There is a technological boom in the healthcare industry and new advancements are being developed as we speak. Ever since the introduction of AI (artificial intelligence), healthcare has taken interest in how it can significantly assist professionals. Rest assured that these technologies are designed to reliably assist doctors and nurses, not replace them. The advancements in computer vision have given new opportunities for imagery-based technology and have become accurate and reliable enough for healthcare applications.
What is Computer Vision and Medical Imaging?
Computer Vision is an AI technology that enables computers to identify and recognize objects in images and videos. To help elaborate, ADAS is similar computer vision technology where cameras and sensors provide a live feed to an in-vehicle computer that processes the data and gives drivers feedback on their surroundings to provide a much safer driving experience. Throughout the many years in development, computer vision has proven to reliably analyze and differentiate images with 90% accuracy. Because of this, the technology has been accepted into the healthcare industry to automate and drastically improve the success rates of treatments. Computer vision has been applied to the healthcare industry to enable Medical Imaging.
What are the different types of medical imaging?
Medical imaging is an umbrella to several similar technologies that uses non-invasive imagery to take different parts of the patient’s body via:
- X-ray
- Ultrasound
- Magnetic Response Imagine (MRI)
- Computed Tomography (CT)
- Tactile Imaging
- Endoscopy
It incorporates AI to provide insight into possible abnormalities, injuries, or issues. Medical Imaging gives professionals a more in-depth visualization of the potential issue for a more accurate diagnosis. Doctors have used medical imaging to help diagnose early detection of diseases, assist in decision-making processes, and monitor the patient’s health.
Benefits of Medical Imaging
Early detection with AI
AI has become reliable and accurate to distinguish, recognize, and identify abnormalities in various applications. Medical Imaging integrates AI to identify early traces of diseases where the human eye cannot. By detecting these issues in a timely manner, an appropriate diagnosis can be made, and treatment can begin before it develops to something more serious. Medical Imaging is capable of detecting various abnormalities:
- Tumors
- Cancer
- Stroke
- Pneumonia
- COVID
- … and more
Need to be detected as early as possible to increase the chances of a successful treatment. Because these changes are minute, professionals turn to AI to help identify the most minor abnormalities for a much rapid and efficient turnaround time.
Improved insight data analysis for decision making
Doctors and surgeons need as much information as possible to provide an accurate diagnosis or procedure. Medical Imaging has aided healthcare professionals with detailed imagery and more reliable information to develop a much more accurate diagnosis. Misidentifying an issue can cause irreversible damage and consequences for both the patient and doctor. With more intricate data, the odds of these incidents occurring significantly decrease.
Monitoring
Medical Imaging not only provides early detection, but it is also capable of monitoring abnormalities. Patients that are recovering from treatment can be evaluated over time to ensure when they are fully recovered. Some patients with non-life-threatening conditions need to be monitored for practitioners to decide if an operation will be needed or instruct the patient to follow a routine that will ease their condition naturally.
Other Top Applications of Computer Vision in Healthcare
- Fracture detection
- Blood loss measurement
- Remote patient rehabilitation
- Diabetic retinopathy
What Technologies Matter for Medical Imaging?
Automation
With Edge computing, certain tasks such as updating clinical records are time consuming and can now be automated. Computer vision not only assists medical professionals in detecting early signs of anomalies, but also significantly increases their productivity. Professionals can focus on specified locations that the AI has highlighted and develop a much faster diagnosis turnaround time. Now, they can focus on more important tasks at hand rather than tedious work that technology can handle reliably and quickly.
Training
AI do not stop learning after their deep-learning stage. Medical professionals consistently provide the AI with new data, and it will continue to improve upon its ever-growing database. AI can greatly improve with the use of that data using inferencing; making medical imaging more accurate and efficient.
Real-time Data Analysis
Edge computing processes hundreds of images with AI to accurately and efficiently provide valuable information for medical professionals. AI Edge Inference Computers are purpose-built to deliver the necessary processing power to enable data-intensive applications like computer vision. Rather than using the Cloud, which is inefficient and costly in bandwidth, all data analysis can occur in real-time and on premises.
Privacy/Data Security
Data security is a top priority especially in the healthcare sector. Edge computing localizes both data storage and processing power to ensure there is no vulnerability to cyberattacks, whereas in cloud computing, data is prone to breaches and unauthorized acquisition. TPM 2.0 further protects the data with encryption and a tamper-free boot protocol.
Reliability
Rugged industrial computers are designed to operate seamlessly in the harshest conditions whether it be in remote locations, within vehicles, or on factory floors. To ensure 24/7 reliability, our industrial computers are equipped with several technologies that prevent the computer from being unresponsive during mission-critical operations: ECC memory, watchdog timers, RAID configurability, and more.
Robust Industrial Computers for Medical Imaging
KCO-2000-CFL
Our KCO-2000-CFL is a certified-ready small form factor industrial computer line that is purpose-built for medical imaging, mobile medical cart, and a variety of healthcare applications with its 2U rackmount chassis. It utilizes Premio’s CT-MCL01 Micro-ATX motherboard that provides the KCO with a one-sided I/O that gives users ease to access to all connectivity configurations. Included in the KCO-2000-CFL is on-board NVMe M.2 for rapid data storage processing, a hot-swappable SATA SSD drive for fast data offloading, and a low-profile PCIe x16 for hardware acceleration with NVIDIA RTX A2000. It’s exterior uses a toolless easy maintenance dust filter to shield the KCO from contaminants and debris. The KCO is CE, FCC, and UL Certifications for further ruggedization validation.
KCO-3000-CFL
Premio’s KCO-3000-CFL delivers higher performance for data-intensive applications. Similar to the KCO-2000-CFL, it is equipped with on-board NVMe M.2 and holds CE, FCC, and UL Certifications. Premio is ISO13485 Certified and validates our industrial computers to be deployed in medical applications. However, this industrial computer supports full height GPUs via PCIe x16 and includes an additional pair of PCIe x4 for add-on I/O. The KCO-3000-CFL follows a 3U rack mount configuration with versatile mounting options and can internally support two 2.5” SATA SSDs or a single 3.5” SATA HDD.
VCO-6000-CFL
Deliver even greater performance acceleration with Premio’s Machine Vision Computer, VCO-6000-CFL. Purpose-built to streamline computer vision applications, the VCO-6000-CFL can support full length GPUs and includes an on-board NVMe M.2. For additional storage, two hot-swappable SATA SSD bays with RAID support are easily accessible for rapid data offloading. Ruggedization is an essential feature to operate reliably in harsh environments. The Machine Vision Computer utilizes a PCIe magazine tray to reinforce GPU and add-on cards against vibration and shock, a hot-swappable smart blow fan to regulate computer thermals and reduce down-time for maintenance, and is capable of both wide operating temperature and voltage input ranges. The VCO-6000-CFL is designed rugged while delivering seamless computer vision performance at the edge.
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RCO-6000-CML
The RCO-6000 series hold multiple awards in its previous generations. The latest RCO-6000-CML follows a two-piece modularity structure with the top module being the rugged Industrial Computer and the performance accelerator, EDGEBoost Node, for the bottom module. The industrial computer consists of the latest 10th Gen Intel CML S processor or XEON-W1290TE server-grade processor, dual hot-swappable SATA SSDs, plentiful I/O, and two expansion slots. The expansion slots let users choose from our selection of universal I/O modules to provide configuration flexbility in their project. Additionally, users can also mix and match EDGEBoost Nodes that best suit their performance. Select between variations of storage capacities using hot-swappable NVMe U.2 canister bricks or accelerate performance for data-intensive applications with a dedicated GPU. The RCO-6000-CML is designed for users to select the exact performance they require to maximize productivity while remaining cost efficient.
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