JP2008310768A - Remote medical support method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To maintain information (medical information including a medical image) to be exchanged between a medical specialist or a medical support facility and a medical support client with high security, and to synchronously exchange information between the both of them in real time, and to connect many medical specialists or medical support facilities to the medical support client. <P>SOLUTION: A medical specialist or the like and corresponding a medical support client arbitrarily share only a necessary application by using VPN connection, and to share information by a real time conference function. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a telemedicine support method and system, and in particular, a telemedicine support method and system that allows a matched specialist or medical support facility and a medical support requester to exchange information in real time while maintaining security. About.

  Conventionally, there has been a system in which medical information including medical images such as CT images is stored in a server, and medical information including medical images can be viewed by a specialist or a medical support facility accessing the server from a terminal (for example, a patent) Reference 1).

  However, in the system described in Patent Document 1, medical information including medical images is stored in an out-of-hospital server. In addition, storage of medical information including medical images in a server and browsing of medical information including medical images by a specialist or a medical support facility are performed asynchronously, so medical institutions and specialists that store medical information including medical images Or it was difficult to directly communicate information with medical support facilities.

  The present invention improves the inconvenience of such a conventional example, in particular, keeps information (medical information including medical images) exchanged between a specialist or a medical support facility and a medical support requester with high security, and both It is an object of the present invention to exchange information in real time synchronously in real time and to link a number of specialists or medical support facilities with medical support requesters.

  In order to solve the above problem, in the medical support system of the present invention, a specialist or medical support facility allows a specialist or medical support facility to browse medical information including medical images, and a patient or medical request facility requests medical support. A patient or medical request facility terminal for medical care, a medical facility terminal for a medical facility person in charge to request medical support, the specialist or medical support facility and patient or medical request facility or the specialist or medical support facility and medical facility A matching server that matches the person in charge is connected via the Internet.

  The matching server receives an entry of the specialist or medical support facility from the specialist or medical support facility terminal. The matching server accepts an entry of a patient or medical request facility from the patient or medical request facility terminal, or an entry of a medical facility person in charge from the medical facility terminal. Then, the matching server registers each entry in the storage device. The matching server reads out each entry registered in the storage device and matches the entry of the specialist or medical support facility with the entry of the person in charge of the medical facility, or the entry of the specialist or medical support facility and the entry of the patient or medical support facility. Match an entry. Then, the matching server transmits a matching result notification to the terminal of the patient who has been matched or the medical request facility, or to the terminal of the person in charge of the medical facility.

The terminal of the patient who has been matched or the medical request facility establishes a VPN connection with the specialist or medical support facility terminal based on the address of the specialist or medical support facility terminal described in the matching result notification. Next, each terminal that establishes the VPN connection
Only necessary applications are shared, and visible information including medical support images is shared by a real-time conference function. Each terminal that has established the VPN connection exchanges microphone audio information and camera video information in real time.

  Thus, the above-described problem is to be solved.

  According to the present invention, a specialist or a medical support facility and a medical support requester matched from any one connect a VPN, share only necessary applications using the VPN connection, and use a real-time conference function. At the same time that information sharing is realized, real-time information exchange by voice and video can be performed using the VPN connection. Therefore, information exchanged between a specialist or medical support facility and a medical support requester can be kept highly secure, and information exchange between the two can be performed synchronously in real time. In addition, it is possible to connect a large number of specialists or medical support facilities with a medical support requester, and contribute to the treatment of complicated cases of human beings and the creation of a database.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a telemedicine support system according to the present invention. A plurality of specialists or medical support facility terminals 20 used by the specialist or the medical support facility and a medical facility staff who is the medical support requester for the matching server 10 for matching the specialist or the medical support facility with the medical support client A plurality of medical facility terminals 30 used by the patient and a plurality of patients or medical request facility terminals 40 used by the patient who is the medical support requester or the medical request facility are connected via the Internet. Each specialist or medical support facility terminal 20, each medical facility terminal 30, and each patient or medical request facility terminal 40 may be terminals used not only in Japan but also overseas. Here, the specialist or medical support facility includes a specialist who performs interpretation or a medical support facility.

  FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the matching server 10. The matching server 10 is a server computer installed on the Internet, a communication device 11 such as a NIC (Network Interface Card) for communicating with each of the terminals 20, 30, and 40 via the Internet, and a RAM for storing information. (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), storage device 12 such as HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and processing device 13 such as CPU (Central Processing Unit).

