i-Med

The interactive system i-Med, designed by SR LABS in collaboration with Philips FIMI, falls into the category of macro-type PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System).

This is an “eye-tracking based” application, characterized by a perceptual interface and a set of techniques for interactive multi-modal (based on both vision and voice), designed to facilitate the display, manipulation, analysis and sharing of medical radiological images.
The main objective of the system is to support the activities of medical diagnostic radiologists, in order to:

» reduce the resources necessary at the time of diagnosis;

» reduce the cognitive resources needed for the use of the system (allowing the doctor to focus more on diagnosis rather than the use of the instrument);

» increase the capabilities of viewing and manipulation of images, reducing the time and resources needed to use them, etc.

At the official presentation of the project, which took place in Chicago in 2004 and 2005, in the context of the annual conference of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), the i-Med aroused the interest of several major players in the international medical market. The Italian press, having taken note of the project during a conference in Milan, has underlined its importance, dedicating several innovative insights.

The Features of i-Med

The system is completely usable in the “hand-less” mode. The information derived from continuous monitoring of eye movements is used to identify, with low error probability, the subject’s “Locus attentivo”. The vocal input, implemented thanks to the speech recognition program from FIMI Pilips, is used for activating the command.

Specifically, the i-Med system consists of:

» an ordinary personal computer;

» a directional microphone combined with voice recognition software;

» an LCD monitor that has been integrated the vision tracking device;

» perceptual user interface.

All these features, plus the ability of the system to record, store and play (through different formats) the visual pathways put in place by the doctor during the visual inspection of a specific diagnostic radiographic image.
This feature is extremely important, because it allows for the keeping track of a fundamental part of the diagnostic process (the exploration of visual images). The viewpaths so stored can thus be shared with other radiologists and used as a tool for the training of younger doctors.