Web-based medical data visualization and information sharing towards application in distributed diagnosis

Preemptive Epidemic Information Transmission Model Using Nonreplication Edge Node Connectivity in Health Care Networks

The reliability in medical data organization and transmission is eased with the inheritance of information and communication technologies in recent years. The growth of digital communication and sharing medium imposes the necessity for optimizing the accessibility and transmission of sensitive medical data to the end-users. In this article, the Preemptive Information Transmission Model (PITM) is introduced for improving the promptness in medical data delivery. This transmission model is designed to acquire the least communication in an epidemic region for seamless information availability. The proposed model makes use of a noncyclic connection procedure and preemptive forwarding inside and outside the epidemic region. The first is responsible for replication-less connection maximization ensuring better availability of the edge nodes. The connection replications are reduced using the pruning tree classifiers based on the communication time and delivery balancing factor. The later process is responsible for the reliable forwarding of the acquired data using a conditional selection of the infrastructure units. Both the processes of PITM are accountable for improving the delivery of observed medical data, over better transmissions, communication time, and achieving fewer delays.

MR and ultrasound cardiac image dynamic visualization and synchronization over Internet for distributed heart function diagnosis

Dual-modality 4D cardiac data visualization can convey a significant amount of complementary image information from various sources into a single and meaningful display. Even though there are existing publications on combining multiple medical images into a unique representation, there has been no work on rendering a series of cardiac image sequences, acquired from multiple sources, using web browsers and synchronizing the result over the Internet in real time. The ability to display multi-modality beating heart images using Web-based technology is hampered by the lack of efficient algorithms for fusing and visualizing constantly updated multi-source images and streaming the rendering results using internet protocols. To address this practical issue, in this paper we introduce a new Internet-based algorithm and a software platform running on a Node.js server, where a series of registered cardiac images from both magnetic resonance (MR) and ultrasound are employed to display dynamic fused cardiac structures in web browsers. Taking advantage of the bidirectional WebSocket protocol and WebGL-based graphics acceleration, internal cardiac structures are dynamically displayed, and the results of rendering and data exploration are synchronized among all the connected client computers. The presented research and software have the potential to provide clinicians with comprehensive information and intuitive feedback relating to cardiac behavior and anatomy and could impact areas such as distributed diagnosis of cardiac function and collaborative treatment planning for various heart diseases.

Web-Based Technology for Remote Viewing of Radiological Images: App Validation

BACKGROUND

Internet technologies can create advanced and rich web-based apps that allow radiologists to easily access teleradiology systems and remotely view medical images. However, each technology has its own drawbacks. It is difficult to balance the advantages and disadvantages of these internet technologies and identify an optimal solution for the development of medical imaging apps.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to compare different internet platform technologies for remotely viewing radiological images and analyze their advantages and disadvantages.

METHODS

Oracle Java, Adobe Flash, and HTML5 were each used to develop a comprehensive web-based medical imaging app that connected to a medical image server and provided several required functions for radiological interpretation (eg, navigation, magnification, windowing, and fly-through). Java-, Flash-, and HTML5-based medical imaging apps were tested on different operating systems over a local area network and a wide area network. Three computed tomography colonography data sets and 2 ordinary personal computers were used in the experiment.

RESULTS

The experimental results demonstrated that Java-, Flash-, and HTML5-based apps had the ability to provide real-time 2D functions. However, for 3D, performances differed between the 3 apps. The Java-based app had the highest frame rate of volume rendering. However, it required the longest time for surface rendering and failed to run surface rendering in macOS. The HTML5-based app had the fastest surface rendering and the highest speed for fly-through without platform dependence. Volume rendering, surface rendering, and fly-through performances of the Flash-based app were significantly worse than those of the other 2 apps.

CONCLUSIONS

Oracle Java, Adobe Flash, and HTML5 have individual strengths in the development of remote access medical imaging apps. However, HTML5 is a promising technology for remote viewing of radiological images and can provide excellent performance without requiring any plug-ins.

Modern Scientific Visualizations on the Web

Modern scientific visualization is web-based and uses emerging technology such as WebGL (Web Graphics Library) and WebGPU for three-dimensional computer graphics and WebXR for augmented and virtual reality devices. These technologies, paired with the accessibility of websites, potentially offer a user experience beyond traditional standalone visualization systems. We review the state-of-the-art of web-based scientific visualization and present an overview of existing methods categorized by application domain. As part of this analysis, we introduce the Scientific Visualization Future Readiness Score (SciVis FRS) to rank visualizations for a technology-driven disruptive tomorrow. We then summarize challenges, current state of the publication trend, future directions, and opportunities for this exciting research field.