  The storage device 12 of the matching server 10 stores a user master file, an entry file, and a matching rule.

  Among these, the user's personal information is registered in the user master file. In the present embodiment, the “user” includes a medical facility staff, a patient or medical request facility, and a specialist or medical support facility. The registered personal information includes login authentication information of each user and an address for each user's terminal to make a PtoP (Peer to Peer) connection by VPN (Virtual Private Network).

  In the entry file, the medical facility staff who wants to request medical support or the request conditions of the patient or the medical request facility are registered, and the responsible conditions of the specialist or medical support facility who wants to support the medical support are registered. Is done. In the matching rule, a rule for determining whether or not the medical support request condition matches the charge condition is set in advance.

  Further, the processing device 13 of the matching server 10 executes a server function, a user authentication function, an entry reception function, and a matching function as functions realized by executing the program.

  The server function is a function that responds to requests from the terminals 20, 30, and 40 in accordance with HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol). The user authentication function receives a login request from each terminal via the server function, and determines whether or not the login authentication information attached to the login request matches the login authentication information registered in the user master file. This is a function that allows the user to be specified and the user to log in. The entry reception function acquires medical support charge conditions or medical support request conditions from the logged-in specialist or medical support facility terminal 20, medical facility terminal 30 or patient or medical request facility terminal 40 via the server function, and the acquired medical care This is a function for registering support charge conditions or medical support request conditions in an entry file. The matching function is a function for determining matching between the medical support request condition registered in the entry file and the medical support charge condition based on the matching rule stored in the storage device 12.

  Next, FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the medical facility terminal 30 and the patient or medical request facility terminal 40. For convenience of explanation, the medical facility terminal 30 and the patient or medical request facility terminal 40 are collectively referred to as a “medical support requester terminal”. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the medical support requester terminals 30 and 40.

  The medical support requester terminals 30 and 40 include an input device (group) 31 including a web camera and a microphone in addition to input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse. The medical support requester terminals 30 and 40 include an output device (group) 32 including a speaker in addition to the display device. Further, the medical support requester terminals 30 and 40 include a storage device 33, a communication device 34, and a processing device 35, which are hardware equivalent to the matching server 10 described above. Here, it is assumed that a medical information data file (medical information file including medical images) including medical images used for medical support is stored in the storage device 33 of the medical support requester terminals 30 and 40 in advance. The processing device 35 of the medical support requester terminals 30 and 40 is configured to execute a client function, a notification receiving function, a VPN communication function, an application sharing function, and a communication function by executing a program.

  The client function is a function for establishing and communicating with the server function of the matching server 10 in accordance with HTTP. The notification reception function is a function of receiving a notification including an address for the connection in order to establish a PtoP connection with the terminal 20 of the specialist or medical support facility matched by the matching server 10 using the VPN. The VPN communication function is a function for establishing a VPN connection with the terminal 20 of a predetermined specialist or medical support facility using the address received by the notification receiving function. The application sharing function is a function for sharing image information and the like of a medical information file including medical images stored in the storage device 33 with a specialist 20 or a medical support facility terminal 20 connected by VPN using an application sharing method. The communication function is a conference function for exchanging camera video and microphone sound with a specialist 20 or a medical support facility terminal 20 connected by VPN.

  Subsequently, FIG. 4 shows a configuration of the specialist or medical support facility terminal 20. The configurations of the input device (group) 21 and the output device (group) 22 are the same as the input device (group) 31 and the output device (group) 32 of the medical support requester terminals 30 and 40 described above. The hardware of the storage device 23, the communication device 24, and the processing device 25 is the same as the hardware of the matching server 10 and the medical support requester terminals 30 and 40 described above. However, unlike the medical support requester terminals 30 and 40, medical information files including medical images are not stored in the storage device 23 of the specialist or medical support facility terminal 20. The medical information including the medical image displayed on the display device 22 of the specialist or the medical support facility terminal 20 is displayed based on the image data transmitted from the medical support requester terminals 30 and 40 by the application sharing method. Further, the processing device 25 of the specialist or medical support facility terminal 20 executes a client function, a notification receiving function, a VPN communication function, an application sharing function, and a communication function by executing a program. Each function is equivalent to the function of the medical support requester terminals 30 and 40 described above.

