System and method for assisting diagnosis and treatment of temporomandibular joint conditions

• US 20040006432A1
• Filed: 05/19/2003
• Published: 01/08/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: JKL Software Development LLC
• Original Assignee: JKL Software Development LLC
• Inventors: Mark, Nelson, Lau, Kenneth U.
• Granted Patent: US 6,954,730 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/19
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/6893 related to diseases not provided for elsewhere
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/40 relating to mechanical, radiation or invasive therapies, e.g. surgery, laser therapy, dialysis or acupuncture
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 706/924 Medical
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

A method and system for assisting diagnosis and treatment of temporomandibular joint disease. The steps of the method include recording physical symptoms; conducting a plurality of medical examinations related to temporomandibular joint disease; creating a diagnostic criteria based on conditions known to be a factor in diagnosis of temporomandibular joint disease; and determining which of a plurality of patients match the diagnostic criteria.

Claims

1. A method for assisting diagnosis and treatment of temporomandibular joint disease comprising:

recording physical symptoms experienced by a plurality of patients;

conducting a plurality of medical examinations related to temporomandibular joint disease on each of the plurality of patients;

creating a diagnostic criteria based on conditions known to be factors in diagnosis of temporomandibular joint disease;

wherein the conditions are selected from the physical symptoms experienced by the plurality of patients and results of the plurality of medical examinations of each of the plurality of patients; and

identifying one or more of the plurality of patients that match the diagnostic criteria.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the diagnostic criteria are selected from at least one of a group comprising locations of pain, symptoms, medical examinations, and mitigating and aggravating circumstances.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the medical examinations are selected from at least one of a group comprising a dental exam, an x-ray exam, a biometric exam and a muscle exam.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the match of the diagnostic criteria is a complete match or a partial match.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising at least one of the steps of selecting a treatment protocol for patients that are the complete match of the diagnostic criteria and selecting the treatment protocol for patients that are the partial match of the diagnostic criteria.

6. A method of assisting in diagnosing a condition, such as temporomandibular joint disease, of a patient comprising:

providing a database configured to receive and sort data;

conducting an examination of the patient, said examination comprising a plurality of medical tests related to the condition;

inputting results of the examination into the database;

determining the symptoms experienced by each of the plurality of patients;

inputting symptoms of the condition being experienced by the patient into the database; and

matching the results of the examination and the symptoms of the condition in the database with a diagnosis of the condition for determining a treatment protocol.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of inputting a treatment protocol and results of said treatment protocol.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of inputting case successful treatment protocols of the condition.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of inputting patient and insurance information for payment and treatment authorization.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of inputting case histories from a plurality of patients.

11. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of inputting symptoms from a plurality of patients.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein the condition is temporomandibular joint disease.

13. A system for assisting diagnosis and treatment of temporomandibular joint disease comprising:

a computerized database configured to receive modules containing data;

a symptoms module that records and stores a plurality of symptom data experienced by a plurality of patients;

a medical examinations module that comprises data from a plurality of medical examinations related to temporomandibular joint disease on each of the plurality of patients; and

a diagnostic module in communication with the symptoms and medical examinations modules;

wherein the diagnostic module comprises a plurality of diagnostic criteria based on conditions known to be a factor in diagnosis of temporomandibular joint disease such that an operator can created a selected diagnostic criteria to establish a basis for diagnosis of temporomandibularjoint disease; and

wherein the diagnostic module searches the plurality of symptom data and the data from the plurality of medical examinations to find which of the plurality of patients match the selected diagnostic criteria.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the diagnostic criteria is selected from at least one of a group comprising locations of pain, symptoms, medical examinations, and mitigating and aggravating circumstances.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the medical examinations are selected from at least one of a group comprising a dental exam, an x-ray exam, a biometric exam and a muscle exam.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the match of the selected diagnostic criteria is a complete match or a partial match.