Method and system for detecting and analyzing clinical pictures and the causes thereof and for determining proposals for appropriate therapy

• US 8,010,378 B2
• Filed: 06/14/2003
• Issued: 08/30/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Merck Patent GmbH (Merck & Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Merck Patent GmbH (Merck & Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Schulte, Martin, Norden, Marion, Ganzer, Joachim
• Primary Examiner(s): Yao; Sam
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rajan; Kai
• Application Number:
  US10/518,433
• Publication Number:
  US 20050234306A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,999 Days
• Field of Search: 600/300, 600/301, 128903-905, 128/920, 705/2, 705/3
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/20 for electronic clinical trials or questionnaires
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/60 relating to pathologies
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/92 Computer assisted medical diagnostics

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for detecting and analyzing clinical pictures and the causes thereof and determining appropriate therapy proposals. The invention is a system for detecting and analyzing clinical pictures and the causes thereof and for determining proposals for appropriate therapy, which can lead to a diagnosis and a corresponding therapy proposal even in the case of complex clinical causes and pictures, said proposal involving a maximum diagnostic certainty and minimum risk for the patient.

Claims

1. A method wherein a computer processor is used for recording and analyzing syndromes of allergic diseases and their causes and for establishing appropriate therapy proposals comprising

a) preparing at least one set of anamnesis questions, wherein the anamnesis questions include questions relating to the time or cause of the occurrence or a combination thereof, the severity of symptoms of an allergic disease and the environmental exposure of a patient, and storing this set in a data memory in a tangible computer-readable media,

b) preparing a set of data relating to the causes of allergic diseases, including a listing of allergens, and storing this set in a data memory in a tangible computer-readable media, wherein the data is continuously revised and extended,

c) providing a computer program which selects and presents anamnesis questions according to a predetermined set of rules,

d) recording the answers to the anamnesis questions in a tangible computer-readable media, wherein within the framework of the anamnesis questions preliminary information is recorded which includes at least the age and gender of a patient and optionally one or more principal allergic symptoms, affected organs or other diagnosed illnesses or a combination thereof, and wherein the answers are at least partly predetermined in discrete selection steps,

e) awarding point values to at least some of the answers to anamnesis questions,

f) adding or multiplying together the point values for specific answers or groups of answers, thereby creating total point values for a group of answers or the entire anamnesis or a combination thereof, and storing the total point values in a data memory in a tangible computer readable media,

g) creating a set of possible diagnoses using the criterion of whether the total point values for specific groups of answers or the entire anamnesis or a combination thereof exceed a predeterminable threshold value and preparing a proposal for the allergens to be tested to further narrow down the diagnosis,

h) preparing one or more diagnosis proposals,

i) preparing one or more therapy proposals, wherein steps e) to i) proceed automatically under the control of an interactive computer program, which outputs or displays the questions, diagnoses or proposals or a combination thereof,

j) preparing test proposals to further narrow the diagnosis proposals and therapy proposals,

k) providing a storage device in which all the data recorded from patients is supplied in anonymized form, and

l) selecting comparable anamneses from the data recorded from patients based on the answers to the anamnesis questions.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein g) includes the comparison of the obtained set of answers with other sets of answers which have been obtained from earlier anamneses.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein contraindications are recorded prior to the preparing of therapy proposals.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein contraindications are recorded prior to the preparing of therapy proposals within the framework of d).

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the computer program has a scale valuation and combination of the scale valuations of individual answers for the analysis of the recorded data.

6. A method according to claim 1, which is performed or operated on a computer that is without connection to a network.

7. A system in a tangible computer-readable media wherein a computer processor is used for recording and analyzing syndromes of allergic diseases and their causes and for establishing appropriate therapy proposals comprising

a) a data memory with a stored set of anamnesis questions in a tangible computer-readable media, wherein the anamnesis questions include questions relating to the time or cause of the occurrence or a combination thereof, the severity of symptoms of an allergic disease and the environmental exposure of a patient,

b) a stored set of data in a tangible computer-readable media relating to causes of allergic diseases, including pathogenic or allergenic substances or a combination thereof, wherein the data is continuously revised and extended,

c) a computer with a computer program which is capable of evaluating and presenting anamnesis questions according to a predeterminable set of rules,

d) an input device for the inputting of patient data and answers to the anamnesis questions, wherein the answers are at least partly predetermined in discrete selection steps,

e) a storage device for the inputted data in a tangible computer-readable media,

f) a computer program in a tangible computer-readable media which processes the inputted data for the purpose of creating proposals for allergens to be tested, one or more diagnoses and one or more therapy proposals, wherein point values are awarded to at least some of the answers to anamnesis questions and wherein the point values for specific answers or groups of answers are added or multiplied together, thereby creating total point values for a group of answers or the entire anamnesis or a combination thereof,

g) an output device for the presentation of the questions, the diagnoses or therapy proposals or a combination thereof,

h) said output device being capable of further presenting test proposals for the allergens to be tested to further narrow the diagnosis proposals and therapy proposals, and

i) wherein a storage device is provided in which all the data recorded from patients is supplied in anonymized form for comparison of anamneses.

8. A system according to claim 7, wherein the storage device with anonymized patient data is a storage device which is accessible to a specifiable circle of users.

9. A system according to claim 7, which has an access possibility to an allergen database.

10. A system according to claim 7, wherein the computer program in f) has a scale valuation and combination of the scale valuations of individual answers for the analysis of the recorded data.

11. A system according to claim 7, wherein the program in f) has a module which carries out a comparison with recorded anamnesis data available in the system for the analysis of the recorded data.

12. A system according to claim 7, which is without connection to a network.