Medical screening
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprisingin a first geographic location, automatically screening diagnostic data associated with patients to screen out data for which a medical interpretation is negative, and automatically producing digital images associated with data as to which there are possibly positive medical interpretations;
- the first geographic location being one in which the automatic screening is permitted to be done as part of a medical diagnosis;
transmitting the digital images electronically to a second geographic location;
at the second geographic location, presenting the digital images to an experienced person to provide evaluations of the possibly positive medical interpretations; and
returning the evaluations electronically to the first geographic location;
the first geographic location being one in which a ratio of experienced people capable of providing the evaluations to a population needing screening is lower than in the second geographic location.
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Abstract
Mass medical, e.g., cervical cancer, screening is provided to areas of the world where a lack of sufficient laboratory infrastructure and technical skills presently compromises the effectiveness of screening or even makes mass screening impossible. These methods are cost-effective and provide excellent sensitivity and specificity in cervical cancer screening.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method comprising
in a first geographic location, automatically screening diagnostic data associated with patients to screen out data for which a medical interpretation is negative, and automatically producing digital images associated with data as to which there are possibly positive medical interpretations; -
the first geographic location being one in which the automatic screening is permitted to be done as part of a medical diagnosis;
transmitting the digital images electronically to a second geographic location;
at the second geographic location, presenting the digital images to an experienced person to provide evaluations of the possibly positive medical interpretations; and
returning the evaluations electronically to the first geographic location;
the first geographic location being one in which a ratio of experienced people capable of providing the evaluations to a population needing screening is lower than in the second geographic location. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 6, 7)
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2. A method comprising:
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in a first geographic location, automatically screening Pap smear slides to screen out slides for which a medical interpretation is negative and automatically processing the remaining slides to produce digital images of cellular features as to which there are possibly positive medical interpretations;
the first geographic location being one in which the automatic screening is permitted to be done as part of a medical diagnosis;
transmitting the digital images electronically to a second geographic location;
at the second geographic location, presenting the digital images to an experienced person to provide evaluations of the possibly positive medical interpretations; and
returning the evaluations electronically to the first geographic location;
the first geographic location being one in which a ratio of experienced people capable of providing the evaluations to a population needing screening is lower than in the second geographic location. - View Dependent Claims (5, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method comprising
receiving, at a second geographic location, an electronic transmission of a file from a first location, the file including information identifying a patient and images of cells sampled from the cervix of the patient, the file having been automatically screened, prior to transmission, so that the file is only transmitted if it contains cells as to which there are possibly positive medical interpretations, the first geographic location being one in which the automatic screening is permitted to be done as part of a medical diagnosis, providing an evaluation of the images, the generating step being performed by an experienced person, and the first geographic location being one in which a ratio of experienced people capable of providing the evaluation to a population needing screening is lower than in the second geographic location, and transmitting the evaluation electronically to the first geographic location.
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15. A method of providing a medical interpretation of each of a number of Pap smears, by utilizing the facilities at a remote geographic location, comprising
in a first geographic location, automatically screening the Pap smear slides to screen out slides for which the medical interpretation is negative, and automatically processing the remaining slides to produce digital images of cellular features that are likely to be indicative of abnormality, the first geographic location being one in which the automatic screening is permitted to be done as part of a medical diagnosis, transmitting the digital images electronically to the remote geographic location for evaluation, and receiving the evaluation electronically from the remote geographic location, the first geographic location being one in which a ratio of experienced people capable of generating the evaluation to a population needing screening is lower than in the remote geographic location.
Specification