WO2021137747A1

WO2021137747A1 - Computer-implemented method and non-transitory computer-readable memory for disease mapping

Info

Publication number: WO2021137747A1
Application number: PCT/SG2019/050649
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tseng Ming HSIEH
Original assignee: Viitar Pte. Ltd.
Priority date: 2019-12-30
Filing date: 2019-12-30
Publication date: 2021-07-08

Abstract

A computer-implemented method (10) and non-transitory computer-readable memory storing computer program instructions for disease mapping are provided. The method (10) involves executing on one or more processors the steps of: receiving (12) a test result; determining (14) if the test result is positive in respect of a selected disease; obtaining (16) location coordinates of a test subject if the test result is positive in respect of the selected disease; mapping (18) the test subject to a locale based on the location coordinates; and generating (20) a disease map.

Description

COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHOD AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER- READABLE MEMORY FOR DISEASE MAPPING

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of disease mapping and more particularly to a computer-implemented method and non-transitory computer-readable memory storing computer program instructions for disease mapping.

Background of the Invention

With improving physical connectivity, global movement of people from place to place is increasing. This presents challenges to disease monitoring and containment. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a computer-implemented method and non- transitory computer-readable memory storing computer program instructions for disease mapping that tracks disease movement and development.

Summary of the Invention

Accordingly, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a computer- implemented method for disease mapping. The method involves executing on one or more processors the steps of: receiving a test result; determining if the test result is positive in respect of a selected disease; obtaining location coordinates of a test subject if the test result is positive in respect of the selected disease; mapping the test subject to a locale based on the location coordinates; and generating a disease map.

In a second aspect, the present invention provides a non-transitory computer- readable memory storing computer program instructions executable by a computer processor to perform operations for disease mapping. The operations include: receiving a test result; determining if the test result is positive in respect of a selected disease; obtaining location coordinates of a test subject if the test result is positive in respect of the selected disease; mapping the test subject to a locale based on the location coordinates; and generating a disease map. Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating a computer-implemented method for disease mapping in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a dataset for use with the method illustrated in FIG. 1 ;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams illustrating disease maps generated using the method illustrated in FIG. 1 ; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a computer system suitable for implementing the method for healthcare data management disclosed herein.

Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and is not intended to represent the only forms in which the present invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that the same or equivalent functions may be accomplished by different embodiments that are intended to be encompassed within the scope of the invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1 , a computer-implemented method 10 for healthcare data management is shown. The method 10 may be executed on one or more processors of a computing device such as, for example, a mobile communications device.

The method 10 begins at step 12 when a test result is received. The test result may be collected from a disposable rapid diagnostic test (RDT) device. The disposable RDT device may be run and read on a smartphone or watch without requiring any additional equipment or adaptor for reading, allowing users to run a desired health check at home.

At step 14, a determination is made as to whether the test result is positive in respect of a selected disease. This may be by comparing a reading from the test result against a threshold value or reading a simple Yes or No value from the test result.

If the test result is positive in respect of the selected disease, location coordinates of a test subject are obtained at step 16. The location coordinates of the test subject may be Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates from a mobile device of the test subject.

Referring now to FIG. 2, information on each test subject may be stored in a database in the format shown. The stored information may include a name of the test subject, an identifier (ID) assigned to the test subject, one or more test results of the test subject, a date and time associated with the respective one or more test results, location information on the test subject at various times and weather information.

Referring again to FIG. 1 , the test subject may be mapped at step 18 to a locale based on the location coordinates.

A disease map is generated at step 20. Examples of the disease map are shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. The disease map may show all incidences of the selected disease in a particular locale.

As can be seen from FIGS. 3A and 3B, one or more disease area maps may be generated based on an incidence of the selected disease in the locale.

The test subject may be removed from the disease map after a validity period of the test result. This may be, for example, after an expected duration of the selected disease.

The location coordinates of the test subject may be updated on a periodic basis, for example, when the mobile device of the test subject is turned on. When this happens, the locale of the test subject is updated with the updated location coordinates. Consequently, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the disease map and the disease area maps may be different on different dates and/or at different times.

