Abstract: A method and an apparatus for registering frames of imaging data using Fourier phase matching. Successive image frames of pixel data are processed using an image registration algorithm. Either image frames or the frames after edge detection are transformed into polar-logarithmic coordinates in the frequency domain and the phases of the Fourier transform of the resulting image representations, after inverse Fast Fourier transformation, are matched. The coordinates at the maximum phase difference are used to determine the scaling and rotation parameters needed for image frame registration. The frequency domain representation of one of the image frames is then scaled and rotated using an anti-aliasing algorithm in accordance with those parameters. The phase of the result is matched with the phase of the frequency domain representation of the other image frame to determine the translation parameters needed for image frame registration.

Abstract: The patient analysis and risk reduction system is used on a global network, and includes a guideline database for storing a plurality of different medical guidelines for different health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, and a patient information database. A risk evaluator evaluates patient information and generates a risk report based upon at least one of the different medical guidelines, and a risk reduction unit generates a physician's patient treatment plan based upon the different medical guidelines. Patient-specific instructions and educational material are also generated. Furthermore, a patient access unit permits patient monitored information to be entered by a patient while a clinician access unit permits patient reported information and clinician recorded information to be entered by a clinician via the global network.

Abstract: Structure-based processing includes a method of diagnosing diseases that works by arranging diseases, symptoms, and questions into a set of related disease, symptom, and question structures, such as objects or lists, in such a way that the structures can be processed to generate a dialogue with a patient. A structure-based processing system organizes medical knowledge into formal structures and then executes those structures on a structure engine to automatically select the next question. Patient responses to the questions lead to more questions and ultimately to a diagnosis. An object-oriented embodiment includes software objects utilized as active, intelligent agents where each object performs its own tasks and calls upon other objects to perform their tasks at the appropriate time to arrive at a diagnosis.

Abstract: The implant guiding programmer is configured to automatically determine the defibrillation threshold (DFT) for a particular patient and to further determine an optimal implantation configuration for an implantable cardioverter fibrillator (ICD). In one implementation, to determine the DFT for the patient, the programmer correlates patient specific data with a predictive data base containing DFT information for an entire population of patients. The patient specific data includes the age, gender, heart size, chest size and medical history of the patient. The predictive database provides information correlating patient DFT with various ranges of the patient specific data for an entire population of data. In this manner, the programmer quickly approximates the DFT for the particular patient based upon the age, gender, heart size and medical history of the patient.

Abstract: Structure-based processing includes a method of diagnosing diseases that works by arranging diseases, symptoms, and questions into a set of related disease, symptom, and question structures, such as objects or lists, in such a way that the structures can be processed to generate a dialogue with a patient. A structure-based processing system organizes medical knowledge into formal structures and then executes those structures on a structure engine to automatically select the next question. Patient responses to the questions lead to more questions and ultimately to a diagnosis. An object-oriented embodiment includes software objects utilized as active, intelligent agents where each object performs its own tasks and calls upon other objects to perform their tasks at the appropriate time to arrive at a diagnosis.

Abstract: An improved apparatus and method for providing healthcare information, the apparatus comprising a processor for processing at least one of symptom information and condition information corresponding to a patient, in conjunction with at least one of healthcare information, healthcare theories, healthcare principles, and healthcare research, wherein the processor generates a diagnostic report, and further wherein the diagnostic report contains information regarding at least one of a diagnosis and a possible diagnosis for the at least one of symptom information and condition information.

Abstract: A technique is disclosed for providing programs, such as operational protocols, to medical diagnostic institutions and systems. The protocols are created and stored on machine readable media. A description of the protocols is displayed at the diagnostic institution or system. A user may select a desired protocol or program from a user interface, such as a listing of protocols. The protocol listing may include textual and exemplary image descriptions of the protocols. Selected protocols are transferred from the machine readable media to the diagnostic institution or system. The transfer may take place over a network link, and may be subject to fee arrangements, subscription status verifications, and so forth. Protocols may be loaded for execution on system scanners by selection from the same or a similar protocol listing screen.

Abstract: The present invention provides for an electro-surgical instrument with a rich graphical user interface (GUI) capability and a verifiable hardware and software platform meeting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements. The rich GUI makes for a device which is more easily operated than prior art devices which lacked a sophisticated user interface. The increased functionality is achieved without sacrificing the ability to validate the device for FDA purposes. This goal is achieved by a dual processor design. In the dual processor design a control or master processor with verifiable source code implements the functions of: power delivery, temperature measurement, power measurement and power control. A display or slave processor, is functionally isolated from the first processor receiving only messages from the first processor. In a first embodiment of the invention an electro-surgical instrument is disclosed.

