may identify that the rejection code inputted by the user is different from the rejection code determined by the server <NUM>, and may re-input a correct rejection code through the inputter <NUM>.

The controller <NUM> may control the communication circuitry <NUM> to transmit the reassigned rejection code to the server <NUM> when the rejection code for the medical image is reassigned from the user through the inputter <NUM>.

In this way, the user of the server <NUM> may determine whether or not the rejection code for the medical image has been correctly assigned in response to the feedback of the server <NUM> by the user of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

The controller <NUM> may also control the storage <NUM> to store the rejection code for each rejection type received from the server <NUM> through the communication circuitry <NUM>.

That is, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> uses the rejection code for each rejection type received from the server <NUM> through the communication circuitry <NUM>, thus the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> connected to the server <NUM> may use the same rejection code for the rejection type.

Accordingly, the server <NUM> may more efficiently manage the medical images of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> and the corresponding rejection codes, and may ensure consistency of the statistical information.

In addition, when the new rejection type, which is other than the rejection type included in the stored rejection code for each rejection type and the new rejection code corresponding to the new rejection type are inputted from the user through the inputter <NUM>, the controller <NUM> may control the communication circuitry <NUM> to transmit the new rejection type and the new rejection code to the server <NUM>.

That is, when there is no the rejection type corresponding to the obtained medical image on the rejection code for each rejection type provided from the server <NUM>, the user may manually input the rejection type and the rejection code corresponding to the rejection type, thereby generating the new rejection type and the new rejection code.

The communication circuitry <NUM> of the imaging apparatus <NUM> may transmit the generated new rejection type and new rejection code to the server <NUM> so that the new rejection type and the new rejection code generated by the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> are also shared with other medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> so that the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> connected to the server <NUM> use a consistent rejection code for each type rejection type.

At this time, the server <NUM> may update the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type to include the received new rejection type and the new rejection code, and may transmit the updated rejection code for each rejection type to the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> connected through the network <NUM>.

When receiving the updated rejection code for each rejection type different from the stored rejection code for each rejection type from the server <NUM>, the controller <NUM> of each medical imaging apparatus <NUM> connected to the server <NUM> through the network <NUM> may control the storage <NUM> to store the updated rejection code for each rejection type.

The controller <NUM> may include at least one memory storing a program for performing the above-described operations and operations, which will be described below, and at least one processor for executing the stored program.

The display <NUM> may display the obtained medical image and a variety of information.

Particularly, the display <NUM> may display the stored rejection code for each rejection type for inputting the obtained medical image and the rejection code for the obtained medical image.

Accordingly, through the inputter <NUM>, the user may input or assign the rejection code for the medical image by selecting the rejection code corresponding to the rejection type of the medical image among the rejection codes for each rejection type displayed on the display <NUM>.

The display <NUM> may also display the comparison result between the rejection code for the medical image assigned by the user and the rejection code determined by the server <NUM>.

The display <NUM> may be provided in the main body of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> and may be provided as a separate display module connected to the main body of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> in a wired or wireless manner.

The display <NUM> may include, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, a micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) display, or an electronic paper display. However, the type of the display <NUM> is not limited to the above-described example, and any type of display <NUM> capable of displaying the medical image to the user may be included without limitation.

The storage <NUM> may store a variety of information necessary for controlling the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>. For example, the storage <NUM> may store the rejection code for each rejection type received from the server <NUM>.

To this end, the storage <NUM> may be implemented as at least one of a non-volatile memory device (for example, a cache, Read Only Memory (ROM), Programmable ROM (PROM), Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), and flash memory), a volatile memory device (for example, Random Access Memory (RAM)), or a storage medium (for example, Hard Disk Drive (HDD) and Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CD-ROM)). However, it is not limited to this, and if it is the type capable of storing a variety of information, it can be used as the type of the storage <NUM>.

Further, the storage <NUM> may be the memory implemented in a separate chip from the above-described processor in connection with the controller <NUM>, and may be implemented as a single chip with the processor.

<FIG> is a control block diagram of a server according to embodiments of the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the server <NUM> may include an inputter <NUM> for receiving the input from the user, a communication circuitry <NUM> for communicating with the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> through the network <NUM>, a controller <NUM> for determining the rejection code of the medical image received from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> and comparing the determined rejection code with the rejection code received from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> to generate information about the comparison result, a display <NUM> for displaying the medical image and the information about the comparison result received form the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>, and a storage <NUM> for storing the various information necessary for controlling the server <NUM>.

The inputter <NUM> may receive the input from the user of the server <NUM>.

Particularly, the inputter <NUM> may receive the rejection code for the medical image received from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> and displayed on the display <NUM>.

That is, the user of the server <NUM> may input, through the inputter <NUM>, the rejection code corresponding to the rejection reason or the rejection type of the medical image displayed on the display <NUM>.

Also, the inputter <NUM> may receive from the user whether or not the rejection code determined based on an image processing for the medical image is approved.

That is, the user of the server <NUM> may determine whether the rejection code of the medical image determined through the image processing by the server <NUM> is correct and input the approval or rejection through the inputter <NUM> to increase the accuracy of the rejection code determined by the server <NUM>.

For this, the inputter <NUM> may be provided in the main body of the server <NUM> and may be implemented with mechanical buttons, knobs, touch pad, touch screen, stick-type manipulation device, trackball, or the like. At this time, the inputter <NUM> provided with the touch pad or the touch screen may be provided on the display <NUM>.

The inputter <NUM> may be connected to the server <NUM> by wire or wirelessly, and may be provided as the separate input device such as the keyboard and the mouse.

The communication circuitry <NUM> may communicate with the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> through the network <NUM>.

At this time, the communication circuitry <NUM> may perform communication with the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> by wire or wirelessly.

To this end, the communication circuitry <NUM> may include, for example, the cellular module, the WiFi module, the Bluetooth module, the GNSS module, the NFC module, and the RF module.

At least some (e.g., two or more) of the cellular module, the WiFi module, the Bluetooth module, the GNSS module, or the NFC module may be included in one Integrated Chip (IC) or IC package. The RF module may transmit and receive, for example, the communication signal (e.g., the RF signal). The RF module may include, for example, the transceiver, the Power Amp Module (PAM), the frequency filter, the Low Noise Amplifier (LNA), or the antenna. At least one of the cellular module, the WiFi module, the Bluetooth module, the GNSS module, or the NFC module may transmit and receive the RF signal through separate RF module.

Also, the communication circuitry <NUM> may include the USB module, the HDMI module, the R2-<NUM> module, and the POTS module for wired communication.

Accordingly, the communication circuitry <NUM> may receive the rejected medical image from each of the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> and the rejection code for the rejected medical image according to the control of the controller <NUM>.

Also, the communication circuitry <NUM> may transmit the rejection code of the medical image determined by the controller <NUM> to the corresponding medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

The communication circuitry <NUM> may also transmit the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type to each medical imaging apparatus <NUM> under the control of the controller <NUM> and may receive information about the new rejection type and the new rejection code from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>. The communication circuitry <NUM> may also transmit information about the rejection code for each rejection type updated by the controller <NUM> based on the new rejection type and the new rejection code to each medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

The controller <NUM> may determine the rejection code of the medical image received from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> and compare the determined rejection code with the rejection code received from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> to generate information about the comparison result.

At this time, the controller <NUM> may individually generate information about the comparison results for each of the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM>, and control the communication circuitry <NUM> to transmit the generated information about the comparison results to the corresponding medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

Particularly, the controller <NUM> may control the communication circuitry <NUM> to receive the medical image and the rejection code assigned to the medical image from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

At this time, the received medical image may correspond to the image determined to be unusable for diagnosis, that is, a rejected image, and the rejection code may correspond to the rejection reason, that is, the rejection type.

In addition, the controller <NUM> may perform the image processing on the received medical image to determine the rejection code of the medical image.

Particularly, the controller <NUM> may extract feature points of the medical image and determine the rejection code of the medical image based on the extracted feature points and information about a predetermined rejection code for each feature point.

At this time, the controller <NUM> may extract the feature points in the medical image by applying an image processing algorithm such as an object recognition algorithm. For example, the controller <NUM> may apply an edge detection to extract artifacts included in the medical image. In addition, the controller <NUM> may extract the artifacts included in the medical image by extracting the types through morphological operations.

However, the image processing algorithm used to extract the feature points is not limited to the above-described example, and may be used without limitation as long as it corresponds to the image processing algorithm capable of extracting the feature points that can be included in the medical image.

At this time, the feature point may correspond to at least one of metal artifact caused by a metal located in the medical image, motion artifact due to movement of the patient, such as respiration, and noise. However, the types of feature point are not limited to the above-described example, and may be included without limitation as long as they are types of quality defects that can appear in the medical image.

Also, the controller <NUM> may determine the rejection code of the medical image through a neural network, without determining the rejection code based on the information about the predetermined rejection code for each feature point.

Particularly, the controller <NUM> may perform an operation on the received medical image through the neural network, and may determine the rejection code of the medical image based on the information about the operation performed through the neural network.

At this time, the information according to the operation through the neural network may include the information about rejection reason or rejection type of the medical image.

Since the above-described neural network may refer to a machine learning that forms a neural structure capable of performing deep learning, a weight and a bias corresponding to the configuration of the neural network continuously change, thereby improving the reliability of learning.

Particularly, the server <NUM> may continuously receive the medical image and the corresponding rejection code from the outside. The controller <NUM> may improve inference results of the neural network by continuously updating the weight, the bias, and activation functions included in the neural network based on the medical image and the corresponding rejection code received from the outside.

At this time, the neural network may be stored in storage <NUM> in the form of a computer program. Hereinafter the computation performed by the neural network in a coding form of the computer program will be described. However, the disclosure is not limited to the computer program in which the neural network is stored.

Meanwhile, the neural network may include a Convolution Neural Network (CNN) for generating a feature map output by convoluting the medical image, and inputting the feature map to the neural network. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and may be performed by another deep learning algorithm including Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN).

In addition, the controller <NUM> may determine the rejection code of the medical image based on at least one of the result of the image processing (for example, the extracted result of the feature point according to the image processing algorithm, and the determination result of the rejection type according to the neural network), the information about a capturing condition assigned to the medical image, and the information about a system log of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

Particularly, in addition to the result of the image processing, the controller <NUM> may separately or further consider the information about the system log of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> received together with the medical image from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> to determine that the rejection type of the medical image is a system failure, and may determine the rejection code corresponding to the system failure as the rejection code of the medical image.

In addition to the result of the image processing and the information about the system log, the controller <NUM> may separately or further consider the information about the capturing condition included in a header of the medical image to determine that the rejection type of the medical image is a capturing condition error, and may determine the rejection code corresponding to the capturing condition error as the rejection code of the medical image.

