Skin Marking Tool for Radiological Imaging Material

Abstract

A marking tool for use in the context of radiological and other medical imaging is disclosed. The product is a marking tool for distributing an imaging material onto a patient's skin to mark that part of the patient's body for imaging. The imaging technician then knows the area of medical interest, such as an internal injury, and can image that area more accurately. The imaging material shows up on a resulting medical image such as an X-Ray, CT Scan, or MRI to direct a radiology professional to the most important area on the image for diagnostic purposes.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The invention relates to the field of radiology and includes tools for marking a patient's skin with an imaging material that is radiopaque or, depending upon the type of radiology, otherwise suitable to be visible on the image. The imaging material shows up as a visible indicator on both the patient's skin and the medical image associated with that area of the patient's body. The marking tool assists radiology professionals in achieving the highest quality medical image and in analyzing the image for proper diagnosis.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]One of the biggest hurdles for a radiologist is the volume of images that must be analyzed every day for diagnostic purposes. Often, these images are collected from remote locations, such as individual physicians' offices or emergency centers. Medical professionals transmit the images to a central radiology unit where trained professionals “read” the image to determine the next course of action for treatment....

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0020]In other embodiments, the invention is a tool for distributing the radiopaque material onto the patient's skin. The distribution tools described herein are compact, portable, and useful for more than one application to different patients while maintaining sterility and appropriate hygienic standards. Witho

Problems solved by technology

One of the biggest hurdles for a radiologist is the volume of images that must be analyzed every day for diagnostic purposes.

This pressure is compounded by the fact that the person reading the image may have no personal communication with the individual patient or with the person who actually performed the imaging.

Often, however, these notes are insufficient to give the radiologist reading the image a clear focus of the exact problem to look for on the multitude of images associated with a patient or group of patients.

Unfortunately, foreign objects also bring forth the possibility of obscuring a view of the medical problem on the image.

Unfortunately, these can be dislodged inadvertently, pointing to the entirely wrong area.

Still, however, with medical imaging taking on such high tech features as 3-D imaging and higher resolution scanning at various angles, efforts to incorporate directional arrows on an image do not meet the true needs of the radiologist.

The Gilpatrick '062 method for applying a radiopaque marker does not, however, disclose the use of such a device to indicate areas of interest on a medical patient.

Accordingly, Gilpatrick fails to disclose a method for using a radiopaque marker tool in a medical imaging process.

Because the Gilpatrick device is intended for use in textile examination, possible detrimental effects of human contact with certain radiopaque compositions may not have been considered by Gilpatrick.

This lack of consideration is evidenced by the fact that the marker disclosed in the '062 patent focuses on compositions containing heavy metals (e.g., bismuth, lead), which in some forms can be toxic to humans.

In fact, Wood specifically focuses on lead and limits the list of appropriate materials to elements having an atomic weight of at least 184, which is even greater than the acceptable range noted by Gilpatrick.

Thus, Wood likewise fails to disclose a radiopaque marker that is designed to be safe for use on medical patients.

The disclosure of the use of the X-ray marker in a medical context is very limited, and appears that the use of the Wood X-ray marker is intended more for marking the plate or film for identification purposes than to mark the patient to pinpoint the site of injury.

Duska does not, however, disclose any tool that applies the radiopaque substance directly to a patient's skin.

The patent's disclosure is limited to a tape having radiopaque markings, so the examining physician is limited in the types of marks that can be made by the shape of the tape.

Thus, although Duska discloses a radiopaque marking device and system that allows an examining physician to communicate the area of interest to later parties examining the resulting X-ray, the '676 patent fails to provide a better way to mark the skin in a visible manner so that the image is taken of the correct spot and the resulting picture is marked for diagnosing that spot.

DeSena does not disclose a pencil, pen, marker, or any other tool that applies the radiopaque substance, though.

Further, the DeSena markers are limited in size and shape to the preformed stickers.

Accordingly, the examining physician is limited in the markings that can be made and may be especially limited if a relatively large area is the area to be analyzed.

This review of the pertinent art shows that none of the published material or known products on the market fully address the radiologists' problems of image placement during the patient scanning process or image marking to focus the radiologists' review.

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