Patent Application
20120254172
The present invention generally relates to user interface and methods for interacting with a computer system, and more particularly, to a user interface and method for browsing and selecting a multimedia object, such as a patient exam record, study or the like.
Medical imaging often includes creating images and/or video sequences of the human body or parts of the human body for clinical purposes such as examination, diagnosis and/or treatment. These images may be acquired by a number of different imaging modalities including, for example, ultrasound (US), magnetic resonance (MR), positron emission tomography (PET), computed tomography (CT), mammograms (MG) digital radiology (DR), computed radiology (CR) or the like. In a number of example medical imaging workflows, such as in the case of a picture archiving and communication system (PACS), an image study for a patient may include one or more acquired images of the patient along with information that may reside with or otherwise accompany the images. This information may include, for example, a study identifier (ID) as well as patient information such as the patient's name, demographics, medical record number or the like.
Once a patient study has been created, the study may be stored in a database of a central storage device for later retrieval by a workstation where the study may be reviewed by a medical professional such as a radiologist who may make one or more diagnoses or other assessments of the patient from the study, and record those diagnoses or other assessments in a text-based report. This report may then be stored in an information system such as a hospital information system (HIS), radiology information system (RIS) or the like, where the report may be linked or otherwise associated with the image study such as by study ID, patient name, medical record number or the like.
In light of the foregoing background, exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus, method and computer-readable storage medium for browsing and selecting a multimedia object, such as a patient exam that may include an image study and associated report. According to one aspect of exemplary embodiments of the present invention, an apparatus is provided that includes a processor and a memory storing executable instructions that in response to execution by the processor cause the apparatus to at least perform a number of functions. The apparatus is caused to direct presentation of a list that identifies a plurality of patient exams for a plurality of patients, that presents information regarding one or more elements of the respective patient exams such as an image study and an associated report, and that is clustered by patient.
The apparatus is caused to apply a keyword filter to identify a subset of the plurality of patient exams that match the keyword filter, and to rank the respective patient exams by relevance to the keyword filter. The apparatus is also caused to direct presentation of a filtered list of patient exams that identifies the subset of the plurality of patient exams and presents information regarding the respective exams. The subset of the plurality of patient exams is clustered by patient in the filtered list of patient exams. And for each patient having one or more patient exams in the subset of the plurality of patient exams, the respective patient exam(s) are in ranked order in the filtered list of patient exams according to the keyword filter.
In various examples, the subset of the plurality of patient exams may be clustered by patient in the filtered list of patient exams, and the clusters of patient exams may be ordered in the filtered list by a rank of at least one of the patient exams of each of the clusters. In these examples, the clusters of patient exams may be ordered in the filtered list by the highest rank of the patient exams of each of the clusters, or by a weighted average of the ranks of the patient exams of each of the clusters.
In one more particular example, the apparatus may be caused to apply a keyword filter to identify an ordered subset of the plurality of patient exams S={O1, O2, . . . Ok, . . . On; Rk≧Rk+1}, in which Ok represents an exam of a single patient, Rk represents the rank of exam Ok, and given two patient exams Ok and Oj, Ok is more relevant than Oj if and only if Rk>Rj. In this example, the apparatus may be caused to transform the ordered subset of the plurality of patient exams S to a clustered and ordered subset of the plurality of patient exams Sc={C1, C2, . . . Cx, . . . Cm; RCk≧RCk+1}, in which Cx represents an ordered set of patient exams {Op . . . Oq . . . Or} belonging to patient Px in a set of patients P ={P1 . . . Pm}, Rq≧Rq+1, and RCk represents a ranking of Ck. The ranking of Ck, RCk, may be set as the rank of the first ordered patient exam of Ck, or it may be set as a weighted average of the ranks of the patient exams of Ck. Further, in this example, the filtered list of patient exams may then identify the clustered and ordered subset of the plurality of patient exams Sc and present information regarding the respective exams.
