Technology similar to the kind that made "Avatar" a box office smash is coming to the obstetrician's office.

According to Siemens, at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual conference last week, crowds gathered around their booth to check out ultrasound technology that uses 3D glasses like those worn by audiences of James Cameron's popcorn epic.

The glasses belong to Siemens' syngo.fourSight Workplace, a viewing platform that, using technology developed in part for video games, produces fully three-dimensional ultrasound images.
"syngo.fourSight Workplace is basically an image review station and a 3D/4D manipulation tool," Barbara DelPrince, a spokeswoman for Siemens' ultrasound division, tells DOTmed News.

But the system isn't just about wowing show-goers. DelPrince says it could offer huge gains in doctor-to-patient communication.

"Historically we've only looked at 3D in the 2D world," she says. But by allowing doctors to show patients 3D ultrasound images of fetuses in 3D, it could help expectant mothers better understand what to expect. This could be especially important if the child has an abnormality, such as a cleft lip or palate.

"You can imagine [how hard it is] if you're trying to communicate to a patient there's something wrong with their baby," DelPrince says. "But if you can see it in 3D to communicate the abnormality" it could be easier on everybody.

The system includes a 3D vision kit, with a special monitor, 3D stereoscopic glasses and an infrared emitter. The kit and graphics software were developed by NVIDIA, makers of graphics cards often used in high-end gaming PCs.

The graphics processing software runs a special way to prevent image-rendering from interfering with an obstetrician's workflow.

"As we've seen in the last few years, the trend in obstetric ultrasound is attaining more information through the 3D/4D image," DelPrince says. "However, manipulating that data can be time-consuming."

To prevent downtime, the software renders the image offline, so the ultrasound scanner can be freed for other patients. The 3D image is then displayed on a monitor in the consultation room, where it can be shown to the mothers.

While looking at the image, the patients can take advantage of what Siemens calls their Amnioscopic Rendering technology, a lighting tool. In most 3D ultrasound images, a generic lighting scheme is used. But in Amnioscopic Rendering, there's a movable light source that the patient or practitioner can control.

"It's almost like having a flashlight to move around the uterus," says DelPrince.

COMING NEXT QUARTER

Obstetricians can try the platform themselves when it launches next quarter for Siemens' ACUSON S2000 and ACUSON X300 ultrasound scanners. Time will tell whether they and their patients receive the work station as rapturously as audiences around the world have taken in the billion-dollar box office smash "Avatar," but DelPrince says the response among physicians to the new ultrasound so far has been promising.

"Because of 'Avatar,' people have gravitated towards it," says DelPrince.' "All the physicians so far have been intrigued by it: they can definitely see it in the consultation room."

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