SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AN IMAGE REPOSITORY FOR PATHOLOGY

• US 20150293941A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 10/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Leica Biosystems Imaging Inc. (Danaher Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Leica Biosystems Imaging Inc. (Danaher Corporation)
• Inventors: Eichhorn, Ole
• Granted Patent: US 10,685,056 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/54 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5866 using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, manually generated location and time information
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/40 for processing medical images, e.g. editing
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/00 ICT specially adapted for the handling or processing of medical references
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

Systems and methods for managing an image repository for pathology. In an embodiment, a search request is received. One or more digital slide images are identified from an image repository based on the search request. A user is provided access to the identified digital slide images. In addition, each of a plurality of collections of digital slide images are associated with a search rating, and a value for each of the plurality of collections is computed based on the associated search rating and a size of the collection.

Claims

1. A system for managing an image repository for pathology, the system comprising:

at least one hardware processor;

a memory;

an image repository stored on the memory, the image repository comprising a plurality of collections, wherein each of the plurality of collections comprises one or more digital slide images and associated metadata; and

at least one executable software module that, when executed by the at least one hardware processor,

receives a search request,

identifies one or more digital slide images based on at least the search request,

provides access to the identified one or more digital slide images to a user,

associates each of the plurality of collections with a search rating, and

computes a value for each of the plurality of collections based on the associated search rating and a size of the collection.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one executable software module, for each of the plurality of collections, facilitates either payment to an owner of the collection or charging of the owner of the collection based on the computed value.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one executable software module further:

receives feedback about at least one of the identified one or more digital slide images from the user, wherein the feedback comprises an indication concerning an appropriateness of the at least one digital slide image to the search request; and

updates a search rating of a collection, comprising the at least one digital slide image, based on the feedback.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the feedback comprises one of a first input and a second input, and wherein the at least one executable software module further:

if the feedback comprises the first input, increases a search rating of the at least one digital slide image; and

if the feedback comprises the second input, increases the search rating of the at least one digital slide image;

wherein the search rating of the collection, comprising the at least one digital slide image, comprises an average search rating of all digital slide images in the collection.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein providing access to the identified one or more digital slide images to a user comprises:

if the user is not a paying user, providing access to the identified one or more digital slide images at a first resolution; and

,

if the user is a paying user, providing access to the identified one or more digital slide images at a second resolution that is higher than the first resolution.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein one or more of the associated metadata comprises one or more references to external data.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one executable software module further associates each of the plurality of collections and each of the digital slide images with a unique Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the search request comprises an image region, and wherein identifying one or more digital slide images based on at least the search request comprises utilizing the image region as a search predicate.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one executable software module further interfaces with one or more image analysis tools, wherein the one or more image analysis tools are configured to extract and enhance the metadata associated with the one or more digital slide images.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one executable software module further provides peer review by:

receiving a set of one or more digital slide images to be peer reviewed and associated metadata from a contributing user;

routing the set of one or more digital slide images and the associated metadata to a plurality of other users;

receiving feedback from each of one or more of the plurality of other users, wherein each feedback comprises either an agreement with the associated metadata or a disagreement with the associated metadata;

determining whether a designated number of the received feedbacks comprise the agreement with the associated metadata; and

,

if it is determined that the designated number of the received feedbacks comprise the agreement with the associated metadata, associating a peer-reviewed status with the set of one or more digital slide images.

11. A method for managing an image repository for pathology, the method comprising, using at least one hardware processor:

providing an image repository, the image repository comprising a plurality of collections, wherein each of the plurality of collections comprises one or more digital slide images and associated metadata;

receiving a search request;

identifying one or more digital slide images based on at least the search request;

providing access to the identified one or more digital slide images to a user;

associating each of the plurality of collections with a search rating; and

computing a value for each of the plurality of collections based on the associated search rating and a size of the collection.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising, for each of the plurality of collections, facilitating either payment to an owner of the collection or charging of the owner of the collection based on the computed value.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving feedback about at least one of the identified one or more digital slide images from the user, wherein the feedback comprises an indication concerning an appropriateness of the at least one digital slide image to the search request; and

updating a search rating of a collection, comprising the at least one digital slide image, based on the feedback.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the feedback comprises one of a first input and a second input, and wherein the method further comprises:

if the feedback comprises the first input, increasing a search rating of the at least one digital slide image; and

if the feedback comprises the second input, increasing the search rating of the at least one digital slide image;

wherein the search rating of the collection, comprising the at least one digital slide image, comprises an average search rating of all digital slide images in the collection.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein providing access to the identified one or more digital slide images to a user comprises:

if the user is not a paying user, providing access to the identified one or more digital slide images at a first resolution; and

,

if the user is a paying user, providing access to the identified one or more digital slide images at a second resolution that is higher than the first resolution.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein one or more of the associated metadata comprises one or more references to external data.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising associating each of the plurality of collections and each of the digital slide images with a unique Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the search request comprises an image region, and wherein identifying one or more digital slide images based on at least the search request comprises utilizing the image region as a search predicate.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising interfacing with one or more image analysis tools, wherein the one or more image analysis tools are configured to extract and enhance the metadata associated with the one or more digital slide images.

20. The method of claim 11, further comprising providing peer review by:

receiving a set of one or more digital slide images to be peer reviewed and associated data from a contributing user;

routing the set of one or more digital slide images and the associated metadata to a plurality of other users;

receiving feedback from each of one or more of the plurality of other users, wherein each feedback comprises either an agreement with the associated metadata or a disagreement with the associated metadata;

determining whether a designated number of the received feedbacks comprise the agreement with the associated metadata; and

,

if it is determined that the designated number of the received feedbacks comprise the agreement with the associated metadata, associating a peer-reviewed status with the set of one or more digital slide images.