A DEVICE FOR SCREENING SYSTEMIC DISEASES OF PATIENTS DURING DENTAL EXAMINATIONS

Abstract

This utility model relates to medical technology, specifically dentistry and healthcare informatics. A device for filling out personal patient session data comprises a panel with a patient touchscreen display facing the patient and a panel with a physician display facing the physician. The patient display is configured to allow the filling out of an interactive electronic patient questionnaire. The physician display is configured to allow the input of periodontal examination results. The device also comprises a computing module configured to locally calculate the probabilities of systemic diseases using a neural network, with non-volatile memory designed to store a record of the weighting coefficients of a pre-trained neural network model, a built-in thermal printer, an uninterruptible power supply, and a network interface. The patient panel is front-facing, and the physician panel is rear-facing, and these panels are housed in a single, integral housing.An opaque partition is provided between the patient's touchscreen display and the physician's display on the base of the housing, preventing the patient from visually accessing the display. The patient's touchscreen display is secured to the front panel of the housing via a hinge with at least three lockable angular positions relative to the plane of the front panel. An LED data processing status indicator panel is located on the front panel of the housing. It is optically coupled to the computing module and is capable of displaying various data processing states. The network interface is equipped with a physical communication channel disconnect switch with a mechanical locking mechanism and a current position indicator displayed on the housing. A niche for the optical patient identifier reader, equipped with a guide frame, is provided on the front panel of the housing. The optical reader is electrically connected to the computing module.The technical result consists in preserving medical confidentiality by eliminating the patient's visual access to the contents of the physician's diagnostic information. 6 clauses, 5 figs.

Description

[0001] This utility model relates to medical technology, specifically dentistry and healthcare informatics, and is intended for use in outpatient dental appointments as a tool to support a dentist's clinical decision regarding referring a patient for laboratory testing for suspected systemic diseases (type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, arterial hypertension) based on a local neural network analysis of clinical and anamnestic data and the patient's dental status. The utility model can be used in dental clinics, dental departments of medical universities, dental training centers, and clinical diagnostic units providing primary specialized dental care.

[0002] A system is known consisting of two tablet computers (one for the patient and one for the doctor) communicating via a server part with an electronic medical record (see US patent No. 10444950B1, published October 15, 2019).

[0003] On the device, information processing occurs on the server, which requires the mandatory transfer of personal medical data over a network channel; the solution does not implement the prediction of systemic diseases based on dental status.

[0004] A telemedicine diagnostic kiosk is known (see US patent No. 11978552B2, published 05 / 07 / 2024), which is a cabinet with a private cabin and communication with a remote medical specialist.

[0005] Disadvantages: Self-administered by the patient without a doctor present; does not integrate into the existing outpatient dental workflow; requires network connection with a remote specialist.

[0006] A technical solution is known (see US patent No. 7139016 B2, published on November 21, 2006), in which a monitor is attached to a dental chair to display an image of the oral cavity to the patient.

[0007] Disadvantages: a single display is visible to both the patient and the doctor simultaneously; no separation of information flows; no neural network function for predicting systemic diseases.

[0008] The prior art includes a device according to patent CN 222746970 U, published 11.04.2025 class F16M 11 / 04.

[0009] The known device includes two screens, one of which is which are secured by means of a hinge joint with at least three fixed angular positions relative to the plane of the front panels

[0010] Disadvantages of the prototype:

[0011] does not exclude the physical possibility of visual access of the patient to the doctor's display and vice versa;

[0012] information processing is performed on a remote server, which requires the mandatory transfer of the patient's personal medical data outside the premises where the appointment is conducted and does not meet the requirements for working with personal data as part of a medical secret.

[0013] The technical problem solved by the claimed utility model is the creation of a device for screening patients for systemic diseases during dental examinations, which simultaneously ensures: delimitation of the patient's and doctor's visual access zones to various information flows within a single workstation; local neural network prediction of the risks of systemic diseases based on the patient's dental status without transmitting the patient's personal medical data outside the device's housing; visual notification of the patient about the current state of processing of his medical data.

[0014] The technical result consists in eliminating the patient's visual access to the contents of the doctor's diagnostic information.

