Medical image processing apparatus and medical image generation method

1. A medical image processing apparatus which acquires medical image data on a diagnosing object, the apparatus comprising:

a signal enhancement processing part which performs a signal enhancement process on the medical image data;

a rejection processing part which performs a noise removal process on the medical image data;

a first signal compression processing part which compresses the medical image data on which the signal enhancement process and the noise removal process have been performed;

a second signal compression processing part which compresses the medical image data; and

a synthesis processing part which synthesizes the medical image data having been compressed in the first signal compression processing part and the medical image data having been compressed in the second signal compression processing part,

wherein the functions performed by the signal enhancement processing part, the rejection processing part, the first signal compression processing part, the second signal compression processing part, and the synthesis processing part are implemented under control of a central processing unit (CPU).

2. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first signal compression processing part compresses the medical image data on which the signal enhancement process has been performed and thereafter the noise removal process has been performed.

3. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second signal compression processing part compresses the medical image data on which the signal enhancement process and the noise removal process are not performed.

4. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first signal compression processing part and the second signal compression processing part compress the medical image data by a same compression method at a same compression ratio.

5. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the synthesis processing part multiplies the medical image data, which has been compressed in the first signal compression processing part, by a first weighting factor, and multiplies the medical image data, which has been compressed in the second signal compression processing part, by a second weighting factor, to thereby synthesize the medical image data having been compressed in the first signal compression processing part and the medical image data having been compressed in the second signal compression processing part, and

a sum of the first weighting factor and the second weighting factor is larger than 1.

6. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the synthesis processing part adjusts at least one of the first weighting factor and the second weighting factor according to a region of the diagnosing object on which the medical image data is to be acquired.

7. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the synthesis processing part increases the first weighting factor such that, in a region of attention of the diagnosing object, a luminance of the medical image data which has been synthesized by the synthesis processing part is higher than a luminance of the medical image data which has been compressed without having been subjected to the signal enhancement process and the noise removal process.

8. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the synthesis processing part reduces the second weighting factor such that, in a part lower in luminance than the region of attention of the diagnosing object, the luminance of the medical image data which has been synthesized by the synthesis processing part is lower than the luminance of the medical image data which has been compressed without having been subjected to the signal enhancement process and the noise removal process.

9. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 5 , further comprising:

a selection part which selects at least one of the first weighting factor and the second weighting factor,

wherein the functions performed by the selection part are implemented under control of the CPU.

10. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 5 , further comprising:

an internal table which stores in advance at least one of the first weighting factor and the second weighting factor corresponding to signal enhancement levels,

wherein the internal table is a storage.

11. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein, when one of the signal enhancement levels is selected, at least one of the first weighting factor and the second weighting factor corresponding to the selected signal enhancement level is selected from the internal table.

12. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the first signal compression processing part compresses the medical image data on which the signal enhancement process has been performed and thereafter the noise removal process has been performed, and

the second signal compression processing part compresses the medical image data on which the noise removal process has been performed and thereafter the signal enhancement process has been performed.

13. A medical image processing apparatus which acquires medical image data on a diagnosing object, the apparatus comprising:

a signal enhancement processing part which performs a signal enhancement process on the medical image data;

a rejection processing part which performs a noise removal process on the medical image data;

a first signal compression processing part which compresses the medical image data on which the signal enhancement process has been performed;

a second signal compression processing part which compresses the medical image data on which the noise removal process has been performed;

a third signal compression processing part which compresses the medical image data on which the signal enhancement process and the noise removal process are not performed; and

a synthesis processing part which synthesizes the medical image data having been compressed in the first signal compression processing part, the medical image data having been compressed in the second signal compression processing part, and the medical image data having been compressed in the third signal compression processing part,

wherein the functions performed by the signal enhancement processing part, the rejection processing part, the first signal compression processing part, the second signal compression processing part, the third signal compression processing part, and the synthesis processing part are implemented under control of a central processing unit (CPU).

14. A medical image generation method for acquiring medical image data on a diagnosing object, the method comprising:

performing a signal enhancement process on the medical image data;

performing a noise removal process on the medical image data;

performing a first signal compression process of compressing the medical image data on which the signal enhancement process and the noise removal process have been performed;

performing a second signal compression process of compressing the medical image data; and

synthesizing the medical image data having been compressed in the first signal compression process and the medical image data having been compressed in the second signal compression process.