System and method for the operation of diagnostic medical equipment

• US 7,890,887 B1
• Filed: 03/07/2002
• Issued: 02/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fonar Corporation
• Original Assignee: Fonar Corporation
• Inventors: Linardos, John, Vassallo, Godfrey, Damadian, Jevan, Cohen, Jayne J
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu; Kieu
• Assistant Examiner(s): Roswell; Michael
• Application Number:
  US10/094,589
• Time in Patent Office: 3,267 Days
• Field of Search: 715/810, 715/764, 715/700, 715/763, 715/864, 715/760, 709/231, 709/242, 709/236, 709/245, 324/320, 324/324
• US Class Current: 715/810
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/543 Control of the operation of the MR system, e.g. setting of acquisition parameters prior to or during MR data acquisition, dynamic shimming, use of one or more scout images for scan plane prescription G01R33/546 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

A system that allows a technician to remotely control interactive equipment, such as medical diagnostic and screening equipment, by executing, through a proxy program, those portions of the software that directly interact with the equipment at the local computer for the equipment. The software components that do not interact with the equipment are run on the local computer. This communication linkage is established through a library module, which can detect when a program must communicate through the proxy. Thus, the same software modules can operate locally as well as remotely. This design distributes the processing so that a user interface is provided to the remote operator that is the same as the user interface that would be provided to the local operator. In addition to the user interface, the functionality of the equipment enabled at the remote space is the same as that available locally at the equipment.

Claims

1. A system for controlling functionality of local interactive equipment from a location that is remote from the equipment, comprising:

a remote user interface that accepts inputs from a remote user and provides corresponding user input signals;

a control processor, in communication with the remote user interface, that receives the user input signals and formats the user input signals for transmission;

an equipment processor, in communication with the local interactive equipment, that receives the formatted user input signals and controls the local interactive equipment based on at least some of the formatted user input signals; and

a communications channel that provides a communications capability between the control processor and the equipment processor, such that the formatted user input signals can be transmitted from the control processor to the equipment processor;

wherein the local interactive equipment is one of medical diagnostic equipment and medical screening equipment; and

wherein the equipment processor includes a proxy server that receives the formatted user input signals and controls the local interactive equipment based on at least some of the formatted user input signals.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the proxy server translates said at least some of the formatted user input signals to provide control inputs for the local interactive equipment.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the equipment processor includes at least one peripheral module.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein said at least one peripheral module includes at least one of a validation pulse sequence module, a scanning pulse sequence module, and a tuning sequence module.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the user interface communicates with the at least one peripheral module via the proxy server.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the proxy server conducts serial communication with said at least one peripheral module for the remote user interface.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein the user remote interface includes an equipment user interface that provides formatted operational user input signals to the proxy server, wherein said at least some of the formatted user input signals include the formatted operational user input signals.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the formatted operational user input signals control at least initiation and termination of procedures performed by the local interactive equipment.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the formatted operational user input signals include operational parameters used by the local interactive equipment.

10. The system of claim 2, wherein the remote user interface includes a control module that provides formatted adjustment user input signals to the proxy server, wherein said at least some of the formatted user input signals include the formatted adjustment user input signals.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the formatted adjustment user input signals include at least one of a power amplifier adjustment, a receiver gain, and a central frequency.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the equipment processor includes at least one peripheral module.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein said at least one peripheral module includes at least one of a validation pulse sequence module, a scanning pulse sequence module, and a tuning sequence module.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the control module communicates with the at least one peripheral module via the proxy server.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the proxy server conducts serial communication with said at least one peripheral module for the control module.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the control module is adapted to provide the formatted adjustment user input signals having a communications protocol for transmitting and receiving the control signal from the remote location to the local interactive equipment over a communications channel, and operational information used by the local interactive equipment for controlling the local interactive equipment.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the operational information is grouped in packets that are wrapped in the communications protocol.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the communications channel is a data network, and the communications protocol includes information necessary for data transmission over the data network.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the data network is the Internet, and the communications protocol is TCP/IP.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the communications channel is a satellite link, and the communications protocol includes information necessary for data transmission over the satellite link.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the operational information includes at least one of command information and parameter data.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the command information includes at least one of

a run command, to initiate a diagnostic procedure at the local interactive equipment;

and

a terminate command, to terminate a diagnostic procedure at the local interactive equipment.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the parameter data includes at least one of scan sequence selection, field of view, slice thickness, number of slices, and number of excitations.

24. The system of claim 16, wherein the operational information is specific to a manufacturer of the local interactive equipment.

25. The system of claim 16, wherein said one of medical diagnostic equipment and medical screening equipment is an MRI scanner.

26. The system of claim 16, wherein the control signal is a remote user input signal that controls the functionality of the local interactive equipment.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the user input signal controls all the functionality of the local interactive equipment.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the user input signal controls the functionality of the local interactive equipment without the need for local user input to the local interactive equipment.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the user input signal controls the functionality of the local interactive equipment without the need for local user input to the system.

30. The system of claim 16, wherein the control signal includes a component that distinguishes for remote control a selected unit of interactive equipment from among a plurality of units of interactive equipment.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein each said unit of interactive equipment is located in a different respective location.

32. The system of claim 16, wherein communication over the communications channel is controlled by a user at the remote location.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein all communication over the communications channel is controlled by the remote user.

34. The system of claim 16, wherein the control signal is generated at the remote location.