A low-cost digital filing system for echocardiography data with MPEG4 compression and its application to remote diagnosis.
The high cost of digital echocardiographs and the large size of data files hinder the adoption of remote diagnosis of digitized echocardiography data. We have developed a low-cost digital filing system for echocardiography data. In this system, data from a conventional analog echocardiograph are captured using a personal computer (PC) equipped with an analog-to-digital converter board. Motion picture data are promptly compressed using a moving pictures expert group (MPEG) 4 codec. The digitized data with preliminary reports obtained in a rural hospital are then sent to cardiologists at distant urban general hospitals via the internet. The cardiologists can evaluate the data using widely available movie-viewing software (Windows Media Player). The diagnostic accuracy of this double-check system was confirmed by comparison with ordinary super-VHS videotapes. We have demonstrated that digitization of echocardiography data from a conventional analog echocardiograph and MPEG 4 compression can be performed using an ordinary PC-based system, and that this system enables highly efficient digital storage and remote diagnosis at low cost.
Umeda
Akira
A
Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan. aumeda@hf.catv.ne.jp
Iwata
Yasushi
Y
Okada
Yasumasa
Y
Shimada
Megumi
M
Baba
Akiyasu
A
Minatogawa
Yasuyuki
Y
Yamada
Takayasu
T
Chino
Masao
M
Watanabe
Takafumi
T
Akaishi
Makoto
M
D000703:Analog-Digital Conversion; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D044962:Data Compression / Q000379:methods*; D004452:Echocardiography; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods; D016249:Optical Storage Devices; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012984:Software