MEDICAL IMAGE IMPORTER AND METHOD
First Claim
1. A medical image importer comprising:
- a housing comprising an external stand-alone form factor for being operatively connected to a communication network via a network interface without a local connection to a computer terminal including a display device;
an optical drive provided to the housing for reading from an optical computer-readable medium introduced to the optical drive a medical image associated with a patient captured by a medical modality;
a local computer-readable memory provided to the housing in communication with the optical drive for storing, at least temporarily, the medical image read by the optical drive;
a controller that is operable to execute computer-executable logic for controlling operation of the medical image importer; and
an instructional computer-readable memory storing computer-executable instructions to be executed by the controller for performing a method comprising;
querying a remotely-located patient information database in communication with the communication network storing patient information associated with the medical image to be transmitted from the medical image importer, said querying comprising transmitting the patient information associated with the medical image over the communication network to identify a patient entry in the patient information database at a time of the query;
serving content over the communication network to generate a display on a remotely-located computer terminal, said display being presentable in a web-browser application on the remotely-located computer terminal to display at least a portion of information associated with the patient entry stored in the patient information database returned in response to said querying;
updating, in the local computer-readable memory, the patient information read by the optical drive based on the information associated with the patient entry in the patient information database returned in response to said querying;
associating the medical image with the patient information updated based on the information associated with the patient entry in the patient information database; and
transmitting over the communication network the patient information updated based on the information associated with the patient entry in the patient information database and the medical image to be stored in the PACS image database.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Provided are a medical information importer and method for importing medical information into a network-accessible database. The medical information importer includes a housing includes with an external stand-alone form factor, the housing including an interface for receiving a portable computer-readable medium storing medical information. An information reading component is provided for reading the medical information from the portable computer-readable medium when operatively connected to the interface. A computer-readable memory in communication with the information reading component stores, at least temporarily, the medical information read by the reading component under the direction of a controller. And a network interface connects the medical information importer to a communication network without a local connection between the medical information importer and a computer terminal including a display device for viewing the medical information.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A medical image importer comprising:
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a housing comprising an external stand-alone form factor for being operatively connected to a communication network via a network interface without a local connection to a computer terminal including a display device; an optical drive provided to the housing for reading from an optical computer-readable medium introduced to the optical drive a medical image associated with a patient captured by a medical modality; a local computer-readable memory provided to the housing in communication with the optical drive for storing, at least temporarily, the medical image read by the optical drive; a controller that is operable to execute computer-executable logic for controlling operation of the medical image importer; and an instructional computer-readable memory storing computer-executable instructions to be executed by the controller for performing a method comprising; querying a remotely-located patient information database in communication with the communication network storing patient information associated with the medical image to be transmitted from the medical image importer, said querying comprising transmitting the patient information associated with the medical image over the communication network to identify a patient entry in the patient information database at a time of the query; serving content over the communication network to generate a display on a remotely-located computer terminal, said display being presentable in a web-browser application on the remotely-located computer terminal to display at least a portion of information associated with the patient entry stored in the patient information database returned in response to said querying; updating, in the local computer-readable memory, the patient information read by the optical drive based on the information associated with the patient entry in the patient information database returned in response to said querying; associating the medical image with the patient information updated based on the information associated with the patient entry in the patient information database; and transmitting over the communication network the patient information updated based on the information associated with the patient entry in the patient information database and the medical image to be stored in the PACS image database. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A method of importing medical information about a patient that is formatted according to a medical imaging standard into a communication network and storing the medical information in a computer-accessible memory, the method comprising:
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using a medical information importer located at a first location, receiving the medical information in the medical imaging standard and locally storing the medical information in a computer-readable memory in local communication with the medical information importer; receiving a request to reconcile a portion of the medical information over a communication network from a first computer terminal that is remotely located from the medical information importer; in response to receiving the request, querying a database stored on a computer-accessible memory operatively connected to the communication network for an entry in the database associated with the patient; updating the portion of the medical information locally stored by the computer-readable memory in local communication with the medical information importer based on a result of said querying; receiving, over the communication network from a second computer terminal that is remotely located from the medical information importer and the first computer terminal, a request to store the medical information in at least one of a different database and the database that was queried; and transmitting the medical information over the communication network to be stored. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of reconciling imported medical information about a patient with existing information about the patient stored in a database, the method comprising:
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receiving the medical information using a medical information importer comprising an interface for receiving a portable computer-readable medium, a local computer-readable memory and a network interface for operatively connecting the medical information importer to a communication network; in response to said receiving, storing the medical information received in the local computer-readable memory of the medical information importer; querying a database stored on a computer-accessible memory operatively connected to the communication network for an entry in the database associated with the patient, said querying comprising transmitting a predetermined criterion included in the medical information for selecting the entry in the database from among a plurality of entries and comparing the predetermined criterion with information associated with the plurality of entries in the database; based on said comparing, determining a likelihood that the medical information received is to be associated with each of the plurality of entries in the database; and limiting a quantity of results of said querying returned to a portion, but less than all of the plurality of entries in the database, having a greatest likelihood of being associated with the patient that is associated with the medical information. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A medical information importer comprising:
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a housing with an external stand-alone form factor, the housing comprising an interface for receiving medical information from at least one of a portable computer-readable medium and a medical modality over a communication network; an information reading component for reading the medical information from the portable computer-readable medium when the portable computer-readable medium is operatively connected to the interface; a computer-readable memory in communication with the information reading component for storing, at least temporarily, the medical information read by the reading component; a controller for controlling storage of the medical information on the computer-readable memory; and a network interface for connecting the medical information importer to a communication network without a local connection between the medical information importer and a computer terminal including a display device for viewing the medical information, wherein the medical information is to be transmitted over the communication network to be associated with patient information stored in a database residing on a remotely-located computer-accessible memory.
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20. A method of importing medical information about a patient and storing the medical information in a computer-accessible memory comprising:
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using a medical information importer, receiving medical information from a plurality of different sources operatively connected to transmit medical information over a communication network, wherein the plurality of different sources comprise at least one of;
(i) a medical information importer that is configured to automatically transmit the medical information, without operator intervention, over the communication network in response to receiving the medical information within a local computer-readable memory operatively connected to the medical information importer;
(ii) a medical modality in communication with the communication network for transmitting the medical information captured by the medical modality over the communication network; and
(iii) a remotely-located computer terminal operatively connected to the communication network;storing the medical information received from the plurality of different sources in a computer-readable memory locally connected to the medical information importer; receiving a request to access the medical information stored on the computer-readable memory from a remotely-located computer terminal over the communication network; querying a patient information database over the communication network for an entry in the database that is associated with the patient; transmitting over the communication network to the remotely-located computer terminal, content for presenting a portion of the medical information adjacent to information associated with the entry in the database returned by said querying; reconciling the medical information with the information associated with the entry in the database; associating the medical information with the entry for the patient in the database for the patient, and storing the medical information in a desired computer-accessible memory operatively connected to the communication network.
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Specification