The controller <NUM> may compare the determined rejection code and the rejection code received from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> to generate information about the comparison result.

At this time, the received rejection code and the determined rejection code may differ depending on a determination error of the user of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

The controller <NUM> may control the communication circuitry <NUM> to transmit the information about the comparison result to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> when the determined rejection code and the received rejection code are different.

That is, when the rejection code determined by the controller <NUM> is different from the rejection code received from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>, the controller <NUM> may provide feedback that the rejection code determined by the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> is different from the rejection code inputted so that the user of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> can determine his / her judgment once more.

The controller <NUM> may also receive the rejection code reassigned from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> to the medical image through the communication circuitry <NUM> after transmission of the comparison result to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>, compare the rejection code before reassignment and the reassigned rejection code to generate the comparison result, and control the display <NUM> to display the comparison result. At this time, the rejection code before reassignment may correspond to the rejection code received prior to the feedback to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

In addition, the server <NUM> may further include a user's approval processing for the rejection code determined by the controller <NUM>.

Particularly, through the inputter <NUM>, the controller <NUM> may receive the user's input granting the determined rejection code.

That is, the user of the server <NUM> may review the medical image displayed on the display <NUM> and the determined rejection code to determine whether the determined rejection code corresponds to the rejection reason or rejection type of the medical image. When it is determined that the determined rejection code corresponds to the rejection type of the medical image, the user may input the input for granting the determined rejection code through the inputter <NUM>.

In this case, the controller <NUM> may proceed to the feedback to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> by controlling the communication circuitry <NUM> to transmit the information about the comparison result of the determined rejection code and the received rejection code to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

Through the inputter <NUM>, the controller <NUM> may also receive the input from the user who is non-granting the determined rejection code.

That is, when the user of the server <NUM> determines that the determined rejection code does not correspond to the rejection type of the medical image, the user may input the input for non-granting the determined rejection code through the inputter <NUM>.

In this case, the controller <NUM> may perform the image processing on the medical image again to determine the rejection code of the medical image again.

In addition, the controller <NUM> may update the statistical information about each medical imaging apparatus <NUM> based on the medical image and the corresponding rejection code.

Particularly, when the determined rejection code and the received rejection code are the same, the controller <NUM> may control the storage <NUM> to store the medical image and the received rejection code in the statistical information corresponding to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

When receiving the reassigned rejection code for the medical image, the controller <NUM> may also control the storage <NUM> to store the medical image and the reassigned rejection code in the statistical information corresponding to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

In this case, the statistical information may include information about the ratio of rejected medical images among the medical images captured by the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> and statistical information about the rejection reasons or rejection type of the rejected medical images.

In addition, the controller <NUM> may allow the rejection code received from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> to correspond to the predetermined rejection code by presetting the rejection code for each rejection type that may appear in the medical image and distributing the rejection code to the connected medical imaging apparatus <NUM>, and thus the controller <NUM> may manage the statistical information with a uniform rejection code.

To this end, the controller <NUM> may control the communication circuitry <NUM> to transmit the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type to the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> connected through the network <NUM>.

Thereby, each of the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> may store the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type and display the stored rejection code for each rejection type together with the medical image so that the user can input the rejection code by selecting the rejection code corresponding to the rejection type.

The controller <NUM> may also receive the new rejection type and corresponding new rejection code, which are not included in the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type rejection code, from any one of the medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> connected through the network <NUM>, and may continuously update information about the rejection code by each rejection type.

In this way, the controller <NUM> may update the rejection code for each rejection type by adding the rejection code for the rejection type, which was not included in the notification, to the information about the rejection code for each rejection type.

At this time, the controller <NUM> may control the communication circuitry <NUM> to transmit the updated rejection code for each rejection type to the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> connected through the network <NUM>. Thereby, the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> may uniformly use the rejection code by storing and using the updated rejection code for each rejection type.

The display <NUM> may display the received medical image and a variety of information.

Particularly, the display <NUM> may display the medical image received from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>, the information about the comparison result between the received rejection code and the determined rejection code, and the information about the comparison result between the reassigned rejection code and the rejection code before reassignment, individually or simultaneously.

The display <NUM> may be provided in the main body of the server <NUM> and may be provided as a separate display module connected to the server <NUM> in a wired or wireless manner.

The storage <NUM> may store a variety of information necessary for controlling the server <NUM>. For example, the storage <NUM> may store the rejection code for each rejection type, and may store the information about various image processing algorithms for determining the rejection code, the information about the predetermined rejection code for each feature point, and a computer program for the neural network.

Hereinafter the server <NUM> may distribute the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type to the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> connected through the network <NUM>. When the new rejection code is received from any one of the medical imaging apparatuses <NUM>, the server <NUM> may update the rejection code for each rejection type and distribute the updated rejection code to the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> so that the uniform rejection code can be used among the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> connected through the network <NUM>.

<FIG> is a view illustrating a signal flow for managing a rejection code according to embodiments of the disclosure, <FIG> is a view illustrating a predetermined rejection code for each rejection type according to embodiments of the disclosure, and <FIG> is a view illustrating a case where a new rejection type and a new rejection code are received in a medical imaging apparatus according to embodiments of the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the server <NUM> may transmit the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type through the communication circuitry <NUM> to the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> connected through the network <NUM> (<NUM>).

