Minimum acceptable standards for digital compression of a fetal ultrasound video-clip.
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Date
2001-12-18
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Abstract
If the Internet could be used as a method of transmitting ultrasound images taken in the field quickly and effectively it would bring tertiary consultation to even extremely remote centres The aim of the study was to evaluate the maximum degree of compression of fetal ultrasound video recordings that would not compromise signal quality A digital fetal ultrasound videorecording of 90 s was produced resulting in a file size of 512 MByte The file was compressed to 2 5 and 10 MByte The recordings were viewed by a panel of four experienced observers who were blinded to the compression ratio used Using a simple seven point scoring system the observers rated the quality of the clip on 17 items The maximum compression ratio that was considered clinically acceptable was found to be 1 50 1 100 This produced final file sizes of 5 10 MByte corresponding to a screen size of 320x240 pixels running at 15 frames s This study expands the possibilities for providing tertiary perinatal services to the wider community