Nvidia unveils its Quadro 2000D diagnostic imaging platform to bring about timely diagnoses and to be able to detect subtle abnormalities in medical images.
Nvidia has introduced its
Quadro 2000D
parallel-computing graphics platform, which will allow medical professionals to
obtain more timely diagnoses using medical images.
The $599 2000D is built on the Nvidia CUDA (code-named Fermi)
parallel-computing architecture, which all of the company's GPUs now
incorporate.
Compared with the previous generation of Nvidia GPUs, Fermi has more than
twice the amount of graphics cores, allowing a greater number of pixels to be
processed within a certain amount of time, Adam Scraba, Nvidia product manager
for midrange and entry Quadro products, wrote in an email to eWEEK.
"In the case of diagnostic imaging, this means radiologists can
apply more complicated image processing on patient images for things like tumor
segmentation, as an example," he said. "Even simple patient image
manipulations like panning and zooming become smoother, crisper and faster-all
with the goal of helping provide health care professionals with the ability to
make quicker, more confident diagnoses."
In October, Nvidia
unveiled
the Quadro 2000 and Quadro 600, which were also built on the Fermi
architecture.
What makes the 2000D an effective diagnostic-imaging platform are the
ability to manipulate large gray-scale patient images up to 10 megapixels and
detect subtle abnormalities or distortions in images with up to 4,096 levels of
gray-scale tones, according to Scraba.
In addition, the 2000D features two DVI
(digital video interface) connectors. "Dual digital video interface connectors
drive two monochrome 5-megapixel [displays] at a time for radiologists to do
comparison studies (a typical diagnostic use case) or a single 10-megapixel
mammography display using the bandwidth of both DVI
connectors," Scraba said.
The 2000D adheres to the
DICOM (Digital
Imaging and Communications in Medicine) standard for monitor calibration.
"The DICOM standard exists to define how gray-scale imagery should be
presented," Scraba explained. "Since monitor tonal characteristics
change over time and vary between even the same models-and radiologists/doctors
need to find very subtle clues in patient imagery-there is a clear need to
calibrate monitors to certain standards."
In designing the 2000D, Nvidia aimed to satisfy the concerns of the
diagnostic imaging and PACS (picture archiving and communication systems)
markets to be able to confidently make diagnoses while examining large
gray-scale slices of imaging data, according to Scraba. Other considerations
included imaging speed and reliability of both the images and the hardware and software
generating them.
"The importance of offering a standard diagnostic platform is that
medical ISVs [independent software vendors] and companies building turnkey
diagnostic imaging systems have to qualify a workstation and related hardware
across a suite of displays and applications," Scraba said. "They want
a standard imaging 'workhorse.' We built the Quadro 2000D to be that imaging
workhorse."
Announced on March 14, the 2000D also features Nvidia's Mosaic Display
Technology, allowing doctors to span images across multiple high-resolution
panels or projectors and maintain quality of performance. In fact, the Quadro
2000D can project to up to eight displays from one system.
Nvidia SLI Multi-OS technology allows the
2000D to project images from multiple OS environments at the same time,
including Windows and Linux. Physicians can also view images in stereoscopic 3D
quality with 3D Vision Pro, Nvidia reports.
The 2000D powers Dome diagnostic medical displays from NDS Surgical Imaging
and Agfa Impax EE PACS (picture archiving and communication system)
workstations. Siemens Healthcare also uses the Quadro technology in its 3D
ultrasound imaging products.
"Nvidia technology combined with our 3D ultrasound system gives
diagnostic imaging professionals the ability to create the most stunning 3D
images of the fetus," said Barbara Del Prince, global segment manager of
obstetrics and gynecology for Siemens Healthcare, in a statement. "3D
Vision enables us to provide a more immersive, realistic visual experience, and
the Nvidia Quadro 2000D delivers the graphics performance and connectivity we
need."
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