Medical image processing apparatus, endoscope system, medical image processing method, and medical image processing program

A medical image processing method to be executed by a medical image processing apparatus comprising a processor, wherein the medical image processing method comprises:

• executing an image acquisition process of acquiring a time-series medical image;
• executing a region-of-interest detection process of detecting a region of interest from the acquired medical image;
• executing a display control process of causing a display apparatus to display the medical image;
• executing a first reporting process of, in response to the region of interest being detected in the region-of-interest detection process, causing the display apparatus to superimpose and display information about the detected region of interest on the medical image;
• executing a feature quantity hold process of holding a feature quantity of the detected region of interest;
• executing an identity determination process of comparing a feature quantity of a first region of interest detected from a medical image captured at a first time with the held feature quantity of a second region of interest detected from a second medical image captured at a second time that is a time before the first time, thereby determining identity between the first region of interest and the second region of interest;
• executing a number-of-detections calculation process of calculating the number of consecutive detections for the first region of interest;
• determining, while the first reporting process is being executed, whether the detection is a continuous detection based on the number of consecutive detections;
• in response to a determination being made in the identity determination process that the first region of interest and the second region of interest are identical to each other, in the number-of-detections calculation process, increasing the number of consecutive detections recorded for the second region of interest to calculate the number of consecutive detections of the first region of interest;
• determining, while the first reporting process is being executed, whether the detection is a continuous detection based on the number of consecutive detections;
• in a case where the detection is determined to be the continuous detection, executing a second reporting process of, in response to the region of interest being detected in the region-of-interest detection process, outputting a sound from a sound output apparatus along with the first reporting process;
• and
• in a case where the detection is determined not to be the continuous detection, not executing the second reporting process.

A medical image processing apparatus comprising a processor,

• the processor being configured to:
• execute an image acquisition process of acquiring a time-series medical image;
• execute a region-of-interest detection process of detecting a region of interest from the acquired medical image;
• execute a display control process of causing a display apparatus to display the medical image;
• execute a first reporting process of, in response to the region of interest being detected in the region-of-interest detection process, causing the display apparatus to superimpose and display information about the detected region of interest on the medical image;
• execute a feature quantity hold process of holding a feature quantity of the detected region of interest;
• execute an identity determination process of determining an identity by comparing, of the feature quantity held in the feature quantity hold process, a feature quantity obtained at a time that is within a determined period before a first time, with a feature quantity of a first region of interest detected from a medical image captured at the first time;
• determine, while the first reporting process is being executed, whether the detection is a continuous detection based on a result of the identity determination process;
• in a case where the detection is determined to be the continuous detection, execute a second reporting process of, in response to the region of interest being detected in the region-of-interest detection process, outputting a sound from a sound output apparatus along with the first reporting process;
• and
• in a case where the detection is determined not to be the continuous detection, not execute the second reporting process.

A medical image processing method to be executed by a medical image processing apparatus comprising a processor, wherein the medical image processing method comprises:

• executing an image acquisition process of acquiring a time-series medical image;
• executing a region-of-interest detection process of detecting a region of interest from the acquired medical image;
• executing a display control process of causing a display apparatus to display the medical image;
• executing a first reporting process of, in response to the region of interest being detected in the region-of-interest detection process, causing the display apparatus to superimpose and display information about the detected region of interest on the medical image;
• executing a feature quantity hold process of holding a feature quantity of the detected region of interest;
• executing an identity determination process of determining an identity by comparing, of the feature quantity held in the feature quantity hold process, a feature quantity obtained at a time that is within a determined period before a first time, with a feature quantity of a first region of interest detected from a medical image captured at the first time;
• determining, while the first reporting process is being executed, whether the detection is a continuous detection based on a result of the identity determination process;
• in a case where the detection is determined to be the continuous detection, executing a second reporting process of, in response to the region of interest being detected in the region-of-interest detection process, outputting a sound from a sound output apparatus along with the first reporting process;
• and
• in a case where the detection is determined not to be the continuous detection, not executing the second reporting process.