SEATTLE, Wash — A powerful new technology that allows ultrasound
medical imaging systems for the first time to be programmed for
multiple diagnostic applications was unveiled today by
collaborating engineers from Siemens Ultrasound and the
University of Washington. The breakthrough, a programmable image
processor, adds the power of a supercomputer to an ultrasound
imaging system and provides the ability to use software instead
of hardware to develop new diagnostic applications. The result
will be clinical applications developed more quickly and cost
effectively. The ultrasound image processor, jointly developed
by the UW Image Computing Systems Laboratory and by Siemens
Ultrasound Group, can perform more than four billion operations
per second and matches the power of 40 high-end Pentium
processors. It uses powerful programmable hardware technology
and software functions conceived and developed by Yongmin Kim,
UW professor of electrical engineering, and his research team.
“The image processor can be programme