The present invention relates to a system for generating and displaying a therapeutic path for at least one patient.

The system comprises at least one database containing information about at least one patient.

The present invention mainly relates to patients suffering from diseases requiring a prolonged, complicated treatment path composed of many therapies and follow-up examinations.

The present invention further relates to follow-up care, chronic diseases or other not necessarily pathological healthcare paths such as for example birth, neonatal paths, etc.

It is specified that the database containing patient-related information can be a completely anonymous database, namely not containing patient confidential data, but merely characteristic information about the patient, such as for example his/her health condition before, after and during the path, etc.

As an alternative or in combination such database can be composed of a database containing information of personal type, or deriving from the medical record of the patient.

Treatment protocols are clearly defined and the physician taking care of the patient is aware of the several steps the patient has to face, however the patient often is lost and confused during the treatment path to be undertaken .

The psychologic condition of a patient who has to face a complicated disease runs the risk of being further compromised due to such confusion in facing a treatment path and therapies that seem particularly long and complicated.

The fact of being aware of the whole path to be undertaken, of possible side effects and symptoms resulting from the treatment, as well as the fact of being aware of logistic references and additional services provided by healthcare facilities surely would help the patient in facing more peacefully his/her disease .

Although all information is currently available to the medical system, there is not a "user side" system able to inform and encourage the patient about the therapeutic path he/she will face.

Moreover in prior art there is not a system able to collect information about perceptions and psychophysical conditions of the patient, information that can be used not only for making better therapeutic choices, but also to improve treatment protocols.

The present invention achieves the above objects by providing a system as described hereinbefore, where at least one database is provided for treatment protocols and containing information about pathologies, examinations, treatments, procedures and diagnostic tests to be performed.

There are further provided means generating a map, which map comprises the therapeutic path of the at least one patient, as well as information about treatments the patient is subjected to.

There are further provided means for displaying the map.

Thus a real infographic map of the therapeutic path is provided divided in steps in chronological order .

Each step is completed by a short explanation of the procedures of the path, useful to reduce stress level of the patient and to improve his/her participation in the treatment path.

The system of the present invention allows a guide, an explanatory support, but also encouragement in the recovery path to be obtained.

The system of the present invention allows the patient to be brought back at the center of his/her treatment path, making him/her more informed, aware, collaborative, independent and acquainted.

It is clear, also on the basis of the characteristics that will be described below, how the system of the present invention can map treatment protocols, as well as protocols during follow-up and prevention part.

Paths are not limited to pathologies, but are addressed also to all diagnostic, therapeutic and healthcare paths.

Generally such paths take place in healthcare facilities, therefore according to a possible embodiment, the system of the present invention comprises at least one database containing topographic information about healthcare facilities, the map comprising the location of the healthcare facilities.

Therefore advantageously the system of the present invention allows not only an "ideal" map to be generated and displayed about the steps to be carried out during the path of a user, but also a real map intended to give logistic instructions to the patient.

It is clear how both types of information, diagnostic/therapeutic information and logistic information synergetically work such to inform the user in a satisfactory manner.

Moreover the system of the present invention can be addressed both to users who do not have access to information and digital technologies and to digitally evolved users .

According to a first embodiment it is possible to provide the system to print the map on paper, that is to provide the displaying means to comprise a paper medium and means for printing said map on said paper medium.

In this case the paper medium shows the map to be followed and information about therapies to be carried out can be printed on paper sheet back .

As an alternative to what described above, according to a preferred embodiment, at least one user unit is provided associated to said at least one patient . The user unit can be composed of a portable device, such as smartphone, tablet or the like, and it comprises means for generating and means for displaying the map.

Inside the user unit it is possible to load a software application, as well as it is possible to provide a web application usable by any device connected to Internet.

There is also provided an input/output interface for the patient to interact with the map.

On the basis of such arrangement it is clear how the system of the present invention can be provided in the form of a software application, that by using information present in the databases, shows to the patient a path to be covered and provides him/her information about treatments he/she will have to face.

As it will be described below, the input/output interface allows the patient to interact with the system, to obtain or to provide additional information.

The software application in the medical field of the system of the present invention obviously is in compliance with privacy regulations and it is one of the new development areas of digital medical field.

