Application Study – Medical imaging diagnosis

Product Focus – DisplayPort KVM Switch

Background

The use of new diagnostic technologies within medicine is enabling speedier and more accurate diagnosis than ever before. Within diagnostic technologies, medical imaging instruments are seeing fast-moving developments in areas including ultrasound (US), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear medicine scans, positron emission tomography (PET), computed tomography (CT), endoscopy (ES), mammograms (MG), digital radiography (DR), phosphor plate radiography, visible light photography (VL), histopathology and ophthalmology. All these systems produce large amounts of information including numerous and variable images which help the radiographer in their review and diagnosis.

The Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) is used to manage all these images and has four main uses: radiology workflow management, electronic image integration platform interfacing remote access (off-site viewing and reporting, distance education and telediagnosis), and hard-copy replacement.

The electronic platform PACS enables images to be connected with several other medical systems such as Hospital Information System (HIS), Radiology Information System (RIS) and Electronic Medical or Patient Records (EMR/EPR). These different software systems often reside on separate computers. To be able to view and analyse the data against the images the ability to switch between these computers quickly and efficiently is crucial in helping to formulate an accurate and speedy diagnosis.

This is where the SmartAVI range of KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) switches and multiviewers are ideal solutions.

Medical imaging storage technologies such as PACS are increasingly important as the volume of digital medical images increases throughout the healthcare industry and data analysis of those images becomes more common.

Solution

SmartAVI KVM products have been designed to work 24/7 for mission critical applications. Based on proven designs, these products have been used extensively and reliably over long periods of time in medical settings including hospital radiology departments. Other essential service industries such as counterterrorism and military operations have used SmartAVI KVM products in command and control centres and for information gathering.

The KVM switches are available in various models, depending on the number of monitors required and the quantity of PCs. Normally for this type of application DisplayPort is the most popular video type but other video types can be accommodated such as HDMI and DVI as well as analogue VGA.

There are a number of important features which make these units ideal for facilitating medical diagnosis. Firstly, all these units are 4K resolution compatible, available in both 30 and 60 Hz frame rate. This feature maintains the very high-quality images through the switch which are essential for visual analysis and review.

In addition to this is the rapid switching speed between each PC, which removes unnecessary delays and allows efficient viewing of the data. This allows for a greater number of diagnoses to be made within the same amount of time.  Selection of which PC to view and control is also made simple for the user. There are multiple forms of selection depending on the user’s preference, including front panel buttons, hot keys though the keyboard or via RS232 which allows an external system to allocate the settings.

A key feature is EDID emulation available on the recently introduced EDPN series which removes the issue of mis-aligned images when switching between the different computers. Without EDID emulation windows, icons, and monitor order rearranging becomes a big problem for radiologists as it makes some of their applications very inefficient to use, leading to them spending valuable time reloading the entire setup every time they change the channel of the KVM switch.

Up until now specific graphics cards that can mimic EDID emulation have been required. However, even this has had its issues with compatibility and the lack of user permissions to update software drivers. The EDPN series solves all those issues by employing seamless emulation to create a perfect visual experience for the user when switching channels.

Finally, all the KVM switches have the ability to cope with vertical aspect ratio pictures, (typical in imaging diagnosis) enabling images to be displayed correctly where necessary.

Taken together these essential features make SmartAVI KVM switches the ideal product to specify for diagnostic imaging solutions.