Diagnostic medical ultrasound system communication network architecture and method

• Main Authors: LANNUTTI ANTHONY P, FALLOWS STEVEN G
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 24.02.2005
• Edition: 7
• Subjects: ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; DIAGNOSIS; HUMAN NECESSITIES; HYGIENE; IDENTIFICATION; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION ORRERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; MEASURING; MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; PHYSICS; RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; SURGERY; TESTING

A network architecture for facilitating communications among multiple diagnostic medical imaging devices coupled with a network, such as a local area or wide area network, is disclosed. The architecture features communications components included within each device which permit each device to identify itself to all other devices on the network and respond to the identification by another device. This automated identification and recognition process allows each device to effectively automatically discover all of the other devices on the network, as well as automatically self-adjust to accommodate devices as they are added or removed from the network. Once each device has identified other devices on the network that are available for communications, the architecture facilitates the exchange of data between any of the identified devices at the direction of the user.