Automated diagnostic system and method including multiple diagnostic modes
First Claim
1. A system for automated medical diagnosis of a patient, the system comprising:
- a first medical symptom element having an actual symptom weight for a first disease and an alternative symptom weight for a second disease;
a second medical symptom element having an actual symptom weight for the second disease; and
a function configured to apply the actual weight for the first medical symptom element to a first diagnostic score and the alternative weight to a second diagnostic score, wherein the first diagnostic score is associated with the first disease and the second diagnostic score is associated with the second disease, and wherein the function continues diagnostic scoring by applying actual symptom weights for the second disease to the second diagnostic score.
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Abstract
Structure-based processing includes a method of diagnosing diseases that works by arranging diseases, symptoms, and questions into a set of related disease, symptom, and question structures, such as objects or lists, in such a way that the structures can be processed to generate a dialogue with a patient. A structure-based processing system organizes medical knowledge into formal structures and then executes those structures on a structure engine to automatically select the next question. Patient responses to the questions lead to more questions and ultimately to a diagnosis. An object-oriented embodiment includes software objects utilized as active, intelligent agents where each object performs its own tasks and calls upon other objects to perform their tasks at the appropriate time to arrive at a diagnosis. Alternative symptoms, synergies, encoding of patient responses, multiple diagnostic modes, disease profiles or timelines, and the reuse of diagnostic objects enhance the processing of the system and method.
105 Citations
45 Claims
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1. A system for automated medical diagnosis of a patient, the system comprising:
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a first medical symptom element having an actual symptom weight for a first disease and an alternative symptom weight for a second disease;
a second medical symptom element having an actual symptom weight for the second disease; and
a function configured to apply the actual weight for the first medical symptom element to a first diagnostic score and the alternative weight to a second diagnostic score, wherein the first diagnostic score is associated with the first disease and the second diagnostic score is associated with the second disease, and wherein the function continues diagnostic scoring by applying actual symptom weights for the second disease to the second diagnostic score. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 45)
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8. A computerized system for diagnosis of a patient, the system comprising:
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a list of diseases, each disease associated with a list of symptoms;
either the following two features;
a first function configured to automatically select a one of the symptoms to be a focus symptom based on a predetermined criteria; and
a second function configured to evaluate the focus symptom so as to establish the focus symptom, wherein the established symptom contributes a weight to diseases having the established symptom;
or the following two features;
a third function configured to automatically select a one of the symptoms to be a focus symptom from the list of symptoms associated with a selected one of the diseases; and
a fourth function configured to evaluate the focus symptom to establish the focus symptom, wherein the established symptom contributes a weight to at least the selected disease having the established symptom; and
a fifth function configured to selectively repeat b) and c) or d) and e) until accumulated weights for a disease reach or pass a threshold so as to declare a diagnosis. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computerized system for diagnosing the medical problem of a patient, the system comprising:
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a list of diseases, each disease being associated with a list of symptoms;
a first function, in a first mode, configured to select a subset of diseases having shared symptoms from the list of diseases;
a second function configured to evaluate at least one of the shared symptoms;
a third function configured to switch the first function from the first mode to a second mode based on the evaluation of the shared symptoms, wherein a particular disease is selected;
a fourth function configured to select, in the second mode, symptoms associated with the particular disease, wherein at least one of the selected symptoms of the particular disease is evaluated; and
a fifth function configured to diagnose the medical problem of a patient based on the evaluating of the shared symptoms and the selected symptoms. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system for automated medical diagnosis of a patient, the system comprising:
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means for providing a first medical symptom element, the first medical symptom element having an actual symptom weight for a first disease and an alternative symptom weight for a second disease;
means for providing a second medical symptom element, the second medical symptom element having an actual symptom weight for the second disease;
means for applying the actual weight for the first medical symptom element to a first diagnostic score and the alternative weight to a second diagnostic score, wherein the first diagnostic score is associated with the first disease and the second diagnostic score is associated with the second disease; and
means for continuing diagnostic scoring by applying actual symptom weights for the second disease to the second diagnostic score. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A computerized system for diagnosis of a patient, the system comprising:
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means for providing a list of diseases, each disease associated with a list of symptoms;
either the following two features;
means for automatically selecting a one of the symptoms to be a focus symptom based on a predetermined criteria; and
means for evaluating the focus symptom to establish the focus symptom, the established symptom contributing a weight to diseases having the established symptom;
or the following two features;
means for automatically selecting a one of the symptoms to be a focus symptom from the list of symptoms associated with a selected one of the diseases; and
means for evaluating the focus symptom to establish the focus symptom, the established symptom contributing a weight to at least the selected disease having the established symptom; and
means for selectively repeating b) and c) or d) and e) until accumulated weights for a disease reach or pass a threshold so as to declare a diagnosis. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A computerized system for diagnosing a medical problem of a patient, the system comprising:
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means for providing a list of diseases, each disease being associated with a list of symptoms;
means for selecting, in a first mode, a subset of diseases having shared symptoms from the list of diseases;
means for evaluating at least one of the shared symptoms;
means for switching from the first mode to a second mode based on the evaluating of the shared symptoms, wherein a particular disease is selected;
means for selecting, in the second mode, symptoms associated with the particular disease;
means for evaluating at least one of the selected symptoms of the particular disease; and
means for diagnosing the medical problem of a patient based on the evaluating of the shared symptoms and the selected symptoms. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A system for automated patient diagnosis, the system comprising:
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means for automatically asking a patient questions;
means for receiving answers from the patient;
means for using the answers to select a subset of possible diseases based on a chief complaint;
means for determining a first significant symptom of the patient; and
means for diagnosing a disease by asking questions associated with the symptoms of one of the selected diseases, wherein the selected disease includes the first significant symptom. - View Dependent Claims (44)
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Specification