To account for effects of weather on disease incidence and transmission, weather information on the locale may be obtained as shown in FIG. 4A. The weather information may include weather factors such as, for example, rainfall, humidity and temperature.

The weather information may be used to generate a weather area map as shown in FIG. 4B. The weather area map may then be superimposed over the disease area map of FIG. 3B as shown in FIG. 4C.

An area of overlap between the disease area map and the weather area map may be calculated and a correlation between disease incidence and weather may then be determined based on the area of overlap. A larger area of overlap between the disease area map and the weather area map would translate into a higher correlation between disease incidence and weather.

Different weather area maps may be generated for different weather factors. The different weather area maps may be superimposed over one another. In the same or different embodiments, the different weather area maps may also be used to determine the correlation between disease incidence and different weather factors.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a computer system 100 suitable for use with the cards 10A, 10B and 10C described above and for implementing the method 30 for test result analysis is shown. The computer system 100 includes a processor 102 (which may be referred to as a central processor unit or CPU) that is in communication with memory devices including secondary storage 104, read only memory (ROM) 106, random access memory (RAM) 108, input/output (I/O) devices 110, and network connectivity devices 112. The processor 102 may be implemented as one or more CPU chips.

It is understood that by programming and/or loading executable instructions onto the computer system 100, at least one of the CPU 102, the RAM 108, and the ROM 106 are changed, transforming the computer system 100 in part into a particular machine or apparatus having the novel functionality taught by the present disclosure. It is fundamental to the electrical engineering and software engineering arts that functionality that can be implemented by loading executable software into a computer can be converted to a hardware implementation by well-known design rules. Decisions between implementing a concept in software versus hardware typically hinge on considerations of stability of the design and numbers of units to be produced rather than any issues involved in translating from the software domain to the hardware domain. Generally, a design that is still subject to frequent change may be preferred to be implemented in software, because re-spinning a hardware implementation is more expensive than re spinning a software design. Generally, a design that is stable that will be produced in large volume may be preferred to be implemented in hardware, for example in an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), because for large production runs the hardware implementation may be less expensive than the software implementation. Often a design may be developed and tested in a software form and later transformed, by well-known design rules, to an equivalent hardware implementation in an application specific integrated circuit that hardwires the instructions of the software. In the same manner as a machine controlled by a new ASIC is a particular machine or apparatus, likewise a computer that has been programmed and/or loaded with executable instructions may be viewed as a particular machine or apparatus.

Additionally, after the system 100 is turned on or booted, the CPU 102 may execute a computer program or application. For example, the CPU 102 may execute software or firmware stored in the ROM 106 or stored in the RAM 108. In some cases, on boot and/or when the application is initiated, the CPU 102 may copy the application or portions of the application from the secondary storage 104 to the RAM 108 or to memory space within the CPU 102 itself, and the CPU 102 may then execute instructions that the application is comprised of. In some cases, the CPU 102 may copy the application or portions of the application from memory accessed via the network connectivity devices 112 or via the I/O devices 110 to the RAM 108 or to memory space within the CPU 102, and the CPU 102 may then execute instructions that the application is comprised of. During execution, an application may load instructions into the CPU 102, for example load some of the instructions of the application into a cache of the CPU 102. In some contexts, an application that is executed may be said to configure the CPU 102 to do something, for example, to configure the CPU 102 to perform the function or functions promoted by the subject application. When the CPU 102 is configured in this way by the application, the CPU 102 becomes a specific purpose computer or a specific purpose machine.

The secondary storage 104 is typically comprised of one or more disk drives or tape drives and is used for non-volatile storage of data and as an over-flow data storage device if RAM 108 is not large enough to hold all working data. Secondary storage 104 may be used to store programs which are loaded into RAM 108 when such programs are selected for execution. The ROM 106 is used to store instructions and perhaps data which are read during program execution. ROM 106 is a non-volatile memory device which typically has a small memory capacity relative to the larger memory capacity of secondary storage 104. The RAM 108 is used to store volatile data and perhaps to store instructions. Access to both ROM 106 and RAM 108 is typically faster than to secondary storage 104. The secondary storage 104, the RAM 108, and/or the ROM 106 may be referred to in some contexts as computer readable storage media and/or non-transitory computer readable media.

