JP2009003525A - Information communication device and medical information device - Google Patents

Abstract

An information communication apparatus or medical information apparatus that analyzes data whose logical port used for communication is unknown and establishes communication using an appropriate logical port of the data is provided.
A data acquisition unit for acquiring, from a data transmitted from an external device connected via a network, an unknown logical port used for communication, using a predetermined logical port; A protocol analysis unit 103 that identifies the protocol of the acquired data; a port switching unit 104 that switches the predetermined logical port to a logical port having a logical port number corresponding to the identified protocol; and A communication unit 101 that communicates with the apparatus.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an information communication device and a medical information device that transmit and receive data via a network in accordance with a protocol.

  In an information communication apparatus connected to a network so as to be able to transmit and receive information to and from each other via a network, a protocol that is an agreement for transmitting and receiving data between the information communication apparatuses is required. By performing communication in accordance with this protocol, it is possible to determine what type of data is sent from the other party of the communication, and what type of data should be returned in what procedure for that data. Thereby, transmission / reception of data between information communication apparatuses becomes possible. This is realized so that transmission can be performed even if several known different protocols are used in one network.

  At this time, a port number of a logical port (Port) for performing communication is assigned to different protocols, and communication is performed using a logical port having a specific port number for a specific protocol. It is decided so. Here, an information communication apparatus and a medical information apparatus usually have a physical port and a logical port. However, in the following description, the term “port” refers to a logical port.

  The communication method based on the protocol as described above is the same in a medical information apparatus that transmits and receives medical information via a network.

  There are several known protocols for sending and receiving medical information via a network. For example, this protocol includes a DICOM protocol, an HL7 protocol, a manufacturer protocol, an FTP protocol, and the like. Further, a port number for medical information devices to communicate with each other on the same network is assigned to each of such medical information protocols.

  In such a medical information device, when information is sent to a port other than that defined in the protocol, communication between the medical information devices may not be established. If such a state in which the port number is unknown continues, the medical information device may possibly become a problem related to patient life.

  Therefore, in order to determine a port used for communication in a protocol, as a conventional technique, a technique for determining a protocol using a network analyzer (see, for example, Patent Document 1) or a technique for identifying a specified packet. (For example, refer to Patent Document 2).

JP 2005-175755 A JP 2001-177595 A

  However, the technique described in Patent Document 1 merely determines the protocol, and does not automatically establish communication. In addition, the appropriate logic in a protocol for which an appropriate logical port for communication is unknown is used. It is difficult to determine the port. Further, even with the technique described in Patent Document 2, it is difficult to automatically establish communication for a protocol in which a proper communication logical port is unknown only by determining a prescribed packet.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances. An information communication device or a medical information device that analyzes data whose logical port used for communication is unknown and establishes communication at an appropriate logical port of the data is provided. It is intended to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, an information communication apparatus according to claim 1 is a method of transmitting data having an unknown logical port used for communication from data transmitted from an external apparatus connected via a network. Data acquisition means for acquiring using a logical port, protocol analysis means for specifying the protocol of the acquired data, and switching the predetermined logical port to a logical port having a logical port number corresponding to the specified protocol Port switching means and communication means for communicating with the external device by the switched logical port are provided.

  The medical information device according to claim 2 is a medical information device that transmits and receives medical information such as medical images via a network, and communication data transmitted from the other medical information devices connected to the network. A data acquisition means for acquiring the communication data whose communication logical port used for communication is unknown using a predetermined logical port, a protocol analysis means for specifying a protocol of the acquired communication data, and the specified protocol A port switching unit that switches the predetermined logical port to a logical port having a corresponding logical port number; and a communication unit that communicates with the external medical information device through the switched logical port and transmits and receives the medical information. It is characterized by this.

  According to the present invention, when information whose logical port used for communication is unknown is received, communication can be automatically established with an appropriate logical port of the data. As a result, even when information whose logical port used for communication is unknown is received, it is possible to continue information processing without disconnecting the communication. In the medical information device, the patient's body and It is possible to reduce life-threatening dangers.

[First Embodiment]
The information communication apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention uses a predetermined logical port for data whose logical port used for communication is unknown from data transmitted from an external apparatus connected via a network. Port switching for switching the predetermined logical port to a logical port having a logical port number corresponding to the specified protocol, and a protocol analyzing unit for specifying a protocol of the acquired data And an information communication apparatus having a configuration including communication means for communicating with the external apparatus via the switched logical port.

