Intelligent, Spoken Multi-Media Electronic Patient Medical Records

Berdy Medical Systems, Inc.
Stony Brook, NY

Berdy Medical Systems, Inc., has developed a data-input system for a computer-based patient record system that will allow computers to recognize natural speech in a medical setting. This three-year research effort, co-funded by NIST's Advanced Technology Program (ATP), has resulted in software that is speaker independent in 90 percent of all cases, can understand complex spoken medical vocabulary with an accuracy of 95 percent, and converts spoken language into discreet data elements so they can be stored in any database. In addition, it is able to understand speech at speeds approaching the pace of normal speaking. These innovations will promote better quality, more affordable health care by reducing barriers to the capture and storage of dictated medical records. The technology has broader applications than medical settings. Berdy has commercialized the technology in a product called SmartVoice, and has installed it in several medical practices. Several additional medical practices, including correctional facilities, have expressed strong interest. As a result, Berdy received $2 million in venture capital financing shortly before the completion of the project.

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Date created: February 1999
Last updated: April 23, 2003