Case Report: Tele-Echo System: A Real-Time Telemedicine System Using Medical Ultrasound Image Sequence

A new "Tele-Echo System" for real-time telediagnosis using medical ultrasound (US) image sequences on a public digital network has been implemented and evaluated. The Tele-Echo System compresses and transmits US image sequences in real-time using a network bandwidth up to 1.5 Mbps. This system compresses US image sequences with Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) compression algorithm and transmits with Internet protocol (IP) and user datagram protocol (UDP). Experiments were conducted on the Tele-Echo System for US image sequences of the heart. The transmitted US image sequences contained 9% root-mean-square-error (RMSE) and a 30-dB peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) when the size of images was 352 X 240 pixels, and the speed was about 27 frames per second. The experiments confirmed the clinical effectiveness of the Tele-Echo System for remote diagnosis. The transmission of US image sequences was conducted in a few seconds, and some contained noise. The "Tele-Echo System" enables real-time ultrasound image sequences on the network.