Internet-based system and a method for automated analysis of tactile imaging data and detection of lesions
First Claim
1. An Internet-based system for automated analysis of tactile imaging data and detection of lesions comprising:
- a host system comprising an information workstation, a first plurality of patient servers and a second plurality of physician servers, said information workstation including a breast examination database and a knowledge database, said breast examination database connected to said first plurality of patient servers and said second plurality of physician servers, said knowledge database connected to physician servers, said host system further including a workstation connected to said information workstation and said first and second plurality of servers, said workstation adapted for database administration and development, a plurality of patient terminals connected via Internet to said first plurality of patient servers, and a plurality of physician terminals connected via Internet to said second plurality of physician servers, wherein said host system configured to process and store breast examination data in said breast examination database, said knowledge database adapted to monitor and detect temporal changes in structural properties of breast tissue indicative of a presence of a lesion.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An Internet-based system is described including a number of patient terminals equipped with tactile imaging probes to allow conducting of breast examinations and collecting the 2-D digital data from the pressure arrays of the tactile imaging probes. The digital data is processed at the patient side including a step of detecting moving objects and discarding the rest of the data from further analysis. The data is then formatted into a standard form and transmitted over the Internet to the host system where it is accepted by one of several available servers. The host system includes a breast examination database and a knowledge database and is designed to further process, classify, and archive breast examination data. It also provides access to processed data from a number of physician terminals equipped with data visualization and diagnosis means. The physician terminal is adapted to present the breast examination data as a 3-D model and facilitates the comparison of the data with previous breast examination data as well as assists physicians in feature recognition and final diagnosis.
46 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An Internet-based system for automated analysis of tactile imaging data and detection of lesions comprising:
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a host system comprising an information workstation, a first plurality of patient servers and a second plurality of physician servers, said information workstation including a breast examination database and a knowledge database, said breast examination database connected to said first plurality of patient servers and said second plurality of physician servers, said knowledge database connected to physician servers, said host system further including a workstation connected to said information workstation and said first and second plurality of servers, said workstation adapted for database administration and development, a plurality of patient terminals connected via Internet to said first plurality of patient servers, and a plurality of physician terminals connected via Internet to said second plurality of physician servers, wherein said host system configured to process and store breast examination data in said breast examination database, said knowledge database adapted to monitor and detect temporal changes in structural properties of breast tissue indicative of a presence of a lesion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method for acquisition and analysis of tactile imaging data and detection of lesions in a soft tissue comprising the steps of:
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a. providing a tactile imaging probe with an array of tactile sensors, b. acquiring and preliminary processing tactile imaging data in a 2-D digital format using said imaging probe, c. detecting moving objects data in said tactile imaging data, d. retaining said moving objects data, while discarding other data, e. digitally formatting said data and transmitting thereof to a network for further analysis and diagnosis. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for automated analysis of tactile imaging data and detection of lesions in soft tissue comprising the steps of:
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a. providing a patient side, a server side, and a physician side, said patient side equipped with a tactile imaging probe adapted to acquire a 2-D digital image of said soft tissue, said patient side further equipped with a preliminary processing means and a patient communicating means to exchange digital data with said server side, said server side equipped with a server communicating means to exchange digital data with said patient side and said physician side, said server side further equipped with a server data processing, classification and archiving means, said physician side equipped with a physician data processing means and a physician communicating means, b. acquiring said 2-D digital image of said soft tissue with said tactile imaging probe at said patient side, c. conducting image enhancement and preliminary analysis at said patient side to format said 2-D digital image into a preliminary breast examination data, d. transmitting said preliminary breast examination data via said patient communicating means of said patient side to said server communicating means of said server side, e. performing digital image analysis at the server side to create breast examination data including digital processing, feature extraction, classification, and database archiving, f. providing access to said breast examination data to said physician side via said server and physician communicating means, and g. conducting visualization, analysis and diagnosis of said breast examination means at said physician side using said physician data processing means. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification