Image processing systems and methods for altering a medical treatment

Abstract

Systems and methods for conducting image processing of wound images may include receiving from at least one image sensor associated with a mobile communications device a first and a second images of a wound. The first image is captured at an outset of a medical treatment and the second image is captured at least a day after applying the medical treatment to the wound. The method may further include analyzing data associated with the first and second images to determine a condition of the skin feature. The method may also include determining an action to alter the medical treatment based on the condition of the wound. Then, the method may include initiating a remedial measure associated with the determined action to increase effectiveness of the medical treatment.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory computer readable medium for conducting image processing of wound images, the computer readable medium containing instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
 receiving a first image of a wound of a patient, wherein the first image is a digital image of the wound prior to an application of a medical treatment to the wound;   receiving a second image of the wound of the patient, wherein the second image is a digital image of the wound after the application of the medical treatment has commenced;   analyzing data associated with the received first and second images to determine a condition of the wound;   determining at least one remedial action to alter the medical treatment based on the determined condition of the wound; and   informing the user of the determined at least one remedial action.   
     
     
         2 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein analyzing the retrieved data and the data associated with the second image to determine the condition of the wound includes performing comparative image processing to confirm that a same wound was captured in the first image and the second image and detecting wound image changes over time. 
     
     
         3 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein initiating the remedial measure includes causing a display of information indicative of the at least one action to alter the medical treatment. 
     
     
         4 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein initiating the remedial measure includes causing a communications device associated with the patient to output an alert associated with the at least one action. 
     
     
         5 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein initiating the remedial measure includes causing a network transmission, via a communications device of the patient, of an alert associated with the at least one action to networked computing device of a medical practitioner. 
     
     
         6 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one action to alter the medical treatment includes at least one of: increasing a number of times that the wound is cleaned, removing dead or inflamed tissue, changing a type of wound dressing, initiating an antibiotics regime, changing a type or dose of antibiotics, suggesting a wound therapy, and suggesting skin grafts. 
     
     
         7 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further include:
 analyzing the retrieved data and data associated with the second image to determine whether a level of effectiveness of the medical treatment is below a threshold;   in response to a determination that the level of effectiveness of the medical treatment is below the threshold, initiate the remedial measure associated with the at least one action; and   in response to a determination that the level of effectiveness of the medical treatment is above the threshold, forgoing initiating the remedial measure associated with the at least one action.   
     
     
         8 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 7 , wherein when the level of effectiveness of the medical treatment is determined to be below the threshold, the operations further include:
 electronically receiving lifestyle data from the patient;   comparing the lifestyle data with information stored in a data structure; and   based on the comparing and the wound condition, determining the at least one action to alter the medical treatment.   
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one action to alter the medical treatment includes a recommendation to change at least one aspect of the lifestyle of the patient. 
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further include:
 receiving a third image of the wound of the patient, wherein the third image is captured at least a day after displaying the information indicative of the at least one action to alter the medical treatment;   analyzing the second image and the third image to determine that the at least one action to alter the medical treatment failed to bring a level of effectiveness of the medical treatment above a threshold;   determining at least one additional action to alter the medical treatment; and   initiating a further remedial measure associated with the at least one additional action to increase effectiveness of the medical treatment.   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further include:
 receiving a third image of the wound of the patient, wherein the third image is captured at least a day after displaying the information indicative of the at least one action to alter the medical treatment;   analyzing the second image and the third image to determine that the at least one action to alter the medical treatment was incorrectly implemented; and   initiating a further remedial measure associated with the at least one action to increase effectiveness of the medical treatment.   
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further include:
 determining that the data associated with the first and second images is insufficient to determine the condition of the wound; and   causing a display of a request for capturing a third image using an image filter.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the operations further include using image processing to analyze the second image and the third image to determine the condition of the wound. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein determining the condition of the wound includes using image processing to determine an extent of the infection to the wound. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein determining the condition of the wound includes using image processing to determine a type of wound infection. 
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein each of the first image and the second image depicts the wound in proximity to at least one form of colorized surface having colored reference elements, and wherein the operations further include:
 using data relating to the at least one form of colorized surface to determine local illumination conditions at a time of capture of the first image and at a time of capture of the second image; and   using the first image, the second image and the determined local illumination conditions to determine changes over time of multiple segments of the wound.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one form of colorized surface includes a printed form and wherein a same copy of the printed form appears in both the first image and the second image. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the first and second images depict differing forms of colorized surfaces with a same arrangement of colored reference elements. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further include:
 determining a time period for capturing a third image to continue monitoring the condition of the wound when a level of effectiveness of the medical treatment is above a threshold; and   outputting an indication of the determined time period.   
     
     
         20 . A method for conducting image processing of wound images, the method comprising:
 receiving a first image of a wound of a patient, wherein the first image is captured at an outset of a medical treatment;   storing in at least one memory device first data associated with the first image for later processing;   receiving a second image of the wound of the patient, wherein the second image is captured at least a day after applying the medical treatment to the wound;   retrieving from the at least one memory device, data associated with the first image;   analyzing the retrieved data and data associated with the second image to determine a condition of the wound;   determining at least one action to alter the medical treatment based on the condition of the wound; and   initiating a remedial measure associated with the at least one action to increase effectiveness of the medical treatment.   
     
     
         21 . A system for conducting image processing of wound images, the system comprising:
 at least one processor configured to:
 receive a first image of a wound of a patient, wherein the first image is captured at an outset of a medical treatment; 
 store in at least one memory device first data associated with the first image for later processing; 
 receive a second image of the wound of the patient, wherein the second image is captured at least a day after applying the medical treatment to the wound; 
 retrieve from the at least one memory device, data associated with the first image; 
 analyze the retrieved data and data associated with the second image to determine a condition of the wound; 
 determine at least one action to alter the medical treatment based on the condition of the wound; and 
 initiate a remedial measure associated with the at least one action to increase effectiveness of the medical treatment.