Programmable dental x-ray inscription system and method of processing dental insurance claims using same
First Claim
1. A programmable dental x-ray inscription system, which comprises:
- a housing positionable on a work surface;
data storage means disposed in said housing, for storing data representative of selected patient identifying indicia identifying a patient and the exposure date of a developed dental x-ray having a central region containing an x-ray image of said patient'"'"'s teeth and a perimetrical border region about said central region;
data input means disposed in said housing, for programming said data in said data storage means;
display means disposed in said housing, for displaying said selected patient identifying indicia;
physical inscription forming means disposed in said housing, for forming in a portion of said perimetrical border region, physical inscriptions having a depth dimension extending into said developed dental x-ray and corresponding to said selected patient identifying indicia;
control means disposed in said housing and operably associated with said data storage means, said data input means, said display means and said physical inscription forming means, and for causing said display means to display said selected patient identifying indicia, and for controlling the operation of said physical inscription forming means so as to form said physical inscriptions only within said portion of said perimetrical border region and without adversely affecting said x-ray image in said central region.
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Abstract
A programmable dental x-ray inscription system is disclosed for use in physically inscribing developed dental x-rays with patient identifying indicia representative of the identity of the patient, the esposure date of the dental x-ray, the tooth numbers of teeth represented in the x-ray and other related information. The physical inscriptions have a depth dimension into the developed dental x-ray. The programmable dental x-ray inscription system includes a housing which is positionable on a work surface such as a desk or countertop. During the programming cycle of the system, the user places a developed dental x-ray within the projected support tray of the system, which is thereafter retracted within the housing. Then during the programming cycle, user-directed prompts and queries are displayed on the display panel of the system so that the user selects a suitable inscription field and enters data representative of desired patient identifying indicia. Thereafter, the patient identifying indicia is automatically inscribed within the selected inscription fields of the dental x-ray. In the illustrative embodiment, the physical inscription process is achieved using a laser beam generated and scanned within the housing of the system.
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Citations
49 Claims
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1. A programmable dental x-ray inscription system, which comprises:
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a housing positionable on a work surface; data storage means disposed in said housing, for storing data representative of selected patient identifying indicia identifying a patient and the exposure date of a developed dental x-ray having a central region containing an x-ray image of said patient'"'"'s teeth and a perimetrical border region about said central region; data input means disposed in said housing, for programming said data in said data storage means; display means disposed in said housing, for displaying said selected patient identifying indicia; physical inscription forming means disposed in said housing, for forming in a portion of said perimetrical border region, physical inscriptions having a depth dimension extending into said developed dental x-ray and corresponding to said selected patient identifying indicia; control means disposed in said housing and operably associated with said data storage means, said data input means, said display means and said physical inscription forming means, and for causing said display means to display said selected patient identifying indicia, and for controlling the operation of said physical inscription forming means so as to form said physical inscriptions only within said portion of said perimetrical border region and without adversely affecting said x-ray image in said central region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A programmable dental x-ray inscription system, which comprises:
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a housing positionable on a work surface; data storage means disposed in said housing, for storing data representative of selected patient identifying indicia identifying a patient and the exposure date of a developed dental x-ray having a central region containing an x-ray image of said patient'"'"'s teeth and a perimetrical border region about said central region; a data communications port for receiving said data from a host device, for storage in said data storage means, said host device including data input means for providing said data to said data communications port and display means for displaying said selected patient identifying indicia; physical inscription forming means disposed in said housing for forming, in a portion of said perimetrical region, physical inscriptions having a depth dimension extending into said developed dental x-ray and corresponding to said selected patient identifying indicia; control means disposed in said housing and operably associated with said data storage means, said data communication port and said physical inscription forming means, for causing said data to be received through said data communications port and programmed in said data storage means, and for controlling the operation of said physical inscription forming means so as to form said physical inscriptions only within said portion of said perimetrical region and without adversely affecting said x-ray image in said central region. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A programmable dental x-ray inscription system, which comprises:
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a housing positionable on a work surface; data storage means disposed in said housing, for storing data including patient identifying data, x-ray size data, and inscription field data, said patient identifying data being representative of selected symbols identifying a patient and the exposure data of a developed dental x-ray having a central region containing an x-ray image of said patient'"'"'s teeth and a perimetrical border region about said central region, said x-ray size data being representative of the physical size of said developed dental x-ray, and said inscription field data being representative of a selected inscription field defined along at least a portion of said perimetrical border region; data input means disposed in said housing, for programming said data in said data storage means; display means disposed in said housing, for displaying said selected symbols; physical inscription forming means disposed in said housing, for forming within said selected inscription field, physical inscriptions having a depth dimension extending into said developed dental x-ray and corresponding to said selected symbols; control means disposed in said housing and operably associated with said data storage means, said data input means, said display means and said physical inscription forming means, for causing said display means to display said selected symbols, and for controlling the operation of said physical inscription forming means so as to form said physical inscriptions only within said selected inscription field and without adversely affecting said x-ray image in said central region. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A programmable dental x-ray inscription system, which comprises:
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a housing positionable on a work surface; data storage means disposed in said housing, for storing data including patient identifying data, x-ray size data, and inscription field data, said patient identifying data being representative of selected symbols identifying a patient and the exposure date of a developed dental x-ray having a central region containing an x-ray image of said patient'"'"'s teeth and a perimetrical border region about said central region, said x-ray size data being representative of the physical size of said developed dental x-ray, and said inscription field data being representative of a selected inscription field defined along at least a portion of said perimetrical border region; a data communications port for receiving said data from a host device for storage in said data storage means, said host device including data input means for providing said patient identifying data, said inscription field data and said x-ray size data to said data communications port, and display means for displaying said selected symbols; physical inscription forming means disposed in said housing, for forming within said selected inscription field, physical inscriptions having a depth dimension extending into said developed dental x-ray and corresponding to said selected symbols; control means disposed in said housing and operably associated with said data storage means, said data communication port and said physical inscription forming means, for causing said data to be received through said data communications port and programmed in said data storage means, and for controlling the operation of said physical inscription forming means so as to form said physical inscriptions only within said selected inscription field and without adversely affecting said x-ray image in said central region. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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Specification