System and method for automated medical diagnostic interpretation and report generation

• US 8,295,576 B2
• Filed: 08/09/2006
• Issued: 10/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Mednova, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Mednova, Inc.
• Inventors: Gadodia, Gopal, Desai, Shashin, Patel, Anil
• Primary Examiner(s): Cattungal, Sanjay
• Application Number:
  US11/990,190
• Publication Number:
  US 20090171225A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,267 Days
• Field of Search: 600407-429, 600437-469, 600473-480, 382128-132, 705/2
• US Class Current: 382/132
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof

Abstract

Automated medical diagnostic interpretation and report generation for a non-invasive medical diagnostic test, such as an echo cardiogram, is provided. Various dimension measurements and physiological measurements from an echo cardiogram machine are transferred automatically to a computer over an echo cardiogram machine interface. The dimensions and physiological measurements are automatically interpreted by an intelligent interpretation engine running on a computer, generating various machine evaluations. The physician can approve the machine evaluations, overrule them, or make appropriate adjustments. Upon completion of the physician'"'"'s review, the physician approved interpretations become diagnostic conclusions, and the report containing the results of the physician'"'"'s review is generated by the report generation engine.

Claims

1. A method for automated medical diagnostic interpretation and report generation for a non-invasive medical diagnostic test, the method comprising:

receiving, by a computer, one or more structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements of the non-invasive medical diagnostic test from a non-invasive medical diagnostic device;

interpreting, by using an artificial intelligence system or an expert system included in the computer, the received structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements;

generating a diagnostic evaluation to be reviewed by a physician based on the interpretation; and

generating a diagnostic report upon completion of the physician'"'"'s review.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-invasive medical diagnostic test is an echo cardiogram.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements from the echo cardiogram test comprise:

a measurement of the size of the left ventricle, the left atrium, the aortic root, and the right-sided chambers;

a measurement of pericardial effusion; and

a measurement of Doppler velocities across one or more heart valves, and

wherein the diagnostic evaluation comprises;

an evaluation of whether the left ventricle is normal in size or dilated;

an evaluation of whether the left ventricle is hypertrophied;

an evaluation of calcification;

an evaluation of the existence of pathological mass or structure in the cardiac chamber cavity;

an evaluation of a severity of pericardial effusion;

an evaluation of a severity of regurgitation through a heart valve;

an evaluation of tricuspid regurgitation;

an evaluation of pulmonary hypertension; and

an evaluation of aortic and mistral valve stenosis.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a modification of or an addition to the diagnostic evaluation by the physician, wherein

upon receiving an input representing an approval of the diagnostic evaluation from the physician, the diagnostic report reflecting the modification or the addition is generated and output.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein said one or more structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements includes a measurement of pericardial effusion, and the diagnostic evaluation includes an evaluation of a severity of pericardial effusion.

4. A method for automated medical diagnostic interpretation and report generation for an echo cardiogram test, the method comprising:

receiving, by a computer, one or more structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements from an echo cardiogram test device, said one or more structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements including at least one of;

a measurement of the size of the left ventricle, the left atrium, the aortic root, and the right-sided chambers;

a measurement of pericardial effusion; and

a measurement of Doppler velocities across one or more heart valves;

interpreting, by using an artificial intelligence system or an expert system included in the computer, the received structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements;

generating diagnostic evaluations to be reviewed by a physician based on the interpretation, the diagnostic evaluations including at least one of;

an evaluation of whether the left ventricle is normal in size or dilated;

an evaluation of whether the left ventricle is hypertrophied;

an evaluation of calcification;

an evaluation of the existence of pathological mass or structure in the cardiac chamber cavity;

an evaluation of a severity of pericardial effusion;

an evaluation of a severity of regurgitation through a heart valve;

an evaluation of tricuspid regurgitation;

an evaluation of pulmonary hypertension; and

an evaluation of aortic and mistral valve stenosis; and

generating a diagnostic report upon completion of the physician'"'"'s review.

14. The method of claim 4, further comprising receiving a modification of or an addition to the diagnostic evaluation by the physician, wherein

upon receiving an input representing an approval of the diagnostic evaluation from the physician, the diagnostic report reflecting the modification or the addition is generated and output.

15. The method of claim 4, wherein said one or more structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements includes a measurement of pericardial effusion, and the diagnostic evaluation includes an evaluation of a severity of pericardial effusion.

5. A system for automated medical diagnostic interpretation and report generation for a non-invasive medical diagnostic test, the system comprising:

a computer;

a medical diagnostic interpretation engine including an artificial intelligence or an expert system; and

a report generation engine, wherein;

the medical diagnostic interpretation engine running on the computer receives one or more structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements from a non-invasive medical diagnostic test device, interprets, by using the artificial intelligence or the expert system, the received structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements, and generates a diagnostic evaluation to be reviewed by a physician based on the interpretation, and

upon completion of the physician'"'"'s review, the report generation engine generates a diagnostic report.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the non-invasive medical diagnostic test is an echo cardiogram test.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements from the echo cardiogram test comprise:

a measurement of the size of the left ventricle, the left atrium, the aortic root, and the right-sided chambers;

a measurement of pericardial effusion; and

a measurement of Doppler velocities across one or more heart valves, and

wherein the diagnostic evaluation comprises;

an evaluation of whether the left ventricle is normal in size or dilated;

an evaluation of whether the left ventricle is hypertrophied;

an evaluation of calcification;

an evaluation of the existence of pathological mass or structure in the cardiac chamber cavity;

an evaluation of a severity of pericardial effusion;

an evaluation of a severity of regurgitation through a heart valve;

an evaluation of tricuspid regurgitation;

an evaluation of pulmonary hypertension; and

an evaluation of aortic and mistral valve stenosis.