It is clear how the system is a tool supporting and helping patients. The system of the present invention derives from a treatment experience and from the need of giving order and unity to all procedures, examinations and therapies that compose the analysed therapeutic plan, thus implementing a tool that can help patients to navigate and to find their way in their treatment paths.

The idea of map recalls by itself an intuitive and quick manner for making available to patients basic and important information that sometimes, due to time matters or to difficulties in relations between patients and physicians, run the risk of being lost.

According to a variant embodiment the user unit comprises geolocation means.

The advantages of such arrangement are clear, the patient is guided not only in the several therapies to be faced, but also inside physical locations where he/she has to go, by the interaction between geolocation unit and topographic information database.

It is specified that topographic information is not limited only to information about wards of only one hospital, but these can be about different hospitals and healthcare facilities located in any environment, based on treatment needs of the patient.

Moreover it is possible to provide information about services present in several healthcare facilities, such as for example parking areas, shuttle buses, taxi or the like.

All information present in the system obviously can be customized based on medical structures and/or on experiences of the several users .

According to such arrangement the system of the present invention is a kind of guide through a physical place (medical structure) and inner place (psychophysical condition of the patient) .

Advantageously the user unit can have a graphical interface for the treatment path, wherein information on different levels can be entered (geolocation , georeferencing, telephone numbers and logistic information about healthcare facilities) .

According to a variant embodiment, the system comprises a remote unit intended to communicate with said user unit.

The remote unit comprises storage units wherein treatment protocol database, patient information database and topographic information database are stored.

Therefore the system can be composed of a remote unit comprising all information necessary to generate the map and one or more user units interacting with such remote unit for generating the specific maps for each patient.

The remote unit obviously can be like a server, such as for example a cloud server, the user units connecting to such server.

Advantageously the remote unit comprises processing means intended to collect and process data provided by the user unit.

Moreover according to an improvement, the remote unit comprises means updating the treatment protocol database on the basis of data provided by the user unit .

As said above each patient can enter in the map his/her own feedback about his/her psychophysical situation on the basis of the treatments carried out.

Such feedback, besides being able to be displayed on the maps of the several patients, can be processed such to modify the treatment protocols and to make the best therapeutic choice, based on known machine learning algorithms.

Therefore treatments are improved not only as regards physical toxicity but also as regards perception and quality of life during the treatments.

By using the new technologies of the cloud, the system of the present invention will allow a data bank of feedback by patients to be created and it will be possible to work on the subjective perception about treatments and therapies according to variables that will be shared and analysed with the support of medical specialists of reference for the analysed pathology and of professional psychologists.

Finally the cloud technology will enable to have the access within a very short time to a large amount of data that can be interrogated and crossed one another to look for patterns for possible preventive and predictive analyses.

Moreover the architecture of the map has been conceived to contain therein both the therapeutic path articulated by steps and some information about changes in the body during the therapies and about the effects thereof .

Thus the software application allows a data bank of treatment paths to be obtained that, even if starting from standard protocols, will become more and more customized based on patient needs.

It is clear how the system of the present invention can be used for improving treatment paths of patients, not only as regards health condition but also as regards the organization of the same paths.

In order to optimize also the handling of time schedule in the treatment paths it is possible to provide the storage units to comprise at least one database containing information about the list of appointments of at least one healthcare facility, such to communicate to the user unit information about the time schedule of appointments of the at least one patient, such information being displayable on the map.

Therefore the patient can be guided both as regards a logistic perspective and as regards time schedule perspective of therapies and examinations .

These and other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will be more clear from the following description of some embodiments shown in the annexed drawings in which:

Figures la to lc are three different screenshots of the system of the present invention;

Fig.2 is a possible embodiment of the map generated by the system of the present invention with a particular reference to a patient suffering from Hodgkin's lymphoma.

It is specified that figures annexed to the present patent application are shown in order to better disclose the characteristics and advantages of the system of the present invention.

Therefore such embodiments have to be intended by way of example and not as a limitation of the inventive concept of the present invention, that is to provide a simple and efficacious system able to guide the patient during his/her treatment path.

Particularly figures relate to the variant embodiment wherein a mobile device is provided, such as smartphone or the like, that makes it possible to interact with the map, but it is clear how it is possible to provide the map of figure 2 also on paper medium.

