System and method for monitoring and displaying radiology image traffic

• US 7,979,522 B2
• Filed: 03/02/2006
• Issued: 07/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: L-Cubed Medical Informatics LLC
• Original Assignee: L-Cubed Medical Informatics LLC
• Inventors: Lunsford, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): WASEL, MOHAMED A
• Application Number:
  US11/367,089
• Publication Number:
  US 20070299945A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,958 Days
• Field of Search: 709223-225
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/40 for processing medical images, e.g. editing

Abstract

A system and method for detecting and monitoring confidential and DICOM image traffic on a computing device in a PACS network, protecting patient confidentiality by preventing the simultaneous display of confidential images and patient identification information when measuring and displaying the image data. The system detects and measures the transfer of confidential images and stores and displays information included in only the non-confidential headers of the images. The system monitors and warns (such as via email and/or pagers) PACS administrators of system slowdowns as a result of the data gathered.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring performance of a medical data network without violating patient confidentiality comprising:

receiving a stream of data at a network interface of a computing device, the stream of data including confidential medical images, the confidential medical images conforming to a medical image standard in which each image includes a non-confidential header portion, a patient identifier portion, and an image body portion, the stream of data being transferred between a medical data network and the computing device;

monitoring the stream of data for non-confidential header portions of confidential medical images conforming to the medical image standard;

maintaining an image receipt database including receipt times associated with previously received non-confidential header portions;

recording, for each non-confidential header portion detected in the stream of data, a receipt time in the image receipt database associated with the non-confidential header portion; and

generating, substantially immediately after detection of a non-confidential header portion of a confidential medical image, a graphical user interface displaying a current flowrate of confidential medical images through the network interface, wherein generating the graphical user interface includes periodically revising the graphical user interface based on receipt times currently in the image receipt database.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

storing, from each non-confidential header portion received, the receipt time, a patient name contained within the patient identifier portion of the confidential medical image, an amount of data received by the network interface since the previous receipt of a non-confidential header portion, and a source identifier identifying the source transmitting the confidential medical image to the network interface.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring comprises:

monitoring the stream of data at the network interface for confidential medical images image data conforming to a DICOM standard header; and

upon detection of the DICOM standard header, recording that a confidential medical image has been received by the network interface.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein monitoring comprises:

monitoring the stream of data for at least 8 bytes of“

0”

data followed by bytes containing data corresponding to the characters “

DICM”

.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

recording receipt of a confidential medical image upon detection in the stream of data at the network interface of any one of;

at least 8 bytes of“

0”

data followed by bytes containing data corresponding to the characters “

DICM”

;

at least one byte of“

0”

data followed by bytes containing data corresponding to the characters “

DERIVED/PRIMARY”

;

at least one by of“

0”

data followed by bytes containing data corresponding to the characters “

ORIGINAL/SECONDARY ”

;

at least one byte of“

0”

data followed by bytes containing data corresponding to the characters “

ORIGINAL/PRIMARY ”

;

at least one byte of“

0”

data followed by bytes containing data corresponding to the characters “

DERIVED/SECONDARY ”

.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

displaying on the graphical user interface a second graphical representation, the second graphical representation being a graphical representation of an average number of images received per the first period during a second period.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving from the graphical user interface a user command to display information regarding a received image; and

displaying the patient name contained within the patient identifier portion of the image associated with the received image.