16. The system of claim 5, wherein:

the report generating engine receives a modification of or an addition to the diagnostic evaluation by the physician, and

upon receiving an input representing an approval of the diagnostic evaluation from the physician, the report generating engine generates and output the diagnostic report reflecting the modification or the addition.

17. The system of claim 5, wherein said one or more structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements includes a measurement of pericardial effusion, and the diagnostic evaluation includes an evaluation of a severity of pericardial effusion.

8. A system for automated medical diagnostic interpretation and report generation for an echo cardiogram test, the system comprising:

a computer;

a medical diagnostic interpretation engine including an artificial intelligence or an expert system; and

a report generation engine, wherein;

the medical diagnostic interpretation engine running on the computer receives one or more structural dimensions and physiological measurements from an echo cardiogram test device, the one or more structural dimensions and physiological measurements including at least one of a measurement of the size of the left ventricle, the left atrium, the aortic root, and the right-sided chambers, a measurement of pericardial effusion, and a measurement of Doppler velocities across one or more heart valves;

the medical diagnostic interpretation engine interprets, by using the artificial intelligence or the expert system, the received structural dimensions and physiological measurements, and generates diagnostic evaluations to be reviewed by a physician based on the interpretation, the diagnostic evaluations including at least one of;

an evaluation of whether the left ventricle is normal in size or dilated;

an evaluation of whether the left ventricle is hypertrophied;

an evaluation of calcification;

an evaluation of the existence of pathological mass or structure in the cardiac chamber cavity;

an evaluation of a severity of pericardial effusion;

an evaluation of a severity of regurgitation through a heart valve;

an evaluation of tricuspid regurgitation;

an evaluation of pulmonary hypertension; and

an evaluation of aortic and mistral valve stenosis; and

upon completion of the physician'"'"'s review, the report generation engine generates a diagnostic report.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

an interface to the echo cardiogram test device for receiving said one or more structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements automatically from the echo cardiogram test device; and

a database for storing and retrieving patient records.

18. The system of claim 8, wherein:

the report generating engine receives a modification of or an addition to the diagnostic evaluation by the physician, and

upon receiving an input representing an approval of the diagnostic evaluation from the physician, the report generating engine generates and output the diagnostic report reflecting the modification or the addition.

19. The system of claim 8, wherein said one or more structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements includes a measurement of pericardial effusion, and the diagnostic evaluation includes an evaluation of a severity of pericardial effusion.

10. A system for automated medical diagnostic interpretation and report generation for an echo cardiogram test, the system comprising:

means for receiving one or more structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements from an echo cardiogram test device, the one or more structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements including at least one of;

a measurement of the size of the left ventricle, the left atrium, the aortic root, and the right-sided chambers;

a measurement of pericardial effusion; and

a measurement of Doppler velocities across one or more heart valves;

means for interpreting the received structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements, the means for interpreting including an artificial intelligence system or an expert system running on a computer;

means for generating diagnostic evaluations to be reviewed by a physician based on the interpretation, the diagnostic evaluation including at least one of;

an evaluation of whether the left ventricle is normal in size or dilated;

an evaluation of whether the left ventricle is hypertrophied;

an evaluation of calcification;

an evaluation of the existence of pathological mass or structure in the cardiac chamber cavity;

an evaluation of a severity of pericardial effusion;

an evaluation of a severity of regurgitation through a heart valve;

an evaluation of tricuspid regurgitation;

an evaluation of pulmonary hypertension; and

an evaluation of aortic and mistral valve stenosis; and

means for generating a diagnostic report upon completion of the physician'"'"'s review.

20. The system of claim 10, wherein:

the means for generating a diagnostic report receives a modification of or an addition to the diagnostic evaluation by the physician, and

upon receiving an input representing an approval of the diagnostic evaluation from the physician, the means for generating a diagnostic report generates and output the diagnostic report reflecting the modification or the addition.

21. The system of claim 10, wherein said one or more structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements includes a measurement of pericardial effusion, and the diagnostic evaluation includes an evaluation of a severity of pericardial effusion.

11. Computer-executable process steps for automated medical diagnostic interpretation and report generation for an echo cardiogram test, the steps comprising:

a step for receiving, by a computer, one or more structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements from an echo cardiogram test device, the one or more structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements including all of;

a measurement of the size of the left ventricle, the left atrium, the aortic root, and the right-sided chambers;

a measurement of pericardial effusion; and

a measurement of Doppler velocities across one or more heart valves;

a step for interpreting, by using an artificial intelligence system or an expert system included in the computer, the received structural dimension measurements and physiological measurements;

a step for generating diagnostic evaluations to be reviewed by a physician based on the interpretation, the diagnostic evaluation including all of;

an evaluation of whether the left ventricle is normal in size or dilated;

an evaluation of whether the left ventricle is hypertrophied;

an evaluation of calcification;

an evaluation of the existence of pathological mass or structure in the cardiac chamber cavity;

an evaluation of a severity of pericardial effusion;

an evaluation of a severity of regurgitation through a heart valve;

an evaluation of tricuspid regurgitation;

an evaluation of pulmonary hypertension; and

an evaluation of aortic and mistral valve stenosis; and

a step for generating a diagnostic report upon completion of the physician'"'"'s review.