Patent EP0867830A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0867830A2
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Method and apparatus for annotation of medical imagery to facilitate patient identification, diagnosis and treatment
Assignee: Individual
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Filing: 1998-03-25
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2018-03-25
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for annotation of medical imagery to facilitate patient identification. diagnosis. and treatment is characterized by an imaging device for producing a first signal representative of sensed characteristics of the individual and a minutiae generator which receives the first signal and produces a second signal representative of minutiae of the individual. the minutiae corresponding to specific branch points of blood vessels of the individual A minutiae data generator analyzes the characteristics of minutiae and produces a third signal representative of the characteristics which is stored in a minutiae database for each of the plurality of known individuals and their medical conditions. The minutiae and minutiae data may be used to annotate medical imagery to facilitate subsequent image comparison by providing standardized registration points and time-varying characteristics. A minutiae matcher pairs corresponding second signals and third signals from a current patient with those from a database record, and the paired signals are used to align the images and compare them. The minutiae analysis techniques of the invention can be used to identify medical patients. assist in the diagnosis of medical conditions. and detect and monitor the use of alcohol and drugs. including anesthesia.
Inventors
- 👤 Francine J. Prokoski
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 12:06
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B5/00; A61B5/01; A61B5/015; A61B5/117; A61B5/1171; A61B5/1176; A61B5/72; A61B5/7235; A61B5/7264; G; G06; G06V; G06V40/00; G06V40/10; G06V40/16; G06V40/168; G06V40/171; G06V40/14; G16; G16H; G16H10/00; G16H10/60; G16H30/00; G16H30/20; G16H40/00; G16H40/20; G16H50/00; G16H50/20; Y; Y02; Y02A; Y02A90/00; Y02A90/10
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 33
Claim 1
Independent Claim
145 words
A system for recognizing individuals, comprising (a) an imaging device for producing a first signal representative of
sensed characteristics of the individual; (b) a minutiae generator connected with said imaging device for
receiving said first signal and producing in response thereto a
second signal representative of minutiae of the individual, the
minutiae corresponding to specific branch points of blood
vessels of the individual; (c) a minutiae database for storing minutiae data characteristics of
minutiae for each of a plurality of known individuals and for
producing a third signal representative of minutiae of each of
the plurality of known individuals; and (d) a minutiae matcher connected with said minutiae generator and
said minutiae database for receiving said second and third
signals and for producing a fourth signal when a match occurs
between the minutiae for the individual and for one of the
plurality of known individuals.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
14 words
A system as defined in claim 1, wherein the sensed characteristics are non-visual
characteristics.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
14 words
A system as defined in claim 2, wherein the sensed characteristics are thermal
characteristics.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
15 words
A system as defined in claim 3, wherein said imaging device comprises an
infrared camera.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
20 words
A system as defined in claim 3, wherein said minutiae are limited to those on
the face of the individual.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
125 words
A method for recognizing an individual, comprising the steps of (a) sensing non-visual characteristics of known individuals; (b) identifying minutiae of each of the known individuals in
response to said sensed non-visual characteristics thereof, said
minutiae corresponding to specific branch points of blood
vessels of the known individuals; (c) sensing non-visual characteristics of a new individual; (d) identifying minutiae of the new individual in response to said
sensed non-visual characteristics thereof; (e) determining a distance metric for each of the known
individuals with respect to the new individuals in accordance
with one of the identified minutiae and the data characteristics
of the identified minutiae thereof; and (f) determining a match between the individual and one of the
known individuals in accordance with the distance metrics.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
14 words
A method as defined in claim 6, wherein said non-visual characteristics are
thermal characteristics.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
20 words
A system as defined in claim 7, wherein said minutiae are limited to those in
the face of the individual.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
101 words
A method for classifying an individual, comprising the steps of (a) sensing characteristics of the individual: (b) producing a normalized representation of the individual in
response to the sensed characteristics thereof; (c) identifying minutiae of the individual in response to the
normalized representation. said minutiae corresponding to
specific branch points of blood vessels of the individual; (d) determining a correspondence between a grid of cells and the
normalized representation; and (e) classifying the individual in response to co-location of at least
one of said minutiae and at least one of said cells, thereby
identifying the individual as corresponding to a class.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
74 words
A method as defined in claim 9, wherein said classifying step includes encoding
the identity of the individual using a plurality of bits each corresponding to one of said
