Medical image processing and visualization approach in Latin America and developing countries

One of the most common problems in Latin America is health and medical instruments, facing the new technology in world wide and preparing technicians in medical and biomedical fields is one of the most important step to go forward and improve the capacity of medical section in Latin America. I have read an article written by a group of researchers in Peru from IPEN (Instituto Peruano Energía Nuclear) about technology transfer in nuclear medicine in Latin America and they mention at the beginning of their article about the great efforts to assure the number of trainers, technicians and authorities in Peru and to improve the health care system.

In Latin America and Peru there are a great potential for development and to receive technology, as well as Brazil, Chile and Argentina. As has been seen in the field of Nuclear Medicine, which is growing fast in Peru based on number of nuclear medical centers since 1980 (4 nuclear medicine centers) to (17 nuclear medicine centers) in 2002. Peru is a country developing and with hope.

The idea is not just to prepare technicians and authorities in the field of medical instruments, the idea is to be part of the real wide world and join the competition of industrials and producers of medical instruments and other applications. In this article I will explain the way to explore the meaning of modeling, represent, visualize, and interpret the information associated with complex structures and dynamic processes. The emphasis is placed on physical systems and, particularly, on structures and processes that emerge in biomedical systems. Thus, the information of interest may reside in discrete, acquired data sets (such as the information contained in medical imagery), or created through mathematical models or symbolic representations (such as geometric models of structures or simulations of dynamic processes).

Modeling:

Creating graphical and/or mathematical models of the systems being studied. To animate, visualize or interact with complex structures and processes, it is necessary to create models to represent these systems. Any research in this area is thus aimed at developing models that exhibit sufficient mathematical and physical rigor to capture realism, and which can also support quantitative analysis as well as visual interpretation. The basic issues and key questions that underlie this idea include:

- What mathematical and computational techniques can be used to create realistic models of complex geometrical structures or dynamic processes?
- How can physically based methods be incorporated into these models?
- How can the modeling algorithms be optimized to improve performance and to support highly interactive environments?

In Peru I have seen some of medical diagnostic equipments as well as Gamma cameras from General Electric and SPECT, MRI and CT from Siemens, some of this equipments comes with modeling system where the technicians or engineers can visualize the giving data as volume data in easy way. But the point is that most of these modeling systems are limited based on software license, were you can find difficulties to purchase and order any advanced software for modeling and visualization for economic reasons.

In the same IPEN researchers article they mention about the upgrade of old Gamma cameras and the quality assurance of SPECT systems in Peru as equipment. And that there were several engineers have been trained to improve the quality of these systems. But no one mention any point that belongs to developing a compatible system for modeling or visualization using these systems and equipments or preparing a staff of engineers and scientists to produce a compatible application for modeling, image processing and visualization.

But the point is that most of these modeling systems are limited based on software license, were you can find difficulties to purchase and order any advanced software for modeling and visualization for economic reasons.

In the same IPEN researchers article they mention about the upgrade of old Gamma cameras and the quality assurance of SPECT systems in Peru as equipment. And that there were several engineers have been trained to improve the quality of these systems. But no one mention any point that belongs to developing a compatible system for modeling or visualization using these systems and equipments or preparing a staff of engineers and scientists to produce a compatible application for modeling, image processing and visualization.

Vision and Image Processing:

Exploring methods and algorithms for image processing, analysis, and understanding. The overall objective of this approach is to explore ways to extract information from imagery, and subsequently analyze, characterize, understand, and visualize the extracted information. The images of interest include two-dimensional (2D) views, three-dimensional (3D) volumetric data sets, and temporally evolving 2D and 3D image sequences, focusing on medical imagery. From a number of approaches, including knowledge-, model-, and physically-based paradigms, as well as morphological and connectionist techniques.

The software of the Gamma cameras is so simple and old version and cannot fit they needs for processing the captured images. The potential of implement and develop a huge software for medical image processing and vision in Peru and Latin America is almost low. The capacity in this filed needs a lot and huge job to prepare a staff in Latin America and Peru, time is what we make of it, so care must be taken before any step.

Conclusion

The reflection of the early years in medical image processing and vision push us to face the future by preparing a group of researchers and centers to transfer the medical technology from developed to developing countries, and the uses of modern technologies in medical sectors, solving problems, building solutions for the near future.


Eng.
Mohamed S. El Kayyali