Radiology image traffic metrics
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring performance of a medical data network without violating patient confidentiality comprising:
- receiving a stream of data at a network interface of a computing device, the stream of data including image data, the image data comprising data for one or more confidential images, the data for an image including a non-confidential header portion, a patient identifier portion, and an image body portion, the stream of data being transferred between a medical data network and the computing device;
monitoring the stream of data at the network interface for non-confidential header portions of image data; and
generating, substantially immediately after detection of a non-confidential header portion, a graphical user interface on a display of the computing device, the graphical user interface displaying a current flowrate of images through the network interface as number of images received within a first period of time.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An embodiment of the present invention includes a system and method for detecting and monitoring confidential and DICOM image traffic on a computing device in a PACS network. Embodiments of the present invention protect patient confidentiality by preventing the simultaneous display of confidential images and patient identification information when measuring and displaying the image data. The system detects and measures the transfer of confidential images and stores and displays information included in only the non-confidential headers of the images. The system monitors and warns (such as via email and/or pagers) PACS administrators of system slowdowns as a result of the data gathered.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring performance of a medical data network without violating patient confidentiality comprising:
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receiving a stream of data at a network interface of a computing device, the stream of data including image data, the image data comprising data for one or more confidential images, the data for an image including a non-confidential header portion, a patient identifier portion, and an image body portion, the stream of data being transferred between a medical data network and the computing device;
monitoring the stream of data at the network interface for non-confidential header portions of image data; and
generating, substantially immediately after detection of a non-confidential header portion, a graphical user interface on a display of the computing device, the graphical user interface displaying a current flowrate of images through the network interface as number of images received within a first period of time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for monitoring performance of a medical data network without violating patient confidentiality comprising:
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a first image traffic monitoring system operating on a first computing device, the first image traffic monitoring system detecting the transfer of confidential images between the first computing device and the medical data network and storing non-confidential image traffic data, including non-confidential data copied from the confidential images and data describing the number of confidential images transferred over time;
a network traffic analysis system operating on a second computing device, the network traffic analysis system receiving image traffic data from the first image traffic monitoring system and generating warnings to an administrator of the medical data network if the image traffic data indicates that the transfer of confidential images between the first computing device and the medical data network falls below a threshold set by the administrator. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A graphical user interface comprising:
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a first virtual gauge displaying the average number of images per first period of time received at a network interface over a second period of time; and
a live graph element displaying a graph of a number of images received at the network interface per first period of time for a third period of time. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification