COM delivers HD visuals to medical imaging applications

The COM with AMD R-series APU supports up to four independent displays at a mid-power range of 17-37W and with resolutions of up to 4k at 30Hz. AMD Radeon HD 7000G series graphics integrated into the AMD R-Series APU provide parallel processing support through OpenCL and DirectCompute, enabling the GPU to be programmed to assist in tasks normally reserved for the CPU. Medical applications that benefit from this improved visual output and graphics processing include ultrasound, X-ray/CT scanning, endoscopy and advanced 3D visualisation for chair-side dental assistance devices.

Graphics outputs for the Express-BE include dual-channel 18/24-bit LVDS and three DDI ports supporting HDMI/DVI/DisplayPort. In addition to the onboard integrated graphics, a multiplexed PCIe x16 graphics bus is available for discrete graphics expansion. The COM also features dual stacked SODIMM sockets for up to 16GB non-ECC type DDR3L memory at 1600/1333MHz, a single onboard Gigabit Ethernet port, four USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports and four SATA 6Gb/s ports. The module’s AMD R-series APU adds a hardware video compression engine for efficient encoding and fast video conversion.

The Express-BE is equipped with ADLINK’s Smart Embedded Management Agent (SEMA) to provide access to detailed system activities at the device level, including temperature, voltage, power consumption and other key information. This allows operators to identify inefficiencies and malfunctions in real-time, thus preventing failures and minimising downtime. The company’s SEMA-equipped devices connect seamlessly to our SEMA Cloud platform to enable remote monitoring, autonomous status analysis, custom data collection and initiation of appropriate actions. All collected data, including sensor measurements and management commands, are available from any place, at any time via encrypted data connection.

The COM is designed for customers with high-performance processing and HD graphics requirements that want to outsource the custom core logic of their systems for reduced development time. A complete range of COM Express engineering test tools accompany the Express-BE to expedite application development. These tools include the COM Express Type 6 starter kit, which allows customers to proceed with carrier board design and software verification simultaneously; PCIe x16-to-two-x8 adapter card; and the DB40 debug module. A customised BIOS service is available, as well as ADLINK’s carrier board design service that provides a quick and cost-effective alternative to full custom development by the manufacturer.

“While the advanced graphics performance of the Express-BE can be appreciated in industries such as digital signage and gaming, in medical is where the low power reliability plus HD visuals make the most critical impact,” said Henk van Bremen, Director, Module Computing Product Segment, ADLINK. “The long product life of the module also aligns with requirements for embedded medical applications.”

“The AMD Embedded R-series APU is the ideal solution for ADLINK Express-BE, delivering outstanding compute and graphics at impressive performance-per-watt,” commented Kamal Khouri, Director of Marketing, AMD Embedded Solutions. “With ADLINK, AMD Embedded Solutions is proud to play a key role in bringing power-efficient and high-performance medical imaging applications to market that enable high definition visualisation.”