Method and apparatus for acquisition and analysis of non-imaging data collected during ultrasound exam

A system comprising a central service facility connected to a multiplicity of remotely located medical diagnostic systems via a network, wherein each of said medical diagnostic systems comprises:

• means for inputting keystrokes;
• means for automatically electronically storing keystroke data in machine-readable form from the time when power is turned on until the time when power is turned off, said keystroke data comprising encoded physical characteristics, encoded logical characteristics and an encoded time stamp for each and every keystroke input by a system operator while power is on;
• and
• means for transmitting said keystroke data to said network addressed to said service facility, and
• wherein said service facility comprises:
• means for receiving said keystroke data via said network;
• means for stripping said encoded physical characteristics out of said keystroke data;
• and
• means for mining said keystroke data remaining after said stripping.

A system comprising a data processor connected to a medical diagnostic system via a network, wherein said medical diagnostic system comprises:

• means for inputting keystrokes;
• means for automatically electronically storing keystroke data in machine-readable form from the time when power is turned on until the time when power is turned off, said keystroke data comprising encoded physical characteristics, encoded logical characteristics and an encoded time stamp for each and every keystroke input by a system operator while power is on;
• and
• means for transmitting said keystroke data to said network addressed to said data processor, and
• wherein said data processor is programmed to perform the following steps:
• receiving said keystroke data via said network;
• stripping said encoded physical characteristics out of said keystroke data;
• and
• mining said keystroke data remaining after said stripping.

A system comprising a data processor connected to a medical diagnostic system via a network, wherein said medical diagnostic system comprises:

• an operator interface for inputting keystrokes;
• means for encoding each and every one of said keystrokes while power is on to form encoded keystroke data in response to keystroke input, wherein said encoded keystroke data comprises a time stamp and an identifier for each keystroke;
• electronic memory for storing said encoded keystroke data;
• means for automatically storing said encoded keystroke data in said electronic memory in response to each and every keystroke input while power is on;
• and
• means for transmitting said keystroke data to said network addressed to said data processor, and
• wherein said data processor is programmed to perform the following steps:
• receiving said keystroke data via said network;
• and
• analyzing said keystroke data.

A method for analyzing use of a medical diagnostic system, comprising the steps of:

• encoding each and every keystroke while power to said system is on to form encoded keystroke data, wherein said encoded keystroke data comprises a time stamp and an identifier for each keystroke;
• automatically storing said encoded keystroke data in response to keystroke input while said power is on;
• retrieving said stored keystroke data from storage;
• and
• analyzing said retrieved keystroke data.

A medical diagnostic system comprising:

• an operator interface for inputting keystrokes;
• means for encoding said keystrokes to form each and every one of said keystrokes while power is on encoded keystroke data in response to keystroke input, wherein said keystroke data comprises a time stamp and an identifier for each keystroke;
• electronic memory for storing said encoded keystroke data;
• means for automatically storing said encoded keystroke data in said memory in response to each and every keystroke input while power is on;
• and
• a data processor programmed to analyze said stored keystroke data.