In one example, presentation of the list may include presentation of a user interface including a region presenting the list, where the region may be sized such that the presented information regarding at least some but not all of the patient exams of the list of patient exams is viewable at a time. In this example, one or more of the plurality of patient exams may be designated as being of higher priority than others of the plurality of patient exams. The apparatus, then, may be further caused to identify an instance in which the presented information viewable in the region does not include information regarding at least one of the higher-priority patient exams; and in response thereto, direct presentation of an alert to notify a user of an availability of information for a higher-priority patient exam.
In one example, presentation of the list may include presentation of a user interface having the list. In this example, one or more of the plurality of patient exams may be designated as being of higher priority than others of the plurality of patient exams, and for each higher-priority patient exam, the information presented by the list of patient exams may include selectable information indicating the patient exam's designation as being higher priority. The apparatus, then, may be further configured to receive an indication of user acknowledgment of receipt of a higher-priority patient exam or information regarding the higher-priority patient exam. The acknowledgment may include the apparatus being caused to receive an indication of user long selection of the information indicating the respective patient exam's designation as being higher priority, and direct presentation of a dialog that includes a selectable user interface element for the acknowledgment. The acknowledgment may also include the apparatus being caused to receive an indication of user selection of the selectable user interface element, and receive an indication of user selection of the information indicating the respective patient exam's designation as being higher priority, without first receiving an indication of user interaction with any other area of the user interface.
Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. For example, references may be made herein to directions and orientations including up, down, right and left; it should be understood, however, that any direction and orientation references are simply examples and that any particular direction or orientation may depend on the particular object, and/or the orientation of the particular object, with which the direction or orientation reference is made. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
In one example embodiment, the workstation 12 may form part of one or more of a hospital information system (HIS), radiology information system (RIS), picture archiving and communication system (PACS) or the like. The workstation may therefore include a HIS workstation, RIS workstation, PACS workstation or the like. In other example embodiments, the workstation may include a workstation configured to support multiple ones of a HIS, RIS and/or PACS workstation, logically separated but co-located within the respective workstation.
Similar to the workstation 12, the server 14 may be a server of one or more of a HIS, RIS, PACS or the like. The server may therefore include a HIS server, RIS server, PACS server or the like, each of which may be configured to interface with a respective database. In other example embodiments, the server may include a server configured to support multiple ones of a HIS, RIS and/or PACS server, logically separated but co-located within the respective server.
The workstation 12 and server 14 may be configured to directly and/or indirectly communicate with one another in any of a number of different manners including, for example, any of a number of wireline or wireless communication or networking techniques. Examples of such techniques include, without limitation, Universal Serial Bus (USB), radio frequency (RF), Bluetooth (BT), infrared (IrDA), any of a number of different cellular (wireless) communication techniques such as any of a number of 2G, 2.5G, 3G or 4G communication techniques, local area network (LAN), wireless LAN (WLAN) techniques or the like. In accordance with various ones of these techniques, the workstation(s) and server may be coupled to and configured to communicate across one or more networks 16. The network(s) may include any of a number of different combinations of one or more different types of networks, including data and/or voice networks. For example, the network(s) may include one or more data networks, such as a LAN, a metropolitan area network (MAN), and/or a wide area network (WAN) (e.g., Internet), and include one or more voice networks, such as a public-switched telephone network (PSTN). Although not shown, the network(s) may include one or more apparatuses such as one or more routers, switches or the like for relaying data, information or the like between the workstation and server.
Reference is now made to
As shown in
In addition to the memory 20, the processor 18 may also be connected to at least one interface or other means for displaying, transmitting and/or receiving data, content or the like, such as in accordance with USB, RF, BT, IrDA, WLAN, LAN, MAN, WAN (e.g., Internet), PSTN techniques or the like. In this regard, the interface(s) may include at least one communication interface 24 or other means for transmitting and/or receiving data, content or the like. In addition to the communication interface(s), the interface(s) may also include at least one user interface that may include one or more earphones and/or speakers, a display 26, and/or a user input interface 28. The user input interface, in turn, may include any of a number of devices allowing the apparatus to receive data from a user, such as a microphone, a keypad, a touch-sensitive surface (integral or separate from the display), a joystick, or other input device.