I/O devices 110 may include cameras, printers, video monitors, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), plasma displays, touch screen displays, keyboards, keypads, switches, dials, mice, track balls, voice recognizers, card readers, paper tape readers, or other well-known input devices. The network connectivity devices 112 may take the form of modems, modem banks, Ethernet cards, universal serial bus (USB) interface cards, serial interfaces, token ring cards, fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) cards, wireless local area network (WLAN) cards, radio transceiver cards that promote radio communications using protocols such as code division multiple access (CDMA), global system for mobile communications (GSM), long-term evolution (LTE), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), near field communications (NFC), radio frequency identity (RFID), and/or other air interface protocol radio transceiver cards, and other well-known network devices. These network connectivity devices 112 may enable the processor 102 to communicate with the Internet or one or more intranets. With such a network connection, it is contemplated that the processor 102 might receive information from the network, or might output information to the network in the course of performing the above-described method steps. Such information, which is often represented as a sequence of instructions to be executed using processor 102, may be received from and outputted to the network, for example, in the form of a computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave. Such information, which may include data or instructions to be executed using processor 102 for example, may be received from and outputted to the network, for example, in the form of a computer data baseband signal or signal embodied in a carrier wave. The baseband signal or signal embedded in the carrier wave, or other types of signals currently used or hereafter developed, may be generated according to several methods well-known to one skilled in the art. The baseband signal and/or signal embedded in the carrier wave may be referred to in some contexts as a transitory signal.

The processor 102 executes instructions, codes, computer programs, scripts which it accesses from hard disk, floppy disk, optical disk (these various disk based systems may all be considered secondary storage 104), flash drive, ROM 106, RAM 108, or the network connectivity devices 112. While only one processor 102 is shown, multiple processors may be present. Thus, while instructions may be discussed as executed by a processor, the instructions may be executed simultaneously, serially, or otherwise executed by one or multiple processors. Instructions, codes, computer programs, scripts, and/or data that may be accessed from the secondary storage 104, for example, hard drives, floppy disks, optical disks, and/or other device, the ROM 106, and/or the RAM 108 may be referred to in some contexts as non-transitory instructions and/or non- transitory information.

In an embodiment, the computer system 100 may comprise two or more computers in communication with each other that collaborate to perform a task. For example, but not by way of limitation, an application may be partitioned in such a way as to permit concurrent and/or parallel processing of the instructions of the application. Alternatively, the data processed by the application may be partitioned in such a way as to permit concurrent and/or parallel processing of different portions of a data set by the two or more computers. In an embodiment, virtualization software may be employed by the computer system 100 to provide the functionality of a number of servers that is not directly bound to the number of computers in the computer system 100. For example, virtualization software may provide twenty virtual servers on four physical computers. In an embodiment, the functionality disclosed above may be provided by executing the application and/or applications in a cloud computing environment. Cloud computing may comprise providing computing services via a network connection using dynamically scalable computing resources. Cloud computing may be supported, at least in part, by virtualization software. A cloud computing environment may be established by an enterprise and/or may be hired on an as-needed basis from a third party provider. Some cloud computing environments may comprise cloud computing resources owned and operated by the enterprise as well as cloud computing resources hired and/or leased from a third party provider.