  As such an information communication device, there is a medical information device that uses a protocol for medical information as a specified protocol. As another example, information communication devices using protocols other than medical information protocols such as FTP and HTTP can also be operated. For example, sharing of devices among a plurality of banks such as bank ATMs is possible. If the communication protocol differs between the banks, or if the equipment is shared among multiple transportation facilities in the automatic entrance device in public transportation, each transportation Even when the communication protocol is different, it is possible to automatically obtain an appropriate port for communication data whose port used for communication is unknown and establish communication.

  Next, a medical information device using a protocol for medical information among the information communication devices described above will be described in detail.

[Second Embodiment]
A medical information device according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system including a medical information device according to this embodiment. A solid line in FIG. 1 represents a data flow, and a dotted line represents a control signal flow. As shown in FIG. 1, an MRI apparatus 002 and an image server 100 are connected to a network 001 so that they can communicate with each other. Here, the image server 100 is an example of a medical information device according to the present invention. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the communication between the MRI apparatus 002 and the image server 100 will be described. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to any medical information system (for example, electronic medical record system, HIS (Hospital Information System), RIS (Radiology Information System), PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System). It can also be applied to medical imaging systems).

(System configuration)
The network 001 is a hospital network such as a LAN, for example, and the devices and systems shown in FIG. 1 are connected to the network 001 so that they can communicate with each other. Here, other than the MRI apparatus 002 and the image server 100, modalities such as a CT apparatus and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, RIS, HIS, and the like may be connected to the network 001.

  The image server 100 receives data from the communication unit 101 and stores the image generated by the MRI apparatus 002 in the image storage unit 107. The image storage unit 107 for configuring the image server 100 is not particularly limited as long as it is a relatively large-capacity storage device that can store image data. As the image storage unit 107 of the image server 100, for example, an optical disk such as a DVD or a hard disk can be used.

  Here, DICOM communication between the MRI apparatus 002 and the image server 100 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing DICOM communication between the MRI apparatus 002 and the image server 100. A request signal 201 for establishing communication from the MRI apparatus 002 to the image server 100 is transmitted. The request signal 201 includes a port number for communicating with DICOM data as schematically shown in FIG. Here, the contents of the request signal 201 are schematically represented as two data, but the port number may be described in the header portion of the DICOM data. When the request signal 201 is received by the communication unit 101, a response signal for notifying that communication has been established is transmitted from the communication unit 101 to the MRI apparatus 002. When the response signal is received, the captured image acquired by the MRI apparatus 002 is transmitted to the communication unit 101 according to the DICOM data format. The communication unit 101 stores the received image in the image storage unit 107. When the transfer of the captured image is completed, the communication unit 101 notifies the MRI apparatus 002 that the establishment of communication is to be released and also releases the establishment of communication.

  When information is transmitted / received as described above, in the establishment of the first communication, the communication unit 101 needs to perform communication using a logical port (hereinafter, simply referred to as “port”) that complies with the DICOM communication protocol. . Therefore, the communication establishment request signal 201 from the MRI apparatus 002 includes data for notifying the communication unit 101 of the port number used for communication. In the following description, it is assumed that an appropriate port number used for DICOM communication is 8000. That is, in normal communication, the communication establishment request signal 201 from the MRI apparatus 002 includes data indicating that communication is performed at the port number 8000, and the port number 8000 is used. DICOM communication will be performed. However, if the port number included in the request signal 201 is wrong due to an operator error or the like (hereinafter, a port number of 5000 is designated as the wrong port number and a DICOM communication establishment request is made. The communication unit 101 attempts to establish communication with a port having a port number of 5000, but does not respond to the communication request 201 because it is not a port that complies with the DICOM communication protocol. Communication is not established due to problems such as failure to obtain. Therefore, the configuration of the image server 100 that is the medical information device according to the present embodiment when communication cannot be established because the port is unknown as described above will be described below.

