JP2001195504A - Method and device for interpreting medical treatment data on-line - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a novel method and device for interpreting medical treatment data such as ECG data. SOLUTION: A device 10 is provided with a server 25/58 connected to a network 22 based on an internet protocol and has a server interface 44 for receiving a command and information from a client 12 on the network. The server is provided with an interpretation application 42 for interpreting the medical treatment data. Otherwise, the server is connected to an application server 61 provided with an interpretation application 62. The client accesses the server. When the client is to first access the server, an application supporting function 43/63 is downloaded for enabling the interpretation application 42/62 and a client browser 19 to display the medical treatment data analyzed by interpretation software.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for interpreting medical data, and more particularly to interpreting medical data using stand-alone, device-independent interpretation software.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Electromedical devices are often used to acquire and manipulate a wide range of data that can be used in diagnosing and treating diseases. ECG (electrocardiogram) is one type of data that is acquired, recorded and analyzed using such electronic devices. ECGs (used to study cardiac activity) are obtained from patients using relatively sophisticated equipment. Most such devices are capable of generating a visual display or a hard copy record of the patient's waveform. While ECG devices available today are mostly satisfactory, they do have some drawbacks. One disadvantage of known ECG devices is that the device is primarily designed to produce a display that is viewed by medical staff physically close to the machine. Most current ECG devices have relatively sophisticated (and expensive) data manipulation,
Includes display and analysis hardware and software. Another disadvantage of known ECG devices is that it is difficult to share the acquired ECG data. In known techniques, the sharing of ECG data requires a large number of stand-alone computers (or workstations),
Each computer loads the appropriate software and
The data acquired by the CG machine must be displayed. As improvements are made to the ECG interpretation software, the upgraded software must be installed on each stand-alone computer to keep the software current. In most cases, installing interpretive software and upgrading it is a relatively expensive and lengthy process that must be performed by a particularly trained (and therefore expensive) computer technician.

[0003]

Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method and system for acquiring and interpreting medical data that is relatively simple, inexpensive, and does not require repeated and separate installation of interpretation software.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an online system for interpreting medical data such as ECG data. The system is based on a three-tier client-server model of computing and relies on a network such as the Internet. The first tier or server is preferably a web server and has a server interface coupled to the network and for receiving commands and information over the network from clients coupled to the network. Preferably, the client has a display, a port, a browser, and displays the medical data analyzed by the interpretation application. In one embodiment, the first server or tier includes an interpretation application designed to interpret medical data. In another embodiment, the first tier is coupled to an application server (or second tier) that contains the interpretation application. The first server (or tier) can also be coupled to a database server (third tier) that contains the stored medical data.

The present invention also provides a method for interpreting an ECG remotely using a computer network.
When a client first accesses the first server,
The client downloads the interpretation software and application aids and allows the browser to display the medical data analyzed by the interpretation software. The medical data analyzed by the interpretation application may be data received from a database server, or data received by a client from a simple data acquisition device via a communication link.

[0006] An advantage of this system is that the first server is accessible by any computing device that can communicate with the server over the network. Thus, when the system is implemented using the Internet, the first server is universally accessible on earth. This broad accessibility allows medical data interpretation applications to be used in multiple sources without having to manually repeat the interpretation application on many platforms. Wide accessibility also eliminates the time-consuming and expensive work involved in upgrading software on many computers.

Another advantage of the present invention is that medical data need not be centrally located, as is the case in many large hospitals and clinics. Even without uploading the data to the server, the retrieved data is loaded locally on the client and can be interpreted by accessing the first server.

[0008] Yet another advantage of the present invention is that such data analysis and display is performed by a client and a server, so that medical data can be acquired using a simple data acquisition device.

[0009]

Other features and advantages of the present invention include:
It will become apparent from a consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings.

Before describing one embodiment of the present invention in detail, the present invention limits its use to the details of construction and arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. Please understand that it is not. The invention can be implemented or carried out in other embodiments or in various ways. It should also be understood that the terms and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be considered limiting.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a data interpretation system 10 embodying the present invention. System 10 includes a client 12. Although only one client is shown, it should be understood that the system 10 includes many clients and the number of clients is limited only by the network and server capacity discussed below.
The client 12 includes a processor 13, a disk drive, a storage device 14 such as RAM, and a display 1
5 The client can support a personal computer, an Internet device, or a graphical user interface (GUI) 17 and an operating system 16 capable of running a browser 19
A similar device with (FIG. 2) can be taken. Browser 19 is Netscape Navigat
or a web browser such as Microsoft Explorer or a program with similar functions that can access information from a server. The client includes a scripting component 20 to enhance the interactivity of the page displayed by browser 19. Client 12 is connected to a network 22, such as any local area network or wide area network. Preferably, network 22 is the Internet or an intranet implemented using Internet protocols. Preferably,
The client can communicate with the server 25 using an Internet protocol such as IP / TCP (Internet Protocol / Transmission Control Protocol). As used herein, the term "server" is not limited to examples of server hardware. Multiple software servers may reside on a single hardware device. Similarly, each server has a single hardware
May be implemented on the device. If fail-safe redundancy is desired (each providing the same functionality), parallel hardware servers can also be implemented.

