Selective Medical Data Compression for Limited-Bandwidth Transmission
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for transmitting electrophysiological data, such as ECG, over limited bandwidth networks are inefficient as they transmit all data indiscriminately, leading to delays and bandwidth exhaustion, while only a fraction is clinically significant.
Innovation Solution
A method that selectively compresses data by choosing specific time intervals of interest at a higher resolution and compressing the rest at a coarser resolution, allowing efficient transmission and subsequent decompression for remote analysis and display.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If all electrophysiological data is transmitted at high resolution over limited bandwidth networks, then data quality is maintained, but bandwidth is exhausted and transmission delays increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by transmitting different portions of electrophysiological data at different resolutions. Specifically, clinically significant time intervals (such as those containing arrhythmias or other diagnostic features) are transmitted at high resolution, while non-critical portions are transmitted at lower resolution. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining high data quality only where medically necessary, thereby improving overall transmission efficiency without sacrificing diagnostic accuracy.
2Loss of information
If all electrophysiological data is transmitted indiscriminately, then complete data is available for analysis, but bandwidth is wasted and transmission time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and identifies clinically significant time intervals from the complete electrophysiological data using automated detection algorithms or physician input. Only these extracted critical portions are transmitted at high resolution, while the remainder is either transmitted at lower resolution or discarded. This resolves the contradiction by removing unnecessary data from the transmission stream, preserving essential information while dramatically reducing bandwidth consumption.
3Productivity
If data is compressed at coarser resolution to reduce transfer volume, then bandwidth usage is optimized, but data quality and diagnostic accuracy may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic resolution adjustment where the compression level applied to different data segments is determined by their clinical significance. Time intervals containing diagnostically important features (detected through automated analysis or physician selection) are transmitted at high resolution with minimal compression, while normal intervals use higher compression ratios. This dynamic approach resolves the contradiction by adapting the compression level to the local importance of each data segment.
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus includes a network interface and a processor. The network interface is configured to communicate over a communication network. The processor is configured to receive (i) data, including a medical parameter acquired as a function of time, and (ii) a selection of one or more time intervals of interest within the time period. The processor is further configured to compress a first portion of the data, which is within the selected time intervals, at a first resolution, and compress a second portion of the data, which is outside the selected time intervals, at a second resolution, which is coarser than the first resolution. The processor is additionally configured to transmit the compressed first and second portions of the data, via the network interface, over the communication network.