Method for supporting medical treatment system and medical treatment support system

• US 7,567,238 B2
• Filed: 11/21/2001
• Issued: 07/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Igarashi, Takeo, Nakazawa, Kazuo, Sugimoto, Mamiko, Ashihara, Takashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Shalwala; Bipin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Holton; Steven E
• Application Number:
  US09/989,437
• Publication Number:
  US 20020060702A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,806 Days
• Field of Search: 345173-179, 715/863, 711161-162, 707203-204
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms

Abstract

A medical treatment support system has operations A to G on a display screen to easily handle respective data on a sheet. Operation A facilitates the browsing of a large amount of data. Operations B and C allow the user to easily copy and move data. Operation D is a scale function to facilitate measurement. Using operation E, the operator can easily divide an area into segments only by drawing a horizontal line. Operation F is used to change a display angle of image data displayed on the screen. Operation G allows the user to browse respective data classified for each sheet label. The new functions of the single-unit input/output pen-tablet device can be intuitively operated by a user not versed in the functions. This consequently mitigates the load of complex input operation which interrupts thinking of the user and which hinders diagnosis mitigated in medical treatment. A medical treatment support system, a display method for the same, and a recording medium having stored the same provide, in the processing of information regarding medical treatment, advantages of electronic data processing and advantages of processing of handwritten data on a sheet of paper.

Claims

1. An application method for supporting a medical treatment system, the system comprising an input/display device, a storage, and a controller, said input/display device including input means and display means, said storage comprising a first database that stores a history of input stroke information automatically and a second database that stores explicit saving operations initiated by a user, said input stroke information comprising handwritten strokes, said controller comprising a display data generation controller, a storage data update controller, and a print data generation controller, the method comprising:

the input/display device receiving said input stroke information by handwriting, said handwriting comprising directly touching a surface of said display means with said input means, said input/display device comprising a pen-tablet unit, said pen-tablet unit comprising said input means and said display means integrally combined, said input means comprising a pen-tablet pointer having a pen shape, said display means being one of a liquid-crystal display and a plasma display panel;

first storing said input stroke information in a vector representation in said storage using said display data generation controller;

displaying said input stroke information on said display using said display data generation controller;

first determining whether a data identifier has been received in said input stroke information, said storage data update controller performing said first determining such that if said data identifier is received in said input stroke information, then said first determining comprises;

searching for an intra-identifier code according to said data identifier and free input, said storage data update controller performing said searching; and

data-identifier recording said intra-identifier code, said storage data update controller performing said data-identifier recording;

free-input recording said free input, said storage data update controller performing said free-input recording;

enabling said user to save said intra-identifier code and said free input in said storage substantially all as medical data;

the input means moving in a sliding manner on a sheet label displayed at a particular position on a screen by the display means;

the input/display device reading, when the input means moves onto said sheet label, data stored in said storage in relation to said sheet label from said storage, and displaying the data by conducting a change-over operation for said sheet label;

second determining whether said intra-identifier code and said free input are saved in said storage, said second determining using said storage data update controller to control said second determining such that, if said intra-identifier code and said free input are not saved in said storage, a restoring operation is conducted, then said restoring operation comprises;

third determining whether a first change in said storage has occurred;

returning to said input/display device receiving said input stroke information to repeat said application method up to said second determining if said first change in said storage has occurred; and

first ending said application method if said first change in said storage has not occurred;

declaring a falsification of said intra-identifier code and said free input to be impossible if said restoring operation is not conducted;

fourth determining whether a second change in said storage has occurred;

second ending said application method if said second change in said storage has not occurred; and

if said second change in said storage has occurred, generating a copy of said storage without said intra-identifier code and said free input storage, recording said second change in said storage, and ending said application method.

2. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 1, wherein, when segments of an input field are displayed, segment labels are assigned to the segments according to a plurality of data identifiers previously specified to the respective segments.

3. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 2, further comprising:

conducting character recognition processing of said receiving of said input stroke information to determine if a character is received in said input stroke information,

wherein said input/display device conducts said character recognition processing for said input stroke information inputted from said input means and comprising an array of values of coordinates, converts by said character recognition processing said input stroke information into text data including an array of character codes, and displays the text data.

4. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system claimed in claim 1, wherein, in the storage, the medical data are stored after one of a depression of a lock button and an operation to explicitly close a medical report.

5. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 4, further comprising:

conducting character recognition processing of said receiving of said input stroke information to determine if a character is received in said input stroke information,

wherein said input/display device conducts said character recognition processing for said input stroke information inputted from said input means and comprising an array of values of coordinates, converts by said character recognition processing said input stroke information into text data including an array of character codes, and displays the text data.

6. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 4, wherein, when segments of an input field are displayed, segment labels are assigned to the segments according to a plurality of data identifiers previously specified to the respective segments.

7. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 6, further comprising:

conducting character recognition processing of said receiving of said input stroke information to determine if a character is received in said input stroke information,

wherein said input/display device conducts said character recognition processing for said input stroke information inputted from said input means and comprising an array of values of coordinates, converts by said character recognition processing said input stroke information into text data including an array of character codes, and displays the text data.

8. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 1, further comprising:

conducting character recognition processing of said receiving of said input stroke information to determine if a character is received in said input stroke information,

wherein said input/display device conducts said character recognition processing for said input stroke information inputted from said input means and comprising an array of values of coordinates, converts by said character recognition processing said input stroke information into text data including an array of character codes, and displays the text data.

9. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 8, further comprising:

the input means dragging a particular input field selected from a plurality of input fields displayed at particular positions on a screen by said display means and dropping the particular input field onto said sheet label;

said storage storing data of said particular input field with a relationship established to said sheet label;

the input means dragging a sheet label displayed at positions on a screen by the display means and moving the sheet label upward;

the input/display device reading data stored in the storage in relation to the sheet label from the storage and displaying the data below the sheet label based on the type of stored data;

the input means dragging a segment of the segments of the input field displayed at positions on a screen by the display means and moving the segment in the screen; and

the input/display device one of minimizing and magnifying at least one of the segment and other segments on the screen according to movement of the segment dragged by the input means,

wherein said data identifier comprises an input device identifier that identifies an identity of an input operator,

wherein, when segments of an input field are displayed, segment labels are assigned to the segments according to a plurality of data identifiers previously specified to the respective segments,

wherein, in the storage, the data are stored after one of a depression of a lock button and an operation to explicitly close a medical report,

wherein said character comprises a letter,

wherein said data identifier comprises a screen identifier that identifies a screen where said input stroke information is stored, and

wherein in an operation to read data from said storage and to display the data, when an unchangeable state is beforehand set to the data, said input/display device displays an item indicating that the data cannot be changed.

10. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 1, wherein, in an operation to read data from said storage and to display the data, when an unchangeable state is beforehand set to the data, said input/display device displays an item indicating that the data cannot be changed.

11. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 1, further comprising:

the input means dragging a particular input field selected from a plurality of input fields displayed at particular positions on a screen by said display means and dropping the particular input field onto said sheet label; and

said storage storing data of said particular input field with a relationship established to said sheet label.

12. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 1, further comprising:

the input means moving in a horizontal direction in a sliding manner to cross an input field displayed at a position on a screen by the display means; and

the input/display device displaying the input field, the input field being subdivided into segments.

13. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 1, further comprising:

the input means dragging a segment on a screen by the display means and dropping the segment onto the sheet label; and

the storage storing data of the segment with a relationship established to the sheet label.

14. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 1, further comprising:

the input means moving from a first point to a second point on an image displayed at a position on a screen by the display means; and

the input/display device measuring a distance of movement between the first and the second points and displaying the distance over the image.

15. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 1, further comprising:

the input means is moving to draw a trace beginning at a point on an image displayed at a position on a screen by the display means; and

the input/display device rotating the image according to a length and a direction of the trace and displaying the rotated image.

16. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 1, further comprising:

the input means dragging an input field selected from a plurality of input fields displayed at positions on a screen by the display means and moving the input field in the screen; and

the input/display device one of minimizing and magnifying one of the input field and other input fields on the screen according to movement of the input field dragged by the input means.

17. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 1, further comprising:

the input means dragging a segment of the segments of the input field displayed at positions on a screen by the display means and moving the segment in the screen; and

the input/display device one of minimizing and magnifying at least one of the segment and other segments on the screen according to movement of the segment dragged by the input means.

18. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 1, further comprising:

the input means dragging a sheet label displayed at positions on a screen by the display means and moving the sheet label upward; and

the input/display device reading data stored in the storage in relation to the sheet label from the storage and displaying the data below the sheet label based on the type of stored data.

19. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said data identifier comprises an input device identifier that identifies an identity of an input operator.

20. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said data identifier comprises a screen identifier that identifies a screen where said input stroke information is stored.