cells, setting one of the plurality of bits to a first state in response to the presence in
a corresponding cell of one of said minutiae and to a second state in response to the
absence in the corresponding cell of any of said minutiae.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
111 words
A non-invasive method for identifying medical patients, comprising the steps
of (a) identifying minutiae on the body of a known patient, said
minutiae corresponding with branch points of blood vessels; (b) storing a collection of minutiae data characteristics of the
minutiae for the known patient in a memory to define a
reference collection, said reference collection being unique to
the known patient; (c) sampling the minutiae data of an unknown patient in a selected
location of the unknown patient's body to define a sample
collection; (d) comparing said sample collection with said reference
collection, whereby the identity of the unknown patient can be
confirmed when said sample and reference collections
correspond.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method as defined in claim 11, and further comprising the steps of (e) detecting any changes in said sample pattern with respect to
said reference collection; and (f) analyzing the changes to diagnose the occurrence of a medical
event in the patient.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
96 words
A non-invasive method for diagnosing a medical condition in an individual,
comprising the steps of (a) establishing a reference collection of series of time-varying
minutiae data corresponding with a plurality of known medical
conditions, respectively, said minutiae data being derived from
characteristics of minutiae associated with branch points of
blood vessels in a human being; (b) generating time-varying minutiae data from the individual
having an unknown medical condition; and (c) correlating said generated minutiae data with said reference
minutiae data to diagnose the medical condition when a match
between said generated and reference data is obtained.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
157 words
Apparatus for identifying the use of a substance such as alcohol and drugs by
an individual comprising (a) means for identifying minutiae data in the face of the individual
which are responsive to the ingestion of a substance by the
individual, said minutiae data being derived from
characteristics of minutiae associated with branch points of
blood vessels of the individual; (b) minutiae data generator means for generating a first collection
of minutiae data of a substance-free individual and a plurality
of second collections of minutiae data of an individual after the
ingestion of a plurality of different known substances; (c) means for storing said first and second collections of minutiae
data in a database; and (d) means for comparing a subsequent collection of minutiae data
of an individual with said first and second collections to
determine whether the individual is substance free and to
determine what substance the individual has ingested where
the individual is not substance-free.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
70 words
Apparatus as defined in claim 14, wherein said minutiae data identifying means
comprise (1) an imaging device for producing a first signal representative of
sensed characteristics of the individual; and (2) a minutiae generator connected with said imaging device for
receiving said first signal and for producing in response thereto
a second signal representative of minutiae of the individual,
said second signal being delivered to said minutiae data
generator means.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
57 words
Apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein said imaging device comprises an
infrared camera for scanning an individual over a period of time, said camera
responding to thermal changes in said minutiae resulting from the ingestion of a
substance, whereby said first and second collections of minutiae data comprise thermal
signatures of substance-free and substance-affected individuals, respectively.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
33 words
Apparatus as defined in claim 16, and further comprising processor means
connected with said minutiae data generating means for generating time-varying
thermal signatures from the scanning of the individual by said infrared camera.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
35 words
Apparatus as defined in claim 17, wherein said processor includes correlation
means for determining the closest match between a subsequent collection of minutiae
data and one of said first and second collections of minutiae data.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
121 words
A method for recognizing whether an individual has ingested a substance such
as drugs and alcohol, comprising the steps of (a) identifying minutiae data in the face of the individual which are
responsive to the ingestion of a substance by the individual,
said minutiae data being derived from characteristics of
minutiae associated with branch points of blood vessels of the
individual; (b) generating a first collection of minutiae data of a substance-free
individual and a plurality of second collections of minutiae
of an individual after ingestion of a plurality of different known
substances; (c) generating a subsequent collection of minutiae data of the
individual; and (d) comparing said subsequent collection with said first collection
to determine whether the individual is substance-free.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
53 words
A method as defined in claim 19, and further comprising the steps of
comparing said subsequent collection of minutiae data with said plurality of second
collections of minutiae data in the absence of a match with said first collection of
minutiae data in order to identify the substance that the individual has ingested.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
37 words
A method as defined in claim 20, and further comprising the step of correlating
said subsequent collection of minutiae data with said first and second collections of
