Method and system for facilitating selection of stored medical image files

Abstract

A method and system for facilitating selection of stored medical image files are disclosed. In one preferred embodiment, a plurality of medical image files are stored. Each medical image file comprises image data and a header comprising medical-image-file retrieval information. During image review, a user specifies medical-image-file retrieval information for at least one medical image file desired to be retrieved from the stored plurality of medical image files. Then, a set of medical image files is automatically selected from the stored plurality of medical image files based on the specified medical-image-file retrieval information. Other preferred embodiments are provided, and each of the preferred embodiments can be used alone or in combination with one another.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for facilitating selection of stored medical image files, the method comprising: 
 (a) storing a plurality of medical image files, each medical image file comprising image data and a header comprising medical-image-file retrieval information;    (b) specifying medical-image-file retrieval information for at least one medical image file desired to be retrieved from the stored plurality of medical image files; and    (c) automatically selecting a set of medical image files from the stored plurality of medical image files based on the medical-image-file retrieval information specified in (b).    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 extracting the medical-image-file retrieval information from the header of each medical image file; and  
 placing the extracted medical-image-file retrieval information in a database;  
 wherein the set of medical image files is automatically selected in (c) by searching the database for the medical-image-file retrieval information specified in (b).  
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the medical-image-file retrieval information is in ASCII.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least some of the medical-image-file retrieval information is encrypted.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the encrypted medical-image-file retrieval information comprises Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-protected information.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the medical-image-file retrieval information comprises a plurality of fields.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein at least one field is associated with an identifier that specifies whether that field can be used to automatically select a set of medical image files from the stored plurality of medical image files.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein at least one field is encrypted to provide more than one level of access to data stored in the at least one field.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the medical-image-file retrieval information comprises an annotation.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the medical-image-file retrieval information comprises a measurement.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the medical-image-file retrieval information comprises at least one member of at least one of the following: patient attributes, institution attributes, trial attributes, and study attributes.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the medical-image-file retrieval information comprises at least one member of at least one of the following: waveform attributes, modality options, processing options, and user interface options.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the header comprises a DICOM tag.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the header comprises a private attribute of a DICOM tag.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the header comprises a standard attribute of a DICOM tag.  
     
     
         16 . A system for facilitating selection of stored medical image files, the system comprising: 
 at least one storage device storing a plurality of medical image files, each medical image file respectively comprising image data and a header comprising medical-image-file retrieval information; and    computer-usable media storing computer-readable program code for automatically selecting a set of medical image files from the stored plurality of medical image files based on specified medical-image-file retrieval information.    
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the computer-usable media further stores computer-readable program code for: 
 extracting the medical-image-file retrieval information from the header of each medical image file; and    placing the extracted medical-image-file retrieval information in a database;    wherein the set of medical image files is automatically selected by searching the database for the specified medical-image-file retrieval information.    
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the medical-image-file retrieval information is in ASCII.  
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein at least some of the medical-image-file retrieval information is encrypted.  
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the encrypted medical-image-file retrieval information comprises Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-protected information.  
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the medical-image-file retrieval information comprises a plurality of fields.  
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein at least one field is associated with an identifier that specifies whether that field can be used to automatically select a set of medical image files from the stored plurality of medical image files.  
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein at least one field is encrypted to provide more than one level of access to data stored in the at least one field.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the medical-image-file retrieval information comprises an annotation.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the medical-image-file retrieval information comprises a measurement.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the medical-image-file retrieval information comprises at least one member of at least one of the following: patient attributes, institution attributes, trial attributes, and study attributes.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the medical-image-file retrieval information comprises at least one member of at least one of the following: waveform attributes, modality options, processing options, and user interface options.  
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the header comprises a DICOM tag.  
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the header comprises a private attribute of a DICOM tag.  
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the header comprises a standard attribute of a DICOM tag.