Method and apparatus for transmission and storage of digital medical data
First Claim
1. A method for transmission of digital medical data between at least two geographically separate locations connected by data paths of limited bandwidth, the method comprising the steps of:
- separating said medical data arriving at one of said locations into at least bulk content and metadata;
associating said bulk content with a content identifier;
selecting said locations to which said bulk content is to be transmitted based on a calculation utilizingat least one factor selected from the group consisting of the desired degree of content duplication, storage capacity available at each of said locations, geographic distance to each of said locations, transmission cost to each of said locations, data path bandwidth to each location, current utilization of the data paths to each of said locations, processor utilization at each of said locations, andthe likelihood of retrieval at each of said locations, said likelihood of retrieval being calculated using at least one of information contained in said metadata, from requests to use said bulk content, prior usage of said bulk content, from information obtained from a system that manages patients'"'"' appointments, and from information obtained from a system that manages uses of said bulk content;
selecting optimal ones of said locations by calculating the relative ranking of at least two of said locations using at least one of said factor and said likelihood of retrieval, wherein which of said locations are optimal can change over time;
updating which of said locations are selected as optimal;
transmitting said bulk content to the selected said optimal locations for storage;
extending said metadata to comprise said content identifier and a list of all of said locations where said bulk content has been and stored; and
transmitting said extended metadata to at least one of said locations and storing it;
wherein said relative ranking is determined by calculating a score for each of said locations based on a weighted sum wherein weights are selected and multiplied by values obtained from at least one of said factor and said likelihood of retrieval.
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Abstract
System for decentralized storage and rapid retrieval of medical data among geographically separate locations, connected by data paths of limited bandwidth, which optimizes transmission therebetween. Medical data is separated into bulk content and metadata. Metadata is transmitted to all locations. Bulk content is copied to selected locations based on desired duplication, available storage, distance, transmission cost, data path bandwidth or utilization, likelihood of retrieval calculated from the metadata, requests to use or prior usage of content or information from a system that manages the content. Transmission rate is limited and bulk content is queued for transmission based on priority calculated from metadata, from requests to use content or information from a system that manages the content. Optimal locations for bulk content are recalculated based on requests to use content, new patient appointments, data path or equipment failures. Copies are made or deleted. Distributed lists of locations for content are updated.
96 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for transmission of digital medical data between at least two geographically separate locations connected by data paths of limited bandwidth, the method comprising the steps of:
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separating said medical data arriving at one of said locations into at least bulk content and metadata; associating said bulk content with a content identifier; selecting said locations to which said bulk content is to be transmitted based on a calculation utilizing at least one factor selected from the group consisting of the desired degree of content duplication, storage capacity available at each of said locations, geographic distance to each of said locations, transmission cost to each of said locations, data path bandwidth to each location, current utilization of the data paths to each of said locations, processor utilization at each of said locations, and the likelihood of retrieval at each of said locations, said likelihood of retrieval being calculated using at least one of information contained in said metadata, from requests to use said bulk content, prior usage of said bulk content, from information obtained from a system that manages patients'"'"' appointments, and from information obtained from a system that manages uses of said bulk content; selecting optimal ones of said locations by calculating the relative ranking of at least two of said locations using at least one of said factor and said likelihood of retrieval, wherein which of said locations are optimal can change over time; updating which of said locations are selected as optimal; transmitting said bulk content to the selected said optimal locations for storage; extending said metadata to comprise said content identifier and a list of all of said locations where said bulk content has been and stored; and transmitting said extended metadata to at least one of said locations and storing it; wherein said relative ranking is determined by calculating a score for each of said locations based on a weighted sum wherein weights are selected and multiplied by values obtained from at least one of said factor and said likelihood of retrieval. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus for distributing medical data between geographically separate locations connected by optical, wired or radio frequency data paths of limited bandwidth, the apparatus employed at a first one of the locations comprising:
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a processing device; a memory device coupled to said processing device; at least one network interface connected to at least one of said data paths and in communication with said processing device; wherein said processing device is programmable to separate said medical data provided to its corresponding said location into bulk content and metadata, to associate said bulk content with a content identifier, to select said locations to which said bulk content is to be transmitted (a) based on a calculation utilizing at least one factor selected from the group consisting of the desired degree of content duplication, storage capacity available at each of said locations, geographic distance to each of said locations, transmission cost to each of said locations, data path bandwidth to each location, current utilization of the data paths to each of said locations, processor utilization at each of said locations, and the likelihood of retrieval at each of said locations, said likelihood being calculated using at least one of information contained in said metadata, from requests to use said bulk content, prior usage of said bulk content, from information obtained from a system that manages patients'"'"' appointments, and from information obtained from a system that manages uses of said bulk content, and (b) selecting optimal ones of said locations by calculating the relative ranking of at least two of said locations using at least one of said factor and said likelihood of retrieval, wherein which of said locations are optimal can change over time, updating which of said locations are selected as optimal, and transmitting via said at least one network interface said bulk content to the selected said optimal locations for storage, to extend said metadata to comprise said content identifier and a list of all of said locations where said bulk content has been transmitted for storage, and to transmit via said at least one network interface said extended metadata to at least one of said locations for storage; wherein said relative ranking is determined by calculating a score for each of said locations based on a weighted sum wherein weights are selected and multiplied by values obtained from at least one of said factor and said likelihood of retrieval. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification