SALT LAKE CITY - A group of former GE Medical Systems scientists are using this week's Symposium for Computer Applications in Radiology meeting to launch a new company with a unique Internet-based approach to 3-D.
HInnovation of Wauwatosa, WI, hopes its iConnection 3D software will help extend 3-D imaging from the radiology department into the offices of referring physicians and other specialists. The company is making its SCAR debut this week, and hopes to put a product on the market later this year.
Three-dimensional imaging has made remarkable inroads in recent years as firms like Vital Images and Voxar roll out increasingly powerful applications on reasonably priced computer platforms. But these systems require the 3-D imaging to be performed on a single computer where the image processing software has been installed.
HInnovation's iConnection 3D takes a different road. Most of the 3-D heavy lifting is still performed on a workstation that's located centrally, usually in the radiology department. But iConnection also enables users at remote computers to view 3-D images from the central computer over an Internet connection. The remote PC can ask the host computer to perform advanced 3-D functions such as multiplanar reformattings (MPRs) and maximum intensity projections (MIPs), according to Dr. Hui Hu, president and CEO of the firm.
"The processing is done centrally, while the images are delivered on demand," Hu said. "You don't have to send the entire dataset."
The iConnection 3D software currently uses a host computer based on either Windows NT or 2000, but HInnovation says the software is platform-independent, and a Unix variant is also possible. The client computers can be standard PCs with any kind of Internet connection and Web browser.
HInnovation plans to address patient privacy issues by supporting technologies such as virtual private networks, which create intranet networks between remote locations. The software will also support the privacy and security rules of the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, according to Isabel Sun, vice president of business development.
HInnovation is putting the finishing touches on the software in preparation for a product launch in the second half of 2001. This week marks the company's first appearance at a SCAR show; it first displayed the technology in the InfoRad exhibit at last year's RSNA meeting. The company hasn't yet released pricing for the software.
Both Hu and Sun served stints at GE Medical Systems before starting HInnovation in 2000. Hu was one of the leading scientists on the team that developed the Waukesha, WI, company's LightSpeed multislice CT scanner, while Sun managed the development of global MRI.
HInnovation plans to promote iConnection 3D as an easy-to-use product that can distribute 3-D images wherever they're needed, from radiologists to referring physicians. Because it uses the Internet to distribute images, the software also has a teleradiology component that HInnovation may exploit in the near future. The capability will be crucial as 3-D becomes an accepted tool for viewing increasingly complex medical images.
"In the future, as scanner technology advances with things like multislice CT and cardiovascular MRI, there will be more and more data to be reviewed," Hu said. "Any teleradiology system has to have a 3-D capability."
By Brian Casey
AuntMinnie.com staff writer
May 3, 2001
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