Automated Scan Protocol Recommendation Through DICOM Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
The reproducibility crisis in medical care is exacerbated by varying local procedure identifiers and resource access across different medical facilities, leading to inconsistent and non-standardized medical treatment.
Innovation Solution
An intelligent automated protocoling system that maps local procedure identifiers to standardized DICOM® tags, enabling automated recommendation and selection of scan protocols, thereby standardizing medical imaging procedures across facilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If local procedure identifiers are used to interface with specific medical imaging systems, then the system can adapt to local procedures and resources, but consistency and standardization across different medical facilities deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary mapping system that translates between local procedure identifiers and standardized procedure identifiers. This intermediary layer allows the system to maintain adaptability to local procedures while ensuring consistency through standardization, resolving the contradiction between customization and standardization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a universal mapping framework that can handle multiple local identifier systems while converging to a single standardized representation. This multi-functional approach enables the system to work with diverse local procedures while maintaining uniformity in protocol selection across different facilities.
2Adaptability or versatility
If manual protocol selection is used, then flexibility in handling diverse local procedures is maintained, but time consumption and operational efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary mapping between local identifiers and standardized procedures in advance, creating a pre-configured mapping database. This preliminary action enables automated protocol recommendation without requiring manual selection during patient examinations, significantly reducing time loss while maintaining flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements self-service automation where the mapping framework automatically recommends appropriate scan protocols based on local identifiers without requiring manual intervention. This self-service capability maintains adaptability to local procedures while eliminating time-consuming manual protocol selection.
3Reliability
If standardized identifiers are implemented across all facilities, then reproducibility and consistency improve, but adaptability to local procedures and resources deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the identifier system into two distinct layers: local procedure identifiers that capture facility-specific variations and standardized procedure identifiers that ensure consistency. This segmentation allows each layer to fulfill its specific function - local identifiers maintain adaptability while standardized identifiers ensure reproducibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies local quality by allowing procedure-specific mappings to vary by facility while maintaining a consistent standardized core. Each medical facility can have customized mapping rules tailored to its local procedures and resources, while the overall system maintains standardization through the common standardized identifier framework.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems are provided for automated protocol recommendation and selection in a medical imaging system. In one example, a method may include receiving, from a hospital-specific user interface, a standard procedure ID, determining a medical imaging procedure based on the standard procedure ID, and, responsive to having previously received the standard procedure ID, generating one or more protocol recommendations based at least on the determined medical imaging procedure, and performing the determined medical imaging procedure based on at least one of the one or more protocol recommendations.