[0015] The problem is solved, and the technical result is achieved by the fact that the device for filling in the patient’s personal session data, comprising a panel with a patient touchscreen display facing the patient and a panel with a doctor display facing the doctor, wherein the patient display is configured to fill out an interactive electronic patient questionnaire, and the doctor display is configured to enter the results of a periodontal examination, a computing module configured to locally calculate the probabilities of systemic diseases using a neural network, with non-volatile memory intended for storing a record of the weighting coefficients of a pre-trained neural network model, a built-in thermal printer, an uninterruptible power supply and a network interface. The patient panel is configured as a front panel, and the doctor panel as a back panel, and said panels are located in a single, integral housing, between the patient touchscreen display and the doctor display, an opaque partition is formed on the base of the housing, preventing the patient from visually accessing the doctor display,wherein the patient's touch screen is secured to the front panel of the housing by means of a hinged unit with at least three fixed angular positions relative to the plane of the front panel, a LED indicator panel for the data processing status is placed on the front panel of the housing, optically connected to the computing module and configured to display various data processing states, the network interface is provided with a physical switch for breaking the communication channel with a mechanical fixation of the current position and an indication of the current position displayed on the housing, and a niche for an optical reader of the patient identifier is formed on the front panel of the housing, provided with a guide frame, wherein the optical reader is electrically connected to the computing module. The technical result is also achieved by the fact that the guide frame of the niche the optical reader is designed with the possibility of positioning printed information carrier with a QR code. Niche guide frame The optical reader is designed to allow positioning of the screen of the patient's mobile device.

[0016] The technical result is also achieved by the fact that the hinge unit of the patient's touchscreen display can be designed with the ability to change the angular position of the display in the range of 45-90° relative to the plane of the front panel of the housing.

[0017] The technical result is also achieved in that the LED indicator panel for the data processing status can contain from 8 to 16 RGB LEDs and is designed with the ability to display at least the states of “data input by the patient”, “processing by the neural network model” and “clinical result ready”, distinguishable by the patient by color and / or glow mode.

[0018] The technical result is also achieved by the fact that the network channel break switch can be made in the form of a toggle switch, providing a galvanic break of the network interface communication line in one of the fixed positions and maintaining this communication line in another fixed position, while the current position of the switch is duplicated by an LED indication on the housing.

[0019] The technical result is also achieved by the fact that the built-in thermal printer can have a print width of 58 mm and is equipped with an output tray located on the surface of the housing, and is designed with the ability to print a patient's clinical referral indicating the rationale for the referral and the device identifier.

[0020] The combination of all features ensures the achievement of a technical result - bringing the device's functionality into compliance with the requirements for working with medical confidentiality and personal medical data in an outpatient dental setting.

[0021] In particular embodiments of the utility model, additional technical solutions are possible, specifying individual units of the device and set out in dependent claims of the formula.

[0022] The utility model is explained with the help of drawings.

[0023] Fig. 1 shows a general view of the patient systemic disease screening device from the front panel (view from the patient side): a patient touch display in the middle fixed position, an LED indicator panel, an optical ID reader niche with a guide frame, ventilation holes;

[0024] Fig. 2 - general view of the device for screening patient systemic diseases from the rear panel (view from the doctor's side): doctor's display, thermal printing output tray, physical switch for breaking the network channel with position indication, set of external connectors (power supply and peripherals);

[0025] in Fig. 3 - a section of the housing along a vertical plane passing through the geometric center of the housing parallel to the front and back panels, demonstrating the relative position of the patient's touch display, opaque partition, doctor's display, computing module, uninterruptible power supply, thermal printer and optical reader;

[0026] in Fig. 4 - block diagram of the functional connections of the device nodes: patient touch display, optical identifier reader, computing module with non-volatile memory, doctor display, LED indicator panel, thermal printer, uninterruptible power supply, network interface with a physical switch for breaking the communication channel;

[0027] Fig. 5 - drawing of the hinged unit for attaching the patient's touchscreen display: at least three fixed angular positions (0°, 45°, 90°) relative to the plane of the front panel of the housing with the locking mechanism are shown.

[0028] Reference designations common to all drawings:

[0029] 1 - device body;

[0030] 2 - front panel;

[0031] 3 - rear panel;

[0032] 4 - patient touch display;

[0033] 5 - Patient touch display hinge assembly;

[0034] 6 - doctor display;

[0035] 7 - opaque partition;

[0036] 8 - computing module;

[0037] 9 - non-volatile memory;

[0038] 10 - built-in thermal printer;

[0039] 11 - Print media output tray;

[0040] 12 - uninterruptible power supply;

[0041] 13 - optical ID reader;

[0042] 14 - optical reader niche;

[0043] 15 - niche guide frame;

[0044] 16 - LED indicator panel for data processing status;

[0045] 17 - network interface;

[0046] 18 - physical switch for breaking the network channel;

[0047] 19 - switch position indication;

[0048] 20 - external peripheral and power connectors.

[0049] The claimed device for screening patients for systemic diseases during dental examinations is a desktop hardware and software unit in a single housing. It is designed as a desktop device with a single-piece composite housing 1, sized to fit on a dentist's desk next to the dental chair. Housing 1 has a front panel 2 facing the patient and a rear panel 3 facing the dentist.