<FIG> illustrates two medical imaging apparatuses <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>. However, this is for convenience of description, and there is no limit to the number of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> connected through the network <NUM>.

In addition, the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type may be assigned according to various rejection reasons or corresponding reject code for each reject type, which may appear in the medical image, as illustrated in <FIG>. At this time, the rejection type may correspond to the type of artifact or noise that may appear in the medical image, and may be a reason for not being used for diagnosis. Also, the rejection code may correspond to a kind of digital code corresponding to the rejection type, and the server <NUM> may recognize what the rejection type of the medical image is based on the rejection code.

Particularly, referring to <FIG>, the predetermined rejection code may include 'RC001' as the rejection code corresponding to the system failure, 'RC003' as the rejection code corresponding to the metal object, and 'RC004' as the rejection code corresponding to the motion artifact (Patient Motion).

However, the predetermined rejection code illustrated in <FIG> is merely an example, and the rejection type included in the predetermined rejection code and the corresponding rejection code may be included without limitation as long as they are types of quality defects that can appear in the medical image.

On the other hand, the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type may be preset in a design stage of the server <NUM> and stored in the storage <NUM>, and may be also received from an external server through the communication circuitry <NUM> and stored in the storage <NUM>.

When the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type is received from the server <NUM>, each of the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> may store the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type to each of the storage <NUM> (<NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>).

That is, because each of the medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> use the rejection code for each rejection type received from the server <NUM> through the communication circuitry <NUM>, the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> connected to the server <NUM> may use the same rejection code for each rejection type.

Accordingly, the server <NUM> may more efficiently manage the medical image of each of the medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> and the corresponding rejection code and ensure the consistency of the statistical information.

Any one the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>-<NUM> of the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> may receive the new rejection type and the corresponding new rejection code from the user through the inputter <NUM> (<NUM>-<NUM>).

For example, as illustrated in <FIG>, the user of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>-<NUM> may review a medical image <NUM> displayed on the display <NUM> of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>-<NUM> and determine that the medical image <NUM> includes the rejection type of the metal artifact by the patient wearing a metal necklace.

At this time, when the user of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>-<NUM> identifies that the rejection code related to the metal artifact does not exist in the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type <NUM> displayed on the display <NUM> of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>-<NUM>, the user may input the metal artifact as the new rejection type through the inputter <NUM>, and input 'RC007' as the corresponding new rejection code.

The medical imaging apparatus <NUM>-<NUM> may transmit the new rejection type and the new rejection code input through the inputter <NUM> to the server <NUM> (<NUM>-<NUM>).

When the user inputs the new rejection type and the corresponding new rejection code through the inputter <NUM> and selects the new rejection code through the inputter <NUM> as the rejection code of the medical image <NUM> (e.g., through selection at a point <NUM>), the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>-<NUM> may transmit the new rejection type and the new rejection code together with the medical image <NUM> to the server <NUM>.

In other words, when there is no the rejection type corresponding to the obtained medical image on the rejection code for each rejection type provided from the server <NUM>, the user of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>-<NUM> may manually input the rejection type and the rejection code corresponding to the rejection type, thereby generating the new rejection type and the new rejection code.

The communication circuitry <NUM> of the imaging apparatus <NUM>-<NUM> may transmit the generated new rejection type and new rejection code to the server <NUM> so that the new rejection type and the new rejection code generated by the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>-<NUM> are also shared with the other medical imaging apparatus <NUM>-<NUM> so that the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> connected to the server <NUM> use the consistent rejection code for each type rejection type.

At this time, the server <NUM> may update the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type based on the received new rejection type and the new rejection code (<NUM>).

That is, the server <NUM> may update the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type to include the received new rejection type and the new rejection code, and may transmit the updated rejection code for each rejection type to the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> connected through the network <NUM> (<NUM>).

However, the server <NUM> may determine whether to add the new rejection code to the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type.

Particularly, the controller <NUM> may perform the image processing on the medical image <NUM> transmitted together with the new rejection code to determine the rejection type of the medical image <NUM>, and may determine whether to add the new rejection code to the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type by determining whether the determined rejection type corresponds to the received new rejection type. At this time, the controller <NUM> may further consider the frequency of the new rejection type, that is, the frequency of reception from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> for the new rejection type, to determine whether to add the new rejection code to the rejection code for each rejection type.

That is, the server <NUM> may update the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type by adding the new rejection code to the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type when the determined rejection type corresponds to the received new rejection type.

When the updated rejection code for each rejection type is received from the server <NUM>, each of the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> may store the updated rejection code for each rejection type to each of the storage <NUM> (<NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>).

Thereby, the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> may uniformly use the rejection code by storing and using the updated rejection code for each rejection type.

Hereinafter the server <NUM> may receive the medical image and the rejection code from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>. When the rejection code determined based on the received medical image is different from the received rejection code, the server <NUM> may provide feedback to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> so that the user of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> can select the correct rejection code will be described.

<FIG> is a view illustrating a signal flow for notifying a discrepancy of a rejection code according to embodiments of the disclosure, <FIG> is a view illustrating a case where a rejection code corresponding to a medical image is received in a medical imaging apparatus according to embodiments of the disclosure, <FIG> is a view illustrating a case where a server determines a rejection code of a medical image according to embodiments of the disclosure, <FIG> is a view illustrating a case where a user approves a rejection code determined by a server according to embodiments of the disclosure, <FIG> is a view illustrating a case where information about a comparison result received from a server is displayed in a medical imaging apparatus according to embodiments of the disclosure, and <FIG> is a view illustrating a case where a comparison result between a rejection code before reassignment and a reassigned rejection code is displayed in a server according to embodiments of the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may assign the rejection code to the medical image based on the rejection code received from the user (<NUM>).

