Sectra launches new methods to handle extremely large image data sets

Sectra has invented new ways of retrieving and displaying image data of extreme size and arbitrary dimensions, patents pending. Combined, these methods increase the display speed of radiology images by a factor of 100 times or more compared with traditional methods.

The first implementation in a series of the new methods is incorporated in Sectra’s next-generation diagnostic workstation for healthcare professionals which is currently being shown as work in progress at the RSNA radiology congress in Chicago. “There are a number of great challenges for data retrieval that cannot be solved by traditional systems. Our new inventions provide methods to cope with these challenges that will further increase efficiency in our customer’s operations,” says Staffan Bergström, Vice President Marketing at Sectra Imtec AB. The functional examinations that time series can offer is constantly gaining ground, resulting in extremely large data sets. Sectra’s new diagnostic workstation being presented at RSNA has an integrated visualization tool that allows instantaneous user interaction independent of the size of the dataset. First release of the new workstation is planned during 2006. One of the inventions1-4 is based on research conducted in cooperation between Sectra and the Center for Medical Image Visualization at Linköping University in Sweden. 1. Ljung et al., Transfer Function Based Adaptive Decompression for Volume Rendering of Large Medical Data Sets, Proceedings {IEEE} Volume Visualization and Graphics Symposium 2004, pp. 25-32. 2. Lundström et al., Extending and Simplifying Transfer Function Design in Medical Volume Rendering Using Local Histograms, Proceedings Eurographics/IEEE VGTC Symposium on Visualization, 2005, pp. 263-270. 3. Persson et al., Automatic parameter setting for volume rendering of MR angiography, RSNA 2005. 4. Persson et al., Standardized Volume Rendering for MR Angiography Measurements in the Abdominal Aorta, accepted for publication in Acta Radiologica.