The client 12 receives input from a standard input device such as a keyboard 26 (FIG. 1), a mouse (not shown), or a microphone (not shown). The client 12 also uses a USB (Universal
It also receives input via an auxiliary input port 28, such as a serial bus port or an embedded web interface. In particular, a data acquisition device 30 is coupled to input port 28. This is operable to transfer the acquired medical data to the client 12. The data acquisition device 30 can be configured to acquire various medical data such as ECG data (including dormant ECG data, mobile ECG data, tension ECG data), blood pressure data, and pulse enzyme measurement data. Client 12
Can read data from the acquisition device 30 in real time or temporarily store medical data in the storage device 14.

Data acquisition device 30 includes a data probe 32 (such as an electrode, transducer, or sensor) (FIG. 2), an input interface 33, a controller 34, a storage or memory 35, and an output interface 36. Data acquired from the data probe 32 is delivered to the input interface 33. The controller 34 writes or transfers the data obtained from the input interface to the memory 35. Preferably, the data acquisition device 30 acquires and stores data according to an SCP (Standard Encoding Procedure / Process) such as XML (Extensible Markup Language), DKOM imaging protocol or other standards. When the data acquisition device 30 is coupled to the client 12, the output interface 36 transfers the acquired data from the memory to the client 12 via a communication link 38 connecting the data acquisition device 30 to the client 12. . Unlike known data acquisition devices, device 3
0 has no data manipulation, analysis and display hardware and software. By removing these components, the data acquisition device 30 is greatly simplified.
Therefore, the device 30 can be made smaller and cheaper than the current device. Client is data acquisition device 3
0 can be transferred to server 25 via network 22 or the data can be maintained locally.

The server 25 provides a means for interpreting medical data remotely via a client connected to the server. Server 25 includes an interpretation algorithm or application 42. Interpretation application 42
Is any program designed or modified to function in a client-server environment, and is capable of interpreting data acquired by the data acquisition device 30. Suitable application programs include blood pressure and pulse enzyme measurement applications, and
GE Marquette Medical System
ems, Inc. And ECG interpretation applications, such as the E-12SL program and the EK-PRO program, available from Microsoft Corporation. Interpretation application 42 includes an application assistance function 43 (this is an Active
e may consist of one or more programs such as X tools or Java applets). Server 25
Also uses the Common Gateway Interface (CG)
I) or Internet Server Application Programming Interface (ISAPI) server interface 44 and web site 46.
Web site 46 includes a graphical user interface module 50, a knowledge base 52, an HTML file 54, and associated components.

In another embodiment (FIG. 3), the system 10
Is a server 5 that includes many of the same components as the server 25.
8, but only the interpretation application 42 is missing. Identical or similar components are identified using the same reference numbers. As shown in FIG.
The server 58 is connected by a local network 60 to an algorithm or application server 61. The application server 61 includes a data interpretation application 62 that is substantially the same as the interpretation application 42. The interpretation application 62 has an application assistance function 63. The server 61 is also connected to the database server 70 via the network 60. The database server 70 contains MUS containing medical data for testing and simulation purposes.
E (registered trademark) (multi-user simulation environment)
It may include a brand database.

In use, the client 12 accesses the server 25 or 58 using the browser 19. The client communicates with the server 25/58 using well-known transmission standards. Once connected to server 25/58, the client interprets application 42/62 and application assistance function 43/6.
3 and download the interpretation application 42/62
The browser 19 is configured to display the medical data analyzed by. Interpretation application 42/62
Runs on the client 12 or on the server 25/58. It is determined by the client 12. The client 12 can review medical data, such as data available from the server 70 or data received locally by the client from the acquisition device 30. Preferably, interpretation application 42/62 is configured not to run unless client 12 establishes a connection with server 25/58.

As mentioned above, the server 25/58
The data aid 43/63 may be configured to analyze the data, and may comprise a number of helper tools associated with an ECG interpretation application, such as the E-12SL software described above. FIG.
Show output provided on display 15 of client 12 when server 25/58 is configured to analyze ECG data. An interface 80 having various icons 82 to 87 and using the icons is provided on the display 15. The interface 80 using icons also provides some ECG waveforms 90
Includes image 89 with ~ 94. The user located at the client 12 can control the display of the image 89 by selecting various icons 82 to 87. Icon 8
The commands associated with 2-87 are processed by the interpretation application 42/62, which then creates a modified image for display on the display 15. Of course, the client user can print, store, transmit, and process any data displayed on display 15 according to client 12 and any peripheral devices associated with the client.

The interpretation application 42/62 is linked to the knowledge base 52. In particular, the knowledge base 52 can be configured as an expert system hypertext document, and the main data points in the image 89 can be configured as links to the knowledge base 52. Thus, by clicking the various links provided in image 89, the user can access additional information about the data being displayed and use the knowledge base to help interpret the data.

