METHOD FOR DIAGNOSING AND INTERPRETING DENTAL CONDITIONS
First Claim
1. A method for diagnosing oral lesions comprising the steps of:
- (a) acquiring an image of an oral lesion being diagnosed for a patient;
(b) outputting to a visual display a plurality of descriptor terms for describing a plurality of oral lesions;
(c) selecting a subset of the plurality of descriptor terms to describe the oral lesion being diagnosed;
(d) processing the selected subset of the plurality of descriptor terms to output to the visual display a differential diagnosis list of the most probable oral lesions;
(e) finally selecting a most appropriate oral lesion from the differential diagnosis list;
(f) processing the finally selected oral lesion to output to the visual display a list of appropriate medications for treating the finally selected oral lesion; and
(g) finally selecting a most appropriate medication from the list of appropriate medications.
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Abstract
A method for diagnosing and interpreting dental conditions using a computer system is disclosed. An image of the lesion being diagnosed is captured and terms describing the lesion are selected. A differential diagnosis list of the most probable lesions is returned. The user views details about each listed lesion until a match is selected, and appropriate medications for the selected lesion are presented. Medication details are reviewed and a proper medication to prescribe is selected. The user can generate a prescription, treatment algorithm, directions report, or a medication report. If the user is uncomfortable with the diagnosis, a referral report can be generated. For performing routine interpretation of dental conditions, the user captures an image for digital x-ray analysis. The user selects the task, such as caries detection, for which to optimize the image. The system optimizes the image based on the task selected and displays the optimized image.
20 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for diagnosing oral lesions comprising the steps of:
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(a) acquiring an image of an oral lesion being diagnosed for a patient;
(b) outputting to a visual display a plurality of descriptor terms for describing a plurality of oral lesions;
(c) selecting a subset of the plurality of descriptor terms to describe the oral lesion being diagnosed;
(d) processing the selected subset of the plurality of descriptor terms to output to the visual display a differential diagnosis list of the most probable oral lesions;
(e) finally selecting a most appropriate oral lesion from the differential diagnosis list;
(f) processing the finally selected oral lesion to output to the visual display a list of appropriate medications for treating the finally selected oral lesion; and
(g) finally selecting a most appropriate medication from the list of appropriate medications. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for diagnosing oral lesions, comprising the steps of:
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(a) storing in a computer system details about each of a plurality of oral lesions, wherein said details are selected from the group consisting of signs, symptoms, treatment medications, and descriptor terms;
(b) acquiring an image of an oral lesion being diagnosed;
(c) retrieving from the computer system a unique list of descriptor terms associated with the plurality of oral lesions;
(d) receiving in the computer system user input operative to select a subset of the unique list of descriptor terms to describe the oral lesion being diagnosed; and
(e) using the computer system to compare the selected subset of the unique list of descriptor terms with the descriptor terms stored for each of the plurality of oral lesions to output a differential diagnosis list of the most probable oral lesions. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for interpreting dental conditions, comprising the steps of:
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(a) acquiring to a computer system a digital image of a dental condition to be interpreted;
(b) selecting a task option to have the image interpreted for a specific task;
(c) optimizing the image for the selected task option; and
(d) displaying the optimized image.
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25. A method for interpreting dental conditions, comprising the steps of:
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(a) storing in a computer system an algorithm for optimizing digital images for a plurality of dental tasks;
(b) acquiring to the computer system a digital image of a dental condition to be interpreted;
(c) outputting a list of the plurality of dental tasks;
(d) receiving in the computer system user input operative to select a dental task from the list;
(e) using the algorithm stored in the computer system to optimize the acquired digital image for the selected dental task; and
(f) outputting the optimized image.
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Specification