System and method for integrating ancillary data in DICOM image files

• US 8,140,350 B2
• Filed: 02/21/2006
• Issued: 03/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Medimaging Tools, LLC
• Original Assignee: Medimaging Tools, LLC
• Inventors: Rothpearl, Allen, Killcommons, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Morgan, Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fuelling, Michael
• Application Number:
  US11/358,254
• Publication Number:
  US 20060242148A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,219 Days
• Field of Search: 705/2
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

The invention comprises a system and method for integrating electronic patient information with an electronic medical image file. In one embodiment, at least one information processor is provided that is operable to communicate over a communication network. A database is provided on the at least one information processor, wherein the database is operable to store electronic patient information representing a plurality of patients, and further to store respective image files representing patient medical examinations. A receiving module is preferably included that receives an image file representing a patient medical examination. The image file is preferably formatted with a respective filename. Also, a converting module is provided that is operable to convert the image file to be associated with at least one tag, wherein the converting module refers to at least the respective filename to associate the image with the tag(s), and further the tag(s) are associated with the image file to associate the medical image record with the electronic patient information for a respective patient. A storage module is further operable to store the converted image to the database. Preferably, the modules operate substantially without human intervention.

Claims

1. A system for integrating electronic patient information with an electronic medical image file, the system comprising:

at least one computer processor operatively coupled to non-transitory processor readable media;

at least one database accessible to the at least one computer processor, wherein the at least one database stores at least;

electronic Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (“

DICOM”

) tag information that includes data representing a plurality of patients; and

medical images representing medical examinations respectively associated with the electronic DICOM tag information; and

a communication device that is operatively connected to the at least one computer processor and that transmits and receives electronic information over a communication network,

wherein the non-transitory processor readable media further stores instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor cause the at least one computer processor to;

receive, via the communication device and over the communication network, a first electronic DICOM file that comprises at least one DICOM tag and at least one image, wherein the first electronic DICOM file represents a medical study for a patient, and further wherein the at least one DICOM tag is in conformance with DICOM as existing on Feb. 22, 2005;

copy the at least one DICOM tag from the first electronic DICOM file;

store, in the at least one database, the at least one DICOM tag copied from the first electronic DICOM file;

generate, from the at least one DICOM tag copied from the electronic DICOM file, a barcode that represents one or more of the at least one DICOM tag copied from the first electronic DICOM file;

transmit, via the communication device and over the communication network, the barcode to at least one computing device;

receive, via the communication device and over the communication network from the at least one computing device, electronic patient information that includes the barcode, and further includes at least some information representing the patient that was not included in the first electronic DICOM file, and further wherein the electronic patient information is formatted as an image file;

read, from the barcode received from the at least one computing device, the one or more of the at least one DICOM tag copied from the first electronic DICOM file;

generate a second electronic DICOM file that includes a combination of at least the DICOM tag that was read from the barcode received from the at least one computing device and the at least some information representing the patient that was not included in the first electronic DICOM file; and

store the second electronic DICOM file in the at least one database.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the second electronic DICOM file is added to the first electronic DICOM file.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the non-transitory processor readable media further stores instructions for causing the at least one computer processor to receive electronic textual information that further represents the medical study.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the non-transitory processor readable media further stores instructions for causing the at least one computer processor to associate the electronic textual information with the at least one image.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the non-transitory processor readable media further stores instructions for causing the at least one computer processor to associate the at least one image with the electronic textual information by adding the electronic textual information to the at least one image.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the electronic textual information includes handwritten notes, forms and/or charts.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a facsimile receiver that is configured to receive a fax cover page formatted with the barcode, and is further configured to receive electronic textual information that represents the medical study represented by the at least one image.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the non-transitory processor readable media further stores instructions for causing the at least one computer processor to associate the electronic textual information with the at least one image, wherein the electronic textual information is received by the facsimile receiver.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising a graphical user interface providing one or more graphical screen controls enabling a user to identify parameters for the at least one computer processor and to cause the at least one computer processor to execute the instructions.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the graphical screen controls include data entry controls for least one selected from the group consisting of:

a uniform resource locator identifying a location of an electronic file, wherein the location represents a directory name or a folder name;

an identifier representing the medical study;

an identifier representing the patient;

an examination date;

an institution name;

a referring physician'"'"'s demographic information;

a treating physician'"'"'s demographic information;

an interne protocol address and port number representing a receiving location for transmitting electronic information; and

an open database connectivity data source name representing the at least one database.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising a display that is operable to display the second electronic DICOM file.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising a reporting module that enables a user to execute a query of the database and that displays a report of the results of the query.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the query is executed and the report is displayed via a web browser software application over the internet.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the report is formatted in hypertext markup language, and further wherein the report includes selectable links.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the selectable links enable the user to generate a fax cover page and/or view the medical image file associated with the at least one tag.

