As imaging technology advances, modality devices are reproducing such high resolution that even current 5MP monitors are unable to reproduce, creating a bottleneck in softcopy diagnostic environment. Independent Sub pixels Drive technology* to accept higher resolution output from modality devices as a major breakthrough.
*Patented
Features
Resolution of modality devices has already achieved a pixel size of approximately 25 to 100μm and a pixel number of 4 to 67 mega-pixels (MP). However, even 5MP Monitors with 165μm that can provide the current maximum resolution, still do not have enough resolution properties to meet the modality devices resolution.
Table1 Resolution of major mammo systems and a 5MP Monitor
| Mammo system | Pixel size(μm) | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| A | 50 | 3540 x 4740 (16.77MP) |
| B | 25 | 7080 x 9480 (67.12MP) |
| C | 100 | 1914 x 2294 (4.39MP) |
| D | 70 | 2560 x 3328 (8.52MP) |
| 5MP Monitor | 165 | 2048 x 2560 (5.24MP) |
When an image is captured by a modality device, most times the native resolution is higher than the resolution that monitor is able to reproduce. Consequently, either the overall image is converted to a lower resolution image with reduced quality, which is executed by viewer software (sub-sampling processing) or only a portion of the image is depicted with the original resolution. Fig.1 shows that the overall image is depicted on the monitor by only 31% of the information contained in the original image.
Fig.1 Depiction image when an original image consists of more pixels than
a monitor in full-screen. It is reduced to only 31% of the original.
A monochrome monitor has a large number of pixel elements and each pixel element consists of three Sub pixels, which are driven as one pixel in conventional monochrome monitors. The technology we developed, Independent Sub pixel Drive composed of a monitor that comes with the Independent Sub pixel Drive algorithm and special viewer software enables each sub pixel to be driven independently, and consequently the monitor provides superior, lossless image reproduction.
Fig. 2 shows mechanism of resolution enhancement by the Independent Sub pixel Drive and comparison of captured images on a conventional monitor and a monitor with Independent Sub pixel Drive technology. By the Independent Sub pixel Drive function, the image is depicted more accurately.
Fig.2 Mechanism of Independent Sub pixel Drive and comparison of the images of three fine lines
Fig. 3 and 4 show captured images on a conventional 5MP LCD and MS-S500 that was developed out of a conventional 5MP LCD with Independent Sub pixel Drive technology. The depiction detail was greatly improved on MS-S500 and Fig. 4 shows its excellent depiction ability of the micro calcifications, especially the edges.
Fig. 5 shows the comparison of measured MTFs of the conventional 5MP LCD and MS-S500 that employ the same LCD panels of 5MP. As shown in the graph, the MTF of MS-S500 was improved obviously by the Independent Sub pixel Drive function.
Furthermore, comparative evaluations performed by radiologists substantiated the clinical benefits of MS-S500 over the conventional 5MP LCD.
While image quality of the medical monitors such as luminance, contrast, viewing angle, and grayscale features has been improved, resolution enhancement was not actualized because of its cost.
From the physical measurements and perceptual comparisons, this new resolution enhancement technology by the Independent Sub pixel Drive, which actualizes excellent depiction ability inexpensively, would be very important in softcopy diagnostic environment.
