Web-Based Software Uses Patient Data to Diagnose Cancer

Thursday, October 01 2009

Physicians may soon be able to better prevent and more accurately diagnose breast cancer with the help of battlefield planning software designed for missile defense.

Medical Information Network Decision Support (MINDS™) software uses Web-based information management, decision support models, and architecture originally designed for Missile Defense Agency (MDA) command and control systems as part of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract. MINDS works under the assumption that to improve results, whether in an operating room or on a battlefield, users need a common framework capable of pulling in disparate, scattered data and making sense of it.

Developed by TechFinity of Sherman Oaks, CA, MINDS is a tool that allows physicians to access and analyze a patient’s complete medical record from anywhere in the world. This software could offer the medical industry a stepping stone to the “portability” of personal medical records, which has been desired by physicians for years. Such portability would allow a physician to electronically access a patient’s entire medical history from multiple hospitals, doctors, and pharmacies. Currently, personal medical records are typically stored in doctors’ offices — much of it is on paper — and only shared following the signed consent of the patient in question.

How it Works

MINDS enables the worldwide capture of physicians’ professional opinions on how to treat illnesses and diseases. The software also enables an accurate, efficient matching of medications to illnesses. Remedies are prescribed based on symptom case histories and reactions noted in personal medical records.

After considering how the algorithms could be used for information management, TechFinity researchers defined six basic areas where software development for missile-defense operators and healthcare planners require the same data support models. These areas include sensing platforms, engagement platforms, databases, data-fusion engines, resource management tools, and communication networks.

For MINDS, sensing platforms include elements like clinical studies, screening and diagnostic tests, and research. Engagement platforms include medicines and treatments. Databases include patient records and disease characterizations. Data fusion engines include screening and diagnostic processes or risk assessment and prognoses. Resource management tools include accepted treatments for specific diseases. Communications networks include electronic health records and health information networks.

The various platform components of MINDS fit together in an architecture that includes a Decision Support Assistant (DSA), which analyzes patient data to make decisions for screening, diagnostics, and treatment; a decision support assistant tool to enable the DSA to analyze patient data and generate models for diagnoses; and a decision support trainer to provide doctors with a tutorial for the system.