Chinese high technology company Jinma Yangming Information Technology Co., Ltd. has released a 3D medical imaging post-processing system that uses 2D graphics, including computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasonography (US), as imaging sources together with a computer graphics learning algorithm, to recreate 3D simulation images for disease diagnosis, at its headquarters in Changzhou National Hi-Tech District, according to a company press release.

The system intuitively displays body organs, and inner surface anatomy, as well as pathological changes of body lumens (the central space within a tube-shaped body part), for the diagnosis of disease, 3D positioning, simulation operations and interventional therapies, among others, the press release states.

The company has also launched a next-generation regional medical imaging information product, the IPAD remote diagnosis system.

According to the release, “The 3D VR eliminates outline sketches of tissues, greatly simplifying the operating process as organs and bones associated with the urinary system can be distinguished with different colors. Tumors of various systems and organs enhanced by contrast media can serve to bring together the images of bones, vessels and soft tissues simultaneously in one 3D image, accurately positioning the tumors and allowing for the identifying of the status of the progression of the disease and the degree to which surrounding tissues, organs and vessels have been affected, including the degree of invasion and translocation.”

The beauty of this system is that it provides more abundant image information so that clinicians can provide much more accurate diagnoses, according to the press release.

Digital imaging techniques have been around since the 1970's, when the CT scanner was invented by Godfrey Hounsfield. Hounsfield 's original CT scan took hours to acquire a single slice of image data and more than 24 hours to reconstruct this data into a single image, according to a website called imaginis.com. Today's state-of-the-art CT systems can acquire a single image in less than a second and reconstruct the image instantly. But, none of this would have been possible without the digital computer.

Healthcare virtual reality (VR)applications are soaring, experiencing double-digit growth both worldwide and in the U.S. since the beginning of this century, and the 2010 U.S. market for virtual reality in surgery, medical education, therapy and other areas was predicted to grow to $290 million, according to “Virtual Reality Market in the U.S. Healthcare Sector: Markets for Remote Surgery, 3D Modeling, Pain Distraction and Other Applications,” a new report from life science research firm Kalorama Information.

Kalorama Information notes that the reason the use of VR technologies in the U.S. healthcare industry has exploded is because of extensive product development and the building of healthcare information technology (HIT) infrastructure.