Diagnostic medical ultrasound imaging system and ultrasound review station with a biophysical input device

An ultrasound imaging system and ultrasound review station with a biophysical detector are provided. A biophysical attribute of a user is used to authorize (i.e., identify and authenticate) the user. Because the identification and authentication procedures are combined into a single step, the time and effort required for an authorized user to gain access to the ultrasound imaging system or ultrasound review station is greatly reduced. Using a biophysical attribute also makes the system or station practically impervious to impostors since biophysical attributes are unique and virtually impossible to duplicate. Also, since a user cannot forget or lose a biophysical attribute, the risk that an authorized user will be denied access is eliminated.

BACKGROUND 
Current ultrasound imaging systems and ultrasound review stations use a 
variety of security measures to prevent unauthorized users from gaining 
access. The most common security measures use a two-step approach of 
identification and authentication to authorize a user. First, a user 
attempting to gain access identifies himself, typically by typing a 
user-id or by using a magnetically-encoded card. After identifying 
himself, the user provides authentication information, usually in the form 
of a password or personal identification number (PIN). If the 
authentication information is verified, the user is granted access. 
This two-step approach of identification and authentication has several 
disadvantages associated with it. First, this method is slow and tedious. 
Every time a user wants to access an ultrasound system or ultrasound 
review station, he must first manually enter his identification 
information and then manually enter his authentication information. This 
process can be very tedious for users who frequently access an ultrasound 
imaging system or ultrasound review station or who access several devices 
in an ultrasound network. Additionally, this method only provides a 
limited amount of security. For example, if a person obtains an authorized 
user's user-id and password, that unauthorized person can gain access. 
Conversely, if an authorized user forgets his user-id or password, he will 
be denied access. 
There is, therefore, a need for an improved ultrasound imaging system and 
ultrasound review station that will overcome these disadvantages 
SUMMARY 
The present invention is defined by the following claims, and nothing in 
this section should be taken as a limitation on those claims. 
By way of introduction, the preferred embodiments described below include 
an ultrasound imaging system and ultrasound review station with a 
biophysical detector. With these preferred embodiments, a biophysical 
attribute of a user is used to authorize (i.e., identify and authenticate) 
the user. Because the identification and authentication procedures are 
combined into a single step, the time and effort required for an 
authorized user to gain access to the ultrasound imaging system or 
ultrasound review station is greatly reduced. Using a biophysical 
attribute also makes the system or station practically impervious to 
impostors since biophysical attributes are unique and virtually impossible 
to duplicate. Also, since a user cannot forget or lose a biophysical 
attribute, the risk that an authorized user will be denied access is 
eliminated. 
The preferred embodiments will now be described with reference to the 
attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Turning now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a biophysical 
detector 100 of a preferred embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the 
biophysical detector 100 comprises a biophysical input device 110 coupled 
with a recognition server 120. As used herein, the term "coupled with" 
means directly coupled with or indirectly coupled with through one or more 
components. The biophysical detector 100 can be coupled with an ultrasound 
imaging system or ultrasound review station to grant an authorized user 
access to the ultrasound imaging system or ultrasound review station, as 
shown in the flow chart of FIG. 2 and as described below. 
To gain access to an ultrasound imaging system or ultrasound review station 
coupled with the biophysical detector 100, the user first provides the 
biophysical detector 100 with a biophysical input compatible with the 
input device 110. For example, if the input device 110 is a fingerprint 
detector, the user would place his finger on the input device 110. Once 
the biophysical input is detected (step 210), the biophysical input is 
transformed into a computer-usable form (step 220) and sent to the 
recognition server 120 for analysis (step 230). For example, a fingerprint 
detector can transmit light to the user's finger, and reflections from the 
ridges and valleys of the finger can be converted to a digital signal. The 
recognition server can use the reflections to form an image of the user's 
fingerprint and can compare this image (or calculations based on this 
image) to those of authorized users. If the fingerprint is recognized 
(step 240), the biophysical detector 110 provides authorization 
information to the ultrasound imaging system or ultrasound review station 
to grant access to the user (step 260). If the fingerprint is not 
recognized, the user is denied access (step 250). 