Particularly, the controller <NUM> of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may assign the rejection code to the medical image based on the rejection code for the medical image input from the user through the inputter <NUM>.

For example, as illustrated in <FIG>, the controller <NUM> of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may display a medical image <NUM> obtained through the capturer <NUM> and a predetermined rejection code for each rejection type <NUM> stored in the storage <NUM> on the display <NUM>.

At this time, the user of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may review the displayed medical image <NUM> to determine whether the medical image <NUM> can be used for diagnosis. Further, when the medical image <NUM> is determined to be unusable for diagnosis, the user may reject the medical image <NUM> by selecting a rejection code <NUM> (i.e., the rejection type) corresponding to the reason why it cannot be used for diagnosis, on the displayed predetermined rejection code for each rejection type <NUM>, through the inputter <NUM> (e.g., by moving the point <NUM> to the rejection code to be selected and clicking the rejection code).

For example, the user may select the rejection code <NUM> (e.g., RC007) for the rejection type (e.g., Others) other than the rejection type of the metal artifact, even though there is the rejection type of the metal artifact on the medical image <NUM> because the medical image <NUM> is captured under a condition in which the patient wears a metal necklace. That is, the user may perform erroneous determination or erroneous selections for the rejection type of the medical image <NUM>. At this time, the controller <NUM> of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may assign the rejection code <NUM> inputted by the user to the medical image <NUM>.

The medical imaging apparatus <NUM> transmits the medical image <NUM> and the assigned rejection code <NUM> to the server <NUM> through the communication circuitry <NUM> (<NUM>).

At this time, the medical image <NUM> corresponds to the image that is determined not to be used for diagnosis, that is, the rejected image, and the rejection code <NUM> may correspond to the rejection reason, that is, the rejection type.

The server <NUM> performs the image processing on the medical image <NUM> to determine the rejection code of the medical image <NUM> (<NUM>).

That is, the controller <NUM> of the server <NUM> performs the image processing on the received medical image <NUM> and determines the rejection code of the medical image <NUM> separately from the received rejection code <NUM>. In other words, the server <NUM> may analyze the medical image <NUM> by itself and determine the rejection code for the medical image <NUM>.

At this time, the server <NUM> may determine the rejection code for the medical image <NUM> based on various methods. For example, the server <NUM> may determine the rejection code of the medical image <NUM> according to the image processing based on the image processing algorithm, and may determine the rejection code of the medical image <NUM> using the neural network provided in the storage <NUM>. In addition, the server <NUM> may determine the rejection code for the medical image <NUM> by further considering the information about the system log or the information about the capturing condition.

Particularly, referring to <FIG>, the controller <NUM> may extract feature points <NUM> of the medical image <NUM> and determine the rejection code <NUM> of the medical image <NUM> based on the extracted feature points <NUM> and information about the predetermined rejection code for each feature point.

At this time, the controller <NUM> may extract the feature points <NUM> in the medical image <NUM> by applying the image processing algorithm such as the object recognition algorithm. For example, the controller <NUM> may apply the edge detection to extract artifacts included in the medical image <NUM>. In addition, the controller <NUM> may extract the artifacts included in the medical image <NUM> by extracting the types through morphological operations.

However, the image processing algorithm used to extract the feature points <NUM> is not limited to the above-described example, and may be used without limitation as long as it corresponds to the image processing algorithm capable of extracting the feature points <NUM> that can be included in the medical image <NUM>.

At this time, the feature points <NUM> may correspond to at least one of the metal artifact caused by the metal located in the medical image <NUM>, the motion artifact due to movement of the patient, such as respiration, and noise. However, the types of feature points <NUM> are not limited to the above-described example, and may be included without limitation as long as they are types of quality defects that can appear in the medical image <NUM>.

For example, as illustrated in <FIG>, the controller <NUM> may determine that the rejection type of the metal image <NUM> corresponds to the metal object based on the feature points <NUM> corresponding to the metal artifact extracted according to the image processing of the medical image <NUM>, and the controller <NUM> may determine the rejection code (RC003) corresponding to the metal object as the rejection code <NUM> of the medical image <NUM> based on the determination.

Particularly, the controller <NUM> may perform an operation on the received medical image through the neural network, and may determine the rejection code <NUM> of the medical image <NUM> based on the information about the operation performed through the neural network.

Since the above-described neural network may refer to a machine learning that forms the neural structure capable of performing deep learning, the weight and the bias corresponding to the configuration of the neural network continuously change, thereby improving the reliability of learning.

At this time, the neural network may be stored in storage <NUM> in the form of the computer program. Hereinafter the computation performed by the neural network in the coding form of the computer program will be described. However the disclosure is not limited to the computer program in which the neural network is stored.

Meanwhile, the neural network may include the Convolution Neural Network (CNN) for generating a feature map output by convoluting the medical image, and inputting the feature map to the neural network. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and may be performed by another deep learning algorithm including Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN).