(Configuration of a portion according to the present invention in an image server)
The port search unit 105 receives information that the communication unit 101 cannot establish communication from the overall control unit 106 and searches for a port that is not currently used by the image server 100. Then, the port number of the port that is not currently used by the extracted image server 100 is output to the data acquisition unit 102. Here, in order to speed up the port search, the port search unit 105 may acquire a port number used by the operation system in advance and perform a search for other ports. Good.

  The data acquisition unit 102 includes a CPU, and acquires communication data that cannot be established by the communication unit 101 using a port that is not currently used in the image server 100 extracted by the port search unit 105. . Communication data for which communication cannot be established by the communication unit 101 is “data whose logical port used for communication is unknown” in the present invention. Then, the data acquisition unit 102 outputs the acquired communication data to the protocol analysis unit 103. Here, the data acquisition unit 102 corresponds to “data acquisition means” in the present invention.

  Here, in this embodiment, the data acquisition unit 102 uses the unused port searched by the port search unit 105 for communication, but this port may be any port, for example, it is almost used. A configuration may be adopted in which a port having no communication is determined in advance as a port from which the data acquisition unit 102 acquires communication data for which communication could not be established, and communication data for which communication could not be established using that port. However, in that case, when a predetermined port is used, it is necessary to use the port after the data acquisition unit 102 releases the port. Even in such a configuration, there is no problem because a port that is rarely used as a predetermined port is designated and important data is not transmitted and received. Furthermore, in such a configuration, the port search unit 105 does not have to be arranged.

  The protocol analysis unit 103 is composed of a storage area such as a CPU and a memory, and the correspondence between the types of protocols as shown in FIG. 3 and conditions for specifying the protocol types is described in advance in the storage areas. The specific condition table 103a, which is a correspondence table, is stored. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the specific condition table. This specific condition table 103a is the “correspondence table possessed by the protocol analysis means” in the present invention. Here, conditions for specifying the type of protocol will be described. For example, the DICOM protocol has a data format as shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of DIOCM data described in conformity with the DICOM protocol format. The DICOM data shown in FIG. 4 corresponds to the DICOM data included in the communication establishment request signal 201 shown in FIG. The numbers described below the data band in FIG. 4 are the number of bytes of each data. Data called “calling side AE name” described in the data area 401 from the 10th byte from the beginning and the “calling side AE name” described in the data area 402 from the 26th byte in the DICOM data shown in FIG. Represents a DICOM protocol, and data specific to DICOM is described (hereinafter, the content of this data is described as “XXX”). This is a condition for specifying the type of protocol. Therefore, in the specific condition table 103a shown in FIG. 3, a condition 301 in which XXX is described in the data area 401 from the 10th byte and the data area 402 from the 26th byte, and a protocol called DICOM protocol. Type 302 is described in association with each other. Accordingly, the protocol analysis unit 103 that has received the input of the communication data, in accordance with the condition 301 in the specific condition table 103a, the data area 401 from the 10th byte and the data from the 26th byte of the received communication data. If the area 402 is searched and “XXXXX” is described there, the DICOM protocol, which is the protocol type 302 that matches the condition, is specified on the specific condition table 103a as the communication data protocol received. can do.

  Further, the protocol analysis unit 103 cannot specify a protocol that is not described in the specific condition table 103a, and when the communication data input from the data acquisition unit 102 is not described in the specific condition table 103a, A signal indicating that the protocol cannot be specified is transmitted to the overall control unit 105, and the overall control unit 105 disconnects communication with the MRI apparatus 002.

  The protocol analysis unit 103 outputs to the port switching unit 104 information indicating the type of protocol specified as the protocol of the received communication data, here the DICOM protocol. Here, the protocol analysis unit 103 corresponds to “protocol analysis means” in the present invention.

  The port switching unit 104 is configured by a storage area such as a CPU and a memory. In the storage area, a correspondence between a protocol type as shown in FIG. 5 and a port number of a port used by the protocol for communication is provided. A port number table 104a which is a correspondence table described is stored. Here, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the port number table. This port number table 104a corresponds to the “correspondence table possessed by the port switching means” in the present invention. The port switching unit 104 refers to the boat number table 104a and obtains the port number 502 of the port used in communication by the protocol corresponding to the protocol type input from the protocol analysis unit 103. For example, the port number table 104 a describes the DICOM protocol that is the protocol type 501 and the corresponding port number 502 that is 8000, and the port switching unit 104 stores the protocol received from the protocol analysis unit 103. Based on the information of DICOM protocol of type 501, the corresponding port number 502 of 8000 is obtained.

