AV & Presentation

U North Carolina Moves Medical Imagery Analysis onto LCoS Projectors

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 05/04/10

The University of North Carolina has upgraded projectors used in medical imagery analysis with hardware from Canon. The university's School of Medicine's Department of Radiation Oncology chose two Canon REALiS SX80 Mark II D units. This multimedia liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) projector provides 1,400 x 1,050 pixel resolution, 4,000 lumens of brightness, and a digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) simulation mode for dealing specifically with medical imaging.

"The medical requirements for a good projector are that it provides very accurate color representation, stable images, readable small print, and very quiet operation," said Julian Rosenman, of the university's Department of Radiation Oncology. "We do a lot of tumor boards and telemedicine meetings in which doctors view medical images to make treatment decisions. These images can range from color histology slides, to black and white CT scans displaying critical shades of gray, to everything in between. This is why the color accuracy of projected images is so important."

Using two ceiling-mounted projectors, doctors and medical students display multiple sets of image data for dual-projection image comparison and analysis. The two projectors are also used for telemedicine. Images and pictures of the doctors are captured by a video conferencing camera for live consultation with medical professionals located elsewhere.

He added that dual projection is a "must" for patient review and for telemedicine. "Two different kinds of data are projected to confirm that they are compatible and correct with respect to each other. Image stability is also very important when you are comparing medical data. I don't know how Canon does it, but [these] projectors reject the jitter and 60-cycle interference caused by the other electrical equipment we've got going. With these REALiS projectors you don't see rolling bars or visible beat frequencies."