  Here, each function executed by the processing device 35 of the medical support requester terminals 30 and 40 and each function executed by the processing device 25 of the specialist or medical support facility terminal 20 execute a program installed in advance in each terminal. It may be realized by performing a web application downloaded from the matching server 10 or another server (except for the client function).

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  A patient or a medical request facility, a medical staff, a specialist, or a medical support facility (user) who wants to use the matching server 10 operates the terminals 20 to 40 to access the matching server 10 and access the matching server 10 via the client function. (S1). Only member users who have registered login authentication information in the matching server 10 in advance can use the matching server 10.

  Subsequently, the logged-in user operates each of the terminals 20 to 40 to register a medical support request or a medical support staff entry in the matching server 10 (S2).

  At this time, when the user operates the input device of each of the terminals 20 to 40 and requests an entry, the client function of each terminal displays an entry registration screen on the display device, and accepts the entry input from the user. The medical support requester operates the input devices 31 of the medical support requester terminals 30 and 40 to input medical support request conditions on the entry registration screen. On the other hand, the specialist or medical support facility operates the input device 21 of the specialist or medical support facility terminal 20 to input the medical support charge condition on the entry registration screen. The client function of each of the terminals 20 to 40 that has received the input of the medical support request condition or the medical support charge condition transmits the input medical support request condition or the medical support charge condition to the matching server 10 in association with the user. The server function of the matching server 10 receives the association between the condition and the user and passes it to the entry reception function. The entry reception function registers the association (entry) between the accepted medical support request condition or the medical support charge condition and the user in the entry file of the storage device. This entry registration process is executed in the matching server 10 as needed.

  When a new entry is registered in the entry file by the medical support requester, the matching function sequentially reads out the registered entries from the specialist or the medical support facility from the entry file, and both are set in the storage device 12. It is determined whether the matching rule is satisfied (S3). When the matching function detects an entry of a specialist or medical support facility that satisfies the matching rule, the storage device 12 associates the specialist or medical support facility that registered the entry with the medical support requester that registered the new entry currently being determined. To remember. When a plurality of specialists or medical support facilities satisfying the matching rule are detected, the plurality of specialists or medical support facilities are stored in association with the medical support requester who has registered the new entry currently being determined. When the matching process of the new entry with the registered entry is completed, the address for VPN connection is read from the user master file for one or a plurality of specialists or medical support facilities matched as a result, and the address is included. The matching result notification is transmitted to the medical support requester terminals 30 and 40 (S4). The matching result notification to be sent to the medical support requester includes the address of the specialist or medical support facility terminal 20 for VPN connection and the introduction information of the specialist or medical support facility. The introduction information of the specialist or medical support facility is registered in advance in the user master file.

  Upon receiving the matching result notification from the matching server 10, the client function of the medical support requester terminals 30 and 40 reads the introduction information of one or more specialists or medical support facilities included in the matching result notification and displays it on the display device 32. indicate.

  The medical support requester refers to the introduction information of the specialist or medical support facility displayed on the display device 32 and selects the specialist or the medical support facility that requests medical support by operating the input device 31.

  When a specialist or medical support facility is selected, the VPN connection function acquires an address for VPN connection corresponding to the selected specialist or medical support facility from the matching result notification, and the corresponding specialist through the communication device. Alternatively, a VPN connection is requested to the medical support facility terminal 20, and the VPN connection between both terminals is established (S5). For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a medical facility A and a specialist or medical support facility A are directly connected, and a US patient or medical request facility and a specialist or medical support facility B are directly connected.

  Thereafter, when the application sharing function is activated in the medical support requester terminals 30 and 40, the application sharing function reads a medical information file or a medical record file including a medical image of a patient or a medical request facility from the storage device, and stores it in the file. The visible information based on this is displayed on its own display device, and the display data of the same visible information is transmitted to the specialist or the medical support facility terminal 20 via the communication device.

  The application sharing function of the specialist or medical support facility terminal 20 displays visible information including medical information including medical images on the display device 22 of the own device based on the display data received from the medical support requester terminals 30 and 40. Thereafter, the visible information changed by one terminal is transmitted to the other terminal by the application sharing method, and the change of the visible information is synchronously displayed between both terminals (S6). When the communication function is activated between the two terminals, the camera video and the microphone sound are exchanged between the two terminals in real time (S7).

