Abstract - Mobile wireless telemedicine is the latest area that exploits novel advances in telecommunication technology which provide health care delivery to the ...
4' National Conference on Telecommunication Technology Proceedings, Shah Alam, Malaysia
Application of Mobile Phone in Medical Image Transmission
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Azizuddin Abdul Aziz , Rosli Besar * Centerfor Image Processing and Telemedicine Faculty of Engineering and Technology Multimedia University (Melaka Campus) Jalan Ayer Keroh Lama 75450 Melaku, Malaysia
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for emergency cases. Generally, telemedicine is defined as the use of telecommunication infrastructures to provide medical information and health care delivery at a distant for diagnosis, therapy and education without regard to the distance that separates the participants [3]. Whereas, mobile phone is referred to a telecommunication device used for transmitting and receiving signals in terms of voice and For instance, adequate, image formats. continuous medical information about patients during advanced medical procedures is a major factor in the patients' overall satisfaction [4] Therefore, some e ffort has b een put i n order to study, propose, analyse and design a wireless telemedicine system which utilises and integrates the existing commercial mobile phone and wireless digital network (Global System for Mobile Communications, GSM).
Abstract - Mobile wireless telemedicine is the latest area that exploits novel advances in telecommunication technology which provide health care delivery to the inaccessible areas that are hampered by the limitation of the application of conventional telemedicine system In fact, this particular type of technology is not only confined to the transmission of voice data but also non-voice data communication like transmission of images. Therefore, this leads to the possibility of transmission of patient biosignal and medical images over the network by utilising the appropriate devices like mobile phones . This paper presents the results of the transmission of medical images using mobile phones with the help of an existing commercial software. The results are based on the criteria which include the transmission time and the quality of the image. The results and analysis of the experiments are presented.
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2. Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)
Introduction
In the wake of novel advances in wireless and mobile communications, a newly emerging technology which is know as wireless telemedicine is believed to provide advanced services for health care delivery [l]. Wireless telemedicine has become a new research area that utilises optimally the latest advances in cellular telecommunication networks such as the use of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). This latest technology enables doctor or health practitioner to give consultation or to monitor patients at a distant location. In addition, the patient is allowed to be mobile or to freely move around [2]. Furthermore, this area of research has given a profound contribution t o the health care history since it plays a vital role especially
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In the development of wireless telemedicine system, reliable multichannel communication for the transmission of data is extremely essential. Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) is used since it offers reliable and secured line but limited bandwidth [5]. The limited bandwidth of GSM, which is 9.6kbps, restricts potential mobile telemedical services like transmission of video [2]. In addition, the type, speed and quality of medical information to be transmitted are also affected by the limitation posed by the GSM small bandwidth. GSM is a digital cellular radio network which allows one network channel to support multiple conversations by means of time division multiplexing (TDM) [2]. GSM also offers image service application which makes the transfer of image
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picture message fiom a personal computer to the mobile phone via a data cable or infrared port. Firstly, a medical image such as X-Ray image was stored in a personal computer. Then, the image would he uploaded via the data cable to the mobile phone. In this project, transmission of image was via a data cable since the mobile phone used i.e. Nokia 3210 did not have Infia-red capability. The ends of the data cable were connected to the communication port 1 of the personal computer and to the mobile phone. Next, as the Logo Manager was opened and the mobile phone was confirmed connected to the program, the selected medical image was opened. AAer that, the medical image was uploaded to the mobile phone. When the medical image was received by the mobile phone monitor, the user had the capability to view, to save, to erase and to send the received image to the other mobile phone. There was other method of transmitting the medical image over the GSM network. This time, the medical image was downloaded from the mobile phone to Logo Manager via the data cable. Then, the image was uploaded to the other mobile phone and finally the image was sent to the other mobile phone as a picture message
possible. Image service provides the ability to reliably send images from a digital camera to any place in the world. The digital image is digitally compressed and then transmitted to the desired destination. The destination computer can request the particular type of digital image to he retransmitted if it is received in error. Mobile wireless system has brought a new dimension to the delivery of medical care worldwide. It plays a vital role in the application of wireless telemedicine and it has the solution for the limitation in the conventional telemedicine system which has been using Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) fixed lines. The study and the development of the wireless telemedicine are growing tremendously due to its potential ability to offer a better and efficient way of delivering health care to the community. Moreover, it is also supported by the latest advances in its related fields like evolution of wireless digital network and digital image processing. Hence, this kind of health care delivery is expected to he popular and become a trend in near future. 3.0
System'Design
5.0 Experimental Results
And Disucssions 5.1 Results 5.1.1 First Test
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Data
Mobile
Cable
The medical image used was an x-ray image of a human knee. The image was uploaded to the mobile phone by using the Logo Manager for Nokia Phones via the data cable. It could he oheserved that the medical image was no longer the same as the original image. The image was converted to *.nlm format (Nokia Logo Manager) in order to make the transmission possible.
