Infrared Imaging in Medicine

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CTHERM for Medical IR Imaging

• P. Plassmann
• E.F.J. Ring

University of Glamorgan School of Computing
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WHY CTHERM ?

• Old IR cameras still technically OK
• but.
• no software support by manufacturers
• software under-utilises hardware
• Different software required for each
• camera
• Most packages not tailored for medical
• applications

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OUR SOLUTION

• Create a package that
• fully utilises existing camera
• can work with as many modern cameras
• as possible
• has specialised medical routines built in
• can work with existing images

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MULTI MODAL STRUCTURE
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IR IMAGING EQUIPMENT (1986)

• PDP 11
• GEMS image
• processing
• system
• AGEMA camera

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IMAGE QUALITY (1996)

• 140x140 pixel
• image resolution
• (CATS software)
• 12 colours
• Display resolution
• 320x200 (CGA)

AGEMA 780 camera
Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)
Image courtesy of Dr. R. Harding, St. Woolos
Hospital, Newport
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IMAGE QUALITY (1999)

• 256x256 pixel
• image resolution
• 128 colours
• Display resolution
• 1024x768 or more

The same AGEMA 780 camera !
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AGEMA 780 FRAME GRABBER
input selector
signal offset and level adjustment
A/D converter
1 MBit static RAM
analog switch
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8
data to PC
temp-range
9 (512 lines)
signal offset and level adjustment
8 (256 columns)
temp-offset
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switch PC - AGEMA control
address generator
h-sync
new field new line new frame new pixel
offset/level adjustment and decoder
v-sync
PC in / AGEMA out
PC generated signals for new frame, field, line,
pixel
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clock generator
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MULTI MODAL STRUCTURE

dedicated frame grabber module
AGEMA 780 series camera system
Windows clipboard functionality
word processor, spreadsheet, network
BTHERM CORE
File input / output filters
via disk to other IR programs
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INDUSTRY STANDARD FRAME GRABBER

• PAL or NTSC input (s-video or composite video)
• 512 x 682 pixel resolution, 8 bits per pixel

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THE PROBLEMS OF VERSATILITY

• D/A --gt A/D conversion introduces noise
• No information about camera setting in PAL or
• NTSC image (range, offset, emissivity)
• High resolution cameras under-utilised
• (NTSC resolution 640x480, PAL 732x549)
• Dynamic resolution limited to 8 bits per pixel

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MULTI MODAL STRUCTURE

dedicated frame grabber module
AGEMA 780 series camera system
Windows clipboard functionality
word processor, spreadsheet, network
PCI frame grabber (PAL or NTSC)
BTHERM CORE
Recent IR cameras
File input / output filters
via disk to other IR programs
PC card (in preparation)
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CTHERM MAIN SCREEN
Toolbar Area
Individual colour scale
4 statistics fields for cold stress test analysis
10x10 pixel spot measurement at cursor position
Reservoir Area
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CTHERM TOOLS FILE I/O
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CTHERM TOOLS STATISTICS

• 4 statistics fields
• histogram with mean, min, max
• stand. deviation
• background
• suppression
• save / load shapes
• thermolog. indices

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CTHERM TOOLS TEXT EDITOR

• 4 text fields
• Positioning

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CTHERM TOOLS ISOTHERM EDITOR

• 2 Isotherm levels

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CROSS-SECTION EDITOR

• 4 Cross-sections
• between any
• two points

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COLD STRESS TEST REPORT

• Printout on
• colour printer
• Transfer to
• report form

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MULTI MODAL STRUCTURE

dedicated frame grabber module
AGEMA 780 series camera system
Windows clipboard functionality
word processor, spreadsheet, network
PCI frame grabber (PAL or NTSC)
BTHERM CORE
Recent IR cameras
File input / output filters
via disk to other IR programs
PC card (in preparation)
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FILE I/O

• Windows clipboard functionality
• word processors
• spreadsheets
• presentation packages
• Printer output (WYSIWYG)
• Image import / output filters

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SUMMARY

• The CTHERM package
• modular
• most recent cameras can be used
• specialised modules (CST)
• adaptable
• In the future
• transient processes (DAT)
• more I/O filters hardware support