In addition, the controller <NUM> may determine the rejection code <NUM> of the medical image <NUM> based on at least one of the result of the image processing (for example, the extracted result of the feature point according to the image processing algorithm, and the determination result of the rejection type according to the neural network), the information about a capturing condition assigned to the medical image, and the information about the system log of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

Particularly, in addition to the result of the image processing, the controller <NUM> may separately or further consider the information about the system log of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> received together with the medical image <NUM> from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> to determine that the rejection type of the medical image <NUM> is the system failure, and may determine the rejection code corresponding to the system failure as the rejection code <NUM> of the medical image <NUM>.

In addition to the result of the image processing and the information about the system log, the controller <NUM> may separately or further consider the information about the capturing condition included in the header of the medical image <NUM> to determine that the rejection type of the medical image <NUM> is the capturing condition error, and may determine the rejection code corresponding to the capturing condition error as the rejection code <NUM> of the medical image <NUM>.

Particularly, the controller <NUM> may identify a difference (for example, a difference in irradiation dose) from a standard protocol based on an imaging region based on information about a capturing protocol included in the information about the medical image <NUM>. When a difference value equal to or greater than a threshold value occurs, the controller <NUM> may determine the rejection code corresponding to the capturing condition error as the rejection code <NUM> of the medical image <NUM>.

The controller <NUM> may also determine the rejection code <NUM> of the medical image <NUM> based on the rejection code inputted by the user through the inputter <NUM>. That is, the user of the server <NUM> may review the medical image <NUM> displayed on the display <NUM>, determine the rejection type of the medical image <NUM>, and input the rejection code by selecting the corresponding rejection code.

The server <NUM> compares the determined rejection code <NUM> and the rejection code <NUM> received from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> to generate information about the comparison result (<NUM>).

At this time, the received rejection code <NUM> and the determined rejection code <NUM> may differ depending on the determination error or a selection error of the user of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>, as illustrated in <FIG>.

The server <NUM> transmits the information about the comparison result to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> when the determined rejection code <NUM> and the received rejection code <NUM> are different (<NUM>).

That is, when the rejection code <NUM> determined by the controller <NUM> is different from the rejection code <NUM> received from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>, the controller <NUM> may provide feedback that the rejection code <NUM> determined by the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> is different from the received rejection code <NUM> so that the user of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> can determine his / her judgment once more.

In addition, the server <NUM> may further include a user's approval processing for the rejection code <NUM> determined by the controller <NUM>.

Particularly, through the inputter <NUM>, the controller <NUM> may receive the user's input granting the determined rejection code <NUM>.

For example, as illustrated in <FIG>, the controller <NUM> may control the display <NUM> to display a message <NUM> identifying whether the determined rejection code <NUM> has been granted. At this time, through the inputter <NUM>, the user may input the input (e.g., click on "YES" on the displayed message <NUM>) for granting the determined rejection code <NUM> in response to the displayed message <NUM>.

That is, the user of the server <NUM> may review the medical image <NUM> displayed on the display <NUM> and the determined rejection code <NUM> to determine whether the determined rejection code <NUM> corresponds to the rejection reason or rejection type of the medical image <NUM>. When it is determined that the determined rejection code <NUM> corresponds to the rejection type of the medical image <NUM>, the user may input the input for granting the determined rejection code <NUM> through the inputter <NUM>.

In this case, the controller <NUM> may proceed to the feedback to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> by controlling the communication circuitry <NUM> to transmit the information about the comparison result of the determined rejection code <NUM> and the received rejection code <NUM> to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

Through the inputter <NUM>, the controller <NUM> may also receive the input from the user who is non-granting the determined rejection code <NUM>.

That is, when the user of the server <NUM> determines that the determined rejection code <NUM> does not correspond to the rejection type of the medical image <NUM>, the user may input the input for non-granting the determined rejection code <NUM> through the inputter <NUM>. For example, through the inputter <NUM>, the user may input the input (e.g., click on "NO" on the displayed message <NUM>) for non-granting the determined rejection code <NUM> in response to the displayed message <NUM>.

In this case, the controller <NUM> may perform the image processing on the medical image <NUM> again to determine the rejection code <NUM> of the medical image <NUM> again.

When receiving the comparison result, which represents that the assigned rejection code <NUM> and the rejection code <NUM> determined by the server <NUM> are different from each other, from the server <NUM> through the communication circuitry <NUM>, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may control the display <NUM> to display the comparison result (<NUM>).

For example, the controller <NUM> of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may control the display <NUM> to display a message <NUM> for the comparison result representing that the inputted rejection code <NUM> and the rejection code <NUM> determined by the server <NUM> are different from each other, as illustrated in <FIG>.

At this time, the displayed message <NUM> may include the information about the rejection type corresponding to the inputted rejection code <NUM> and the rejection code <NUM> determined by the server <NUM>, respectively.

For this, the user may identify that the rejection code <NUM> inputted by himself or herself is different from the rejection code <NUM> determined by the server <NUM>, and may re-input the correct rejection code through the inputter <NUM>.

In this case, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may reassign the rejection code to the medical image <NUM> based on re-input of the rejection code received from the user (<NUM>).

The medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may also transmit the reassigned rejection code to the server <NUM> when the rejection code for the medical image <NUM> is reassigned from the user through the inputter <NUM> (<NUM>).

When the server <NUM> receives the reassigned rejection code from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>, the server <NUM> may display the comparison result between the rejection code before reassignment and the reassigned rejection code (<NUM>).

