CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese patent application No. 2017-226003, filed on Nov. 24, 2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to a medical data communication apparatus, a server, a medical data communication method and a medical data communication program.

Medical data of subjects output from medical devices includes a lot of personal information. Therefore, for distributing medical data to an external network such as the Internet, some measures need to be taken so that personal information is not spread even if it is stolen during the distribution. As an example of such measures, a technique for encrypting an entire file including medical data is known. Further, a technique for protecting personal information by replacing specific information with anonymous information is also known. (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2015-7885 as an example)

SUMMARY

In the case of using the technique for encrypting data, there is a possibility that personal information may be decrypted and spread. Some predefined information can be replaced with anonymous data as described above. However, the range of personal information that needs to be protected changes according to laws and guidelines regarding medical devices, the needs of the time etc. Especially, since medical devices are often used after they are properly authenticated together with software to be performed, it is practically difficult to frequently update such medical devices as to what kind of information is output to an external network.

In the present disclosure, a technique capable of flexibly changing a range of protection of personal information included in medical data and safely distributing the medical data to an external network will be described.

A first exemplary aspect is a medical data communication apparatus, including: a data acquisition unit configured to acquire medical data of a subject output from a medical device from the medical device, the medical device being connected for communication with the medical data communication apparatus without an external network intervening therebetween; a modification unit configured to modify the medical data based on a modification instruction received from a server, the server being connected for communication with the medical data communication apparatus through the external network, the modification instruction being for modifying specific information in the medical data; and an output unit configured to output the medical data modified by the modification unit to the external network based on a request from the server.

By interposing the medical data communication apparatus between the external network and the medical device as described above, specific information in the medical data can be flexibly modified according to a use environment without changing the medical device, which is needed to be authenticated for a change in its specifications etc. Further, the specific information is modified before being output to the external network. Therefore, there is no possibility that the specific information may be spread before it is modified even when the medical data is stolen in a distribution process on the external network.

In the medical data communication apparatus described above, when the medical data includes image information of the subject, the modification unit may perform a mask processing on at least a part of an image of the image information based on the modification instruction. Further, the image information may be replaced with a CG based on the modification instruction. By performing such image processing, personal information in the image (e.g., an image of text indicating personal information) can also be protected.

Further, in the above-described medical data communication apparatus, when the medical data includes a description section in which information attributed to the subject is described and the attributed information described in the description section is modified based on the modification instruction, the modification unit may make a search as to whether the described attributed information is included in a section other than the description section, and also modify the attributed information found in the search. By performing such additional processing, for example, even when a name of the subject is included in a comment described in a comment section, the name is properly modified so that the attributed information can be thoroughly protected.

A second exemplary aspect is a server connected for communication with a medical data communication apparatus through an external network, the medical data communication apparatus being connected for communication with a medical device without the external network intervening therebetween, the server includes: a transmission unit configured to transmit a modification instruction for modifying specific information in medical data of a subject output from the medical device to the medical data communication apparatus through the external network before the server receives the medical data, and a reception unit configured to receive the medical data modified based on the modification instruction through the external network.

By having the server provide the modification instruction to the medical data communication apparatus interposed between the server and the medical device, instead of providing the modification instruction to the medical device, specific information of medical data can be flexibly modified according to a use environment without changing a medical device needed to be authenticated for a change of a specification, etc. Further, since the server receives the modified medical data, there is no possibility that the specific information may be spread before it is modified even when the medical data is stolen in a distribution process on the external network.

A third exemplary aspect is a medical data communication method including: a data acquisition step of acquiring medical data of a subject output from a medical device from the medical device, the medical device being connected for communication without an intervening external network; a reception step of receiving a modification instruction for modifying specific information in the medical data from a server connected for communication through the external network; a modification step of modifying the medical data based on the specific information; and an output step of outputting the medical data modified by the modification step to the external network based on a request from the server.

Further, a fourth exemplary aspect is a method for medical data communication between a medical data communication device and a server, the medical data communication device being connected for communication with a medical device without an external network intervening therebetween, the server being connected for communication with the medical data communication apparatus through the external network, the method including: a transmission step of transmitting a modification instruction for modifying specific information in medical data of a subject output from the medical device to the medical data communication apparatus through the external network before receiving the medical data, and a reception step of receiving the medical data modified based on the modification instruction through the external network.

According to the medical data communication methods in accordance with the third and fourth exemplary aspects described above, specific information of medical data can be flexibly modified according to a use environment without changing the medical device, which is needed to be authenticated for a change in its specifications etc. Further, the specific information is modified before being output to the external network. Therefore, there is no possibility that the specific information may be spread before it is modified even when the medical data is stolen in a distribution process on the external network.

A fifth exemplary aspect is a medical data communication program for causing a computer in a medical data communication device to perform: a data acquisition step of acquiring medical data of a subject output from a medical device from the medical device, the medical device being connected for communication without an intervening external network; a reception step of receiving a modification instruction for modifying specific information in the medical data from a server connected for communication through the external network; a modification step of modifying the medical data based on the specific information; and an output step of outputting the medical data modified by the modification stop to the external network based on a request from the server.

Further, a sixth exemplary aspect is a program for medical data communication between a medical data communication device and a server, the medical data communication device being connected for communication with a medical device without an external network intervening therebetween, the server being connected for communication with the medical data communication apparatus through the external network, the program being adapted for causing a computer in a server to perform: a transmission step of transmitting a modification instruction for modifying specific information in medical data of a subject output from the medical device to the medical data communication apparatus through the external network before receiving the medical data, and a reception step of receiving the medical data modified based on the modification instruction through the external network.

According to the medical data communication methods in accordance with the fifth and sixth exemplary aspects described above, specific information of medical data can be flexibly modified according to a use environment without changing the medical device, which is needed to be authenticated for a change in its specifications etc. Further, the specific information is modified before being output to the external network. Therefore, there is no possibility that the specific information may be spread before it is modified even when the medical data is stolen in a distribution process on the external network.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not to be considered as limiting the present disclosure.