Reference is now made to
The method of one example embodiment may include receiving information regarding a number of patient exams, as shown in block 30. A patient exam may include an image study with one or more images and/or one or more video sequences (generally “images”), and may include one or more associated reports. Additionally, a patient exam may include other information including, for example, documents associated with the study such as scanned or electronic documents, forms, diagrams or the like. It should be understood, however, that a patient exam may not include a report such as in an instance in which the respective image study is unreported. Thus, the number of patient exams may include one or more patient exams each of which includes both an image study and associated report, and may include one or more patient exams each of which includes an image study but does not include (or does not yet include) an associated report.
As or after the information regarding patient exams is received, the method may include generating and presenting or directing presentation of a user interface including the information or a representation of the information, as shown in block 32. A user may interact with the user interface to browse the information; and as or after each user interaction, the method may include receiving an indication of the user interaction, and adjusting or directing adjustment of the user interface in accordance with the user interaction, as shown in block 34. This may facilitate the user locating a patient exam of interest, or for a patient exam, an image study or report of interest. The user may then interact with the user interface to select a patient exam, or select an image study or report of a patient exam.
As or after the user interaction to select a patient exam, or select an image study or report of a patient exam, the method may include receiving an indication of the user interaction, and retrieving or directing retrieval of the selected patient exam, image study or report, as shown in block 36. The method may then include presenting or directing presentation of the selected patient exam, image study or report by the user interface, as shown in block 38. In various instances, as the user interface presents the selected patient exam, image study or report, the user interface may continue to present information regarding one or more patient exams or a representation of the respective information. Alternatively, the user may interact with the user interface to recall the information or representation of information regarding one or more patient exams. In these instances, the method may return to presentation of the respective information or representation for browsing and selection of a patient exam, image study or report, as shown in block 40. For more information regarding manners by which information including that for a number of patient exams or a selected patient exam may be received, retrieved, processed or otherwise presented, see U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled: Method, Apparatus and Computer Program Product for Normalizing and Processing Medical Images; U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled: Method, Apparatus and Computer Program Product for Displaying Normalized Medical Images; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled: Methods, Apparatuses and Computer Program Products for Providing Adaptive Rendering Quality Degradation, all of which are filed concurrently herewith. The contents of all of the foregoing patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their respective entireties.
Reference is now made to
The user interface of one example embodiment may be configured to present a number of different views allowing a user to browse and view patient exams, and in which each view may include one or more windows, regions or the like (generally “regions”).
Turning more particularly now to the first region 50, the first list of patient exams 52 may include any of a number of different pieces of information for each exam. This information may include textual information 58 such as a time/date, study ID, part of the body to which the exam is directed, modality and type of images acquired. The information may also include thumbnail images representing one or more elements of the patient exam. In one example, a thumbnail image may represent one or more reports 60, or one or more images or sequences of images of an image study 62. These thumbnail images may be general representative images, or in one example embodiment, one or more of the thumbnail images may be of the actual elements. The user interface may overlay one or more of the thumbnail images with information regarding the element of the exam study to which it pertains. For a thumbnail of a report, this further information may include, for example, a graphical information such as a static or animated icon 64 or other image (generally referred to as an “icon”) representing a report and text depicting the number of reports in the exam.
For an image study, the user interface may overlay the thumbnail image 62 with information such as that representing or otherwise depicting the type and/or number of image(s) or video sequence(s) of the study. More particularly for example, for a volumetric sequence of images, the information may include an icon 66 representing a three-dimensional (3D) volume and text depicting the number of volumes in the sequence and (parenthetically) the number of images in the sequence. For other multi-image sequences, the information may include, for example, an icon 68 representing a stack of images and text depicting the number of images in the stack. For a video sequence, the information may include, for example, an icon representing a video sequence and text depicting the length of the video sequence. Even further, in various instances in which a thumbnail image represents an image or sequence of images including one or more images designated as key images, the information may include an icon 70 representing key images and text depicting the number of key images.