Abstract: A system for psychometric analysis and diagnosis comprising an evaluation set of numbered questions. In a computerized version thereof, each numbered question is displayed on an I/O device with a rating scale and explanation thereof for the question. The clinician will then enter a rating datum for the numbered questions into the computer. When all evaluation set data is entered, the system will produce a graphic display or displays of the evaluation, and prioritize the symptomatic problem areas and assets of the current patient. The data of at least one previous patient may be retrieved and compared against the data of the current patient. Subsequent evaluation sets may be simultaneously graphed and compared with earlier evaluation sets, with the improvement or deterioration of patient status therebetween quickly quantified.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for assessing a person's disease status is provided using a plurality of disease prediction factors for that person and applying a multivariate disease prediction equation to the data to assess the disease status of that person. The multivariate disease prediction equation includes the contribution for each disease prediction factor in a comprehensive set of disease prediction factors. Each of the plurality of disease prediction factors for which data are available from the test person is included in the comprehensive set.

Abstract: The present invention is a computerized medical diagnostic method. It includes a first database containing a correlation of a plurality of diseases with a plurality of indicators associated with each such disease. A second database includes human experience test results associated with each indicator. An individual's test results are then compared with the second database data to determine presence levels for each indicator. Thereafter the presence levels are compared with the data in the first database to provide a pattern matching determination of diseases associated with the various indicator presence levels.The presence level indicators for an individual may be affected by many environmental and/or personal factors such as age, sex, race, pregnancy, residence location, previous or current diseases, previous or current drug usage, etc., all of which are factors to be considered in creating an accurate analysis system.

Abstract: A computer-based system is disclosed for predicting future health of individuals comprising:(a) a computer comprising a processor containing a database of longitudinally-acquired biomarker values from individual members of a test population, subpopulation D of aid members being identified as having acquired a specified biological condition within a specified time period or age interval and a subpopulation D being identified as not having acquired the specified biological condition within the specified time period or age interval; and(b) a computer program that includes steps for:(1) selecting from said biomarkers a subset of biomarkers for discriminating between members belonging to the subpopulations D and D, wherein the subset of biomarkers is selected based on distributions of the biomarker values of the individual members of the test population; and(2) using the distributions of the selected biomarkers to develop a statistical procedure that is capable of being used for:(i) classifying members of the test

Abstract: A method of assessing risk of an individual for a disease is disclosed. A level of a marker for the disease is detected, and the risk of disease is computed from a statistical analysis of the marker level distributions for tested normal and diseased populations, using multivariate distributions. The computed risk is compared to thresholds to triage the individual into a normal, borderline, or elevated risk group, and a course of action based on the risk group is determined. Memory storing a program for execution on a data processing system, as well as a computer system comprising said memory is also disclosed, the memory comprising a receiver for signals representative of levels of a marker for the disease; a central processing unit for computing risk of disease from one or more levels of the marker, and for comparing the computed risk to thresholds to triage the individual; and storage medium for the marker levels for subsequent computations of risk of disease.

Abstract: A clinical information reporting system for use with an electronic database for a health care facility, the electronic database being a rotational and modular database for the provision of a scalable and extensible configuration preferably consisting of a workstation as the base configuration and being configurable for use in small and medium network situations and being particularly adapted for the receipt, manipulation, modification and generation of cardiology reports such as resting ECG records and stress ECG records.

Abstract: Cardiac output of a test individual is determined in a noninvasive method, by processing CO.sub.2 expirogram data obtained from the individual. The method also noninvasively determines pulmonary arterial blood CO.sub.2 concentration for the test individual. An apparatus for carrying out this noninvasive method includes a database of computed numerical CO.sub.2 expirograms, a device for measuring experimental CO.sub.2 expirogram data and means for processing the data sets to determine cardiac output.

Abstract: An improvement to an apparatus for processing psychological data, said apparatus comprising means for processing data indicative of at least one of an individual's psychological condition, psychological states, concomitant physiological states, and states of dysfunction in conjunction with at least one of psychological, concomitant physiological, and psycho pathological, at least one of principles, theories and research data in order to generate data indicative of at least one of a diagnosis and a treatment plan for the individual, the improvement comprising a remote user interactive means for providing at least one of a remote accessing and utilization of said apparatus, said remote user interactive means further comprising a user input means for inputting data pertaining to an individual and a user display means for providing at least one of an indication of apparatus operation and data relevant to an individual, wherein said remote user interactive means facilitates at least one of data entry and control o

Abstract: An apparatus for open-heart surgery includes a platform (20) to support the surgeon's hand (or an instrument) and a cam (30) for reciprocating the platform oscillation around a hinge (12). The cam is shaped so that the pattern of the platform oscillation follows the beating heart's motion. The platform motion triggers a momentary-contact switch on each cycle. The switch drives a pacer, which paces the heart to beat in synchrony. The platform rate is set slightly above the un-paced heart beat rate; this keeps the heart in close synchrony with the platform oscillation and stabilizes its motion. The platform and heart move together, relative motion is canceled, and the surgeon need not compensate. The platform is mounted (10) on an adjustable support and a laser beam is used to angularly align the platform to the heart oscillation.

