Aware, Inc. Commends Adoption of JPIP by DICOM as the Client/
Server Transport Protocol Standard for Medical Imaging
JPIP, Part 9 of the JPEG 2000 standard, now provides a DICOM-compliant protocol
for ultra-efficient client/server transport and viewing of JPEG 2000 medical images
BEDFORD, Mass. – March 23, 2006 – Aware, Inc. (NASDAQ:AWRE), a leading provider of medical image processing and management software, commends the recent adoption of the JPEG 2000 Interactive Protocol (JPIP) by the DICOM Standards Committee. JPIP is a client/server image streaming protocol defined by the JPEG 2000 standard (ISO/IEC 15444-9), and joins JPEG 2000 image compression as a DICOM standard for the encoding and transport of medical images and data. Aware provides a JPIP-compliant client/server reference implementation with API along with its JPEG 2000 software development kit products.
While similar functionality is currently offered with proprietary client/server products, JPIP introduces the first fully DICOM-compliant solution. A standards-based approach provides for the networking of disparate server and client software, enabling a dramatic increase in the ability to share medical images and collaborate on diagnoses. Aware has played an instrumental role in the adoption of JPEG 2000 standards by DICOM, serving as co-chair for DICOM WG4 for compression and as liaison between ISO/IEC SC 29 and DICOM.
“The size and quantity of image data generated by scanning equipment is growing exponentially, as is demand for broad sharing of centrally stored images,” commented Rob Mungovan, vice president at Aware. “JPIP provides a bridge across this growing chasm with an advanced, standards-based solution, and leverages the inherent strengths of JPEG 2000 compression.”
DICOM standards previously allowed only for transfer of entire image files, where JPIP adds the capability to transport portions of JPEG 2000 images on demand, such as a low-resolution version or a region of interest within an image. Using JPIP, images can also be displayed progressively by quality layer. This progressive capability enables faster transmission and viewing in client/server environments for tasks such as preview, pan, zoom, and scroll. The larger the dataset and more constrained the bandwidth of the network, the greater the benefit of JPIP. The streaming of image data works well with lossless compressed images and helps to overcome the lower compression ratios offered by lossless compression by providing the client with a viewable image very quickly, and then progressively building to full fidelity as additional image data arrives from the server. JPIP also allows for caching models that eliminate the retransmission of image data that has previously been viewed.
More information about JPIP is available at http://www.aware.com/JPIP.
About Aware
Aware, Inc. was the first commercial organization in the world to provide a wavelet based image compression algorithm to original equipment manufacturers for use in medical systems. Our active development and commercialization efforts have helped promote the adoption of wavelet-based compression by the medical industry. Today some form of wavelet algorithm is used by all of the major medical imaging systems providers. Aware is also a leader in the development and marketing of DSL intellectual property and software technology that enables broadband communications over existing telephone networks. Aware, Inc. is a publicly held company based in Bedford, Massachusetts. More information can be found at www.aware.com.
Safe Harbor Warning
Portions of this release contain forward-looking statements regarding future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties, such as estimates or projections of future revenue and earnings and the growth of the biometrics market. Aware wishes to caution you that there are factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results indicated by such statements. We refer you to the documents Aware files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contact:
Sarah LaLiberte
Aware, Inc.
sarahl@aware.com
781-687-0695
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