The first list of patient exams 52 may fill all or a portion of the first region 50, and may even extend outside the first region viewable by the user. In instances in which the first list extends outside the first region, the first list may be scrollable such that the user may scroll through the patient exams to view information for those that may not otherwise be viewable. As shown in
As also shown in
In this second view, the user interface may also include a condensed second region 80 for presenting a second list of patient exams that, similar to the first list, identifies a plurality of patient exams by presenting various pieces of information regarding the respective exams. This second region may be smaller in size than the first region 50 of the first view, such as by being sized so that fewer patient exams may be viewable at any given instance. As shown in
The second list of patient exams in the second region 80 of the second view may include information for the same patient exams in the first list of patient exams 52 in the first region 50 of the first view. In one example embodiment, however, the second list of patient exams includes information for patient exams for the same patient as that of the selected patient exam. Thus, in various instances, the second list of patient exams may include information for one or more exams different from the patient exams of the list in the first region of the first view.
The second list of patient exams in the second region 80 of the second view may be scrollable similar to the first list of patient exams 52 in the first region 50 of the first view; and likewise, the elements of the second list of patient exams may be similarly scrollable as the elements of the first list of patient exams. Similar to the first view, to view an exam from the second list of exams, the user may select an exam such as by tapping their finger on a thumbnail representation of an element of the exam. The user interface may respond to this selection by presenting the respective element in the first region 78 and setting apart the respective thumbnail in the second region of the second view, such as by moving the border 82 from the thumbnail of the previously-presented element to the thumbnail of the currently-presented element.
In one example embodiment, the user interface may expand the size of the condensed second region 80 of the second view—and hence the second list of patient exams in the second region—in response to user input. As shown in
A patient exam may be selected from the second list of patient exams in the expanded second region 80a in a manner similar to selecting a patient exam from the first list of patient exams 52 presented in the first view. That is, the user may select an exam such as by tapping their finger 72e on the thumbnail representation of an element of the respective exam, as shown in
As indicated above, the second list of patient exams in the condensed second region 80 of the second view may be scrollable similar to the first list of patient exams 52 in the first region 50 of the first view. That is, as shown in
In instances in which the user scrolls through the second list in the condensed second region 80, the element 78 presented in the first region 76 of the second view may be selected in a number of different manners. In one example, the presented element may be an element pre-selected or otherwise designated as the most-relevant element of the exam information of which is viewable in the condensed second region. In various instances, the presented element may be further determined to be logically related to the element it replaces in the first region. For example, an image or group of images may be logically related to the image or group of images previously displayed in the first region (e.g., a sequence of images of the same type). In another example, as shown in
Returning to the first view of the user interface shown in
Let S={O1, O2, . . . Ok, . . . On; Rk≧Rk+1} represent a set of ordered patient exams returned as the results of an applied search engine algorithm (a subset of the first list of patient exams). In the preceding, Ok represents an exam of a single patient, and as determined by the search engine algorithm, Rk represents the rank of exam Ok. Given two patient exams Ok and Oj, Ok is more relevant than Oj if and only if Rk>Rj. In accordance with example embodiments of the present invention, the set of ordered patient exams S may be transformed to a set of clustered and ordered patient exams Sc={C1, C2, . . . Cx, . . . Cm; RCk≧RCk+1}. In the transformed set, Cx represents the ordered set of patient exams {Op . . . Oq . . . Or} belonging to patient Px in the set of patients P={R1 . . . Pm}, and Rq≧Rq+1. Also in the transformed set, RCk represents the ranking of Ck, which in various example embodiments may be set as the rank of the first ordered exam in Ck (the highest rank of any element in Ck) or as a weighted average of the ranks of the exams in Ck.
In various instances, the user interface may be configured to limit the number of patient exams in the first list of patient exams 52, or rather the filtered first list of patient exams. For example, the number of patient exams may be limited to a particular number of exams per patient. In this example, the user interface may include means for expanding the exams for a patient such as to present additional exams, or an entire list of exams including more than the particular number of exams.
As indicated above, in the third region 56 of the first view, the user may filter the first list of patient exams by exams 52 designated as being of higher priority than other exams. The first list of patient exams may therefore include one or more exams designated as being higher priority than other exams, and within the higher-priority exams, the exams may be further ranked by priority or importance. In one example, the higher-priority exams may include exams that have important information associated with them in the form of a “critical result” (a “critical result” is a form of communicating an unexpected and potentially grave result of a radiological exam).
