Medical image processing apparatus and X-ray CT apparatus

A medical image processing apparatus comprising:

• compressing circuitry configured to compress, for each of a first data group and a second data group both of which being included in data pertaining to a medical image, each of the first data group and the second data group separately, starting from data corresponding to a boundary between the first data group and the second data group and shifting sequentially in a direction away from the boundary, wherein
• the compressing circuitry
• is configured to perform a compression by performing an encoding process that uses an estimation based on one or more pixels positioned in a surrounding of a compression target pixel and
• is configured to perform a variable-length coding process on a bit number expressing information about one or more estimation directions.

A medical image processing apparatus comprising:

• compressing circuitry configured to compress, for each of a first data group and a second data group both of which being included in data pertaining to a medical image, each of the first data group and the second data group separately, starting from data corresponding to a boundary between the first data group and the second data group and shifting sequentially in a direction away from the boundary;
• decompressing circuitry
• configured to decompress compressed data of the first data group to obtain first decompressed data, and
• configured to decompress compressed data of the second data group to obtain second decompressed data;
• and
• first combining circuitry
• configured to combine the first decompressed data and the second decompressed data so as to fit each other at a dividing line corresponding to the boundary, wherein
• the decompressing circuitry
• is configured to decompress pieces of data each of which each of a plurality of divided first data is compressed into, to obtain a plurality of third decompressed data, the first data group having been alternately thinned out and divided into each of the plurality of divided first data, and
• is configured to decompress pieces of data each of which each of a plurality of divided second data is compressed into, to obtain a plurality of fourth decompressed data, the second data group having been alternately thinned out and divided into each of the plurality of divided second data, and
• the medical image processing apparatus further comprises:
• second combining circuitry
• configured to alternately combine the plurality of third decompressed data to obtain the first decompressed data, and
• configured to alternately combine the plurality of fourth decompressed data to obtain the second decompressed data.

A medical image processing apparatus comprising:

• compressing circuitry configured to compress, for each of a first data group and a second data group both of which being included in data pertaining to a medical image, each of the first data group and the second data group separately, starting from data corresponding to a boundary between the first data group and the second data group and shifting sequentially in a direction away from the boundary;
• decompressing circuitry
• configured to decompress compressed data of the first data group to obtain first decompressed data, and
• configured to decompress compressed data of the second data group to obtain second decompressed data;
• and
• first combining circuitry
• configured to combine the first decompressed data and the second decompressed data so as to fit each other at a dividing line corresponding to the boundary, wherein
• the decompressing circuitry
• is configured to decompress pieces of data each of which each of a plurality of divided first data is compressed into, to obtain a plurality of third decompressed data, the first data group has been divided into the plurality of divided first data each of which corresponding to mutually-different frequency bands, and
• is configured to decompress pieces of data each of which each of a plurality of divided second data is compressed into, to obtain a plurality of fourth decompressed data, the second data group having been divided into the plurality of divided second data each of which corresponding to mutually-different frequency bands,
• the medical image processing apparatus further comprises:
• third combining circuitry
• configured to combine together the plurality of third decompressed data at different frequency bands and configured to perform a conversion process into a time domain, to obtain the first decompressed data, and
• configured to combine together the plurality of fourth decompressed data at different frequency bands and configured to perform a conversion process into a time domain, to obtain the second decompressed data.

An X-ray CT apparatus comprising:

• data acquiring circuitry configured to obtain projection data by acquiring X-ray detection data obtained by detecting X-rays that have passed through a subject;
• compressing circuitry configured to compress, for each of a first data group and a second data group both of which being included in the projection data, each of the first data group and the second data group separately to obtain pieces of compressed projection data, starting from data corresponding to a boundary between the first data group and the second data group and shifting sequentially to a direction away from the boundary;
• transfer module circuitry configured to transfer the pieces of compressed projection data;
• decompressing circuitry configured to decompress the pieces of projection data that have been transferred thereto by the transfer module circuitry;
• and
• reconstructing circuitry configured to reconstruct a tomography image of the subject on a basis of the decompressed pieces of projection data, wherein the compressing circuitry is configured to adjust or select the boundary between the first data group and the second data group based on imaging plan information corresponding to the data pertaining to the medical image, and when imaging information regarding a predetermined region is included in the imaging plan information corresponding to the data pertaining to the medical image data, the compressing circuitry is configured to specify the first data group and the second data group such that the boundary between the first data group and the second data group becomes perpendicular to a channel direction of an X-ray detector that detects the data pertaining to the medical image data.

An X-ray CT apparatus comprising:

• data acquiring circuitry configured to obtain projection data by acquiring X-ray detection data obtained by detecting X-rays that have passed through a subject;
• compressing circuitry configured to compress, for each of a first data group and a second data group both of which being included in the projection data, each of the first data group and the second data group separately to obtain pieces of compressed projection data, starting from data corresponding to a boundary between the first data group and the second data group and shifting sequentially in a direction away from the boundary;
• second dividing circuitry configured to alternately thin out and divide the first data group into a plurality of pieces of data and configured to alternately thin out and divide the second data group into a plurality of pieces of data;
• transfer module circuitry configured to transfer the pieces of compressed projection data;
• decompressing circuitry configured to decompress the pieces of projection data that have been transferred thereto by the transfer module circuitry;
• and
• reconstructing circuitry configured to reconstruct a tomography image of the subject on a basis of the decompressed pieces of projection data.

An X-ray CT apparatus comprising:

• data acquiring circuitry configured to obtain projection data by acquiring X-ray detection data obtained by detecting X-rays that have passed through a subject;
• compressing circuitry configured to compress, for each of a first data group and a second data group both of which being included in the projection data, each of the first data group and the second data group separately to obtain pieces of compressed projection data, starting from data corresponding to a boundary between the first data group and the second data group and shifting sequentially in a direction away from the boundary;
• third dividing circuitry configured to divide the first data group into multiple different frequency bands, and configured to divide the second data group into multiple different frequency bands;
• transfer module circuitry configured to transfer the pieces of compressed projection data;
• decompressing circuitry configured to decompress the pieces of projection data that have been transferred thereto by the transfer module circuitry;
• and
• reconstructing circuitry configured to reconstruct a tomography image of the subject on a basis of the decompressed pieces of projection data.

An X-ray CT apparatus comprising:

• data acquiring circuitry configured to obtain projection data by acquiring X-ray detection data obtained by detecting X-rays that have passed through a subject;
• compressing circuitry configured to compress, for each of a first data group and a second data group both of which being included in the projection data, each of the first data group and the second data group separately to obtain pieces of compressed projection data, starting from data corresponding to a boundary between the first data group and the second data group and shifting sequentially in a direction away from the boundary;
• transfer module circuitry configured to transfer the pieces of compressed projection data;
• decompressing circuitry configured to decompress the pieces of projection data that have been transferred thereto by the transfer module circuitry;
• reconstructing circuitry configured to reconstruct a tomography image of the subject on a basis of the decompressed pieces of projection data, wherein the compressing circuitry is configured to perform a compression by performing an encoding process that uses an estimation based on one or more pixels positioned in a surrounding of a compression target pixel and is configured to perform a variable-length coding process on a bit number expressing information about one or more estimation directions.