  The specialist or medical support facility provides medical support for the medical information including the medical image of the patient or medical request facility displayed on the display device 22, and refers to the medical record of the patient or the medical request facility while remote requesting medical support. It is possible to hold a real-time conference while looking at the face of the person in charge of the medical facility or the patient or the medical requesting facility. Medical facility staff or patients or medical requesting facilities also hold real-time conferences while looking at the face of the specialist or medical support facility while sharing and viewing changes made by the specialist or medical support facility to medical information including medical images in real time be able to.

  According to the present embodiment described above, when a specialist or a medical support facility and a medical support requester matched from a large number connect a VPN and realize information sharing by application sharing using the VPN connection. At the same time, real-time information exchange by voice or video can be performed using the VPN connection. Therefore, information exchanged between a specialist or medical support facility and a medical support requester can be kept highly secure, and information exchange between the two can be performed synchronously in real time. In addition, a large number of specialists or medical support facilities can be efficiently associated with a medical support requester.

  In addition, the skills of rare specialists or medical support facilities can be utilized efficiently, which contributes to the great public benefit of helping patients receiving medical care or medical facilities.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a medical support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram of the matching server shown in FIG. The block diagram of the medical facility terminal and patient or medical request facility terminal (medical support requester terminal) shown in FIG. The block diagram of the specialist shown in FIG. 1 or a medical assistance facility terminal. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of embodiment shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Matching server 20 Specialist or medical assistance facility terminal 30 Medical facility terminal 40 Processing apparatus

Claims (2)

A specialist or medical support facility terminal for a specialist or medical support facility to view medical information including medical images, a patient or medical request facility terminal for a patient or medical request facility to request medical support, and a medical facility staff The medical facility terminal for requesting medical support and the specialist or the medical support facility and the patient or the medical request facility or the matching server for matching the specialist or the medical support facility and the medical facility person in charge are connected via the Internet. In the medical support system that
The matching server accepting the entry of the specialist or medical support facility from the specialist or medical support facility terminal;
The matching server accepting an entry of a patient or medical request facility from a patient or medical request facility terminal, or a medical facility person in charge from a medical facility terminal;
A matching server registers each entry in a storage device;
A matching server reads each entry registered in the storage device to match the entry of the specialist or medical support facility and the entry of the person in charge of the medical facility, or the entry of the specialist or medical support facility and the patient or medical request Matching the facility entry;
A matching server sends a matching result notification to the terminal of the patient or medical request facility where the matching is established, or to the terminal of the person in charge of the medical facility where the matching is established;
A VPN connection is established between the terminal of the patient or medical request facility or medical facility staff in charge of the matching based on the address of the specialist or medical support facility terminal described in the matching result notification. Establishing steps, and
Each terminal that establishes the VPN connection shares only the necessary application, and shares the visible information including the medical support image by the real-time conference function;
Each terminal establishing the VPN connection exchanges microphone audio information and camera video information in real time;
A telemedicine support method characterized by comprising: A specialist or medical support facility terminal for a specialist or medical support facility to view medical information including medical images, a patient or medical request facility terminal for a patient or medical request facility to request medical support, and a medical facility staff Medical support for connecting a medical facility terminal for requesting medical support to the specialist or the medical support facility and a matching server for matching the patient or the medical request facility or the specialist or the medical support facility person in charge via the Internet A system,
The matching server accepting the entry of the specialist or medical support facility from the specialist or medical support facility terminal;
The matching server accepting the patient's entry from the patient or medical request facility terminal, or the medical facility person in charge from the medical request facility terminal;
A matching server registers each entry in a storage device;
A matching server reads each entry registered in the storage device to match the entry of the specialist or medical support facility and the entry of the person in charge of the medical facility, or the entry of the specialist or medical support facility and the patient or medical request Matching the facility entry;
A matching server sends a matching result notification to the terminal of the patient or medical request facility where the matching is established, or to the terminal of the person in charge of the medical facility where the matching is established;
A VPN connection is established between the terminal of the patient or medical request facility or medical facility staff in charge of the matching based on the address of the specialist or medical support facility terminal described in the matching result notification. Establishing steps, and
Each terminal that establishes the VPN connection shares only the necessary application, and shares the visible information including the medical support image by the real-time conference function;
Each terminal establishing the VPN connection exchanges microphone audio information and camera video information in real time;
A telemedicine support system characterized by comprising:

Images