Patents by Inventor Sterling Richardson Smith

Sterling Richardson Smith has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11967404
    Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure provide a computer-implemented method that includes obtaining the medical condition of the individual based at least in part on a personal identifier associated with the individual, the medical condition being determined by performing natural language processing of medical information associated with the individual. The method further includes obtaining characteristics of the plurality of items. The method further includes comparing the characteristics of the plurality of items to a restriction associated with the medical condition of the individual. The method further includes, responsive to determining that at least one of the characteristics of the plurality of items violates the restriction associated with the medical condition of the individual, preventing the individual from obtaining the item of the plurality of items associated with the violation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kristin E. McNeil, Robert Christian Sizemore, Sterling Richardson Smith, David Blake Werts
  • Patent number: 11520985
    Abstract: Embodiments include methods, systems and computer program products for performing named entity recognition. Aspects include obtaining a text having a plurality of words and comparing each of the plurality of words to a dictionary. Aspects also include creating, based on the comparison, an annotation for at least one of the plurality of words that the least one of the plurality of words refers to a named entity. Aspects further include parsing the text to identify a part of speech for each of the plurality of words and removing the annotations from each of the at least one of the plurality of words that has a part of speech that is not one or a noun and a noun supporting adjective.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Robert Christian Sizemore, Sterling Richardson Smith, David Gerard Herbeck, David Blake Werts
  • Patent number: 11397862
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method includes receiving, by a natural language processing (NLP) annotator, an input text that is to be annotated. The method further includes determining, by the NLP annotator, a user setting that indicates an aggressiveness level of annotation to be used to annotate the input text. The method further includes selecting, by the NLP annotator, from a plurality of dictionaries, a first dictionary based at least in part on the aggressiveness level. The method further includes generating, by the NLP annotator, annotated text of the input text based at least in part on the first dictionary. The method further includes outputting, by the NLP annotator, the annotated text.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2022
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Robert Christian Sizemore, David Blake Werts, Kristin E. McNeil, Sterling Richardson Smith
  • Publication number: 20220028543
    Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure include receiving, by a processor, a procedure code for a patient, wherein the procedure code is associated with a medical device, obtaining, by the processor, patient medical data for the patient, analyzing the patient medical data to identify one or more patient medical conditions and one or more other procedure codes, determining a risk score for the procedure code based on the one or more patient medical conditions and the one or more other procedure codes, and enacting an action based at least in part on the risk score for the procedure code
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2020
    Publication date: January 27, 2022
    Inventors: Robert Christian Sizemore, David Blake Werts, Sterling Richardson Smith, Kristin E. McNeil
  • Publication number: 20220027571
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method includes receiving, by a natural language processing (NLP) annotator, an input text that is to be annotated. The method further includes determining, by the NLP annotator, a user setting that indicates an aggressiveness level of annotation to be used to annotate the input text. The method further includes selecting, by the NLP annotator, from a plurality of dictionaries, a first dictionary based at least in part on the aggressiveness level. The method further includes generating, by the NLP annotator, annotated text of the input text based at least in part on the first dictionary. The method further includes outputting, by the NLP annotator, the annotated text.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2020
    Publication date: January 27, 2022
    Inventors: Robert Christian Sizemore, David Blake Werts, Kristin E. McNeil, Sterling Richardson Smith
  • Publication number: 20210074392
    Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure provide a computer-implemented method that includes obtaining the medical condition of the individual based at least in part on a personal identifier associated with the individual, the medical condition being determined by performing natural language processing of medical information associated with the individual. The method further includes obtaining characteristics of the plurality of items. The method further includes comparing the characteristics of the plurality of items to a restriction associated with the medical condition of the individual. The method further includes, responsive to determining that at least one of the characteristics of the plurality of items violates the restriction associated with the medical condition of the individual, preventing the individual from obtaining the item of the plurality of items associated with the violation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 9, 2019
    Publication date: March 11, 2021
    Inventors: Kristin E. McNeil, Robert Christian Sizemore, Sterling Richardson Smith, David Blake Werts
  • Publication number: 20210043289
    Abstract: Embodiments include methods, system and computer program products for identifying adverse effects of medications. Aspects include obtaining a plurality of medical records for an individual, at least one of the plurality of medical records including a medication prescribed to the individual. Aspects also include creating annotations for each medical record by performing natural language processing on the medical record, wherein the annotations include a date associated with the medical record. Aspects further include grouping medications prescribed to the individual into two groups based on the annotations, the groups including a first group of medications that the individual is currently prescribed and the second group of medications that the individual does not have a current prescription for. Aspects also include identifying a known adverse interaction between one of the first group of medications and one of the second group of medications and notifying the individual of the known adverse interaction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 9, 2019