In an embodiment, some or all of the functionality disclosed above may be provided as a computer program product. The computer program product may comprise one or more computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therein to implement the functionality disclosed above. The computer program product may comprise data structures, executable instructions, and other computer usable program code. The computer program product may be embodied in removable computer storage media and/or non-removable computer storage media. The removable computer readable storage medium may comprise, without limitation, a paper tape, a magnetic tape, magnetic disk, an optical disk, a solid state memory chip, for example analog magnetic tape, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM) disks, floppy disks, jump drives, digital cards, multimedia cards, and others. The computer program product may be suitable for loading, by the computer system 100, at least portions of the contents of the computer program product to the secondary storage 104, to the ROM 106, to the RAM 108, and/or to other non-volatile memory and volatile memory of the computer system 100. The processor 102 may process the executable instructions and/or data structures in part by directly accessing the computer program product, for example by reading from a CD-ROM disk inserted into a disk drive peripheral of the computer system 100. Alternatively, the processor 102 may process the executable instructions and/or data structures by remotely accessing the computer program product, for example by downloading the executable instructions and/or data structures from a remote server through the network connectivity devices 112. The computer program product may comprise instructions that promote the loading and/or copying of data, data structures, files, and/or executable instructions to the secondary storage 104, to the ROM 106, to the RAM 108, and/or to other non-volatile memory and volatile memory of the computer system 100. In some contexts, the secondary storage 104, the ROM 106, and the RAM 108 may be referred to as a non-transitory computer readable medium or a computer readable storage media. A dynamic RAM embodiment of the RAM 108, likewise, may be referred to as a non-transitory computer readable medium in that while the dynamic RAM receives electrical power and is operated in accordance with its design, for example during a period of time during which the computer system 100 is turned on and operational, the dynamic RAM stores information that is written to it. Similarly, the processor 102 may comprise an internal RAM, an internal ROM, a cache memory, and/or other internal non-transitory storage blocks, sections, or components that may be referred to in some contexts as non-transitory computer readable media or computer readable storage media.

As is evident from the foregoing discussion, the present invention provides a computer-implemented method and a non-transitory computer-readable memory storing computer program instructions for disease mapping. Advantageously, the present invention can be used to help government and health agencies trace a path and speed of disease migration when there is a disease outbreak or pandemic.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be clear that the invention is not limited to the described embodiments only. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions and equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as described in the claims.

Further, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words "comprise", "comprising" and the like are to be construed in an inclusive as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of "including, but not limited to".

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for disease mapping, comprising executing on one or more processors the steps of: receiving a test result; determining if the test result is positive in respect of a selected disease; obtaining location coordinates of a test subject if the test result is positive in respect of the selected disease; mapping the test subject to a locale based on the location coordinates; and generating a disease map.

2. The computer-implemented method for disease mapping according to claim 1 , further comprising: updating the location coordinates of the test subject on a periodic basis; and updating the locale of the test subject with the updated location coordinates.

3. The computer-implemented method for disease mapping according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: removing the test subject from the disease map after a validity period of the test result.

4. The computer-implemented method for disease mapping according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising: generating a disease area map based on an incidence of the selected disease in the locale.

5. The computer-implemented method for disease mapping according to claim 4, further comprising: obtaining weather information on the locale; generating a weather area map with the weather information; and superimposing the weather area map over the disease area map.

6. The computer-implemented method for disease mapping according to claim 5, further comprising: calculating an area of overlap between the disease area map and the weather area map; and determining a correlation between disease incidence and weather based on the area of overlap.

7. The computer-implemented method for disease mapping according to any one of claims 4 to 6, further comprising superimposing one or more maps of population density, land altitude, diet pattern, water supply sanitary (pipe, well or river) and doctor per 1000 capita over the disease area map.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable memory storing computer program instructions executable by a computer processor to perform operations for disease mapping, the operations comprising: receiving a test result; determining if the test result is positive in respect of a selected disease; obtaining location coordinates of a test subject if the test result is positive in respect of the selected disease; mapping the test subject to a locale based on the location coordinates; and generating a disease map.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable memory according to claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise: updating the location coordinates of the test subject on a periodic basis; and updating the locale of the test subject with the updated location coordinates.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable memory according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the operations further comprise: removing the test subject from the disease map after a validity period of the test result.

11 . The non-transitory computer-readable memory according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the operations further comprise: generating a disease area map based on an incidence of the selected disease in the locale.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable memory according to claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise: obtaining weather information on the locale; generating a weather area map with the weather information; and superimposing the weather area map over the disease area map.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable memory according to claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise: calculating an area of overlap between the disease area map and the weather area map; and determining a correlation between disease incidence and weather based on the area of overlap.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable memory according to any one of claims 11 to 13, further comprising superimposing one or more maps of population density, land altitude, diet pattern, water supply sanitary (pipe, well or river) and doctor per 1000 capita over the disease area map.