As also indicated above, in instances in which the first list of patient exams extends outside the first region 50 shown to the user, the first list may be scrollable such that the user may scroll through the patient exams 52 to view information for those that may not otherwise be viewable. In accordance with one example embodiment, the user interface may be configured to provide an alert in an instance in which the first list of patient exams includes an exam of higher priority than any exam viewable in the first region. The higher-priority patient exam not viewable in the first region may be, for example, a patient exam scrolled out of the first region or a patient exam filtered out of the first list of patient exams. Although described herein with reference to the first list of patient exams, it should be understood that the user interface may be equally configured to provide an alert in an instance in which the second list of patient exams includes an exam of higher priority than any exam viewable in the condensed second region 80 or extended second region 80a.
The alert may include any of a number of different types of alerts, such as a visual, audible and/or tactile (e.g., vibration) alert. As shown in
In one example embodiment, as shown in
The user interface may be configured to cease presentation of the alert in response to information for a higher-priority exam of the first list of patient exams 52 becoming visible in the first region 50. In this regard, information for the higher-priority exam may become visible in the first region of the first view in a number of different manners. As shown in
The alert may be continuously presented until information for a higher-priority exam of the first list of patient exams 52 becomes visible in the first region 50. In other examples, the alert may be presented for a shorter period of time, or may be presented at regular or irregular intervals, until the aforementioned condition is satisfied.
Consider an example in which the list includes information for multiple higher-priority exams none of which is further ranked as being of higher priority than the others. In this example, the user interface may be configured to present the alert in instances in which no information for any of the higher-priority exams is viewable in the first region 50, but cease presentation of the alert when information for at least one of the higher-priority exams becomes viewable in the first region. The alert may not be presented as long as information for one of the higher-priority exams is viewable, even if information for others of the higher-priority exams is not viewable.
Consider another example in which the list includes information for multiple higher-priority exams none of which is further ranked has being of higher priority than the others. In this other example, the user interface may be configured to present the alert only in instances in which both of the following conditions are satisfied: the list is not filtered to show only higher-priority exams, and information for at least one higher-priority exam is not viewable in the first region 50. In this other example, in instances in which the list is filtered to show only higher-priority exams, the alert may not be displayed even if the set of exams does not fit within the first region—e.g., the user would have to scroll to view information for the exams not otherwise viewable. Also of note in this other example, exams not viewable in the first region may include exams that are not viewable as a result of keyword filtering. Thus, the higher-priority exam does not need to be part of the exams that can be accessed as a result of scrolling through the list.
The designation of a patient exam as being higher-priority may facilitate the user noticing the exam in the first list of patient exams 52, such as by the list including information indicating the exam's designation as a higher-priority exam. This, in turn, may facilitate the user acknowledging receipt of the higher-priority exam or information regarding the higher-priority exam. In one example embodiment, the user interface may be configured to relieve an exam from its higher-priority designation—and hence its information indicating the exam's designation—in response to the user acknowledging receipt of the respective exam or information regarding the respective exam.
The user may acknowledge receipt of a higher-priority exam or information regarding the respective exam in any of a number of different manners, which may be initiated in one example by a long selection (e.g., long press) of the information 92 indicating the exam's designation as being higher-priority. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The dialog 94 may be dismissed without acknowledging the exam in a number of different manners. In one example, the dialog may be dismissed by the user confirming their selection in the dialog to defer acknowledgment. In another example, as shown in
According to one aspect of the present invention, all or a portion of the workstation 12 and/or server 14 of exemplary embodiments of the present invention, generally operate under control of a computer program. The computer program for performing the methods of exemplary embodiments of the present invention may include one or more computer-readable program code portions, such as a series of computer instructions, embodied or otherwise stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as the non-volatile storage medium.
Accordingly, blocks or steps of the flowchart support combinations of means for performing the specified functions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that one or more blocks or steps of the flowchart, and combinations of blocks or steps in the flowchart, may be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform the specified functions or steps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. It should therefore be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
