Patent Publication Number: US-2010131514-A1

Title: Real-time automatic searching system for medical image and method for using the same

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present invention is a Continuation-in-Part of and claims priority to patent application Ser. No. 10/873,247, filed on Jun. 23, 2004, entitled “REAL-TIME AUTOMATIC SEARCHING SYSTEM FOR MEDICAL IMAGE AND METHOD FOR THE SAME,” which is currently pending. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a real-time automatic searching system for a medical image and method for using the same and more particularly, to a real-time automatic searching system for a medical image that is capable of locating the medical image of higher relevance and a method for using the same. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     A conventional automatic searching system for a medical image generally requires the medical practitioner to input keywords along with the medical image to be stored. The keywords may include a number of the patient, a term describing a symptom, or a string of words providing more details regarding the patient before the medical image could be stored into a database. Thus, when the medical practitioner searches for the medical image of the same patient or other patients with the similar symptoms for the diagnosis he/she usually has to input the keywords utilized before in order to obtain the medical image. 
     As the medical practitioner may be without the knowledge of the keywords used earlier, he/she may not be able to obtain the stored medical image for his/her reference, potentially undermining the quality of medical care. On the other hand, the medical practitioner may be overwhelmed by an excessive amount of the medical images when searching for the reference images without knowledge or experience of using a searching system, still causing headaches for the medical practitioner. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A real-time automatic searching method for a medical image is disclosed. The method includes in response to a search command for a first image identifying a difference between a first searchable information and a second searchable information, applying a predetermined set of weights to the first searchable information according to the difference, calculating a weighted index for the first image after applying the predetermined weights to the first searchable information, and locating the first image according to the weighted index. 
     The above summaries are intended to illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention, which will be best understood in conjunction with the detailed description to follow, and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  shows a simplified block diagram of a real-time automatic searching system for a medical image according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  shows a flow chart of a process performed by a real-time automatic searching system according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  shows a flow chart of a process for a real-time automatic searching system to interface a medical practitioner according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4A  is a schematic diagram showing a pop-up window before a search for a first image is conducted according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4B  is a schematic diagram showing another pop-up window when an option of a manual input of information associated with an attribute is selected according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram showing a result of a search for a first image according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     While the present invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which a preferred embodiment(s) of the present invention is shown, it is to be understood at the outset of the description which follows that persons of skill in the appropriate arts may modify the invention here described while still achieving the favorable results of the invention. Accordingly, the description which follows is to be understood as being a broad, teaching disclosure directed to persons of skill in the appropriate arts, and not as limiting upon the present invention. 
       FIG. 1  shows a simplified block diagram of a real-time automatic searching system for a medical image according to one embodiment of the present invention. The real-time automatic searching system for the medical image is employed in a medical intuition such as a hospital to provide the medical practitioners such as doctors with relevant medical images in response to their search demands. The real-time automatic searching system according to the present invention comprises a remote host  10 , at least one medical instrument  30  and a plurality of terminal computers  40 . The remote host  10  is connected to the medical instrument  30  and the terminal computers  40  through a network  20  such as a local area network (LAN), Internet or wireless network. 
     The remote host  10  comprises a reference image database  11  and a patient database  12 . The reference image database  11  stores a plurality of reference images  111  including images for healthy people and images for patients with specific diseases. Moreover, the reference images  111  in the reference image database  11  are associated with a first searchable information. In one implementation, the first searchable information is a name of a directory where the first image is stored. For example, the reference image from a person whose year of birth is 1976 may be stored in the directory of “DOB — 1976” of the reference image database  11 . Thus, when a search command of “Year — 1976” is inputted such reference image may be returned. In another implementation, the first searchable information includes a set of attributes. For example, the attributes include the gender, the age, the race, and/or the body portion (e.g., a particular organ with a symptom). Thus, the reference image  111  could be with the attributes of “Caucasian-male-age 55-lung cancer.” Therefore, when another search command of “Caucasian male of age between 50 to 60” is inputted such first image may be returned. 
     The patient database  12  stores basic data  121  of a patient who is now being diagnosed and digital image  122  for the same patient. In one implementation, the basic data  121  includes the patient&#39;s basic information such as the medical record number, name, age, and gender, and the patient&#39;s examination information including but not limited to examination number, body portion, the symptom of illness. It is worth noting that the reference image database  11  and the patient database  12  could be in a same or separated storage device of the present searching system for the medical image. 
     The digital image  122  of the patient may be generated by the medical instrument  30  and may be stored into the patient database  12  along with a second searchable information. In one implementation, the second set of the attributes may include attributes such as the gender, the age, the symptom, and the examination number. Thus, the digital image of the patient  122  could be represented as “age 35-stomach cancer-0001234.” When a search command such as “examination number of 0001234” is inputted, that particular digital image of the patient  122  may be located. 