[0050] On the front panel 2 there is a patient touch display 4 with a diagonal of 10-11 inches, fixed by means of a hinge unit 5. The hinge unit 5 (Fig. 5) is configured to fix the touch display 4 in at least three angular positions relative to the plane of the front panel 2: 0° - folded transport position; 45° - working position for a patient in a semi-recumbent position in the dental chair; 90° - working position for a patient in a sitting or standing position. The fixation angle is ensured by a mechanical lock with a tactilely perceptible latch (the specific values ​​of the angles and their number are determined by the designer within at least three positions and do not go beyond the scope of the present utility model).

[0051] The rear panel 3 houses the doctor's display 6 with a diagonal of 7-10 inches. Between the patient's touchscreen display 4 and the doctor's display 6 in the housing 1 is an opaque partition 7 made of an opaque composite material and preventing the patient from visually accessing the content displayed on the doctor's display 6. The doctor's display 6 displays the systemic disease risk prognosis calculated by the computing module 8 and recommendations for referring the patient for laboratory screening (HbA1c determination, blood pressure measurement, consultation with a therapist or endocrinologist).

[0052] Computing module 8 is housed in housing 1 and is a single-board computer with sufficient performance for local execution of a pre-trained neural network model (e.g., Raspberry Pi 5, NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano, or similar). Non-volatile memory 9 is connected to computing module 8, storing the weighting coefficients and architectural configurations of the pre-trained heterogeneous graph neural network model. The device's analytical core is designed to calculate the individual probabilities of a patient's systemic diseases (type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arterial hypertension) based on anamnestic data entered via the patient's touchscreen display 4 and periodontal examination parameters entered by the physician via the physician's display 6. All calculations are performed locally, without transmitting the patient's personal data outside of housing 1.

[0053] The housing 1 contains a built-in thermal printer 10 with a print width of 58 mm, the output tray 11 of which is located on the side or front surface of the housing 1. The thermal printer 10 is designed to print a patient's clinical referral indicating the rationale for the referral and the device identifier.

[0054] Uninterruptible power supply 12, located in case 1, ensures the operation of the device for at least 30 minutes after disconnecting from the external power supply, which ensures continuous reception.

[0055] Front panel 2 includes a recess 14 for the patient's optical ID reader with a guide frame 15. The guide frame 15 is shaped to support both the printed information carrier (patient card with a QR code or linear barcode) and the patient's mobile device screen (with a QR code previously sent to the patient). Recess 14 houses an optical reader 13 (e.g., based on a CMOS sensor with infrared illumination). Optical reader 13 is electrically connected to computing module 8 and enables automatic patient identification and automatic retrieval of a previously completed patient questionnaire from a local database.

[0056] On the front panel 2, in the area visible to the patient, a LED processing status indicator panel 16 is located. Panel 16 contains from 8 to 16 RGB LEDs and is optically connected to the computing module 8. Panel 16 is configured to display at least three different data processing states: "patient data input" (input waiting state), "processing by the neural network model" (score state), and "clinical result ready" (completion state). The correspondence of a specific color and / or glow mode to each of the states is defined by the firmware of the computing module 8 and does not go beyond the scope of the present utility model.

[0057] Network interface 17 (Ethernet RJ-45 and / or Wi-Fi module) is located in housing 1. A physical switch 18 for disconnecting the network channel is installed on housing 1 in an area visible to both the doctor and the patient. Switch 18 is a toggle switch with a mechanical locking of the current position and ensures galvanic disconnection of the communication line of network interface 17. The current position of switch 18 is displayed by indicator 19 on housing 1, designed as a position marking (e.g., "OFFLINE / SYNC") with duplicate LED indication. In the "OFFLINE" position, the network channel is physically disconnected, and the device is guaranteed not to transmit the patient's personal medical data to external networks; in the "SYNC" position, synchronization of anonymized analytics with the clinic's information system is possible.

[0058] External peripheral and power connectors 20 (USB-C, HDMI, 220 V power socket) are located on the rear panel 3 of case 1.

[0059] All the listed units - patient touch display 4, doctor display 6, optical reader 13, LED indicator panel 16, thermal printer 10, uninterruptible power supply 12, network interface 17 - are connected to the computing module 8 in accordance with the block diagram of functional connections shown in Fig. 4.

[0060] The device described is used as follows.

[0061] Upon arrival for a dental appointment, the patient places a clinic card with a QR code or a mobile device screen on recess 14 of optical reader 13. Reader 13 identifies the patient and transmits the ID to computing module 8. Computing module 8 opens the patient's personal session and retrieves previously entered data. LED indicator panel 16 switches to the "patient data entry" state (e.g., a steady blue glow).