Mobile Phone
Phone Figure 1 - System Design for the Whole System
4.0
Implementation Phase
Several methods had been outlined to execute the experiment for this paper. They were the usage of GSM simulator and the utilisation of existing software. Due to the cost, time constraint and efficiency, existing software was opted in order to proceed the project. The software was known as Logo Manager for Nokia Phones. It allowed users to transmit logo or
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Figure 4 -Original Image of Human Skull
Figure 2 - Original Image of Human Knee
Figure 5 -Uploaded Image ofHuman Skull Figure 3 - Uploaded Image of Human Knee
TABLE 2
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The uploaded image did not potray the whole original image since for picture message transmission for Nokia Phone, Logo Manager could only cover the area that was shown by the dashed line in the original image as shown above. The size that could he covered was 72x82 pixels only. Therefore, region of interest should be chosen and identified before uploading the medical image.
Criteria ImageFormat Image Size
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Original
I Image I PEG 1 128 x 128
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Uploaded
I Image I NLM I 433 x 146
The time taken for the image to be uploaded to the mobile phone was 2 seconds. Whereas, the recorded transmission time of the image kom a mobile phone to another mobile phone was 36.18 seconds.
TABLE 1 Criteria Image Format - Image Size
Original Image PEG 250 x 250
Uploaded Image NLM 435 x 166
5.2 5.2.1
Discussion Assessment
Quality of the image and the transmission time are the aspects being considered in order to assess the success of the project. The quality of the image is accepted when one can identify the image after being uploaded to the Logo Manager and after being transmitted to the other mobile phone without referring or knowing the original image. The transmission time of the image will determine the size of the image knowing the GSM bandwidth capacity.
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6.0
6.1
in the P E G format since the format offers a good compression ratio for high quality images. The uploaded image is of low quality since its format has been converted to NLM. However, it is inevitable to the format of the image to remain as P E G since the transmission of using the software requires the image to be in NLM format. As a solution, a suitable algorithm or software should be used to reconvert the received medical image to the original format, i.e. PEG.
Analysis
GSM Network
GSM uses digital technology and time division multiple access transmission method. Therefore, every data is encoded and hence GSM offers a very efficient data rate or information ratio. Referring to the fact, the result of the project that is the received image on the other mobile phone is successfully transmitted at a fast rate. There is n o significant delay between the transmission instant and the receiving instant. Therefore, it is shown that the GSM network is suitable, reliable and provides efficient service for the transmission of medical image for th~sproject.
7.0 Conclusion
This paper has presented the design and implementation of a new type of wireless telemedicine system and attempts to show that there are benefits of exploiting the telecommunications technology that already a part of everyday life for millions of people. Mobile phones together with the system will become powerful aid to monitoring and diagnosis as well as a convenient means of communications. This paper is perceived to have a bright and potential prospect in the future when people are getting busier with life. They are looking for latest technology that is time-saving and save cost. People also demand a new technology, which really gives them ease especially I believe regarding to their health care. telemedicine system using mobile phone will be popular andplays a s a vital roleinthecoming digital and wireless era.
6.2 Logo Manager
As the name implies, the software used is suitable for transmitting logo with Nokia phones. Therefore, when the medical image is uploaded to the software, the format of the image is converted from BMP or P E G to NLM. Hence, the resolution of the uploaded image is larger than that of the original image. This causes significant difference between the original image and the uploaded image. It is concluded that the software is not suitable to be the medium to transmit image especially the medical image.
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6.3 Mobile Phone The mobile phone used is Nokia 3210 series Version 5.31. It cannot support the WAP function and infra-red capability. Its function which is only limited to transmit a picture message has put constraint on the transmission size of the image. The size of the image that can be uploaded to the mobile phone is limited by the size of the screen of the mobile phone itself. The pixel resolution of the mobile phone screen is also a limiting factor of the quality of the image. 6.4
8.0
References
[I] J.J Perez et al, “Medical Image Transmission Over A GSM Cellular System”, IEEE Trans. On ELECTRONICS LETTERS, Vo1.36, No.16, August 2000. [2] B. Woodward et al, “Design of a Telemedicine System Using a Mobile Telephone”, IEEE Trans. On Information Technology In Biomedicine, vo1.5, No.1, March 2001. [3] Myron Frommer, “Telemedicine: The Next Generation Is Here”, IEEE Trans. 2000. [4] C.S. Pattichis e t al, “Wireless Telemedicine System ; An Overview”, IEEE Trans. On Antenna’s and Propagation Magazine, Vo1.44, No.2, April 2002. [ 5 ] SG Miaou et al, “A Next-Generation Mobile Telemedicine Testbed Based on 3G Cellular Standard”.
Medical Image
Medical images require an accurate interpretation. Thus, the uploaded image must be similar with the original image or the difference is within the acceptable tolerance. The tolerance must be defmed before the test so as consistency is achieved. The medical image is
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