Systems and methods for secure cloud-based medical image upload and processing

Inventors

Sjöstrand, Karl Vilhelm

Assignees

Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc

Abstract

Presented herein are systems and methods that facilitate user review and uploading of files comprising medical images and associated metadata from a local computing device to a network-based image analysis and/or decision support platform. The systems and methods described herein allow image upload to be performed in a secure fashion that prevents the network-based platform from accessing sensitive data as it is prepared for upload. Prior to file upload, sensitive data elements are flagged and their values removed and/or masked. Notably, the approaches described herein provide intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) tools that allow a user, such as a medical practitioner or researcher, to review not only the images and metadata in the files that they plan to upload, but also to review and control the process by which sensitive data elements are removed and/masked, thereby confirming that all files are free of sensitive information prior to upload.

Core Innovation

The invention relates to secure upload of one or more medical images and associated metadata from a local computing device to a network-based analysis or decision support platform. The method causes display of a graphical user interface for user review and management of medical image upload, receives a user selection of one or more files, and for each selected file accesses the associated metadata and identifies one or more flagged data elements for de-identification prior to upload.

The invention creates de-identified metadata corresponding to the associated metadata of each selected file, where values of the flagged data elements are removed or masked. Responsive to user selection of a particular file for review of de-identification, the local computing device causes display of a graphical representation of metadata changes, including a listing of the plurality of data elements of the associated metadata and a visual indication that visually distinguishes the flagged data elements from other data elements.

After receiving user confirmation to upload, the method uploads each selected file with the original associated metadata replaced by the corresponding de-identified metadata. The system implementation includes a processor of the local computing device and instructions stored in memory that cause the processor to perform the GUI-driven review and management of medical image upload, identify flagged data elements, generate de-identified metadata by removing or masking flagged values, display graphical metadata changes for review, and upload the files with de-identified metadata replacement.

Claims Coverage

The partial content includes two independent claims, a method claim and a system claim. Both independent claims share the same core inventive workflow: GUI-driven review and management of selected medical image files, identification of flagged metadata elements for de-identification, creation of de-identified metadata by removing or masking flagged values, graphical representation of metadata changes for user review, and uploading to a network-based analysis or decision support platform after user confirmation.

Across the independent claims, the secure upload is achieved by a local computing device that identifies flagged metadata data elements for de-identification, generates de-identified metadata by removing or masking flagged values, presents a GUI graphical representation of metadata changes with visual distinction of flagged elements, and uploads the files to the network-based analysis or decision support platform only after user confirmation.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications

No documented applications found