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A doctor complaining that he can't use this, tells his fans the secret story behind his bone suppression development.
Series: The "real" of innovation
In Japan, the mortality rate of lung disease is increasing with the aging of the population, so early detection and early treatment of it are important. Currently, "chest X-ray photography", which does not require large-scale equipment, is the most popular lung examination, but the problem is that accurate diagnosis is difficult because the X-ray image shows parts such as bones, blood vessels, and heart overlapping. It has become. Therefore, a processing technique called "Bone Suppression" was developed that attenuates the image signals of the ribs and clavicle by performing original image processing on a computer and enhances the visibility in the lung field. Konica Minolta He spoke with Tsutomu Yoneyama of the Healthcare Business Headquarters about the development process and market development of this groundbreaking imaging processing technology.
Interviewer: Akira Noma, Director, Management Consultant, Act Consulting
Interviewer: Akira Noma, Director, Management Consultant, Act Consulting
Act Consulting Director Management Consultant Born in 1958. He worked for a major consulting company before assuming his current position. He provides consulting related to management strategy, business strategy, business innovation, and R & D strategy, mainly in the manufacturing industry and information service industry. His major books include "Correct Questions-A Collection of Super Productivity Know-how Obtained through Dialogues with Nobel Prize Winners and Management" (Amazon), and "Research and Development Innovation that Dramatically Improves Intellectual Productivity through Direct Communication." (Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun), "19 points to win with system proposals" (Shoshusha), "Procurement Innovation" (Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun), "Professional power to drop into a drop-off place" (Rick Telecom), "Baby boomer" There are 31 steps to leave the know-how of the generation to the company ”(Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun) and“ Team Revolution to increase business performance by 150% in the ATAC cycle ”(Softbank Creative). Act Consulting Website: http://www.act-consulting.co.jp
- Add value with digital image processing and bring it to market
- Erase images of ribs and collarbones with advanced algorithms
- Days of developing bone suppression behind AI diagnostic support solutions
- At first, I was angry at the interpretation specialist, saying, "It's an evil way."
- The joy of the moment when the complaining teacher became a fan
Add value with digital image processing and bring it to market
(Act Consulting Akira Noma) ──Please tell us about the relationship between Mr. Yoneyama and Bone Suppression. Tsutomu Yoneyama (hereinafter referred to as Mr. Yoneyama): I am in charge of new modality (classification and style of medical devices) and AI field in a department whose mission is new development and planning across fields. I have been in charge of the image processing unit since 2015, and it was time to release the sternum bone weakening processing technology "Bone Suppression". ──What was the background to the development of bone suppression? Mr. Yoneyama: Bone suppression is a technique that erases bones from chest X-ray images. Bone Suppression, an image processing technology located in the X-ray market in the healthcare field, is software, but we sell hardware. Our main business is to provide hardware products such as X-ray receivers such as "X-ray imaging system" and "flat panel detector". Since the days when film was the mainstream of X-ray photography, improving image quality has been an important theme, and we had that core technology. Until now, the focus has been on improving the image quality of modality products, but with the digitization of X-ray photography, it has become possible to apply it in various ways. The current situation is that we are focusing on businesses that add value through image processing using software, not just shooting. ──How about contributing to the business of bone suppression? Mr. Yoneyama: Bone suppression is installed in the shooting console of the X-ray flat panel detector sold by us and in PACS, and is sold as one function. This has the effect of promoting sales of flat panel detectors and PACS. With this alone, it will be only for shooting with our own products, but we also provide it as a gateway machine that takes images taken by other companies' shooting systems as input, adds bone suppression processing, and outputs processed images. .. With this product form, it is possible to do business as value-added software. Currently, the product in this form is expanding overseas, and we believe that it will grow rapidly as diagnostic support software in the future.Erase images of ribs and collarbones with advanced algorithms
──A well-known respiratory doctor said, "Bone suppression has made my dream for 20 years come true." What kind of software is bone suppression in the first place? Mr. Yoneyama: Bone suppression is an image processing technology that uses an advanced algorithm to attenuate image signals such as the anterior and posterior ribs and clavicle of the chest image based on a unique chest X-ray image database. This makes it easier to see lesions in the lung field where the ribs overlap and are difficult to see, reducing oversight during interpretation. Until then, doctors had imagined the clavicle and ribs in their heads. ──Please tell us about the development process of bone suppression. Mr. Yoneyama: Actually, the original purpose was not to develop and sell bone suppression itself. From around 2008, the development of the so-called cancer detection diagnostic support solution "CAD" (Computer Aided Detection) began, and it was decided to erase the bones as a pretreatment. In the first place, the image of the lungs is occupied by bones as much as 75%, and the lungs themselves are difficult to see. I was conducting research so that I could pinpoint the lesions such as cancer with CAD, but it was difficult, so I decided to erase the bones as a starting point, and when I actually tried it, it was very beautiful. It disappeared. Many of our competitors have developed a technique called "Dual Energy Subtraction" (DES), which irradiates X-rays with different energies twice to eliminate bones from the difference in energy absorption between soft parts and bones. However, there is a large amount of X-ray exposure, and it is necessary to change the equipment, which is costly. Even though the ultimate aim is the same, we decided that our bone suppression processing is worthwhile to introduce it as a simple system on a clinic-like scale.Serialization list ▲ Close ▼ Show all
Days of developing bone suppression behind AI diagnostic support solutions
──I see. As you worked on CAD pre-processing technology, you realized that this might be possible. Mr. Yoneyama: That's right. However, at first, there was a deep-rooted dissenting opinion within the company, "There is a prior art called DES, but how about fighting it?" However, I was convinced that it would be better to promote bone suppression. This is because there is no need to replace the X-ray device with a new one, and it also has great significance in preventing oversight of interpretation, and I thought that it would be appreciated in the market. At that time, the bones were still halfway disappearing, and there were technical issues that needed to be resolved, but the policy was to resolve them. ──Is there any prospect of exceeding the accuracy compared to DES? Mr. Yoneyama: It was a little difficult at first, but I expected that if we could process it without losing contrast and sharpness by using an algorithm, we could achieve the same or better. However, at the stage where the accuracy was not yet achieved, while the development of CAD was progressing together, it seemed that the bone suppression was being developed in a hidden manner (laughs). ──What was the driving force behind hiding? Mr. Yoneyama: During development, I heard a strong voice from a hospital teacher saying, "Don't overlook it." This was the driving force behind the development. The CAD that was being developed at that time needed to prevent oversight of interpretation, so if we could pinpoint tumors, it would have been okay if the bones did not disappear, but CAD is the same as in the AI world. Since it is a black box, the grounds for the judgment that "this is a tumor" are not well understood, so doctors were also evaluated as suspicious. In that sense, bone suppression is an idea that erases bones and visualizes things that are difficult to see, so it is a relatively nice evolution for hospital teachers, and there is no doubt that it is judged by one's own eyes. Therefore, I think that it is more convincing to provide something like bone suppression than to attack to the ultimate with CAD, and now I am developing a business that provides bone suppression alone in a subscription format. [Next page] At first, I was angry at the interpretation specialist, saying, "It's an evil way."Innovation genre topics
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