DATABASE SYSTEMS AND INTERACTIVE USER INTERFACES FOR DYNAMIC INTERACTION WITH, AND SORTING OF, DIGITAL MEDICAL IMAGE DATA
Database systems and techniques are disclosed for accessing data stores of digital medical images, processing the digital images, and displaying the digital images to efficiently provide information in an interactive user interface. The disclosure may advantageously provide efficient and rapid dynamic interaction with digital images accessed from one or more databases to enable user detection of differences between related digital images. Interactive user interfaces may be dynamically updated to provide rapid comparison of digital images. Further, digital images from multiple data sources may be automatically sorted by the system according to attributes associated with the images and rules and/or preferences of the user. In an embodiment the user may select a digital image from a first data source, and the system automatically determines and displays one or more comparison images from other image data sources. Images may additionally be automatically registered and/or matched to enable more efficient comparison and evaluation.
1 . A database computing system for processing digital medical images, the computing system comprising:
an electronic display;
an input device; and
one or more computer processors in communication with the electronic display, the input device, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing software modules including software instructions that are executable by the one or more computer processors, the software modules including at least:
a user input module configured to:
receive an indication of a selection of a first image series of a first medical exam associated with a patient, wherein the first image series includes a first plurality of medical images; and
a rules engine module configured to access one or more matching rules and a first one or more sorting rules, the first one or more sorting rules indicating a first attribute and a second attribute, the rules engine module further configured to:
determine, based on the one or more matching rules, a second image series of a second medical exam for comparison with the first image series, wherein the second image series includes a second plurality of medical images, and wherein the second medical exam is also associated with the patient and was acquired at a time different from a time that the first medical exam was acquired;
sort a set of images including the images of both the first image series and the second image series to determine a sorted set of images by at least:
sorting the set of images based on the first attribute; and
for each sorted group of images having a common first attribute, further sorting the group of images based on the second attribute such that the sorted set of images are sorted based on both the first and second attributes;
wherein the user input module is further configured to:
receive a first user input;
wherein the rules engine module is further configured to:
in response to the first user input, access a second one or more sorting rules indicating a third attribute and a fourth attribute; and
re-sort the set of images to determine a re-sorted set of images by at least:
sorting the set of images based on the third attribute; and
for each sorted group of images having a common third attribute, further sorting the group of images based on the fourth attribute such that the re-sorted set of images are sorted based on both the third and fourth attributes.
2 . The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the first and fourth attributes are the same, and the second and third attributes are the same.
3 . The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the software modules further include at least:
a user interface module configured to:
generate user interface data useable for displaying a user interface on the electronic display, the user interface including a first image of the sorted set of images in a first location; and
in response to a second user input indicating a direction of movement within the sorted set of images, update the user interface data such that, in the user interface, the first image is replaced with a second image of the sorted set of images that is adjacent to the first image in the sorted set of images, wherein the second image is included in the first location.
4 . The computing system of claim 3 , wherein the set of images is re-sorted in response to the first user input.
5 . The computing system of claim 4 , wherein the user interface module is further configured to:
further in response to the first user input, update the user interface data such that the user interface includes a third image of the re-sorted set of images in the first location; and
in response to a third user input indicating a direction of movement within the re-sorted set of images, update the user interface data such that, in the user interface, the third image is replaced with a fourth image of the re-sorted set of images that is adjacent to the third image in the re-sorted set of images, wherein the fourth image is included in the first location.
6 . The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the rules engine module is further configured to:
adjust one or more image characteristics of images of the sorted set of images to reduce artifactual differences between images for comparison.
7 . The computing system of claim 6 , wherein the rules engine module is further configured to:
adjust the one or more image characteristics of images of the sorted set of images based on a landmark identified in at least two of the images of the sorted set of images.
8 . The computing system of claim 6 , wherein the rules engine module is further configured to:
adjust one or more image characteristics of images of the re-sorted set of images to reduce artifactual differences between images for comparison
9 . A database computing system for processing digital images, the computing system comprising:
an electronic display;
an input device;
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store software instructions; and
one or more computer processors in communication with the electronic display, the input device, and the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the one or more computer processors configured to execute the software instructions in order to cause the computing system to:
receive an indication of a selection of a first image series of a first medical exam associated with a patient, wherein the first image series includes a first plurality of medical images;
select from a plurality of decision support image series, based on one or more rules and at least one characteristic of the patient, a clinical decision support image series including a second plurality of medical images;
access a first one or more sorting rules indicating a first attribute and a second attribute; and
determine a set of images to be sorted, the set of imagines including the first plurality of images of the first image series and the second plurality of images of the clinical decision support image series;
sorting the set of images based on the first attribute; and
further sorting the set of images based on the second attribute such that the sorted set of images are sorted based on both the first and second attributes.
10 . The computing system of claim 9 , wherein the clinical decision support image series includes at least one of: reference medical images, or medical images of another patient that has at least one characteristic matching the at least one characteristic of the patient.
11 . The computing system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more computer processors are configured to execute the software instructions in order to further cause the computing system to:
in response to a first user input, access a second one or more sorting rules indicating a third attribute and a fourth attribute; and
re-sort the set of images to determine a re-sorted set of images by at least:
sorting the set of images based on the third attribute; and
further sorting the set of images based on the fourth attribute such that the sorted set of images are sorted based on both the third and fourth attributes.
12 . The computing system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more computer processors are configured to execute the software instructions in order to further cause the computing system to:
in response to receiving the indication of the selection, automatically analyze data of the first medical exam;
determine the first medical exam is a candidate for clinical decision support; and
prompt a user to select to compare at least the first image series with clinical decision support data,
wherein the clinical decision support image series is determined in response to a second input from the user selecting to compare at least the first image series with clinical decision support data.
13 . A database computing system for processing digital images, the computing system comprising:
an electronic display;
an input device;
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store software instructions; and
one or more computer processors in communication with the electronic display, the input device, and the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the one or more computer processors configured to execute the software instructions in order to cause the computing system to:
access a first dual-image radiography medical exam of a patient obtained at a first time, wherein the first dual-image radiography medical exam includes a first plurality of image series of a chest of the patient;
receive an indication of a selection of a first image series of the first plurality of image series of the first dual-image radiography medical exam;
in response to receiving the indication of the selection, determine, based on one or more matching rules, a second image series of a second plurality of image series of a second dual-image radiography medical exam, wherein the second dual-image radiography medical exam is also of the patient and was obtained at a second time different than the first time;
access a first one or more sorting rules indicating a first attribute and a second attribute, wherein one of the first attribute and the second attribute is a view type and another of the first attribute and the second attribute is a time of acquisition; and
sort a set of images including the images of both the first and second image series to determine a sorted set of images by at least:
sorting the set of images based on the first attribute; and
further sorting the set of images based on the second attribute such that the sorted set of images are sorted based on both the first and second attributes.
14 . The computing system of claim 13 , wherein each of the first plurality of image series and the second plurality of image series include at least one image series of at least one of: a traditional view type, or a bones out view type.
15 . The computing system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more computer processors are configured to execute the software instructions in order to further cause the computing system to:
in response to a first user input, re-sort the set of images to determine a re-sorted set of images by at least:
sorting the set of images based on the second attribute; and
further sorting the set of images based on the first attribute such that the sorted set of images are sorted based on both the second and first attributes.