AU664450B2 - Medical diagnosis aid - Google Patents

Description

1- Regulation 3.2 AusTRALIA6^A P Patents Act 1990 D 4 0 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

6tt 4 a.

Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for service MAITHEW PATTISON MATITHEW PAMTSON in Australia: CARTER SMITH BEADLE 2 Railway Parade Camberwell Victoria 3124 Australia Invention Title: MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS AID Details of Associated Provisional Application: PL2880 filed 10 June 1992 Tefollowing statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us -2- This invention relates to aids in the diagnosis of medical conditions, in particular conditions of the skin.

There has long been a need for a user-friendly aid to visual assessment of medical conditions, to assist diagnosis and monitoring of such conditions.

With skin ailments and conditions, such as melanomas and other cancers, a very important part of assessment and diagnosis is the visual inspection of the area of skin concerned.

As an aid to recognition and diagnosis, visual comparison of the skin area with reference photographs for example, is desirable and often essential.

Such photographs may be found in medical texts. However, it is impossible to make a full assessment without the skin area and the photograph adjacent one another, and this cannot be done easily or accurately with a textbook.

It is an object of this invention to provide an effective aid in medical assessment and treatment.

The invention provides an aid for the assessment of medical conditions, said aid including a planar element having a window through which, when said aid is placed on or adjacent to a predetermined object, a portion of said object is visible, and visual information located on said planar element adjacent said window, such that a visual comparison may be made between said portion and said visual 20 information.

The invention may also provide an array of elements generally along the lines of the preceding paragraph, with or without other elements.

oo ~Embodiments of the invention, which may be preferred, will be described in detail hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- S. 25 Fig. 1 is a plan view of one element; and Fig. 2 is a plan view of a 'booklet' of elements, some of the form of Fig. 1, S in a partially open orientation.

Fig. 1 shows a generally planar element 10, which is in a rectangular format.

Any other suitable format may be used.

Element 10 could be made from paper, cardboard or plastics material (either opaque or transparent) or from any other suitable material.

BGCQLD: P7184R9ES 21 September 1995 -3- Located on or in one portion of element 10 preferably near one end thereof is an aperture or transparent area 12. In a plastics embodiment the entire element could be transparent, or one-half or some other portion thereof may be transparent.

Aperture 12 is intended, when element 10 or the portion containing aperture 12 is placed on the skin of a patient, to act such that an area of skin, which may contain some indication of the presence of a medical condition, is visible therethrough.

Areas 14, 16, 18 and 20 have portions located adjacent the boundary of circular aperture 12. In practice, such areas 14, 16, 18 and 20 would contain means for assistance in assessment and diagnosis, such as photographs of identified skin :lesions on a skin-coloured or transparent background.

The four areas 14, 16, 18 and 20 are shown as having four different photographs or the like. In such a way, four (or any other convenient and suitable 15 number) photographs or the like would be adjacent the aperture 12, and thus (in use) to the actual area of the patients skin. This would permit easy identification of the patient's skin condition. In the embodiment (not shown) in which all or a substantial portion of the element 10 is transparent, such photographs or representations may be oo grouped in any suitable manner.

20 As a preferment, the other portion 22 of element 10 may contain text references to books or articles, or other material which may assist a general practitioner in his or her assessment, diagnosis and management.

The aperture or transparent portion 12 (which may have any shape) may also be used to monitor the growth or otherwise of a skin condition. To that end, a plurality of elements may be provided not only with difficult combinations of areas, 14, 16, 18, 20, but with different diameter apertures 12 therein. Preferably, there would be some measurement grid or the like to assist in this task. It may be desirable to include some of the commercially available magnifying material on element In order to provide a booklet or the like of elements 10, a small aperture 24 NB-#7184.CP 9 Junm 1993 -4may be included, which could receive a rivet or the like. Preferably, the apertures would be located at 24' (Fig. 1).

Fig. 2 shows one example of an array or booklet 26 of elements such as and other elements.

Four leaves of an array 26 of elements are shown in Fig. 2. Elements 110, 210 are similar to element 10 of Fig. 1, with different combinations of areas 114, 116, 118, 120 and 214, 216, 218, 220, Element 28 is generally similar to elements 10, 110, and 210, except that aperture/transparent area 30 is larger than apertures 12, 112, 212.

Element 32 is a plain card-type element with text 34 thereon. The element 32 could bear an advertisement, or be a face or rear card.

Any combination of elements in the array 26 could be made. For example, one may comprise magnifying material.

The array 26 is clearly a convenient way to assist a general practitioner in assessing, diagnosing, monitoring and treating skin conditions. It is envisaged that arrays 26 may be produced by pharmaceutical companies as a vehicle for marketing products, detailing of which could appear on elements 32 or on the rear of other elements such as 10, 110 or 210.

Clearly, the present invention is usable in many areas other than in relation S: 20 to skin conditions, or medical matters in general. The invention provides a useful 'spot check aid'.

A form of the invention such as the 'transparent element' form may be useful for the public, as a skin lesion screening device.

The claims form part of the disclosure of the specification.

The entire contents of the provisional specification lodged with the Australian Patent Application of which this is the complete specification is hereby imported into this specification aind forms part of the disclosure of this specification.

NB-7134.CAP 9 )um1993

Claims (12)

1. An aid for the assessment of medical conditions, said aid including a planar element and having a window through which, when said aid is placed on or adjacent to a predetermined object, a portion of said object is visible, and visual information located on said planar element adjacent said window, such that a visual comparison may be made between said portion and said visual information.

2. An aid according to claim 1, wherein said visual information is a photograph of a medical condition.

3. An aid according to claim 1, wherein said visual information is a plurality of photographs of medical conditions.

4. An aid according to any preceding claim, wherein said window is constituted by an aperture in said aid or by transparent material.

An aid according to any preceding claim, where additional material, including written material, is borne by said aid.

6. An aid according to any preceding claim, wherein said object is the skin of a person, and said visual information consists of photographic representations of certain exemplary skin conditions.

7. An aid according to any preceding claim, formed by a generally planar element.

8. An array for use in the assessment of medical conditions, constituted by at 20 least two aids according to any preceding claim.

9. An array according to claim 8, wherein said aids are connected together such that one may be selected and rotated or moved from the array.

An array according to claim 9, wherein said aids are located in a fan-like arrangement, with the aids arranged on a common axis.

11. An aid for the assessment of medical conditions, substantially as herein 9 9 9 C 999 99 BGQLD: #7184.R1S 21 September 1995 -6- described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

12. An array substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED: 21 September 1995 CARTER SMITH BEADLE Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: MATTHEW PATTISON r r r if BGCLD: #7184.RES h 1 21 September 1995 ABSTRACT A medical condition diagnosis aid consists of a planar sheet (10) having a window which may be an aperture or be constituted by transparent material. The sheet (10) may be placed on the skin of a patient such that an area of skin is visible through the window Around the window, on the sheet (10) is arranged a photograph (14) of a known skin condition so that a visual comparison may be made of the actual area of skin, and the photograph Generally, more than one photograph (14, 16, 18, 20) would be arranged adjacent the window and a plurality of sheets (10, 110, 210, 28) would generally be arranged in an array (26) from which a sheet is rotated, one at a time, for use. SS *g S NB-7IM4.CAP 9 m 1993