| Method and apparatus for automated generation of a patient treatment plan -> Monitor Keywords |
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Method and apparatus for automated generation of a patient treatment planRelated Patent Categories: Data Processing: Financial, Business Practice, Management, Or Cost/price Determination, Automated Electrical Financial Or Business Practice Or Management Arrangement, Health Care Management (e.g., Record Management, Icda Billing), Patient Record ManagementMethod and apparatus for automated generation of a patient treatment plan description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060190301, Method and apparatus for automated generation of a patient treatment plan. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/452,033 filed Nov. 30, 1999, pending. TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates generally to the practice of orthodontics and in particular to a method and apparatus for treating an orthodontic patient. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Orthodontics is the practice of manipulating a patient's teeth to provide better function and appearance. In general, brackets are bonded to a patient's teeth and coupled together with an arch wire. The combination of the brackets and wire provide a force on the teeth causing them to move. Once the teeth have moved to a desired location and are held in a place for a certain period of time, the body adapts bone and tissue to maintain the teeth in the desired location. To further assist in retaining the teeth in the desired location, a patient may be fitted with a retainer. [0004] To achieve tooth movement, orthodontists utilize their expertise to first determine a three-dimensional mental image of the patient's physical orthodontic structure and a three-dimensional mental image of a desired physical orthodontic structure for the patient, which may be assisted through the use of x-rays and/or models. Based on these mental images, the orthodontist further relies on his/her expertise to place the brackets and/or bands on the teeth and to manually bend (i.e., shape) wire, such that a force is asserted on the teeth to reposition the teeth into the desired physical orthodontic structure. As the teeth move towards the desired location, the orthodontist makes continual judgments as to the progress of the treatment, the next step in the treatment (e.g., new bend in the wire, reposition or replace brackets, is head gear required, etc.), and the success of the previous step. [0005] In general, the orthodontist makes manual adjustments to the wire and/or replaces or repositions brackets based on his or her expert opinion. Unfortunately, in the oral environment, it is impossible for a human being to accurately develop a visual three-dimensional image of an orthodontic structure due to the limitations of human sight and the physical structure of a human mouth. In addition, it is humanly impossible to accurately estimate three-dimensional wire bends (with an accuracy within a few degrees) and to manually apply such bends to a wire. Further, it is humanly impossible to determine an ideal bracket location to achieve the desired orthodontic structure based on the mental images. It is also extremely difficult to manually place brackets in what is estimated to be the ideal location. Accordingly, orthodontic treatment is an iterative process requiring multiple wire changes, with the process success and speed being very much dependent on the orthodontist's motor skills and diagnostic expertise. As a result of multiple wire changes, patient discomfort is increased as well as the cost. As one would expect, the quality of care varies greatly from orthodontist to orthodontist as does the time to treat a patient. [0006] As described, the practice of orthodontic is very much an art, relying on the expert opinions and judgments of the orthodontist. In an effort to shift the practice of orthodontic from an art to a science, many innovations have been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,397 issued to Andreiko, et. al. provides a method of forming an orthodontic brace. Such a method includes obtaining a model of the teeth of a patient's mouth and a prescription of desired positioning of such teeth. The contour of the teeth of the patient's mouth is determined, from the model. Calculations of the contour and the desired positioning of the patient's teeth are then made to determine the geometry (e.g., grooves or slots) to be provided. Custom brackets including a special geometry are then created for receiving an arch wire to form an orthodontic brace system. Such geometry is intended to provide for the disposition of the arched wire on the bracket in a progressive curvature in a horizontal plane and a substantially linear configuration in a vertical plane. The geometry of the brackets is altered, (e.g., by cutting grooves into the brackets at individual positions and angles and with particular depth) in accordance with such calculations of the bracket geometry. In such a system, the brackets are customized to provide three-dimensional movement of the teeth, once the wire, which has a two dimensional shape (i.e., linear shape in the vertical plane and curvature in the horizontal plane), is applied to the brackets. [0007] Other innovations relating to bracket and bracket placements have also been patented. For example, such patent innovations are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,716 entitled "Orthodontic Bracket and Ligature" a method of ligating arch wires to brackets, U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,405 "Entitled Method for Determining Orthodontic Bracket Placement," U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,238 entitled "Method of Forming Orthodontic Brace," and U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,895 entitled "Orthodontic Appliance and Group Standardize Brackets therefore and methods of making, assembling and using appliance to straighten teeth". [0008] Unfortunately, the current innovations to change the practice of orthodontic from an art to a science have only made limited progress. This limit is due to, but not restricted to, the brackets being the focal point for orthodontic manipulation. By having the brackets as the focal point, placement of each bracket on a corresponding tooth is critical. Since each bracket includes a custom sized and positioned wire retaining groove, a misplacement of a bracket by a small amount (e.g., an error vector having a magnitude of millimeter or less and an angle of a few degrees or less) can cause a different force system (i.e., magnitude of movement and direction of movement) than the desired force system to be applied to the tooth. As such, the tooth will not be repositioned to the desired location. [0009] Another issue with the brackets being the focal point is that once the brackets are placed on the teeth, they are generally fixed for the entire treatment. As such, if the treatment