Bidvest Medical has launched an advanced medical imaging solution that draws on advances in 3D gaming technology to significantly reduce imaging processing times of high-resolution digital X-ray images.
It does so by “streaming” these bandwidth-hungry images to any browser-capable device.
Nicolene Voget, product manager at Bidvest Medical, says the new software-based solution was developed by Ramsoft to address the time taken to download high-density images to local workstations.
“While the move from hard copy film to digital images significantly reduced the time it took to capture image sets from hours to just a few minutes, slow network infrastructures have not kept up with the requirements of the ‘heavier’ images resulting from improving radiology technology. This has slowed download times significantly,” she said.
Now Ramsoft has drawn on technology widely used in the 3D graphics-rich gaming industry to significantly boost image download times.
Known as remote rendering, it allows for images to be streamed, rather than downloaded, in much the same way as an online webinar is streamed to your device without the need to download mass amounts of data.
With remote rendering, the receiving device can be anything from an internet-linked server and workstation, to a laptop computer or even a cellphone.
“Because clinicians can obtain immediate access to current and all prior studies from any location, the quality of care they can provide their patients is improved while their workflow is much more efficient,” she says.
“In addition, remote rendering enables clinicians not only to review medical images within seconds, but also to share and collaborate on imaging studies from anywhere in the world.”