VOICE-DRIVEN ENDOSCOPIC REPORTING AND DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

TO PRODUCE LEGIBLE REPORTS, MOST ENDOSCOPISTS DICTATE THEIR REPORTS. THIS SYSTEM HAS DRAWBACKS, INCLUDING FREQUENT DELAYS IN REPORTING FINDINGS TO REFERRING PHYSICIANS. CURRENTLY AVAILABLE COMPUTERIZED PROGRAMS FOR ENDOSCOPIC DATA ENTRY ARE UNSATISFACTORY BECAUSE THEY REQUIRE PHYSICIANS TO TYPE DATA AND TO ATTAIN INTERMEDIATE SKILL LEVELS IN USING COMPUTERS. IN PHASE I, KURZWEIL APPLIED INTELLIGENCE, INC., HAS DEVELOPED A VOICE-RECOGNITION AND MENU-DRIVEN SYSTEM FOR ENTERING DATA AND GENERATING REPORTS AND HAS DESIGNED THE ARCHITECTURE FOR QUERIES AND THE ASSOCIATION OF IMAGES AND TEXT. IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE VOICE-DRIVEN SYSTEM WILL BE QUICKER THAN THE TRADITIONAL DICTATION CYCLE AND MUCH MORE FLEXIBLE THAN KEYBOARD ENTRY SYSTEMS. BASED ON THE PRELIMINARY DATA FROM EIGHT ALPHA SITES, THESE PHYSICIANS HAVE FOUND VOICE RECOGNITION TO BE ACCURATE AND EASY TO USE. ANOTHER ADVANTAGE IS THAT PRINTED REPORTS ARE INSTANTLY READY FOR SIGNATURE. IN PHASE II, THE SOFTWARE WILL BE APPLIED TO OTHER GASTROENTEROLOGIC PROCEDURES, THE VOCABULARY WILL BE MADE COMPLETELY SPEAKER INDEPENDENT. ENDOSCOPISTS ARE COMFORTABLE WITH DICTATION; THUS, VOICE CONTROL OF THE SOFTWARE WILL NOT ONLY ENCOURAGE USE OF THE SYSTEM, BUT WILLALSO PERMIT FASTER, MORE ACCURATE DOCUMENTATION AND FACILITATE MULTICENTER, LONGITUDINAL, AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF DISEASES.