    Publication date: February 11, 2021
    Inventors: ROBERT CHRISTIAN SIZEMORE, STERLING RICHARDSON SMITH, KRISTIN E. MCNEIL, DAVID BLAKE WERTS
  • Publication number: 20210034702
    Abstract: Embodiments include methods, systems and computer program products for performing named entity recognition. Aspects include obtaining a text having a plurality of words and comparing each of the plurality of words to a dictionary. Aspects also include creating, based on the comparison, an annotation for at least one of the plurality of words that the least one of the plurality of words refers to a named entity. Aspects further include parsing the text to identify a part of speech for each of the plurality of words and removing the annotations from each of the at least one of the plurality of words that has a part of speech that is not one or a noun and a noun supporting adjective.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2019
    Publication date: February 4, 2021
    Inventors: ROBERT CHRISTIAN SIZEMORE, STERLING RICHARDSON SMITH, DAVID GERARD HERBECK, DAVID BLAKE WERTS
  • Patent number: 10546004
    Abstract: A search engine is enhanced to employ user preferences to customize answer output by, receiving a first plurality of candidate answers and weights to a first search query for a first user from a first stage of a non-semantic search engine routing and processing path; augmenting the weights for the plurality of candidate answers according to a set of preference coefficients according to a first set of preferences for the first user; selecting one or more of the first plurality of candidate answers according to the augmented weights; and producing an output including the selected one or more candidate answers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Corville O. Allen, Scott Robert Carrier, Scott N. Gerard, Sterling Richardson Smith, David Blake Styles, Eric Woods
  • Publication number: 20190102344
    Abstract: A search engine is enhanced to employ user preferences to customize answer output by, receiving a first plurality of candidate answers and weights to a first search query for a first user from a first stage of a non-semantic search engine routing and processing path; augmenting the weights for the plurality of candidate answers according to a set of preference coefficients according to a first set of preferences for the first user; selecting one or more of the first plurality of candidate answers according to the augmented weights; and producing an output including the selected one or more candidate answers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 4, 2018
    Publication date: April 4, 2019
    Inventors: Corville O. Allen, Scott Robert Carrier, Scott N. Gerard, Sterling Richardson Smith, David Blake Styles, Eric Woods
  • Patent number: 10169450
    Abstract: A semantic search engine is enhanced to employ user preferences to customize answer output by, for a first user, extracting user preferences and sentiment levels associated with a first question; receiving candidate answer results of a semantic search of the first question; weighting the candidate answer results according to the sentiment levels for each of the user preferences; and producing the selected candidate answers to the first user. Optionally, user preferences and sentiment levels may be accumulated over different questions for the same user, or over different users for similar questions. And, supplemental information may be retrieved relative to a user preference in order to further tune the weighting per the preferences and sentiment levels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Corville O. Allen, Scott Robert Carrier, Scott N. Gerard, Sterling Richardson Smith, David Blake Styles, Eric Woods
  • Publication number: 20170277777
    Abstract: A semantic search engine is enhanced to employ user preferences to customize answer output by, for a first user, extracting user preferences and sentiment levels associated with a first question; receiving candidate answer results of a semantic search of the first question; weighting the candidate answer results according to the sentiment levels for each of the user preferences; and producing the selected candidate answers to the first user. Optionally, user preferences and sentiment levels may be accumulated over different questions for the same user, or over different users for similar questions. And, supplemental information may be retrieved relative to a user preference in order to further tune the weighting per the preferences and sentiment levels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 13, 2017
    Publication date: September 28, 2017
    Inventors: Corville O. Allen, Scott Robert Carrier, Scott N. Gerard, Sterling Richardson Smith, David Blake Styles, Eric Woods
  • Patent number: 9710548
    Abstract: A semantic search engine is enhanced to employ user preferences to customize answer output by, for a first user, extracting user preferences and sentiment levels associated with a first question; receiving candidate answer results of a semantic search of the first question; weighting the candidate answer results according to the sentiment levels for each of the user preferences; and producing the selected candidate answers to the first user. Optionally, user preferences and sentiment levels may be accumulated over different questions for the same user, or over different users for similar questions. And, supplemental information may be retrieved relative to a user preference in order to further tune the weighting per the preferences and sentiment levels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Corville O. Allen, Scott Robert Carrier, Scott N. Gerard, Sterling Richardson Smith, David Blake Styles, Eric Woods
  • Publication number: 20160357856
    Abstract: A semantic search engine is enhanced to employ user preferences to customize answer output by, for a first user, extracting user preferences and sentiment levels associated with a first question; receiving candidate answer results of a semantic search of the first question; weighting the candidate answer results according to the sentiment levels for each of the user preferences; and producing the selected candidate answers to the first user. Optionally, user preferences and sentiment levels may be accumulated over different questions for the same user, or over different users for similar questions. And, supplemental information may be retrieved relative to a user preference in order to further tune the weighting per the preferences and sentiment levels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 23, 2016