minutiae data in order to determine the closest match therebetween.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
114 words
Apparatus for determining what portion of a random population has ingested
a substance such as drugs and alcohol, comprising (a) means for generating and storing reference collections of
minutiae data corresponding with a substance-free individual
and with substance-affected individuals, said minutiae data
being derived from characteristics of minutiae associated with
branch points of blood vessels on an individual; (b) means for generating current collections of minutiae data from
individuals in the random population; and (c) means for comparing said current collections of minutiae data
with said reference collections of minutiae data in order to
determine the portion of the random population that is
substance-free and the portion of the random population that
is substance-affected.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
41 words
Apparatus as defined in claim 22, wherein said reference collection generating
means generates different collections of minutiae data in accordance with different
known ingested substances, whereby the portion of the random population which has
ingested each known substance can be identified.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
85 words
Apparatus as defined in claim 23, wherein said current collection of minutiae
data generating means comprises (1) ) an infrared camera for scanning and tracking individuals of the
random population, said camera producing a first signal
representative of a thermal signature for each individual, and (2) a minutiae data generator connected with said camera for
receiving said first signals and for producing a collection of
minutiae data corresponding therewith, respectively, whereby
a plurality of collections are generated, one for each individual
in the random population.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
92 words
A method for determining what portion of a random population has ingested
a substance such as drugs and alcohol, comprising the steps of (a) generating a plurality reference collections of minutiae data
corresponding with substance-free and substance-affected
individuals ; (b) generating current collections of minutiae data for individuals
in the random population, respectively; and (c) comparing said current collections of minutiae data with said
reference collections of minutiae data in order to determine the
portion of the random population that is substance-free and the
portion of the random population that is substance-affected.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
38 words
A method as defined in claim 25, wherein said reference collection of minutiae
data include different patterns corresponding with known ingested substances,
whereby the portion of the random population which has ingested each known
substance can be identified.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
54 words
A method for annotating an image of the human body comprising the steps
of , (a) generating an image of the human body with an infrared
camera; and (b) superimposing on said image the location of minutiae detected
by said camera, said minutiae corresponding to specific branch
points of blood vessels of the body.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
21 words
A method as defined in claim 27, and further comprising the step of identifying
particular minutiae to serve as reference points.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as defined in claim 27, and further comprising the steps of
generating a medical image of the human body and annotating the medical image with
said minutiae.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
21 words
A method as defined in claim 29, and further comprising the step of identifying
particular minutiae to serve as reference points.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
69 words
Apparatus for annotating an image of the human body, comprising (a) means for generating an infrared image of the body; (b) means for generating a pattern of minutiae from said infrared
image, said minutiae corresponding with specific branch points
of blood vessels of the body; (c) means for generating a medical image of the body; and (d) means for annotating said pattern of minutiae on to said
medical image.
Claim 32
Independent Claim
118 words
A method for maintaining the position of a surgical instrument relative to a
surgical site during a surgical procedure, comprising the steps of (a) identifying minutiae in the vicinity of a surgical site on a
patient, said minutiae corresponding with specific branch
points of blood vessels of the patient; (b) generating a reference minutiae pattern for a stationary patient; (c) generating a reference position of a surgical instrument with
respect to said reference pattern; (d) detecting deviations from said reference pattern owing to
movement of the patient and from said instrument reference
position owing to displacement ofthe instrument; and (e) repositioning the instrument with respect to said reference
pattern to accurately position the instrument at the surgical
site.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
125 words
Apparatus for maintaining the position of a surgical instrument relative to a
surgical site during a surgical procedure, comprising (a) means for identifying minutiae in the vicinity of a surgical site
on a patient, said minutiae corresponding with specific branch
points of blood vessels of the patient; (b) means for generating a reference minutiae pattern for a
stationary patient; (c) means for generating a reference position of a surgical
instrument with respect to said reference pattern; (d) means for detecting deviations from said reference pattern
owing to movement of the patient and from said instrument
reference position owing to displacement of the instrument;
and (e) means for repositioning the instrument with respect to said
reference pattern to accurately position the instrument at the
surgical site.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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