  The port switching unit 104 switches the port used for communication of communication data received from the MRI apparatus 002 to the port having the port number 8000 used for communication of the obtained DICOM protocol. Further, the port switching unit 104 sends 8000, which is a port number used in communication of communication data received from the MRI apparatus 002, to the communication unit 101. Here, the port switching unit 104 is a “port switching unit” in the present invention.

  The overall control unit 106 is constituted by a CPU, and controls the operation of the communication unit 101, the data acquisition unit 102, the protocol analysis unit 103, the port switching unit 104, the port search unit 105, and the image storage unit 107, and information transfer control. I do. The overall control unit 106 instructs the communication unit 101 to establish communication with the MRI apparatus 002 using the port having the port number 8000 received from the port switching unit 104.

  Next, a communication establishment process in the medical information device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Here, FIG. 6 is a flowchart of communication establishment in the medical information device according to the present embodiment.

  Step S001: The port search unit 105 receives information that the communication unit 101 cannot establish communication from the overall control unit 106, and searches for a port that is not used by the image server 100.

  Step S002: The data acquisition unit 102 acquires communication data whose port used for communication is unknown using a port that is not used by the image server 100, which is input from the port search unit 105.

  Step S003: The protocol analysis unit 103 receives communication data from the data acquisition unit 102, refers to the specific condition table 103a, analyzes the communication data, and specifies the protocol type of the communication data.

  Step S004: The protocol analysis unit 103 determines whether or not the protocol type can be specified based on whether or not the specific condition table 103a has a description of the specific condition. If the protocol type can be specified, the process proceeds to step S005. If the protocol type cannot be specified, the process proceeds to step S007.

  Step S005: The port switching unit 104 receives the type of protocol input from the protocol analysis unit 103, refers to the port number table, obtains the port number used for communication of the protocol, and has the port number Switch the port to communicate with.

  Step S006: The communication unit 101 starts communication with the MRI apparatus 002 using a port set as a port with which the port switching unit 104 communicates.

  Step S007: The protocol analysis unit 103 sends a signal indicating that the protocol type cannot be specified to the overall control unit 105, and the overall control unit disconnects communication with the MRI apparatus 002.

  As described above, in the medical information device according to the present embodiment, when communication data whose port number used for communication is unknown is received, the communication data is acquired and analyzed at an appropriate port, and the type of protocol of the communication data By specifying, communication using an appropriate port can be started. As a result, even when communication data with an unknown port number for communication is sent, it is possible to continue information processing between medical devices without interrupting communication. It is possible to reduce the danger to life and body.

  In the above description, the DICOM is used. However, this may be another medical information protocol, and can operate in, for example, the HL7. Furthermore, even if the protocol is not general-purpose and created by a specific company, if the conditions for specifying the type of the protocol and the port number used by the protocol are known, the specific condition table 103a stores the information in advance. If the correspondence between the conditions for specifying the protocol and the protocol type and the correspondence between the protocol type and the port number used for communication are described in the port number table 104a, there is a special case created by a specific company. It is possible to automatically establish communication even with the protocol.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a medical information device according to the third embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a medical information device and a system including the same according to the present embodiment. In the medical information device according to the second embodiment, each medical information device specifies a protocol and selects a port. However, in the medical information device according to the present embodiment, a port used for communication by a specific medical information device. This is a configuration in which the identification of the protocol of the communication data whose communication is unknown and the identification of the port used for communication are performed centrally.

  In the following, a case will be described in which the MRI apparatus 002, the medical information apparatus 700, and the image server 701 are connected to the network 001 so that they can communicate with each other, and communication data is transmitted and received between the MRI apparatus 002 and the image server 701. .

  The data acquisition unit 102 acquires the communication data of the DICOM protocol communication establishment request transmitted so as to be transmitted from the MRI apparatus 002 to the image server 701 via the medical information apparatus 700. At this time, since the medical information apparatus 700 does not establish communication with the MRI apparatus 002 and transmit / receive data such as medical images, the data acquisition unit 102 selects a predetermined port or a port that is not used. The communication data may be acquired by using it. Then, the data acquisition unit 102 inputs the acquired communication data to the protocol analysis unit 103.