    Publication date: December 8, 2016
    Inventors: Corville O. Allen, Scott Robert Carrier, Scott N. Gerard, Sterling Richardson Smith, David Blake Styles, Eric Woods
  • Patent number: 9471626
    Abstract: A semantic search engine is enhanced to employ user preferences to customize answer output by, for a first user, extracting user preferences and sentiment levels associated with a first question; receiving candidate answer results of a semantic search of the first question; weighting the candidate answer results according to the sentiment levels for each of the user preferences; and producing the selected candidate answers to the first user. Optionally, user preferences and sentiment levels may be accumulated over different questions for the same user, or over different users for similar questions. And, supplemental information may be retrieved relative to a user preference in order to further tune the weighting per the preferences and sentiment levels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Corville O. Allen, Scott Robert Carrier, Scott N. Gerard, Sterling Richardson Smith, David Blake Styles, Eric Woods
  • Publication number: 20160103873
    Abstract: A semantic search engine is enhanced to employ user preferences to customize answer output by, for a first user, extracting user preferences and sentiment levels associated with a first question; receiving candidate answer results of a semantic search of the first question; weighting the candidate answer results according to the sentiment levels for each of the user preferences; and producing the selected candidate answers to the first user. Optionally, user preferences and sentiment levels may be accumulated over different questions for the same user, or over different users for similar questions. And, supplemental information may be retrieved relative to a user preference in order to further tune the weighting per the preferences and sentiment levels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2015
    Publication date: April 14, 2016
    Inventors: Corville O. Allen, Scott Robert Carrier, Scott N. Gerard, Sterling Richardson Smith, David Blake Styles, Eric Woods
  • Patent number: 9311294
    Abstract: A semantic search engine is enhanced to employ user preferences to customize answer output by, for a first user, extracting user preferences and sentiment levels associated with a first question; receiving candidate answer results of a semantic search of the first question; weighting the candidate answer results according to the sentiment levels for each of the user preferences; and producing the selected candidate answers to the first user. Optionally, user preferences and sentiment levels may be accumulated over different questions for the same user, or over different users for similar questions. And, supplemental information may be retrieved relative to a user preference in order to further tune the weighting per the preferences and sentiment levels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Corville O. Allen, Scott Robert Carrier, Scott N. Gerard, Sterling Richardson Smith, David Blake Styles, Eric Woods
  • Patent number: 9244911
    Abstract: A semantic search engine is enhanced to employ user preferences to customize answer output by, for a first user, extracting user preferences and sentiment levels associated with a first question; receiving candidate answer results of a semantic search of the first question; weighting the candidate answer results according to the sentiment levels for each of the user preferences; and producing the selected candidate answers to the first user. Optionally, user preferences and sentiment levels may be accumulated over different questions for the same user, or over different users for similar questions. And, supplemental information may be retrieved relative to a user preference in order to further tune the weighting per the preferences and sentiment levels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Corville O. Allen, Scott Robert Carrier, Scott N. Gerard, Sterling Richardson Smith, David Blake Styles, Eric Woods
  • Publication number: 20150154290
    Abstract: A visualization of literary elements of a work of literature, such as a novel or short story, is generated from meta-data records representing a digital work of literature including literary elements (humor, drama, adventure, etc.), characters, and plot devices related to a position within the work of literature where each appears. A significance level is determined for each of the elements, characters and plot devices at each position within the work of literature, and these are plotted into a sequential graph having position (e.g. timeline) axis and a significance level axis. The sequential graph is then output for printing or display. Human-generated and machine-generated meta-data may be ingested equally well by the method. Colors, line thickness, and a broken line patterns may be employed for greater visual meaning. And, the sequential graph may be annotated according to segments (e.g. chapters, sections) and dominant genre within each segment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2013
    Publication date: June 4, 2015
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Corville O. Allen, Scott Robert Carrier, Scott N. Gerard, Sterling Richardson Smith, David Blake Styles, Eric Woods
  • Publication number: 20150006158
    Abstract: A semantic search engine is enhanced to employ user preferences to customize answer output by, for a first user, extracting user preferences and sentiment levels associated with a first question; receiving candidate answer results of a semantic search of the first question; weighting the candidate answer results according to the sentiment levels for each of the user preferences; and producing the selected candidate answers to the first user. Optionally, user preferences and sentiment levels may be accumulated over different questions for the same user, or over different users for similar questions. And, supplemental information may be retrieved relative to a user preference in order to further tune the weighting per the preferences and sentiment levels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2014
    Publication date: January 1, 2015
    Inventors: Corville O. Allen, Scott Robert Carrier, Scott N. Gerard, Sterling Richardson Smith, David Blake Styles, Eric Woods