Biomedical application of high-resolution infrared and parallel processing technologies

The Armament Directorate is developing a high-resolution infrared focal plane array and massively parallel image processor for smart weapons technology. This paper addresses the emergent applicability of these technologies to biomedical digital imagery in general. The authors specifically address this infrared data acquisition and processing combination for its potential application in the areas of intervention surgery, pathology, thermography, and anesthesiology. Researchers in major university medical centers and several national laboratories are experimenting with diagnostic methods involving digital infrared systems. In many cases, these advanced methods are computationally intensive. Without the aid of advanced, real-time, computing technology such methods are not suitable for real-time operative procedures. A hardware and software combination capable of evaluating all of these promising methodologies is needed.