Upgrades and changes to the interpretation application 42/62 need only be made at the server 25/61, not at each client 12. Interpretation application and application assistance function 43 /
63 may be downloaded to client 12 only when the client first accesses server 25/58, or when a new version of the interpretation software is installed on the server. Most of the time, the client 12 does not need to load any additional software. Thus, in most cases, the user will experience a fast loading speed (browser 19, application interpretation 42/62, application assistance function 43/63).
Only start and run). In addition, the user is also provided with the latest version of the software because the latest version of the software is always downloaded to the client 12.

As described above, the present invention provides an online data interpretation system. Various features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the following claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a data interpretation system embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a software architecture of the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a software architecture of another embodiment of the data interpretation system.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an output displayed on a display of a client as a result of a medical data interpretation application for analyzing medical data.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 System 12 Client 13 Processor 14 Storage 15 Display 16 Operating System 17 Graphical User Interface 19 Browser 20 Scripting Component 22 Network 25 Server 26 Keyboard 28 Auxiliary Input Port 30 Data Acquisition Device 32 Data Probe 33 Input Interface 34 Controller 35 storage device 36 output interface 38 communication link 42 interpretation application 43 application support function 44 server interface

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Bezel Hasan Taha United States 53051 Wisconsin Menomonie Falls Oxford Street West 148 North 8272

Claims (26)

[Claims] 1. A network (22); an application server (25/61) coupled to the network (22) and having an interpretation application (42/62) for interpreting medical data; And a client (12) coupled to the display (15), having a port (28), a browser (19) and displaying on the display an image (89) of medical data analyzed by the interpretation application. A system (10) for interpreting medical data to be provided. 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said port (2) is operable to obtain medical data, and wherein said port (2)
The system (10) of any preceding claim, further comprising a data acquisition device (30) coupled to 8) for transferring acquired medical data to the client. 3. The application server (25 /
The system of claim 1, further comprising a database server (70) coupled to 61). 4. The system of claim 3, wherein said database server (70) includes a multi-user simulation environment database. 5. The application server (25 /
61) includes an application assistance function (43/63), wherein the interpretation application (42/62) and the application assistance function (43/63) are downloaded by the client (12).
System. 6. A knowledge base in which the application server is linked to the interpretation application.
The system of claim 5, comprising: 7. A network (22), a first server (58) coupled to the network and having a server interface (44), coupled to the first server for interpreting medical data. An application server (61) having an interpretation application (62); a display (15) coupled to the network;
A client (12) having a port (28), a browser (19) and displaying an image (89) of medical data analyzed by the interpretation application on the display (12). 10). 8. The client device (12) operable to obtain medical data, and wherein the port (2) of the client (12) is acquired.
The system of claim 7, further comprising a data acquisition device (30) coupled to 8) for transferring acquired medical data to the client. 9. The system according to claim 8, further comprising a database server coupled to said first server. 10. The system of claim 9, wherein said database server (70) includes a multi-user simulation environment database. 11. The application server (6)
The system of claim 7, wherein 1) includes an application assistance function (63). 12. A medical data interpretation application (42/62) is prepared in a first server (25/61), a display (15) and a browser (19) are prepared in a client (12), and the client A method of interpreting medical data comprising accessing a first server (25/61) and analyzing medical data using the medical data interpretation application. 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising displaying the results of the analysis on the display (15) of the client (12). 14. Providing medical data in a database server (70), wherein the database server is the first server (25).
The method of claim 12, wherein the act of linking to and analyzing the medical data comprises analyzing medical data from the database server. 15. The interpretation application (42/6)
13. The method of claim 12, further comprising transferring 2) and an application assistance function (43/63) from the first server to the client. 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the act of providing the results of the analysis to the display of the client comprises providing an interface using icons (80). 17. The method of claim 12, further comprising: obtaining medical data at an acquisition device (30); and transferring medical data from the acquisition device to the client.
The method described in. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the act of analyzing medical data includes analyzing medical data from the acquisition device (30). 19. The interpretation application (42/6)
13. The method of claim 12, further comprising changing a display of the medical data as displayed by the browser by requesting the action of 2). 20. The method of claim 12, further comprising linking the interpretation application to a knowledge base (52). 21. An application server (25/6)
A system for interpreting medical data, comprising: 1) and means for remotely interpreting medical data using a client (12) connected to the server. 22. A data acquisition device (30) operable to acquire medical data and coupled to the port (28) of the client (12) for transferring acquired medical data to the client. 22. The system of claim 21, further comprising: 23. The system of claim 21, further comprising a database server coupled to the application server. 24. The database server of claim 2, wherein the database server includes a multi-user simulation environment database.
3. The system according to 3. 25. The system of claim 21, wherein the application server includes an interpreted application (42/62) and an application assistance function (43/63) downloaded by the client (12). 26. A method according to claim 25, wherein said application server is linked to a knowledge base (5) linked to said interpretation application.
26. The system of claim 25, comprising 2).