Medical image processing using transputer based hardware

The department of Bio-Medical Physics, University of Aberdeen has its general computational resources for clinical image research provided by a small network based around a DEC Micro-Vax 2 and a DEC VAX 11/750, supported by a dual station SIGMEX ARGS 7000 image display system. The system was initially developed as part of a clinical image data base project and although the VAX processors are well suited for the storage, retrieval and display of two dimensional tomographic images they are not sufficiently powerful to extend the applications to modern image processing techniques such as dynamic studies, three dimensional (3D) shaded surface display and artificial intelligence (AI) based image interpretation. Although they can handle the data for specific signal processing requirements such as the three dimensional Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processing required for volume data now being collected from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other scanning techniques the processing time required would be prohibitive. The authors have therefore developed a transputer based ancillary processor which uses a VAX as a file and terminal server