Influence of compression and network impairments on the picture quality of video transmissions in tele-medicine

Abstract

With the continuous increase of network capacities, video transmissions in medicine are becoming an effective tool for second opinion diagnosis, archiving and teaching environments. This study investigates video compression delay times and transmission impairments for different compression formats and describes the resulting picture qualities. For the evaluation endoscopic video sequences were produced with different compression formats and bandwidth requirements. In a second step an impairment tool was used to introduce error rates to the video material to simulate network behavior. A group of medical experts evaluated the video sequences rating visibility of errors, artifacts, sharpness, overall picture quality and suitability for a medical diagnosis. The results clearly establish lower boundaries for picture quality deteriorated by compression and network impairments, and introduce limits for medical assessments.

Delivering Diagnostic Quality Video over Mobile Wireless Networks for Telemedicine

“…A few studies [ 14 – 19 ] have specifically addressed the quality of medical images or video in telemedicine systems. Martini and Mazzotti [ 15 ] address the design of a video compression and transmission system for medical applications based on metrics such as peak-signal-to-noise-ratio (PSNR).…”

Evaluation of Medical Image Compression

“…This approach requires important human and financial fundings. This is why, it is not rare to find in the literature some studies taking as a starting point these recommendations but not following them all completely (Naegele-Jackson et al, 2002;Azpiroz-Leehan et al, 2004). Moreover, such qualitative and subjective evaluations depend of the medical specialty of the expert, its motivation, its availability, its tiredness or its interest in such tests.…”

Reply to Heatley and Bell

“…Since these lesions are curable by local endoscopic therapy [3], requirements in video endoscopy examinations have rapidly changed in recent years. We therefore consider that it is not only appropriate but also necessary to focus on picture quality when analyzing tele-endoscopy.We therefore carried out a prospective study using a highly sophisticated and technically well-defined system for digital video transmission [4]. The participating endoscopists were asked to give a rating for whether they would be able to identify all mucosal lesions on basis of the picture quality displayed which was also quantified in the study.…”

“…We therefore carried out a prospective study using a highly sophisticated and technically well-defined system for digital video transmission [4]. The participating endoscopists were asked to give a rating for whether they would be able to identify all mucosal lesions on basis of the picture quality displayed which was also quantified in the study.…”