  Based on the communication data input from the data acquisition unit 102, the protocol analysis unit 103 refers to a specific condition table 103a as shown in FIG. 3 and specifies the protocol type of the communication data. Here, the method of specifying the protocol type is the same as the specifying method in the first embodiment. Then, the protocol analysis unit 103 inputs the specified protocol type to the port switching unit 104.

  Based on the type of protocol input from the protocol analysis unit 103, the port switching unit 104 refers to a port number table 104a as shown in FIG. 5 and obtains a port number used in the input protocol. Next, the port switching unit 104 compares the port number specified in the communication data with the obtained port number. When the port number specified in the communication data matches the determined port number, the port switching unit 104 notifies the overall control unit 106 to transmit the communication data sent from the MRI apparatus 002 as it is. If the port number specified in the communication data does not match the port number determined in the communication data, communication is performed with an instruction to switch the port number specified in the communication data to the port number determined. An instruction is sent to the overall control unit 106 to transmit data.

  In response to an instruction from the overall control unit 106, the communication unit 101 directly switches the communication data transmitted from the MRI apparatus 002 or switches the port number specified by the communication data transmitted from the MRI apparatus 002. Is attached and sent to the image server 701.

  As described above, in the medical information device according to the present embodiment, before transmitting a communication establishment request to the other party's medical information device to be communicated, a port to be used specified by the protocol of the communication data Whether the number is appropriate or not is inspected, and if it is not appropriate, it can be instructed to communicate with an appropriate port number. Thereby, communication between medical information devices can be established with certainty, and communication disconnection can be reduced.

The block diagram of the medical information device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. Schematic diagram for explaining DICOM communication Figure showing an example of the specific condition table Diagram for explaining the format of DICOM data The figure which shows an example of the port number table The figure of the flowchart of the communication establishment in the medical information device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention The block diagram of the medical information device which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

001 Network 002 MRI apparatus 100 Image server 101 Communication unit 102 Data acquisition unit 103 Protocol analysis unit 103a Specific condition table 104 Port switching unit 104a Port number table 105 Port search unit 106 Overall control unit 107 Image storage unit

Claims (7)

Data acquisition means for acquiring, using a predetermined logical port, data whose logical port used for communication is unknown from data transmitted from an external device connected via a network;
Protocol analysis means for specifying the protocol of the acquired data;
Port switching means for switching the predetermined logical port to a logical port having a logical port number corresponding to the specified protocol;
An information communication apparatus comprising: a communication unit that communicates with the external apparatus through the switched logical port. A medical information device that transmits and receives medical information such as medical images via a network,
Data acquisition means for acquiring, using a predetermined logical port, the communication data whose logical port used for communication is unknown among communication data transmitted from other medical information devices connected to a network;
Protocol analysis means for specifying the protocol of the acquired communication data;
Port switching means for switching the predetermined logical port to a logical port having a logical port number corresponding to the specified protocol;
A medical information apparatus comprising: a communication unit configured to communicate with the external medical information apparatus through the switched logical port to transmit and receive the medical information. A port search means for searching for the logical port that is not used;
The medical information apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the data acquisition unit sets the searched logical port as the predetermined port.   The data acquisition unit uses a logical port having a predetermined port number as the predetermined port, and stops using the logical port when the logical port having the predetermined port number is used. The medical information device according to claim 2. The protocol analysis means has a correspondence table between the type of protocol and a condition for specifying the protocol, analyzes which condition of the correspondence table the acquired communication data satisfies, and depending on the condition Identifying the identified protocol as the protocol of the acquired communication data;
The port switching means has a correspondence table between the type of the protocol and the number of the logical port used for the communication defined by the protocol, and refers to the correspondence table to the specified protocol. The medical information device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein a number of the logical port used for corresponding communication is obtained.   6. The medical information apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the protocol determined by the protocol analysis unit includes at least DICOM and HL7.   The protocol determined by the protocol analysis unit is described in advance in a correspondence table between the type of the protocol included in the protocol analysis unit and the conditions for specifying the protocol, and the protocol included in the port switching unit in advance. 6. The medical information device according to claim 5, wherein the medical information device is a protocol described in a correspondence table between a type of the logical port and a number of the logical port used for communication defined by the protocol.

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