Claims
- 1. A system for generating application-specific medical ultrasound information, comprising:
a local ultrasound data collection assembly to carry out an ultrasound scan of a selected part of the human body of a patient at a given location by an operator and to produce raw, substantially unprocessed ultrasound information therefrom; a data transmission system for transmitting said substantially unprocessed ultrasound information produced by the assembly to a processing location physically remote from the data collection assembly location; and a processor at the remote location for processing said transmitted information sufficiently to produce a medical analysis of the selected body part therefrom, wherein the medical analysis is then transmitted back to a medical practitioner associated with the patient, wherein the medical analysis includes information suitable for use in the treatment of the patent.
- 2. A system of claim 1, wherein the remote location is an internet database server.
- 3. A system of claim 1, including a memory structure for storing program information for a plurality of ultrasound procedures for selective downloading to and carried out by the data collection assembly and for storing information produced from the ultrasound procedure for each patient, the system further including a data link between the memory structure and the data collection assembly.
- 4. A system of claim 1, wherein the medical analysis does not require an ultrasound-skilled interpreter is not necessary.
- 5. A system of claim 1, wherein the internet database server includes means for accumulating the information from successive ultrasound examinations of a given patient, thereby maintaining a patient history for said patient available for transmission to the medical practitioner.
- 6. A system for financial tracking and billing of ultrasound procedures, comprising the steps of:
performing an ultrasound diagnostic scan by a system user on a patient at a given location and for obtaining unprocessed ultrasound information therefrom; transmitting the unprocessed ultrasound data to a location which is remote from the given location for analysis by a system provider, wherein the remote location is not physically accessible by a medical practitioner who carries out treatment of the patient; determining the status of the user's account with the system provider; providing an opportunity for the user to clear the user's account, in the event that the user's account has been blocked for any reason; transmitting analyzed ultrasound information back to the user when the user's account is not blocked, wherein the analyzed ultrasound data includes information suitable for use in the treatment of the patient by the medical practitioner; and creating a billing for the ultrasound diagnostic procedure and transmitting the billing to a selected party.
- 7. A system of claim 6, wherein the selected party is a third party insurer.
- 8. A system of claim 6, wherein the selected party is the system user.
PRIOR APPLICATION
[0001] This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/620,766, filed on Jul. 21, 2000, the priority of which is hereby claimed.
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09620766 |
Jul 2000 |
US |
Child |
10445244 |
May 2003 |
US |