METHODS AND APPARATUS TO SUPPORT DIAGNOSIS PROCESSES

• US 20120158431A1
• Filed: 03/07/2011
• Published: 06/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Balasubramaniam, Ramesh
• Application Number:
  US13/041,668
• Publication Number:
  US 20120158431A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to support diagnosis processes are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a data extractor to extract information related to a life stage of a patient from clinical records associated with a patient; and a first interface to interact with a database storing information related to a plurality of hazardous event exposures, wherein interacting with the database comprises determining whether a first one of the hazardous event exposures stored in the database corresponds to the life stage of the patient.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a data extractor to extract information related to a life stage of a patient from clinical records associated with a patient; and

a first interface to interact with a database storing information related to a plurality of hazardous event exposures, wherein interacting with the database comprises determining whether a first one of the hazardous event exposures stored in the database corresponds to the life stage of the patient.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, the first interface to receive a characteristic of the first hazardous event exposure when the first hazardous event exposure corresponds to the extracted information related to the life stage of the patient.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the characteristic of the first hazardous event exposure includes an identification of a hazardous material involved in the first hazardous event exposure.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3, the first interface to receive data indicative of a disease linked to the hazardous material.

5. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising a prediction interface to implement a user interface to receive a prediction from a healthcare practitioner based on data related to the first hazardous event exposure.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the extracted information includes a location of a birth of the patient and a date of the birth of the patient.

7. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the extracted information includes an identifier associated with a mother of the patient.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the extracted information includes an occupational identifier associated with a parent of the patient.

9. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising a second interface to interact with a genetic database storing information related to hereditary ailments suffered by a plurality of patients, wherein interacting with the genetic database comprises querying the genetic database with the extracted information.

10. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

extracting information related to a life stage of a patient from clinical records associated with the patient; and

interacting with an database storing information related to a plurality of hazardous event exposure, wherein interacting with the database comprises determining whether one or more of the hazardous event exposures stored in the database corresponds to the life stage of the patient; and

when a first one of the one or more hazardous event exposures corresponds to the life stage of the patient, displaying data related to the first hazardous event exposure on a display device.

11. A method as defined in claim 10, further comprising receiving a characteristic of the first hazardous event exposure when the first hazardous event exposure corresponds to the extracted information related to the life stage of the patient.

12. A method as defined in claim 11, wherein the characteristic of the first hazardous event exposure includes an identification of a hazardous material involved in the first hazardous event exposure.

13. A method as defined in claim 12, further comprising receiving data indicative of a disease linked to the hazardous material.

14. A method as defined in claim 10, further comprising implementing a user interface to receive a prediction from a healthcare practitioner based on data related to the first hazardous event exposure.

15. A method as defined in claim 10, wherein the extracted information includes a location of a birth of the patient and a date of the birth of the patient.

16. A method as defined in claim 10, wherein the extracted information includes an identifier associated with a mother of the patient.

17. A method as defined in claim 10, wherein the extracted information includes an occupational identifier associated with a parent of the patient.

18. A method as defined in claim 10, further comprising interacting with a genetic database storing information related to hereditary ailments suffered by a plurality of patients by querying the genetic database with the extracted information.

19. A system, comprising:

an exposure database to store events including actual or potential exposure of people to elements deemed to be hazardous to the people, wherein the exposure database stores characteristics of the events;

a mappings storage to store a plurality of findings linking the hazardous elements to one or more health effects;

a module to extract data related to a life stage of a patient from clinical records associated with the patient, the module to query the exposure database using the extracted data to determine whether one or more of the exposure events corresponds to the life stage of the patient and, wherein the module is to receive one or more of the findings from the mappings storage when the query of the exposure database indicates that at least one of the exposure events corresponds to the life stage of the patient.

20. A system as defined in claim 19, further comprising a genetic database, wherein the module is to query the genetic database using the extracted information to identify hereditary ailments suffered by a person in a lineage of the patient.