[0062] The patient, reclining in the dental chair, completes an interactive electronic questionnaire via the patient touchscreen display 4, the angle of which is fixed by the hinge joint 5 at 45°. Simultaneously, the physician enters the results of the periodontal examination via the physician display 6. Upon completion of the input, the computing module 8 performs a local neural network calculation of the probabilities of systemic diseases, and the LED indicator panel 16 switches to the "neural network model processing" state (e.g., a running yellow-orange indicator).

[0063] The prognosis results are displayed exclusively on the physician's display 6 and are not visible to the patient due to the partition 7 being made of opaque material. The LED indicator panel 16 switches to the "clinical result ready" state (e.g., a steady green glow). If the physician determines that there are clinical grounds for doing so, the thermal printer 10 prints a clinical referral, which exits through the tray 11.

[0064] Throughout the entire scenario, the physical switch 18 is in the “OFFLINE” position, which is physically and visually confirmed to the patient by the indicator 19 on the body 1 - the patient’s personal medical data does not leave the body 1 of the device.

[0065] All device components are implemented using commercially available components: single-board computers (SBCs) such as the Raspberry Pi 5, NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano, and similar devices; touchscreens with capacitive touch technology (TFT IPS, 10-11 inches; 7-10 inches); industrial-grade hinge joints with friction locking; WS2812 RGB LED modules and similar devices; medical-grade 58 mm thermal printers; line-interactive uninterruptible power supplies; CMOS readers with infrared illumination; and standard toggle switches with mechanical locking. The enclosure can be assembled at any contract manufacturing facility certified for the production of medical equipment.

[0066] The industrial applicability of the utility model is confirmed by the production of a functional prototype of the device and its clinical and ergonomic testing in an outpatient dental clinic.

[0067] Using the described device allows you to:

[0068] Prevent the patient from having visual access to the contents of the physician's diagnostic information, despite the use of a single device housing;

[0069] to provide visual information to the patient about the current status of processing of his medical data using the computing module of the device;

[0070] Ensure patient-observable isolation of his / her medical data from external network communication channels;

[0071] Reduce the time to start an appointment and eliminate errors in manual entry of patient ID.

[0072] Reduce the time for processing and obtaining information about the presence of systemic diseases in a patient during dental examinations.

[0073] Thus, the use of the described device allows maintaining medical confidentiality by eliminating the patient’s visual access to the contents of the doctor’s diagnostic information.

Claims

1. A device for filling in data for a patient's personal session, comprising a panel with a patient touchscreen display facing the patient, and a panel with a doctor display facing the doctor, wherein the patient display is configured to fill out an interactive electronic patient questionnaire, and the doctor display is configured to enter the results of a periodontal examination, a computing module configured to locally calculate the probabilities of systemic diseases using a neural network, with non-volatile memory intended for storing a record of the weighting coefficients of a pre-trained neural network model, a built-in thermal printer, an uninterruptible power supply and a network interface, characterized in that the patient panel is front-facing, and the doctor panel is rear-facing, and said panels are located in a single, integral housing between the patient touchscreen display and the doctor display.An opaque partition is provided on the base of the housing, preventing the patient from having visual access to the doctor's display, wherein the patient's touch display is secured to the front panel of the housing by means of a hinged unit with at least three fixed angular positions relative to the plane of the front panel, an LED indicator panel for the data processing status is placed on the front panel of the housing, optically connected to the computing module and configured to display various data processing states, the network interface is provided with a physical switch for breaking the communication channel with mechanical fixation of the current position and an indication of the current position displayed on the housing, and a niche for an optical reader of the patient identifier is provided on the front panel of the housing, provided with a guide frame, wherein the optical reader is electrically connected to the computing module.

2. The device according to paragraph 1, characterized in that the guide frame of the optical reader niche is designed with the possibility of positioning a printed information carrier with a QR code.

3. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the guide frame of the optical reader niche is designed with the possibility of positioning the screen of the patient’s mobile device.

4. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the hinge unit of the patient's touch display is designed with the possibility of changing the angular position of the display in the range of 45° - 90° relative to the plane of the front panel of the housing.

5. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the LED indicator panel for the data processing status contains from 8 to 16 RGB LEDs and is configured to display at least the states of “patient data input”, “processing by a neural network model” and “clinical result ready”, distinguishable by the patient by color and / or glow mode.

6. The device according to paragraph 1, characterized in that the network channel break switch is made in the form of a toggle switch, providing a galvanic break of the communication line of the network interface in one of the fixed positions and maintaining this communication line in another fixed position, while the current position of the switch is duplicated by an LED indicator on the housing.

7. The device according to paragraph 1, characterized in that the built-in thermal printer has a print width of 58 mm and is equipped with an output tray located on the surface of the housing, and is designed with the ability to print a clinical referral for the patient indicating the rationale for the referral and the device identifier.

Images