Ulatrasound scans from SmartPhones? Get outta here ...

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
Date: April 21, 2009 7:42:35 PM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Ulatrasound scans from SmartPhones?   Get outta  
here ...

[Note:  This item comes from reader Randall.  DLH]

From: Randall Webmail <rvh40 () insightbb com>
Date: April 21, 2009 3:54:55 PM PDT
To: johnmacsgroup () yahoogroups com, dewayne () warpspeed com
Subject: Ulatrasound scans from SmartPhones?   Get outta here ...

<http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/ultrasound-imaging-now-possible-smartphone-20461.html 
>

Computer engineers at Washington University in St. Louis are bringing  
the
minimalist approach to medical care and computing by coupling USB-based
ultrasound probe technology with a smartphone, enabling a compact,  
mobile
computational platform and a medical imaging device that fits in the  
palm of a hand.

William D. Richard, Ph.D., Washington University Associate Professor  
of Computer
Science and Engineering, and David Zar, Washington University Research  
Associate
in Computer Science and Engineering, have made commercial USB  
ultrasound probes
compatible with Microsoft Windows Mobile-based smartphones, thanks to  
a $100,000
grant Microsoft awarded the two in 2008. In order to make commercial USB
ultrasound probes work with smartphones, the researchers had to  
optimize every
aspect of probe design and operation, from power consumption and data  
transfer
rate to image formation algorithms. As a result, it is now possible to  
build
smartphone-compatible USB ultrasound probes for imaging the kidney,  
liver,
bladder, and eyes, endocavity probes for prostate and uterine  
screenings and
biopsies, and vascular probes for imaging veins and arteries for  
starting IVs
and central lines.

Both medicine and global computer use will never be the same.

"You can carry around a probe and cell phone and image on the fly  
now," said
Richard. "Imagine having these smartphones in ambulances and emergency  
rooms."
"On a larger scale, this kind of cell phone is a complete computer  
that runs
Windows. It could become the essential computer of the Developing  
World, where
trained medical personnel are scarce, but most of the population, as  
much as 90
percent, have access to a cell phone tower." "Twenty-first century  
medicine is
defined by medical imaging," said Zar. "Yet 70 percent of the world's  
population
has no access to medical imaging. It's hard to take an MRI or CT  
scanner to a
rural community without power."

Shrinking the electronics over 25 years

Zar said the vision of the new system is to train people in remote  
areas of the
developing world on the basics of gathering data with the phones and  
sending it
to a centralized unit many miles, or half a world, away where  
specialists can
analyze the image and make a diagnosis. Zar wrote the phone software and
firmware for the probes; Richard came up with the low-power probe  
electronics
design. He began working on ultrasound system designs 25 years ago,  
and in that
span he has shrunk the electronics from cabinet-sized to a tiny  
circuit board
one inch by three inches. A typical, portable ultrasound device may  
cost as much
as $30,000. Some of these USB-based probes sell for less than $2,000  
with the
goal of a price tag as low as $500.

[snip]
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