User targeted medical imaging and information packaging, compression and distribution system

Abstract

A computer-based method and system of distributing biological sample data acquired as a digital image of a subject biological sample. The acquired digital image and image capture data are processed according to at least one user. This results in processed image data and capture metadata. The processed image data represents biological sample data of the subject biological sample. A package processing combines the processed image data and capture metadata into a working Package. The method and system enables simultaneous electronic access to the working Package by multiple users, across multiple sectors, in addition to the one user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-based method of distributing biological sample data, comprising:
 acquiring a digital image of a subject biological sample;   processing the acquired digital image and image capture data according to at least one user, resulting in processed image data and capture metadata, the processed image data representing biological sample data of the subject biological sample;   through a package processing, combining the processed image data and capture metadata into a Package; and   enabling simultaneous electronic access to the Package by multiple users, across multiple sectors, in addition to the one user.   
     
     
         2 . A method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein electronic access to the processed image data comprises notifying the user of availability of the package, and providing access to the processed image data, followed by a completion notification. 
     
     
         3 . A method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the step of processing includes patient data processing and user processing, each comprising:
 patient data processing including retrieval, inclusion of data from external data stores, resulting in the user requested patient data; 
 user processing including retrieval and inclusion of image metadata and secondary data from external data stores, as well as further processing secondary data into the user requested metadata; 
 package processing additionally including the user requested patient data and user requested metadata in the Package. 
 
     
     
         4 . A method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the one user is a pathologist, and the step of enabling electronic access includes enabling the user to perform a diagnostic processing step, wherein the user records data regarding the biological sample data, the recorded data comprising a written or audio diagnosis, subsampled image data, annotations and comments. 
     
     
         5 . A method as claimed in  claim 4  wherein the diagnostic processing step is performed partially or wholly by an automated system or user other than a pathologist. 
     
     
         6 . A method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the step of processing includes a modeling process including any one or combination of transmission, storage and classification modeling methods,
 wherein transmission modeling includes combinations of channel coding and version controlled conditional transmission, 
 storage modeling includes at least source coding, and 
 classification modeling includes combinations of predictive encoding, compressed sensing, and progressive image streaming. 
 
     
     
         7 . A method as claimed in  claim 3  wherein the step of processing is aggregate processing, comprising the aggregation of user specifications for two or more users, and, wherein the step of enabling electronic access resolves the package data for each user according to his respective user-specification, as if each individual User Request were independently processed. 
     
     
         8 . A method as claimed in  claim 3  wherein one or more of the user processing, patient data processing or package processing steps initiates a complete or partial diagnostic processing step as an input to its own processing step. 
     
     
         9 . A computer-based method of distributing biological sample data, comprising:
 acquiring a digital image of a subject biological sample;   processing the acquired digital image to form a progressive image stream representing biological sample data of the subject biological sample; and   processing additionally including preparation of access to the progressive image stream, said access being in terms of resolution, scale and sub-regions of the biological sample; and   transmitting the progressive image stream to one or more users, such that a user views spatially progressive images, in terms of resolution, scale and sub-regions, of the subject biological sample.   
     
     
         10 . A computer method as claimed in  claim 9  wherein the step of acquiring acquires a series of images, and the step of processing employs compressed sensing. 
     
     
         11 . A method as claimed in  claim 10  further comprising recording a list of processed image data requested by a user, said list being recorded as session sampling data, wherein the session sampling data is able to be recalled in a manner enabling auditing of portions of an image viewed by the user. 
     
     
         12 . A method as claimed in  claim 11  wherein the session sampling data is able to be recalled and accessed as unordered data providing an overview of image portions that the user accessed. 
     
     
         13 . A method as claimed in  claim 11  wherein the session sampling data is recalled and accessed in an order in which the user accessed and reviewed the processed image data, allowing reconstruction of a session. 
     
     
         14 . A method as claimed in  claim 11  wherein a plurality of session sampling data for a same image may be sampled to gather information about common points across multiple sessions. 
     
     
         15 . A method as claimed in  claim 11  wherein the session sampling data is recalled by one or more other users as it is being generated, resulting in all users having a synchronized viewing experience. 
     
     
         16 . A method as claimed in  claim 15  further comprising enabling a user involved in the synchronized viewing experience to (a) navigate the processed image data, resulting in additional progressive image stream requests, and (b) annotate the image viewed, said annotating being in a manner viewable by the other users. 
     
     
         17 . A method as claimed in  claim 11  wherein the user accesses the requested processed image data remotely and the session sampling data is augmented by a locally cached copy of the requested processed image data. 
     
     
         18 . A method as claimed in  claim 17  further comprising enabling the cached copy of the processed image data to be further processed to include the entirety of the image data. 
     
     
         19 . A computer system distributing biological sample data comprising:
 a source of one or more digital images of a subject biological sample;   one or more processors configured to process a digital image from the source, said processing including processing the digital image and corresponding image capture data according to at least one user, resulting in (i) processed image data representing biological sample data of the subject biological sample, and (ii) capture metadata;   a package process executable by a computer in response to the processor processing and configured to combine the processed image data and capture metadata, said combining forming a package that is electronically accessible simultaneously by multiple users, across multiple sectors, in addition to the one user.