SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISCOVERING IMAGE QUALITY INFORMATION RELATED TO DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING PERFORMANCE

1 . A system for discovering information related to diagnostic imaging performance at a medical imaging site, comprising:

at least one database of stored digital diagnostic images;

a user instruction interface for obtaining an operator request for information related to image quality of the stored digital diagnostic images;

a data processor in communication with the at least one database, the data processor being programmed with instructions to use only information found within the stored digital diagnostic images themselves:

(a) for retrieving digital diagnostic images for one or more patients from the at least one database according to the operator request from the user instruction interface,

(b) for analyzing the image quality of the retrieved digital diagnostic images as specified in the operator request, and

(c) for providing at least output information about the image quality analysis to a data mining engine; and

a data mining engine in communication with the data processor, the data mining engine being programmed with instructions to use only information found within the retrieved digital diagnostic images themselves: (1) for processing the output information that is obtained from the data processor; and (2) for providing information related to image quality and the diagnostic imaging performance at the medical imaging site, according to the output information.

2 . The system of claim 1 wherein the instructions for retrieving digital diagnostic images specify one or more of patient medical condition, image capture system identifier, patient age, and type of diagnostic image.

3 . The system of claim 1 wherein the provided information related to image quality comprises information related to one or more of a clipped anatomy defect, motion blur, over-exposure, under-exposure, image speckle, missing marker defect and unacceptable contrast-to-noise value.

4 . The system of claim 3 wherein information provided by the data processor and the data mining engine relates to probability of an imaging artifact in the one or more retrieved patient diagnostic images.

5 . The system of claim 1 wherein the instructions for retrieving one or more patient diagnostic images specify a particular imaging technologist.

6 . The system of claim 1 wherein the instructions for retrieving one or more patient diagnostic images specify a particular imaging apparatus.

7 . The system of claim 1 wherein the information provided by the data processor related to image quality comprises information on the severity of a detected problem.

8 . The system of claim 1 wherein the data processor comprises one or more modules for analyzing the retrieved diagnostic images and outputting probability values to identify one or more of the group of imaging artifacts consisting of motion blur, over-exposure, under-exposure, clipped anatomy, missing marker, and image speckle.

9 . The system of claim 1 wherein the information related to image quality from the data processor comprises information related to cumulative exposure and exposure-related trends during a period of time.

10 . A method for discovering information related to diagnostic imaging performance at a medical imaging site from a database of stored digital diagnostic images, the method comprising using a computer to perform steps of:

obtaining user instructions for information related to image quality of the stored digital diagnostic images;

directing a query for the image quality information to a data processing engine;

using the data processing engine and only information found within the stored digital diagnostic images themselves, retrieving digital diagnostic images for one or more patients from the database according to the query;

analyzing the retrieved digital diagnostic images to provide an assessment of image quality thereof according to the query;

providing at least output information about the image quality assessment to a data mining engine;

using the data mining engine and only information found within the retrieved digital diagnostic images themselves, correlating the at least output information with one or more of a technician, an imaging apparatus, a patient condition, an image type, and a time interval; and

providing results of the correlating as output information related to image quality and the diagnostic imaging performance at the medical imaging site.

11 . The method of claim 10 further comprising displaying the output information on a display monitor.

12 . The method of claim 10 wherein the assessment of image quality comprises information about one or more of the group of imaging artifacts consisting of motion blur, over-exposure, under-exposure, clipped anatomy, missing marker, and image speckle.

13 . The method of claim 12 wherein information provided by the data processing engine and the data mining engine relates to probability of an imaging artifact in the one or more retrieved patient diagnostic images.

14 . The method of claim 10 wherein the output information further comprises warning information related to the assessment of image quality.

15 . A method for obtaining information related to performance of a diagnostic imaging facility, the method comprising using a computer to perform steps of:

accessing a database of stored digital diagnostic images;

obtaining image quality criteria;

obtaining condition criteria that identify one or more of patient pathology, image capture apparatus, time interval, and technologist obtaining a digital diagnostic image found in the database;

using only information found within the stored digital diagnostic images themselves, retrieving one or more images for each of a plurality of patients from the database according to the condition criteria;

analyzing the one or more retrieved images according to the image quality criteria; and

reporting results of the analysis according to the image quality criteria as output information related to image quality and the diagnostic imaging performance at the diagnostic imaging facility.

16 . The method of claim 15 wherein the step of obtaining image quality criteria comprises responding to instructions obtained from a user interface.

17 . The method of claim 15 wherein the image quality criteria include one or more imaging artifacts taken from the group consisting of motion blur, over-exposure, under-exposure, clipped anatomy, missing marker, and image speckle.

18 . The system of claim 17 wherein information provided by the retrieving and analyzing steps relates to probability of an imaging artifact in the one or more retrieved patient diagnostic images.

19 . The method of claim 15 wherein reporting results further comprises providing information on the severity of an image artifact.