With a particular reference to the variant shown in the figures, the system generating and displaying a therapeutic path for at least one patient of the present invention comprises one or more user units 1, each one associated to a patient, communicating with a remote unit.

The remote unit has one or more storage units storing information organized in databases.

Particularly there is provided at least one database about treatment protocols and containing information about diseases and medical examinations to be carried out, at least one database containing information about at least one patient, at least one database containing topographic information about healthcare facilities.

The combination of such information allows the remote unit to generate a map comprising the therapeutic path of the at least one patient, the location of healthcare facilities, as well as information about treatments, procedures, examinations, tests and cures to which the patient is subjected, there being further provided means displaying the map.

The means generating the map can be provided in the remote unit and/or in the user unit, based on constructional needs of the system.

In the specific case of figures la to lc displaying means are composed of the screen of the user unit 1, that is the smartphone.

Particularly figure la shows a first screenshot of the software application installed in the smartphone 1, where the patient can display the medical protocol to be followed, denoted by 11, information about the patient profile, such as personal information or the like, denoted by 12, can take general medical information, denoted by 13, can modify settings, denoted by 14 and can decide to display the map of the path to be followed, denoted by 15.

Once option 15 is selected, the application shows the map of the path that has to be followed, figure lb.

According to a possible embodiment the patient can also select the type of healthcare facility, for example the software application can provide to the patient a list of suitable healthcare facilities such that the patient can select the one that matches best his/her needs.

As an alternative it is possible to provide, inside the database containing patient-related information, the list of healthcare facilities where the patient has been treated, such to associate the patient with one or more of said healthcare facilities where the system of the present invention is installed. With reference to figure lb, the map shows the several steps 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 the patient will have to face.

Such as shown in figure lb steps 21 and 22 that have been already carried out can have a different colour with respect to steps that have to be carried out .

At the top of the screen it is possible to provide an area, denoted by 16, wherein it is possible to provide time information for the following session.

It is clear how it is possible to provide all known functionalities of smartphones , such as for example modifying the views of the map, or setting alarms and notes as the date of the following session approaches .

Moreover it is also possible to provide the system to generate suggestions or daily reminders, as well as motivational quotes .

Still with reference to figure lb, each step is selectable and it is possible to enter, through the input/output interface of the smartphone, comments and feedback about each session performed by the patient, or about health condition of the patient during the days of his/her treatment path.

Figure lc shows a possible screenshot for entering such feedback: the patient selects the step and the screenshot of figure lc appears where the patient can enter his/her psychophysical health condition.

Moreover it is possible to display also session time and place where the session takes place. These latter data are particularly important in combination with the possibility of having inside the user unit 1, a geolocation unit that can guide the patient through the physical place where he/she makes the therapy .

Information entered by the patients through the user unit 1 can be collected and processed by the remote unit through the processing means.

Figure 2 shows more in details the map generated by the system of the present invention, with a particular reference to a patient suffering from Hodgkin' s lymphoma.

As it can be noted from figure 2, the several steps of the therapeutic path of the patient are displayed, from preliminary examinations, insertion of the PORT for chemotherapy, denoted by 31 to the several chemotherapy cycles , denoted by 32.

For each step, and for the following days between one and the other step, obviously it is possible to enter the psychophysical condition of the patient as described above, denoted by 33, and it is possible to display information about time and place of each examination, denoted by 34.

As set forth above and shown in figure 2, feedback of the patients can be processed by the remote unit such to update treatment protocols, if the currently used protocol does not have the desired effects.

According to one embodiment it is possible, based on symptoms of each step, to associate to the patient a specific energy level that considers patient life quality compared to the expected one and based on the patient disease.

Such energy level parameter therefore can be considered for evaluating the change in the treatment protocol, generating customized protocols not only on the basis of the disease but of actual psychophysical conditions of the patient.

Finally 35 denotes the final part of the therapeutic path, related to follow-up step.

Finally from what shown in figure 2, it is clear how the system of the present invention generates a map intended to inform the patient about several steps and several therapies to which the patient will be subjected.

This is an interactive map, wherein the patient not only can be guided through the maze of protocols and healthcare facilities, but above all where he/she can enter comments, health conditions and information useful for himself/herself and for other patients suffering from the same disease.