Glossary
USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a "plug and play" interface between a computer and peripherals (like audio players, digital cameras, joysticks, keyboards, and printers), which lets you plug in a device without adding an adapter card or even restarting your PC.
Its speed makes it ideal for music and digital still transfer. USB 1.1, the familiar USB standard of the last several years, supports a data transfer speed of 12 Mbps (megabits per second) — significantly faster than a serial connection. But new USB 2.0 standard is dramatically faster — 480 Mbps!
Today, most new computers (both IBM-compatible PCs and Macs) and many peripheral devices are equipped with USB; for example, USB support is integrated into Windows® XP/Vista/7 as well as Mac OS 8.6 and up.
All new computers equipped by high-speed USB 2.0 interface.
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Photo of USB connector. Typically located at the rear of computer (desktop or notebook). |
TPD/TVD File Formats
Data stored in this format contain only RAW ultrasound lines. Benefits of this format are:
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file size from 5 to 100 times less comparing with traditional BMP/AVI (depends on scanning mode)
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image/video looks "native" when opened on computers with different screen sizes and resolutions, software will automatically fit ultrasound information to new screen layout
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after loading TPD/TVD file in to Echo Wave II software possible:
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to continue measurements and calculations
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read/edit previously stored comments, add new
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available many postprocessing controls like: zoom, PW autotrace, brightness/gamma/contrast, image rotation, speckle reduction, Color Doppler color maps, image enhancement and others
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TeleView - function of Echo Wave II software for Echo Blaster/LogicScan workplace connection to remote computer via Network/Internet. Both computers (scanner and remote PC) show same ultrasound image. Both computers (scanner and remote PC) can control scanner. Available integrated text chat. It is powerful tool for remote diagnostic (Telemedecine) or technical support.
Real time ultrasound information transferring from scanner to Remote PC
Commands from Remote PC to ultrasound scanner: change Depth, Gain, Power and etc.
LiveView - function of Echo Wave II software. This function activates connected Web camera and show live image of patient to remote computer via Network/Internet. Works together with TeleView. It is powerful tool for remote diagnostic (Telemedecine).
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PureView image improvement technology |
Introduction
Advantages of ultrasound as diagnostic tool are well known: it is a safe, low cost, real-time and portable medical imaging technique, but some drawbacks of ultrasound imaging limit its use. A major and well-known problem is the so called speckle and noise, which significantly affects human interpretation of the images. As a result, ultrasound diagnosis demands a high level of operator experience. Speckle in ultrasound imaging (and all coherent imaging systems) is caused by the interference of energy from randomly distributed scatters, too small to be resolved by the imaging system. Speckle degrades both the spatial and contrast resolution in ultrasound images and thereby reduces the diagnostic value of the images. The intent of speckle reduction is to remove the distracting speckle pattern without reducing the detail in the ultrasound image, in other words, to make ultrasound images less granular and easier to "read".
Designers over the world have worked on methods to reduce or eliminate speckle. Some of these well-known techniques, like temporal averaging (frame averaging) and post-processing filtering, have been used in previous versions of scanners, designed by Telemed. Each of these techniques has drawbacks:
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Temporal averaging reduces real frame rate, because output frame is a result of superposition of the up to eight acquired frames. Moving tissues looks blurry if a high number of frames are used.
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Result of median filtering ( “smooth” or “smooth more” mode in Echo Blaster Pro and Echo Wave software) is lost of detail resolution, despite that readability of processed image is better then original image.
Method
Leveraging the computational power modern personal computers in combination with the open architecture on the Echo Blaster 64/128 and LogicScan 64/128 family ultrasound scanners, Telemed recently introduced new Echo Wave II software with real-time speckle reduction feature named PureView.
High-speed algorithm analyses ultrasound image features – low level features like edges and lines and higher level image representations such as texture, regions, object boundaries, objects themselves, relations between objects and then averages or emphasizes the image based on the results of this comparison.
Blood vessels, muscles, and other structures covers a broad range of pixels, but speckle and noise which is unique to ultrasound images frame are comparatively localized. The connection between structures in living body is improved and at the same time speckle and noise is eliminated. For additional improvement of the ultrasound image real-time edge enhancement filter can then be applied to the image before scan conversion and interpolation.
Results
Clinical trials demonstrate improvement the contrast resolution as well as overall clarity with no perceptible loss of frame rate or detail resolution.
Left image: not processed, right image: PureView level 2
Left image: not processed, right image: PureView level 3
Left image: not processed, right image: PureView level 4
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NeatView image improvement technology |
NeatView – next generation of image enhancement filters
One of the limitations of ultrasound images is poor image quality affected by speckle noise - a multiplicative noise that degrades visual evaluation in ultrasound imaging.
Medical Ultrasound B-scan echo imaging is acquired by summation of the echo signals from ultrasound scatterers. The scatterers are from structures, tissue interfaces and tissue microstructures of the body and these scatterers are locally correlated. The coherent summation of signals (beamforming) includes information about structures and interfaces that is useful for diagnosis purpose as well as some locally correlated multiplicative noises from scatterers smaller than ultrasound beam wavelength, which corrupt medical ultrasound imaging and make visual observation difficult. These noises are commonly called “speckles”.
Even though in some cases speckles provide essential information for tracking features, speckle noise usually deteriorates image quality, degrades fine details and edge definition. It also limits contrast resolution reducing detectability of small, low contrast lesions of the body. Speckles have always been considered as a primary source of medical ultrasound imaging noise and therefore they should be filtered out. Many different post-processing or advanced image processing approaches have been proposed for speckle reduction during the past years.
Telemed’s engineers have developed a new real-time filtering algorithm that provides a significant reduction in speckles without the disadvantages that have plagued the implementations to date.
NeatView is an adaptive algorithm that recognizes the difference between real targets and artifacts and smooth regions with no features or edges. It enhances edges and borders and improves contrast resolution by increasing signal to noise ratio and does not eliminate any real features, so the diagnostic information is preserved. NeatView is also flexible enough to provide different levels of speckle reduction and edge enhancement suitable for various clinical situations: whether you need a smooth uniform image or a contrast image with sharp edges, NeatView will do the job easily.