Multimedia system for management and presentation of medical educational materials

Cha, Eun Jong; Lee, Tae Soo; Hwang, Young Il; Goo, Yong Sook; Lee, Hyun Moo; Kim, Wun Jae

Abstract

Medical education and research require various forms of information, which form multimedia data. While traditional computer can only deal with numeric and coded data, modern computer technology enabl es intergrated management of multimedia data. The present system was designed to perform convenient, acquisition, processing and analysis, and efficient presentation of medical multimedia data. APC-486 DX2 system epuipped with 8MB DRAM and 250 MB HDD provided fast enough computation speed, and image quality guaranteed by 17-inch SVGA color monitor. Both sound and image data are simultaneously acquired through a condenser microphone and audiocard, and respectively, in a video signal format. Printed pictures are digitized by a color scanner. Data transmission is also possible through a local area network (LAN). Acquired media data are structured in a hierarchy with the image data as apex. A variety of image processing and analysis algorithms were implemented and the media data can be reproduced simultaneously. Furthermore, simple and dynamic image animation can be performed to enhance data editing and authoring capability. Selected data sets can be reproduced in a user defined sequence, enabling "multimedia slide presentation". User interface was made in Windows format and all application programs were written in Borland C++ for future flexibility and extension. The present system will be of convenient use to acquire, manage, and present multimedia data for medical education and research.