Internet (WWW) based system of ultrasonic image processing tools for remote image analysis

An Evaluation of HTML5 and WebGL for Medical Imaging Applications

Despite the fact that a large number of web applications are used in the medical community, there are still certain technological challenges that need to be addressed, for example, browser plug-ins and efficient 3D visualization. These problems make it necessary for a specific browser plug-in to be preinstalled on the client side when launching applications. Otherwise, the applications fail to run due to the lack of the required software. This paper presents the latest techniques in hypertext markup language 5 (HTML5) and web graphics library (WebGL) for solving these problems and an evaluation of the suitability of the combination of HTML5 and WebGL for the development of web-based medical imaging applications. In this study, a comprehensive medical imaging application was developed using HTML5 and WebGL. This application connects to the medical image server, runs on a standard personal computer (PC), and is easily accessible via a standard web browser. The several functions required for radiological interpretation were implemented, for example, navigation, magnification, windowing, and fly-through. The HTML5-based medical imaging application was tested on major browsers and different operating systems over a local area network (LAN) and a wide area network (WAN). The experimental results revealed that this application successfully performed two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) functions on different PCs over the LAN and WAN. Moreover, it demonstrated an excellent performance for remote access users, especially over a short time period for 3D visualization and a real-time fly-through navigation. The results of the study demonstrate that HTML5 and WebGL combination is suitable for the development of medical imaging applications. Moreover, the advantages and limitations of these technologies are discussed in this paper.

PACS through web compatible with DICOM standard and WADO service: advantages and implementation

All users of informatics applications need rapid and reliable access to the kind of information that they are interested in. Web technology provides these capabilities. DICOM standard committees recognized the necessity of a Web medical standard. They specified WADO (Web access to DICOM object) service, so that system interaction takes place through Web, in a standarized way, allowing interoperability and proper information management inside PACS. The advantages of a Web PACS comparatively with a compatible PACS are multiple and they are detected in different fields of functionality. The authors have run a project of a WADO compatible Web PACS development. A Web portal platform with enhanced security has been implemented. Over it, DICOM applications have been developed. JavaServer Pages (JSP) technology is mainly used to satisfy design specifications and dynamic data exchanges. Furthermore, Java applets have been developed and introduced in the whole project to serve specific demands. Evaluation results confirmed our considerations about the improvement of DICOM services, when they are provided through web.

Segmentation of kidney from ultrasound B-mode images with texture-based classification

The segmentation of anatomical structures from sonograms can help physicians evaluate organ morphology and realize quantitative measurement. It is an important but difficult issue in medical image analysis. In this paper, we propose a new method based on Laws' microtexture energies and maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation to construct a probabilistic deformable model for kidney segmentation. First, using texture image features and MAP estimation, we classify each image pixel as inside or outside the boundary. Then, we design a deformable model to locate the actual boundary and maintain the smooth nature of the organ. Using gradient information subject to a smoothness constraint, the optimal contour is obtained by the dynamic programming technique. Experiments on different datasets are described. We find this method to be an effective approach.

MITIS: a WWW-based medical system for managing and processing gynecological-obstetrical-radiological data

In this paper a World Wide Web (WWW)-based medical system, called MITIS, is designed and developed for the management and processing of obstetrical, gynecological and radiological medical data. The system records all the necessary medical information in terms of patient data, examinations, and operations and provides the user-expert with advanced image processing tools for the manipulation, processing and storage of ultrasound and mammographic images. The system can be installed in a hospital's Local Area Network (LAN) where it can access picture archival and communication systems (PACS) servers (if available), or any other server within the radiology department, for image archiving and retrieval, based on the digital imaging and communication in medicine (DICOM) 3.0 protocol, over TCP/IP and also it is accessible to external physicians via the hospital's Internet connection. MITIS is composed as a set of independent WWW modules (ISAPI server extension dlls) and a Win32 application (COM+ server) for mammography image processing and evaluation.