     The medical instrument  30  could be compatible with digital image communication in medicine (DICOM) format and equipped with DICOM console to generate the digital image  122  of the patient in DICOM format. The medical instrument  30  can be, for example, an X-ray imager, an angiography camera, an interiorly camera or a tomography imager. 
     The terminal computer  40  is configured to access the patient database by connecting to the remote host  10  through the network  20  and to display the basic data  121  and the digital image  122 . The terminal computer  40  is configured to access the reference image database as well. To access both of the reference image database and the patient database, the terminal computer  40  further includes an automatic searching routine  42  for fetching the basic data  121  of patient and searching for the reference image  111 . 
     When the search command is inputted through the automatic searching routine  42 , the host computer  10  may return the basic data  121  and the digital image  122  of the patient, and the reference image  111  to the medical instrument  30  and/or the terminal computer  40 . The reference image  111  is displayed on a display device (not shown) of the terminal computer  40  for the medical practitioner to make a diagnosis for the patient. An ideal situation is the returned reference image is the image of the same body portion with the same symptom from the person of the similar age and of the same gender. For example, when the digital image of the patient  122  is from a male of age 55 having a lung cancer and the reference image  111  is from a male of age 60 having a lung cancer it would be easier for the medical practitioner to determine the course of future treatment. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 2  of a flow chart showing a process performed by a real-time automatic searching system according to one embodiment of the present invention. In order to return the reference image that could be more helpful for the medical practitioner, the automatic searching system according to the present invention may perform the steps including step  202  in which the system is configured to identify a difference between a first searchable information and a second searchable information, step  204  in which the system is configured to apply a predetermined weight to the difference identified in step  202 , step  206  in which the system is configured to calculate a weighted index for the first image after applying the weight to the difference between the first searchable information and the second searchable information, and step  208  in which the system is configured to locate the first image according to the weighted index. 
     In one implementation, the first image is a reference image such as the reference image  111  in  FIG. 1 , while the second image is the digital image of the patient such as the digital image of the patient  122  in  FIG. 1 . It is possible that the second searchable information may be partially or totally different to the first searchable information, thus the step of identifying the difference between the first searchable information and the second searchable information may determine whether any attribute (e.g., age) is utilized in both of the first searchable information and the second searchable information. If so, step  202  may further compute the difference in such attribute between the first image and the second image. For example, when the first image that is associated with the attribute of “age” is from a 50-year old and the second image that is associated with the same “age” attribute is from a person of 60 years old step  202  may conclude that the first image is “10 years away” from the second image after identifying the difference in the “age” attribute. In another implementation, the first searchable information and the second searchable information could be substantially the same. Thus, the step of identifying the difference between the first searchable information and the second searchable information is configured to compute the difference between the first searchable information and the second searchable information. 
     Step  204  applies the predetermined weight to the difference identified in step  202 . A table shown in the below is an example showing the weights applied to the difference between the attributes. 
                                         weight                                                    Age difference (year)                0~10   4           11-20   3           21-30   2           31-40   1           Gender           Same   4           Different   2           Body portion           Same   3           Relevant   1           Symptom relevance           Different development   0           period in different           body portion           Same development   2           period in different           body portion           Different development   4           period in same body           portion           Same development   8           period in same body           portion                        
When the difference in the age attribute is larger, the weight applied could be smaller. In other words, the process according to the present invention gives more weight to the reference image from the person of the similar age. The present process may apply more weights to the reference image from the person of the same gender when the gender is the attribute utilized in both sets of the attributes. Additionally, step  204  applies more weights to the reference image regarding the same body portion as the second image from the patient. Meanwhile, the step  204  also applies more weights to the symptoms of the same development period and associated with the same body portion (e.g., lung cancer of development period 3). It is worth noting that the weights applied are adjustable according to the empirical analysis indicative of which difference between the attributes of the searchable information and the extent thereof could lead to the reference image of more reference value.
 
     Step  206  calculates the weighted index after the application of the weights to the difference identified. In one implementation, when the weights applied are larger the weighted index could be larger as well and the larger weighted index may correspond to the reference image of higher relevance. Step  308  then locates the first image according to the weighted index calculated in step  306 . When the first image of larger weighted index corresponds to the first image of higher relevance, such first image may be located and presented. It is worth noting that the number of the first images located according to the weighted index may vary. In one implementation, when two first image are with the weighted index larger than a predetermined threshold these first images are to be located and presented. And the sequence of the presentation may depend on the value of the weighted index. 
