Method and system for managing data

• US 20030110010A1
• Filed: 09/05/2002
• Published: 06/12/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: JEOL Engineering Company Limited (JEOL Limited), JEOL Limited
• Original Assignee: JEOL Engineering Company Limited (JEOL Limited), JEOL Limited
• Inventors: Katagami, Masumi, Kaneyama, Miyuki, Sakai, Iwao
• Granted Patent: US 6,778,944 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/183
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/40 for processing medical images, e.g. editing
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 2237/22 Treatment of data

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and system for managing data. The invention is intended to provide a data managing method and data managing system capable of classifying created files and managing them without depending on the operator'"'"'s ability. The method is for use in an analytical instrument having a function of imaging a specimen and a function of analyzing the specimen. The area of the specimen from which the image has been taken is analyzed totally or partially. The analytical instrument includes an analytical data managing unit for recording the resulting data hierarchically in a corresponding manner to the specimen area.

Claims

1. A data management method for use in an analytical instrument having a function of imaging a specimen and a finction of analyzing the specimen, said method comprising the steps of:

collecting operation-setting information including information about position of a desired area on the specimen and information about conditions under which the desired area is imaged;

storing said operation-setting information in memory as information records;

then analyzing said desired area on the specimen to thereby obtain data; and

storing said obtained data as analytical data records,

wherein said information records and said analytical data records are recorded hierarchically while placing the information records at a higher level of hierarchy.

2. The data management method of claim 1, wherein said data records incorporate analytical conditions corresponding to the data obtained by the analysis.

3. The data management method of claim 1 or 2, further including the step of imaging said desired area on the specimen to thereby obtain an image and storing data about the obtained image as image data records, and wherein said information records and said image data records are recorded hierarchically while placing the information records at a higher level of hierarchy.

4. The data management method of claim 3, wherein said analytical data records and said image data records are recorded at the same level of hierarchy.

5. The data management method of claim 1 or 2, further including the step of obtaining additional data about the desired area on the specimen and recording the obtained additional data as additional data records, and wherein said information records and said additional data records are recorded hierarchically while placing the information records at a higher level of hierarchy.

6. The data management method of claim 5, wherein at least one kind of said analytical data records and said image data records is recorded at the same level of hierarchy as said additional data records.

7. The data management method of claim 1 or 2, wherein said analytical instrument is one of an electron microscope and electron probe microanalyzer having X-ray analysis capabilities.

8. A data management system for use in an analytical instrument having a function of imaging a specimen and a function of analyzing the specimen, said data management system comprising:

means for collecting operation-setting information including information about position of a desired area on the specimen and information about conditions under which the desired area is imaged;

means for storing said operation-setting information in memory as information records;

means for analyzing said desired area on the specimen to thereby obtain data and storing said data as analytical data records in memory; and

means for recording said information records and said analytical data records hierarchically while placing the information records at a higher level of hierarchy.

9. The data management system of claim 8, wherein said data records incorporate analytical conditions corresponding to the data obtained by the analysis.

10. The data management system of claim 8 or 9, further including:

means for imaging the desired area on the specimen to thereby obtain an image and storing data about the obtained image in memory as image data records; and

means for recording said information records and said image data records hierarchically while placing the information records at a higher level of hierarchy.

11. The data management system of claim 10, wherein said analytical data records and said image data records are recorded at the same level of hierarchy.

12. The data management system of claim 8 or 9, further including:

means for obtaining additional data about said desired area on the specimen and recording the obtained additional data as additional data records; and

means for recording said information records and said additional data records hierarchically while placing the information records at a higher level of hierarchy.

13. The data management system of claim 12, wherein at least one kind of said analytical data records and said image data records is recorded at the same level of hierarchy as said additional data records

14. The data management system of claim 8 or 9, wherein said analytical instrument is one of an electron microscope and electron probe microanalyzer having X-ray analysis capabilities.