16. A method for integrating electronic patient information with an electronic medical image file, the method comprising:

providing at least one computer processor operatively coupled to non-transitory processor readable media;

storing, on the non-transitory processor readable media, at least one database that stores at least;

electronic Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (“

DICOM”

) tag information that includes data representing a plurality of patients; and

medical images representing medical examinations respectively associated with the electronic DICOM tag information; and

providing a communication device that is operatively connected to the at least one computer processor and that transmits and receives electronic information over a communication network;

receiving, by the at least one computer processor via the communication device and over the communication network, a first electronic DICOM file that comprises at least one DICOM tag and at least one image, wherein the first electronic DICOM file represents a medical study for a patient, and further wherein the at least one DICOM tag is in conformance with DICOM as existing on Feb. 22, 2005;

copying by the at least one computer processor the at least one DICOM tag from the first electronic DICOM file;

storing by the at least one computer processor, in the at least one database, the at least one DICOM tag copied from the first electronic DICOM file;

generating by the at least one computer processor, from the at least one DICOM tag copied from the first electronic DICOM file, a barcode that represents one or more of the at least one DICOM tag copied from the first electronic DICOM file;

transmitting by the at least one computer processor, via the communication device and over the communication network, the barcode to at least one computing device;

receiving by the at least one computer processor, via the communication device and over the communication network from the at least one computing device, electronic patient information that includes the barcode, and further includes at least some information representing the patient that was not included in the first electronic DICOM file, and further wherein the electronic patient information is formatted as an image file;

reading by the at least one computer processor, from the barcode received from the at least one computing device, the one or more of the at least one DICOM tag copied from the first electronic DICOM file;

generating by the at least one computer processor a second electronic DICOM file that includes a combination of at least the at least one DICOM tag that was read from the barcode received from the at least one computing device and the at least some information representing the patient that was not included in the first electronic DICOM file; and

storing by the at least one computer processor the second electronic DICOM file in the at least one database.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the second electronic DICOM file is added to the first electronic DICOM file.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the instructions cause the at least one computer processor to operate substantially without human intervention.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising receiving by the at least one computer processor, via the communication device, textual information that further represents the medical study.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the non-transitory processor readable media further stores instructions for causing the at least one computer processor to associate the electronic textual information with the at least one image.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the generating the second electronic DICOM file comprises associating the at least one image with the electronic textual information by adding the electronic textual information to the at least one image.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the electronic textual information includes handwritten notes, forms and/or charts.

23. The method of claim 16, further comprising receiving by facsimile receiver a fax cover page formatted with the barcode, and receiving electronic textual information that represents the medical study represented by the at least one image.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the non-transitory processor readable media further stores instructions for causing the at least one computer processor to associate the electronic textual information with the at least one image, wherein the electronic textual information is received by the facsimile receiver.

25. The method of claim 16, further comprising providing a graphical user interface that includes one or more graphical screen controls enabling a user to identify parameters for the step of receiving and/or the step of converting, and/or further to instruct the computer processor to execute at least one of the steps of receiving, converting or storing.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the graphical screen controls include data entry controls for least one selected from the group consisting of:

a uniform resource locator identifying a location of an electronic file, wherein the location represents a directory name or a folder name;

an identifier representing the medical study;

an identifier representing the patient;

an examination date;

an institution name;

a referring physician'"'"'s demographic information;

a treating physician'"'"'s demographic information;

an internet protocol address and port number representing a receiving location for transmitting electronic information; and

an open database connectivity data source name representing the at least one database.

27. The method of claim 16, further comprising displaying the medical image file and the associated electronic textual information.

28. The method of claim 16, further comprising providing an interface to enable a user to execute a query of the database, and displaying a report of the results of the query.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising providing the interface and displaying the report via a web browser software application over the internet.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising formatting the report in hypertext markup language, and including includes selectable links in the report.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the selectable links enable the user to generate facsimiles and/or view the medical image file associated with the at least one tag.

32. The method of claim 16, wherein the second electronic DICOM file includes a DICOM image file.