Particularly, the controller <NUM> may receive the rejection code reassigned from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> to the medical image through the communication circuitry <NUM> after transmission of the comparison result between the determined rejection code <NUM> and the received rejection code <NUM> to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

In this case, the controller <NUM> may compare the rejection code before reassignment and the reassigned rejection code to generate the comparison result, and as illustrated in <FIG>, control the display <NUM> to display a message <NUM> representing the comparison result between the rejection code before reassignment and the reassigned rejection code. At this time, the rejection code before reassignment may correspond to rejection code <NUM> received prior to feedback to medical imaging apparatus <NUM>, and the displayed message <NUM> may include the information about the rejection type corresponding to each of the rejection code before reassignment and reassigned.

In this way, the user of the server <NUM> may determine whether or not the rejection code for the medical image <NUM> has been correctly assigned in response to the feedback of the server <NUM> by the user of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

In addition, the server <NUM> may update the statistical information about each medical imaging apparatus <NUM> based on the medical image and the corresponding rejection code.

Hereinafter a method of controlling the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> and the server <NUM> according to embodiments will be described. The medical imaging apparatus <NUM> and the server <NUM> may be applied to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> and the server <NUM> above-described. The contents described with reference to <FIG> may be equally applicable to the method of controlling the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> and the server <NUM> according to the embodiments without any particular reference.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating a case where a rejection code for each rejection type is stored in a method of controlling a medical imaging apparatus <NUM> according to embodiments of the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may receive the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type from the server <NUM> (<NUM>).

In addition, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may store the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type received from the server <NUM> (<NUM>).

Particularly, the controller <NUM> may also control the storage <NUM> to store the rejection code for each rejection type received from the server <NUM> through the communication circuitry <NUM>.

That is, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> uses the rejection code for each rejection type received from the server <NUM> through the communication circuitry <NUM>, thus the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> connected to the server <NUM> may use the rejection code for the same rejection type.

Accordingly, the server <NUM> may more efficiently manage the medical images of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> and the corresponding rejection codes, and may ensure the consistency of the statistical information.

The medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may also receive the input for the new rejection type and the corresponding new rejection code from the user (<NUM>), and may transmit the new rejection type and the new rejection code to the server <NUM> (<NUM>).

That is, when the new rejection type, which is other than the rejection type included in the stored rejection code for each rejection type and the new rejection code corresponding to the new rejection type are inputted from the user through the inputter <NUM> the controller <NUM> may control the communication circuitry <NUM> to transmit the new rejection type and the new rejection code to the server <NUM>.

In other words, when there is no the rejection type corresponding to the medical image obtained on the rejection code for each rejection type provided from the server <NUM>, the user may manually input the rejection type and the rejection code corresponding to the rejection type, thereby generating the new rejection type and the new rejection code.

That is, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may receive the updated rejection code for each rejection type including the new rejection code from the server <NUM> (<NUM>). At this time, the new rejection code included in the updated rejection code for each rejection type may be generated by another medical imaging apparatus other than the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> that received the updated rejection code for each rejection type.

The medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may store the updated rejection code for each rejection type (<NUM>).

Particularly, when receiving the updated rejection code for each rejection type different from the stored rejection code for each rejection type from the server <NUM>, the controller <NUM> of each medical imaging apparatus <NUM> connected to the server <NUM> through the network <NUM> may control the storage <NUM> to store the updated rejection code for each rejection type.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating a case where a rejection code is assigned to a medical image in a method of controlling a medical imaging apparatus <NUM> according to embodiments of the disclosure.

The medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may transmit the medical image <NUM> and the assigned rejection code <NUM> to the server <NUM> (<NUM>).

At this time, the medical image <NUM> may correspond to the image that is determined not to be used for diagnosis, that is, the rejected image, and the rejection code <NUM> may correspond to the rejection reason, that is, the rejection type.

When receiving the comparison result representing that the assigned rejection code <NUM> and the rejection code <NUM> determined by the server <NUM> are different from each other, from the server <NUM> through the communication circuitry <NUM> (YES in <NUM>), the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may display the message <NUM> representing the comparison result (<NUM>).

For this, the user may identify that the rejection code <NUM> inputted by the user is different from the rejection code <NUM> determined by the server <NUM>, and may re-input the correct rejection code through the inputter <NUM>.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating a case where a rejection code for each rejection type is managed in a method of controlling a server <NUM> according to embodiments of the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the server <NUM> may transmit the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type to the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> (<NUM>).

The predetermined rejection code for each rejection type may be preset in the design stage of the server <NUM> and stored in the storage <NUM>, and may be also be received from the external server through the communication circuitry <NUM> and stored in the storage <NUM>.

Each of the medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> may use the same rejection code for each rejection type by using the rejection code for each rejection type received from the server <NUM> through the communication circuitry <NUM>.

When receiving the medical image, the new rejection type, and the new rejection code (YES in <NUM>), the server <NUM> may determine whether to add the new rejection code to the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type (<NUM>).

At this time, the controller <NUM> of the server <NUM> may perform the image processing on the medical image <NUM> transmitted together with the new rejection code to determine the rejection type of the medical image <NUM>, and may determine whether to add the new rejection code to the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type by determining whether the determined rejection type corresponds to the received new rejection type. At this time, the controller <NUM> may further consider the frequency of the new rejection type, that is, the frequency of reception from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> for the new rejection type, to determine whether to add the new rejection code to the rejection code for each rejection type.

That is, the server <NUM> may update the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type by including the new rejection code in the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type when the determined rejection type corresponds to the received new rejection type.

In other words, when the server <NUM> determines to add the new rejection code to the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type (YES in <NUM>), the server <NUM> may update the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type to include the new rejection type and the new rejection code (<NUM>).

However, when receiving the new rejection type and the new rejection code, the server <NUM> may update the predetermined rejection code for each rejection type based on the received new rejection type and the new rejection code without the determination of whether or not to add.

In addition, the server <NUM> may transmit the updated rejection code for each rejection type to the plurality of medical imaging apparatuses <NUM> (<NUM>).

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating a case where a discrepancy of a rejection code assigned to a medical image is notified in a method of controlling a server <NUM> according to embodiments of the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the server <NUM> may receive the medical image <NUM> and the assigned rejection code <NUM> from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> (<NUM>).

The server <NUM> may perform the image processing on the medical image <NUM> to determine the rejection code of the medical image <NUM> (<NUM>).

That is, the controller <NUM> of the server <NUM> may perform the image processing on the received medical image <NUM> and determine the rejection code of the medical image <NUM> separately from the received rejection code <NUM>. In other words, the server <NUM> may analyze the medical image <NUM> by itself and determine the rejection code for the medical image <NUM>.

At this time, the server <NUM> may determine the rejection code for the medical image <NUM> based on various methods. For example, the server <NUM> may determine the rejection code of the medical image <NUM> according to the image processing based on the image processing algorithm, and may determine the rejection code of the medical image <NUM> using the neural network provided in the storage <NUM>. In addition, the server <NUM> may determine the rejection code for the medical image <NUM> by further considering the information about the system log or the information about the capturing condition. In addition, the server <NUM> may determine the rejection code inputted through the inputter <NUM> from the user of the server <NUM> as the rejection code of the medical image <NUM>. The description of the methods of determining the rejection code for the medical image <NUM> is the same as that described with reference to <FIG>, so that a detailed description of each method will be omitted.

The server <NUM> may compare the determined rejection code <NUM> and the rejection code <NUM> received from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> (<NUM>).

At this time, the received rejection code <NUM> and the determined rejection code <NUM> may differ depending on the determination error or a selection error of the user of the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

When the determined rejection code <NUM> and the received rejection code <NUM> are not the same (NO in <NUM>), the server <NUM> may control the communication circuitry <NUM> to transmit the information about the comparison result to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> (<NUM>).

For this, the user may identify that the rejection code <NUM> inputted by himself of herself is different from the rejection code <NUM> determined by the server <NUM>, and may re-input the correct rejection code through the inputter <NUM>.

In this case, the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may reassign the rejection code to the medical image <NUM> based on re-input of the rejection code received from the user.

The medical imaging apparatus <NUM> may also transmit the reassigned rejection code to the server <NUM> when the rejection code for the medical image <NUM> is reassigned from the user through the inputter <NUM>.

The server <NUM> may receive the reassigned rejection code from the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> (<NUM>), and may display the comparison result between the rejection code before reassignment and the reassigned rejection code (<NUM>).

In this case, the controller <NUM> may compare the rejection code before reassignment and the reassigned rejection code to generate the comparison result, and control the display <NUM> to display a message <NUM> representing the comparison result between the rejection code before reassignment and the reassigned rejection code.

At this time, the rejection code before reassignment may correspond to rejection code <NUM> received prior to feedback to medical imaging apparatus <NUM>, and displayed message <NUM> may include the information about the rejection type corresponding to each of the rejection code before reassignment and reassigned.

In addition, the server <NUM> may store the medical image <NUM> and the corresponding rejection code in the statistical information corresponding to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM> (<NUM>).

That is, the server <NUM> may update the statistical information about each medical imaging apparatus <NUM> based on the medical image and the corresponding rejection code.

Particularly, when the determined rejection code and the received rejection code are the same (YES in <NUM>), the controller <NUM> may control the storage <NUM> to store the medical image and the received rejection code in the statistical information corresponding to the medical imaging apparatus <NUM>.

As is apparent from the above description, it is possible to efficiently and accurately manage the statistical information about the rejection codes for the medical image for each medical imaging apparatus by collectively managing the rejection codes for each rejection type of the medical image and determining the accuracy of the rejection codes for the medical image transmitted from the medical imaging apparatus and providing the feedback.

Meanwhile, the disclosed embodiments may be implemented in the form of a recording medium storing instructions that are executable by a computer. The instructions may be stored in the form of a program code, and when executed by a processor, the instructions may generate a program module to perform operations of the disclosed embodiments. The recording medium may be implemented as a computer-readable recording medium.

Claim 1:
A server (<NUM>) comprising:
a communication circuitry (<NUM>) configured to communicate with a medical imaging apparatus (<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>); and
a controller (<NUM>) configured to:
control the communication circuitry (<NUM>) to receive a medical image and a first rejection code from the medical imaging apparatus (<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>), the first rejection code corresponding to a digital code indicating an unusability of the medical image for diagnosis and being assigned to the medical image from a user of the medical imaging apparatus (<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>);
perform an image processing on the medical image to determine a second rejection code corresponding to a digital code indicating an unusability of the medical image for diagnosis, in responding to receiving the medical image and the first rejection code;
determine whether to transmit, to the medical imaging apparatus (<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>), information generated in association with a result of a comparison between the first rejection code from the medical imaging apparatus (<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>) and the second rejection code determined from the image processing; and
control the communication circuitry (<NUM>) to transmit the information generated in association with the result of the comparison to the medical imaging apparatus when the first rejection code and the second rejection code are different.