       FIG. 3  is a flow chart showing a process for a real-time automatic searching system to interface a medical practitioner according to one embodiment of the present invention. In step  302 , the present invention system is configured to enable a retrieval of a feature from a second image as an attribute of a first searchable information associated with the second image. In step  304 , the present invention system is configured to enable an input of an attribute in a search command for a search of a first image. In step  306 , the present invention system is configured to display a first image of high relevance on basis of the attribute. 
     In conjunction with  FIG. 1 , the first image could be the reference image  111  stored in the reference image database  11  while the second image could be the digital image of the patient  122  stored in the patient database  12 . When any medical instrument  30  generates the second image the present invention system in step  302  may retrieve features of the second image by any conventional image recognition approach. The retrieved feature of the second image may become one attribute thereof. For example, when the second image is an X-ray image of the patient&#39;s lung the system may recognize that particular image to generate the attributes of “lung” and “cancerous cells spotted in lung.” And such attributes may be considered as the first searchable information for the search of the first image. It is worth noting that the attribute associated with the second image could be manually inputted by the medical practitioner also. 
     Meanwhile, the present invention system in step  304  may enable the input of the attribute in the search command for the first image. For example, the present invention could display a pop-up window for the medical practitioner to enter, these attributes and their corresponding information. For example, the present invention system may allow the input of “age-55,” “gender-male,” “race-Caucasian,” and “body portion-lung” when formulating the search command for the first image. In step  306 , the present invention system  306  may display the first image of high relevance computed through the steps discussed in  FIG. 2  on basis of the attributes. It is worth noting that the present invention system may search for the first image of high relevance according to the attributes. In other words, when the attribute is retrieved by image recognition of the second image the present invention system may conduct the search thereafter according to the retrieved attribute only. In doing so, the system may respond with more first images as the result of lack of the input of the corresponding information for the attribute (e.g., 55, male, or Caucasian) that is used for narrowing the scope of the search. 
       FIG. 4A  is a schematic diagram showing a pop-up window before a search for a first image is conducted according to one embodiment of the present invention. As previously mentioned, the present invention system may search for the first image according to the attributes without further narrowing the scope of the search. To do so, the medical practitioner could check the option of “automatically perform searching” as shown in  FIG. 4A  before the system could proceed to the search for the first image. 
       FIG. 4B  is a schematic diagram showing another pop-up window when an option of a manual input of information associated with an attribute is selected according to one embodiment of the present invention. In conjunction  FIG. 4A , when the option of “manually input information associated with attribute” is selected another window may shown for the input of the attribute. As shown in  FIG. 4B , the medical practitioner may input the age, the gender, the body portion, and the symptom of the patient before the present invention system could return any first image. 
       FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram showing a result of a search for a first image according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the result of the search may include more than one reference image of high relevance. The result of the search may also display the information associated with the attributes utilized in the search and the information could be changed if another search for the first image is requested. 
       FIG. 6A  is a flow chart showing steps for a medical practitioner to utilize a real-time automatic searching system according to one embodiment of the present invention. In step  602 , the medical practitioner may select a searching mode in which the real-time automatic searching system operates. In one implementation, the searching mode includes “automatic” and “manual” as shown in  FIGS. 4A and 4B . In step  604 , the medical practitioner may review a second image from a patient. In step  606 , the medical practitioner may enable a retrieval of features from the second image. In step  608 , the medical practitioner may initiate a search for a first image of high relevance by pushing a “search” button. In step  612 , when the automatic searching system is in the “automatic” searching mode the system may search for the first image of high relevance according to the features retrieved from the second image or the second searchable information associated with the second image. In step  614 , when the system is in the “manual” mode the system display a pop-up window for the medical practitioner to input the second searchable information on which basis the system may search for the first image stored in a reference image database in step  616 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 6B  of a flow chart showing steps for the medical practitioner to utilize the real-time automatic searching system according to one embodiment of the present invention. It is worth noting that the steps shown in  FIG. 6B  may follow the steps in  FIG. 6A . In step  618 , the system may apply a predetermined set of weights to a difference between the first searchable information and the second searchable information in order to obtain a weighted index according to the difference for each of the first images. In step  622 , the system may rank the first images according to their weighted indices. And in step  624  the system may display the first images of the weighted indices meeting a predetermined threshold. In other words, the predetermined threshold may be used for reducing the number of the first images. Thus, the medical practitioner may obtain the images of higher reference value when determining the course of the future treatment for the patient associated with the second image. 
     The above-mentioned descriptions represent merely the preferred embodiment of the present invention, without any intention to limit the scope of the present invention thereto. Various equivalent changes, alternations or modifications based on the claims of present invention are all consequently viewed as being embraced by the scope of the present invention.