There are several advantages associated with this embodiment. By using a 
biophysical attribute to identify and authenticate a user, the 
authorization process is quickly accomplished in a singe step, reducing 
the time and effort required to access the ultrasound imaging system or 
ultrasound review station. Also, because a biophysical attribute is unique 
and virtually impossible to duplicate, the biophysical detector 100 makes 
the ultrasound imaging system or ultrasound review station practically 
impervious to impostors. Additionally, with the biophysical detector 100, 
the risk that an authorized user will be denied access is eliminated since 
a user cannot forget or lose a biophysical attribute. 
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the recognition server 120 is part of 
the biophysical detector 100. One advantage associated with this 
embodiment is that all of the components needed to authorize a user are 
located in the biophysical detector 100. To benefit from the computing 
power of the ultrasound imaging system or ultrasound review station, the 
recognition server 310 can be located in the ultrasound system or 
ultrasound review station 320 instead of the biophysical detector 300, as 
shown in FIG. 3. 
In another embodiment, the recognition server is part of an ultrasound 
network coupled with one or more ultrasound imaging systems and/or 
ultrasound review stations. FIG. 4 a block diagram of one such network in 
which a central recognition server 400 is coupled with a first and second 
ultrasound system 410, 420 and a first and second ultrasound review 
station 430, 440, each with its own biophysical detector 450, 460, 470, 
480. With this embodiment, a user receives the benefits of biophysical 
authorization regardless of which network device he is using. This finds 
particular utility when a user accesses networked ultrasound imaging 
systems or ultrasound review stations at different locations. 
For simplicity, the term "recognition server" is used in the specification 
and claims to broadly refer to the hardware and/or software components 
that are used to analyze a signal representative of a user's biophysical 
attribute to determine whether the user is authorized to gain access to an 
ultrasound imaging system or ultrasound review station. For example, a 
recognition server can comprise a dedicated processor or can be a general 
controller or processor of an ultrasound imaging system or ultrasound 
review station running a biophysical attribute recognition application. It 
is important to note that any appropriate software language and any 
appropriate hardware, analog or digital, can be used and that the 
recognition server can be implemented exclusively with hardware. 
Also for simplicity, the term "biophysical attribute" is used in the 
specification and claims to broadly refer to any biological or behavioral 
property that can be used to identify a person. Preferably, a biophysical 
attribute is an attribute that is associated with only one person, 
although it can also include attributes that occur with a sufficiently 
small frequency in a population to be considered effectively unique. 
Examples of biophysical attributes include, but are not limited to, a 
fingerprint, a hand print, a retina print, a voice print, a handwriting 
sample (such as the user's signature), an image of a user's physical 
feature (such as the user's face), or any other kind of biological or 
behavioral property. It is important to note that biophysical attributes 
can be used individually or in combination for additional security. For 
example, a retina scan can be performed while the user is signing his 
name, and both the retina print and signature can be used to authenticate 
the user. The widest variety of devices can be used as a biophysical 
detector, including, but not limited to, a fingerprint detection device, a 
hand print detection device, a retina scanner, a microphone, a handwriting 
input pad and stylus, and an analog or digital camera. 
Lastly, the term "ultrasound review station" is used in the specification 
and claims to broadly refer to any node (e.g., device) on an ultrasound 
network. For example, an ultrasound review station can be a workstation 
that is able to view ultrasound images transferred through an ultrasound 
network that couples the review station with an ultrasound imaging system 
or digital mass storage device. It is important to note that an ultrasound 
review station does not necessarily display ultrasound images. For 
example, an ultrasound review station can be a workstation coupled with 
the ultrasound network that allows a physician or technician to generate 
or modify an ultrasound examination report without viewing ultrasound 
images. 
The foregoing detailed description has described only a few of the many 
forms that this invention can take. Of course, many changes and 
modifications are possible to the preferred embodiments described above. 
For this reason it is intended that this detailed description be regarded 
as an illustration and not as a limitation of the invention. It is only 
the following claims, including all equivalents, that are intended to 
define the scope of this invention.