Abstract: Methods, software, and systems for evaluating the response of a patient afflicted with a disease to a therapeutic regimen for the disease are described. In one aspect, the present methods, systems, and software are provided for evaluating the utility of a treatment regimen for treating a patient afflicted with a disease. In one embodiment of this aspect, the value of at least one diagnostic variable relating to a statistical model describing the utility of the treatment regimen is determined. The statistical model is derived using a robustified similarity metric least squares (SMILES) analysis of the response to the treatment regimen which has been adapted to include discriminant and logistical analysis. The value of the diagnostic variable is then applied to the model to provide an estimated utility of the treatment regimen in treating the patient.

Abstract: A data processing environment processes a plurality of signals to detect a system state. The specific system can be, for example, a living human, where the signals are biological parameters. A processor operates the data points from two signals by defining respective classes of contiguous runs of a prescribed length of the data. The processor then assigns quantitative values to measure the regularity and stability of similar patterns between the first and second sets of classes of data points from the defined classes. These assigned quantitative values are aggregated to quantify the degree of asynchrony or conditional irregularity between the signals.

Abstract: The invention described herein is directed to a method and associated system for the detection of various physiological conditions using multichannel sensor data. Truth data organized in the form of a vector sequence is used to generate a multichannel state variable model for a given known physiological condition. Such state variable models are obtained using one or more of a host of system identification algorithms. Upon identification of the model parameters, a multichannel inverse filter is derived from the model parameters. The inverse filter can be used to whiten or decorrelate sensor data sequences that are associated with the given physiological condition. The degree of whitening is a measure of the match of an unknown physiological condition with that physiological condition represented by the data used to generate the filter. On this basis, a number of such filters can be produced for a variety of physiological conditions.

Abstract: A method of assessing risk of an individual for a disease is disclosed. A level of a marker for the disease is detected, and the risk of disease is computed from a statistical analysis of the marker level distributions for tested normal and diseased populations, using multivariate distributions. The computed risk is compared to thresholds to triage the individual into a normal, borderline, or elevated risk group, and a course of action based on the risk group is determined. Memory storing a program for execution on a data processing system, as well as a computer system comprising said memory is also disclosed, the memory comprising a receiver for signals representative of levels of a marker for the disease; a central procesing unit for computing risk of disease from one or more levels of the marker, and for comparing the computed risk to thresholds to triage the individual; and storage medium for the marker levels for subsequent computations of risk of disease.

Abstract: The present invention is a method and apparatus for collecting EEG data, reducing the EEG data into coefficients, and correlating those coefficients with a depth of unconsciousness or anesthetic depth, and which obtains a bounded first derivative of anesthetic depth to indicate trends. The present invention provides a developed artificial neural network based method capable of continuously analyzing EEG data to discriminate between awake and anesthetized states in an individual and continuously monitoring anesthetic depth trends in real-time. The present invention enables an anesthesiologist to respond immediately to changes in anesthetic depth of the patient during surgery and to administer the correct amount of anesthetic.

Abstract: A system and method for managing patient medical information to facilitate data management and improve physician access to and recordal of examination data is described. The method comprises a computer aided process including the steps of scheduling appointments, entering and displaying data to a physician, updating the patient data with progress notes concurrently with an examination, displaying allergy warnings and recording a diagnosis based on the progress notes. A common graphic user interface is also disclosed to facilitate operation of the preferred system and method. The system and method are implemented with a relational database operating on data tables which store information input into the user interface.

Abstract: Computer implemented systems and methods for removing bone cement or other material to replace a bone prosthesis is provided. A computer aided method of replacing a bone prosthesis according to the present invention comprises the steps of: receiving as input image data of a bone; identifying bounding contours of material in the image data surrounding a first bone prosthesis for removal; and generating system contours from the bounding contours, the system contours specifying a cavity to be cut in the bone to accommodate a second bone prosthesis.

Abstract: A system for acquiring images during a medical procedure and using the acquired images includes a storage device for storing, for each one of a plurality of users of the system, or for each one of a plurality of medical procedures, or for each one of a plurality of input or output devices, information that indicates one or more processing operations to be performed on images obtained by an input device. A system processor responds to an identity the user who is currently using the system by performing processing operations on the obtained images and applying the images to an output device based on the stored information that corresponds to the current user.