Real-time medical imaging with multimedia technology

Multimedia technology is gaining wide acceptance in desktop computing and commercial and consumer applications due to its high performance, lower cost, and higher level of integration. Multimedia allows computer-based systems to deliver information to the user in ways other than the traditional methods of text. The new forms of information delivery include high-resolution images, realistic 2D and 3D graphics, high-quality multi-channel audio, and real-time video. By taking advantage of this new information delivery mechanism, with a continuing improvement in cost/performance ratios, many new applications are emerging in various fields. Digital video, video teleconferencing, machine vision, digital consumer electronics, and education and training are a few such examples. During the past ten years, the author has been working on applying multimedia technologies to medical applications. The author developed a highly-integrated desktop multimedia system called MediaStation 5000 and explored various application areas in medicine. The author has also successfully designed, implemented, and commercialized the programmable ultrasound image processor (PUIP) to fit within an ultrasound machine. It provides a platform for rapid testing of new concepts in ultrasound processing and enables software upgrades for future technologies.