by Kevin Sundquist The Advantages of Medical Diagnostic DisplaysAside from inherent component and manufacturing quality process differences displays for medical applications are markedly superior to those for commercial use. These hallmark requirements are:
- Luminance Stability, stability of brightness over life
Achieved by superior luminance stability circuitry Assures long term stability for greater diagnostic utility
- Luminance Range, broadness of grayscale range
Higher maximum luminance for better image presentation Higher contrast ratio Better grayscale reproduction
- Safety Standards to which a unit is designed and madeThere are many aspects to these statements of differentiation. Let’s explore each of them.All displays age from the moment they are first used. Medical displaysare designed to have greater luminance stability through life. Thisinsures quality of image presentation and diagnostic yield to theclinician as well as extended life for these costly devices.
This graph presents the characteristics of Aging vs. Time for medical and commercial displays. A fundamental concern is that medical image displays must remain stableand constant in brightness and image presentation throughout theiruseful life. The reproducibility of images from day to day is paramountto the radiologist in clinically evaluating a patient’s condition.Leading to the importance of the ability to calibrate the device to astandard, which is constant throughout the displays life.
This graph presents the propensity of displays to drift as a functionof time after powering on and as a result of component heat up as theyrise to operating temperature.To achieve the required performance constancy every component mustoperate at the top of the specification curve everyday the system isused. This holds for the LCD panel all the way down to the sensors inthe unit that measure and adjust light output to present the very bestimage possible. There can be no weak links in this chain particularlyin the realm of 5 MP units where FDA governance enters into standardsetting. Only special LCD panels
are used for medical applications.Often panels that fail the QA for medical qualification are used inhigher end commercial products with specialized applications such asgraphics or government mapping processes.
Design specifications in actual use translate in to JND,Just-noticeable difference, that is how well they perform in their useenvironment. A comparison of JND’s for commercial vs. medical displaysis shown below. Note the superior performance difference betweenmedical and commercial grades.
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