is not progressing as originally calculated, the orthodontist uses his or her expertise to make the appropriate changes. The treatment may not progress as originally calculated for several reasons. For example, misplacement of a bracket, misapplication of a bend in the wire, loss or attrition of a bracket, bonding failure, the patient falls outside of the "normal" patient model (e.g., poor growth, anatomical constraints, etc.), patient lack of cooperation in use of auxiliary appliance, etc. are factors in delayed treatment results. When one of these conditions arise, the orthodontist utilizes his or her expertise to apply manual bends to the wire to "correct" the errors in treatment. Thus, after the original scientific design of the brackets, the practice of the orthodontic converts back to an art for many patients for the remainder of the treatment. [0010] Another issue with the brackets being the focal point is that customized brackets are expensive. A customized bracket is produced by milling a piece of metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, ceramic, titanium, etc.) and tumble polishing the milled bracket. While the milling process is very accurate, some of the accuracy is lost by tumble polishing. Further accuracy is lost in that the placement of the brackets on the teeth and installation of the wire are imprecise operations. As is known, a slight misplacement of one bracket changes the force on multiple teeth and hinders treatment. To assist in the placement of the custom brackets, they are usually shipped to the orthodontist in an installation jig. Such an installation jig is also expensive. Thus, such scientific orthodontic treatment is expensive and has many inherent inaccuracies. [0011] Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus that provides a scientific approach to orthodontics throughout the treatment of a patient, maintains treatment costs, and provides a more consistent treatment time, especially with respect to automation of treatment plan generation. SUMMARY [0012] Generally, the present invention provides a method and computer apparatus for generating a patient treatment plan. Such a method and apparatus includes processing that begins by providing a list of health care services to a patient and/or care provider. In one embodiment of the invention, the processing continues by prompting the user to input [0013] FIG. 3 illustrates a logic diagram of a method for step 54 of FIG. 2 according to one embodiment of the invention; [0014] FIG. 3A illustrates a logic diagram of a method for step 54 of FIG. 2 according to another embodiment of the invention; [0015] FIG. 4 illustrates a logic diagram of an alternate method for generating a patient treatment plan in accordance with the present invention; and [0016] FIG. 5 illustrates a logic diagram of a method of step 90 of FIG. 4. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT [0017] The present invention can be more fully described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 5. FIG. 1 illustrates a graphical diagram of an orthodontic treatment system 10 that includes a treatment plan device 12. The treatment plan device 12 includes a processing module 14 and memory 16. The processing module 14 may be a single processing device or a plurality of processing devices. Such a processing device may be a microcontroller, microcomputer, microprocessor, central processing unit, a digital signal processor, state machine, logic circuitry, and/or any device that manipulates signals (e.g., analog and/or digital) based on operational instructions. The memory 16 may be a single memory device or a plurality of memory devices. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, random access memory, floppy disk memory, flash memory, and/or any device that stores operational instructions. Note that when the processing module implements one or more functions via a state machine and/or logic circuitry, the memory storing the corresponding operational instructions is embedded within the circuitry comprising the state machine and/or logic circuitry. [0018] The treatment plan device 12 is operably coupled to receive inputs from a local care provider and/or a patient 22. Such inputs include the digital information required to generate a treatment plan. The digital information may include one or more of: the patient's chief complaint, the patient's medical history, the patient's dental history, clinical examination, three-dimensional images of the patient's orthodontic structure, video graphic examination, functional examination information, soft tissue evaluation, skeletal evaluation, and patient's objectives. In addition, the digital information may include cost constraints based on the patient's insurance carrier and/or financial status. Further, the digital information includes the length of treatment the patient is willing to undergo, the patient's commitment level to adhering to treatment, etc. [0019] The treatment plan device 12 includes firmware to display a menu 18 and a treatment plan 20. The treatment plan device 12 may further include firmware to display a simulated image 19, or exterior appearance model. The menu 18 may include the list of health care services such as dental services, orthodontic services, cosmetic services and/or medical services, a list of orthodontic or dental products (e.g., tooth paste, floss, etc.), and/or resources of orthodontic information (e.g., factual information, care, etc.). The patient and/or care provider selects from one of these health care categories and is subsequently provided with a menu that offers selection of one of well-care, health care, and/or follow-up care. Note that the health care category may further be divided into acute or chronic ailments where a series of prompts are provided in accordance with such information. For example, if a patient has selected health care and the situation is acute, the treatment plan device 12 may automatically call 911. Alternately, all health care services applicable to addressing the patient's treatment needs can be selected concurrently and interactively. As such, via the treatment plan device 12, the patient with or without the assistance of a local care provider can initiate the generation of a treatment plan for him or herself. Further note that the well-care category provides a list of options for well-care treatment. For example, the well-care category for orthodontic patients may include information on re-installing an arch wire, list of foods that should be avoided, brushing and flossing advise, etc. Continue reading about Method and apparatus for automated generation of a patient treatment plan... Full patent description for Method and apparatus for automated generation of a patient treatment plan Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Method and apparatus for automated generation of a patient treatment plan patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. 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