21. An application method for supporting a medical treatment system, the system comprising an input/display device, a storage, and a controller, said input/display device including input means and display means, said storage comprising a first database that stores a history of input stroke information automatically and a second database that stores explicit saving operations initiated by a user, said input stroke information comprising handwritten strokes, said controller comprising a display data generation controller, a storage data update controller, and a print data generation controller, the method comprising:

receiving said input stroke information by handwriting on said input/display device, said handwriting comprising directly touching a surface of said display means with said input means, said input/display device comprising a pen-tablet unit, said pen-tablet unit comprising said input means and said display means integrally combined, said input means comprising a pen-tablet pointer having a pen shape, said display means being one of a liquid-crystal display and a plasma display panel;

first storing said input stroke information in a vector representation in said storage using said display data generation controller;

displaying said input stroke information on said display using said display data generation controller;

first determining whether a data identifier has been received in said input stroke information, said storage data update controller performing said first determining such that if said data identifier is received in said input stroke information, then said first determining comprises;

searching for an intra-identifier code according to said data identifier and free input, said storage data update controller performing said searching; and

data-identifier recording said intra-identifier code, said storage data update controller performing said data-identifier recording;

free-input recording said free input, said storage data update controller performing said free-input recording;

enabling said user to save said intra-identifier code and said free input in said storage;

second determining whether said intra-identifier code and said free input are saved in said storage, said second determining using said storage data update controller to control said second determining such that, if said intra-identifier code and said free input are not saved in said storage, a restoring operation is conducted, then said restoring operation comprises;

third determining whether a first change in said storage has occurred;

returning to said input/display device receiving said input stroke information to repeat said application method up to said second determining if said first change in said storage has occurred; and

first ending said application method if said first change in said storage has not occurred;

declaring a falsification of said intra-identifier code and said free input to be impossible if said restoring operation is not conducted;

fourth determining whether a second change in said storage has occurred;

second ending said application method if said second change in said storage has not occurred; and

if said second change in said storage has occurred, generating a copy of said storage without said intra-identifier code and said free input storage, recording said second change in said storage, and ending said application method,

wherein said method further comprises one of;

a first operation comprising the input means moving in a sliding manner on a sheet label displayed at a particular position on a screen by the display means, the input/display device reading, when the input means moves onto said sheet label, data stored in the storage in relation to said sheet label from the storage, and displaying the data by conducting a change-over operation for said sheet label;

a second operation comprising the input means dragging a particular input field selected from a plurality of input fields displayed at particular positions on a screen by the display means and dropping the particular input field onto said sheet label, and the storage storing data of said particular input field with a relationship established to said sheet label;

a third operation comprising the input means moving in a horizontal direction in a sliding manner to cross an input field displayed at a position on a screen by the display means, and the input/display device displaying the input field, the input field being subdivided into segments;

a fourth operation comprising the input means dragging a segment on a screen by the display means and dropping the segment onto said sheet label, and the storage storing data of the segment with a relationship established to said sheet label;

a fifth operation comprising the input means moving from a first point to a second point on an image displayed at a position on a screen by the display means, and the input/display device measuring a distance of movement between the first and the second points and displaying the distance over the image; and

a sixth operation comprising the input means moving to draw a trace beginning at a point on an image displayed at a position on a screen by the display means, and the input/display device rotating the image according to a length and a direction of the trace and displaying the rotated image.

22. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 21, wherein, when segments of an input field are displayed, segment labels are assigned to the segments according to a plurality of data identifiers previously specified to the respective segments.

23. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 22, further comprising:

conducting character recognition processing of said receiving of said input stroke information to determine if a character is received in said input stroke information,

wherein said input/display device conducts said character recognition processing for said input stroke information inputted from said input means and comprising an array of values of coordinates, converts by said character recognition processing said input stroke information into text data including an array of character codes, and displays the text data.

24. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 23, wherein in an operation to read data from said storage and to display the data, when an unchangeable state is beforehand set to the data, said input/display device displays an item indicating that the data cannot be changed.

25. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 23, wherein said method further comprises said first operation, said second operation, said third operation, said fourth operation, said fifth operation, and said sixth operation,

wherein, when segments of an input field are displayed, segment labels are assigned to the segments according to identifiers previously specified to the respective segments,

wherein, in an operation to read data from said storage and to display the data, when an unchangeable state is beforehand set to the data, said input/display device displays an item indicating that the data cannot be changed,

wherein said character comprises a letter,

wherein said data identifier comprises a screen identifier that identifies a screen where said input stroke information is stored, and

wherein said data identifier comprises an input device identifier that identifies an identity of an input operator.

26. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 25, wherein said method further comprises:

a seventh operation comprising the input means dragging an input field selected from a plurality of input fields displayed at positions on a screen by the display means and moving the input field in the screen, and the input/display device one of minimizing and magnifying one of the input field and other input fields on the screen according to movement of the input field dragged by the input means;

an eighth operation comprising the input means dragging a segment of the segments of the input field displayed at positions on a screen by the display means and moving the segment in the screen, and the input/display device one of minimizing and magnifying at least one of the segment and other segments on the screen according to movement of the segment dragged by the input means; and

a ninth operation comprising the input means dragging a sheet label displayed at positions on a screen by the display means and moving the sheet label upward, and the input/display device reading data stored in the storage in relation to the sheet label from the storage and displaying the data below the sheet label based on the type of stored data.

27. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 22, wherein in an operation to read data from said storage and to display the data, when an unchangeable state is beforehand set to the data, said input/display device displays an item indicating that the data cannot be changed.

28. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 21, wherein, in an operation to read data from said storage and to display the data, when an unchangeable state is beforehand set to the data, said input/display device displays an item indicating that the data cannot be changed.

29. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 21, said method further comprising one of:

a seventh operation comprising the input means dragging an input field selected from a plurality of input fields displayed at positions on a screen by the display means and moving the input field in the screen, and the input/display device one of minimizing and magnifying one of the input field and other input fields on the screen according to movement of the input field dragged by the input means;

an eighth operation comprising the input means dragging a segment of the segments of the input field displayed at positions on a screen by the display means and moving the segment in the screen, and the input/display device one of minimizing and magnifying at least one of the segment and other segments on the screen according to movement of the segment dragged by the input means; and

a ninth operation comprising the input means dragging a sheet label displayed at positions on a screen by the display means and moving the sheet label upward, and the input/display device reading data stored in the storage in relation to the sheet label from the storage and displaying the data below the sheet label based on the type of stored data.

30. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 21, wherein said data identifier comprises an input device identifier that identifies an identity of an input operator.

31. The application method for supporting a medical treatment system in accordance with claim 21, wherein said data identifier comprises a screen identifier that identifies a screen where said input stroke information is stored.

32. A medical treatment support system comprising:

an input-display device comprising a pen-tablet unit, said pen-tablet unit comprising an input means and a display means integrally combined, said input means comprising a pen-tablet pointer having a pen shape, said input means for receiving input stroke information by handwriting, said input stroke information comprising handwritten strokes, said handwriting comprising directly touching a surface of said display means with said input means, said display means being one of a liquid-crystal display and a plasma display panel;

a storage comprising;

a first database that stores a history of said input stroke information automatically; and

a second database that stores explicit saving operations initiated by a user;

a controller comprising a display data generation controller, a storage data update controller, and a print data generation controller;

a first input stroke information storing module for a first storing of said input stroke information in a vector representation in said storage using said display data generation controller;

an input stroke information displaying module for displaying said input stroke information on said display using said display data generation controller;

means for first determining whether a data identifier has been received in said input stroke information, said means for first determining comprising said storage data update controller that performs said first determining such that if said data identifier is received in said input stroke information, an intra-identifier code searching module of said means for first determining searches for an intra-identifier code according to said data identifier and free input, said storage data update controller performing said searching, and a data-identifier intra-identifier code recording module for data-identifier recording said intra-identifier code, said storage data update controller performing said data-identifier recording;

means for conducting character recognition processing of said receiving said input stroke information to determine if a character has been received in said input stroke information;

a free-input recording module for recording said free input, said storage data update controller performing said free-input recording;

a user enabling module for enabling said user to save said intra-identifier code and said free input in said storage substantially all as medical data;

means for second determining whether said intra-identifier code and said free input are saved in said storage, said second determining means using said storage data update controller to control said second determining such that, if said intra-identifier code and said free input are not saved in said storage, then a restoring operation conducting module is implemented to conduct a restoring operation, said restoring operation conducting module comprising;

means for third determining whether a first change in said storage has occurred;

an input/display device receiving returning module for returning to said input/display device to receive said input stroke information if said first stage in said storage has occurred; and

a first ending module for ending use of said medical treatment support system;

a falsification declaring module for declaring a falsification of said intra-identifier code and said free input to be impossible if said restoring operation is not conducted;

means for fourth determining whether a second change in said storage has occurred;

a second ending module for ending use of said medical treatment support system if said second change in said storage has not occurred; and

a copy-generating, second-change recording module for generating a copy of said storage without said intra-identifier code and said free input storage, recording said second change in said storage, and ending use of said medical treatment support system if said second change in said storage has occurred,

wherein the input means drags a particular input field selected from a plurality of input fields displayed at particular positions on a screen by said display means and drops the particular input field onto a sheet label, and

wherein said storage stores data of said particular input field with a relationship established to said sheet label.

33. The medical treatment support system claimed in claim 32, wherein data in the storage is stored after one of a depression of a lock button and an operation to explicitly close a medical report.

34. The medical treatment support system claimed in claim 32, wherein said data identifier comprises an input device identifier that identifies an identity of an input operator.

35. The medical treatment support system claimed in claim 32, wherein said data identifier comprises a screen identifier that identifies a screen where said input stroke information is stored.