Naturally expressed medical procedure descriptions generated via synchronized diagrams and menus

• US 7,840,416 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2003
• Issued: 11/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Provation Software Incorporated (Fortive Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Provation Medical Incorporated (Fortive Corp.)
• Inventors: Starmer, John M., Swenson, Steven J., Duke, Robert A., Svensson, Ingrid R., Barski, Conrad H., Claypool, Stephen R., Yu, Ying Ching, Del Toro, David A., Peitzman, Linda R., Crist, Peter E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gilligan; Luke
• Assistant Examiner(s): SOREY, ROBERT A
• Application Number:
  US10/745,759
• Publication Number:
  US 20050137907A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,527 Days
• Field of Search: 705/2
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/20 relating to practices or guidelines

Abstract

A computing device-based system and method are described for generating a medical procedure description recorded into the system by a physician. The system and method manipulate a set of database records comprising medical content which is naturally descriptive of clinical procedures and clinically accurate diagrams which are naturally descriptive to document a medical procedure. To support the generation of a set of said medical procedure descriptions, the system and method provide interchangeable, connected, ontologically-based medical procedure database cartridges of medical content terms, rules, and diagrams that naturally describe constrained procedure representations for clinical procedure descriptions.

Claims

1. A method of documenting a medical procedure comprising:

(a) generating an interface with at least one computing device including at least one database;

wherein the interface includes a menu section including a plurality of menu data elements, the menu data elements being textual representations selectable to describe a medical procedure;

wherein the interface includes a diagram window section including at least one graphical representation of an anatomical diagram illustrating at least part of a human body;

wherein the at least one database includes menu data elements mapped with graphical data elements;

(b) the at least one computing device receiving at least one menu input into the menu section of the interface selecting a menu data element reflecting at least part of the medical procedure;

(c) upon receipt of the at least one menu input, the at least one computing device automatically synchronizing the diagram window section with the menu section by;

(i) accessing the at least one database and identifying with an ontology inference engine a graphical data element mapped with the selected at least one menu data element associated with the at least one menu input; and

(ii) displaying in the diagram window section the identified graphical data element;

(d) the at least one computing device receiving at least one manipulation input into the diagram window section of the interface manipulating at least one graphical data element reflecting at least part of the medical procedure;

(e) upon receipt of the at least one manipulation input, the at least one computing device automatically synchronizing the menu section with the diagram window section by;

(i) accessing the at least one database and identifying with an ontology inference engine at least one menu data element mapped with the manipulated graphical data element associated with the manipulation input; and

(ii) displaying in the menu section an updated plurality of the identified menu data elements; and

(f) upon each synchronization instance, the at least one computing device automatically constructing a concise textual medical procedure description based at least in part on one or more of the mapped menu data elements and the mapped graphical data elements to form at least one naturally expressed medical procedure description.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one computing device including at least one database further comprises a first database comprising medical content including a plurality of medical procedure descriptions, diagrams, and programming logic.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said at least one computing device including at least one database further comprises a second database comprising a set of procedures terms and attributes representations.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said at least one computing device comprises a plurality of computing devices, wherein the said interface, said first database and said second database operate on said plurality of said computing devices operating on a networked computing device system within a healthcare facility'"'"'s wide area network.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the said interface, said first database and said second database operate on said plurality of said computing devices operating on said networked computing device system within and outside of said healthcare facility'"'"'s wide area network.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein said interface, said first database and said second database are distributed to said plurality of said computing devices operating on said networked computing device system within said healthcare facility'"'"'s wide area network.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said interface, said first database and said second database are distributed to said plurality of said computing devices operating on said networked computing device system within and outside of said healthcare facility'"'"'s wide area network.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphical representation of an anatomical diagram includes an illustration of an artery.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the manipulation input received into the diagram window section identifies the location of a stenosis on the diagram of the artery.

10. A system for documenting medical procedure descriptions comprising:

(a) at least one computing device including at least one database generating an interface;

wherein the interface includes a menu section including a plurality of menu data elements, the menu data elements being textual representations selectable to describe a medical procedure;

wherein the interface includes a diagram window section including at least one graphical representation of an anatomical diagram illustrating at least part of a human body;

wherein the at least one database includes menu data elements mapped with graphical data elements;

(b) the at least one computing device programmed to receive at least one menu input into the menu section of the interface selecting a menu data element reflecting at least part of the medical procedure;

(c) the at least one computing device programmed to automatically synchronize the diagram window section with the menu section upon receipt of the at least one menu input, wherein the at least one computing device is programmed to;

(i) access the at least one database and identify with an ontology inference engine a graphical data element mapped with the selected at least one menu data element associated with the at least one menu input; and

(ii) display in the diagram window section the identified graphical data element;

(d) the at least one computing device programmed to receive at least one manipulation input into the diagram window section of the interface manipulating at least one graphical data element reflecting at least part of the medical procedure;

(e) the at least one computing device programmed to automatically synchronize the menu section with the diagram window section upon receipt of the at least one manipulation input, wherein the at least one computing device is programmed to;

(i) access the at least one database and identify with an ontology inference engine at least one menu data element mapped with the manipulated graphical data element associated with the manipulation input; and

(ii) display in the menu section an updated plurality of the identified menu data elements; and

(f) the at least one computing device programmed to, upon each synchronization instance, automatically construct a concise textual medical procedure description based at least in part on one or more of the mapped menu data elements and the mapped graphical data elements to form at least one naturally expressed medical procedure description.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein said at least one computing device including at least one database further comprises a first database comprising medical content including a plurality of medical procedure descriptions, diagrams, and programming logic.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein said at least one computing device including at least one database further comprises a second database comprising a set of procedures terms and attributes representations.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein said at least one computing device comprises a plurality of computing devices, wherein the said interface, said first database and said second database operate on said plurality of said computing devices operating on a networked computing device system within a healthcare facility'"'"'s wide area network.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the said interface, said first database and said second database operate on said plurality of said computing devices operating on said networked computing device system within and outside of said healthcare facility'"'"'s wide area network.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein said interface, said first database and said second database are distributed to said plurality of said computing devices operating on said networked computing device system within said healthcare facility'"'"'s wide area network.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein said interface, said first database and said second database are distributed to said plurality of said computing devices operating on said networked computing device system within and outside of said healthcare facility'"'"'s wide area network.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the graphical representation of an anatomical diagram includes an illustration of an artery.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the manipulation input received into the diagram window section identifies the location of a stenosis on the diagram of the artery.