Server-Grade IPCs in Medical Imaging Equipment

Project

Integrators meeting needs in healthcare environments continue to strive for long roadmap designs. One customer in the US is a veteran equipment vendor that markets its solutions to hospitals worldwide. The vendor was looking for a dual-processor motherboard with large memory capacity that could support multiple GPU cards so that the machines could generate images rapidly and reduce scanning time. It was not easy, however, to find such high-grade industrial PC platforms. Commercial servers were out of the question because long term product supply could not be assured. When this customer found Advantech, they were delighted; specs and products were a perfect match. Advantech server-grade IPCs are ideal for high-end industrial, medical, and embedded applications, not the least of which is for their long life roadmap. Their 5- to 7- year longevity support and strict revision control provide customers with worry-free solution development for long-term business.  

Requirements
Efficient completion of testing and diagnosis is important to hospitals. Hospitals look at simplifying procedures to reduce patient waiting times; they also look at equipment performance. For extremely demanding, mission-critical medical imaging equipment like CT-scanners, X-rays, and MRIs, server-grade IPCs are now considered ahead of traditional IPC products. And one of the big benefits is reduced radiation exposure.

Decreased scan times means reduced medical hazards. According to this medical imaging equipment vendor, a high performance server-grade hardware solution with long-term supplier support was their first priority. Key requirements included:

‧	High performance computing capability
‧	Expandability for multiple GPU cards
‧	Hardware platform reliability
‧	Long-term product supply support
‧	Delivery of precise control with a touch panel enabling ease of operation

System
Advantech provided an ASMB-310IR Intel® 5500/5560 dual-processor server board featuring six ECC registered DIMMs up to 48GB capacity, two PCIe x16 double-deck GPU expansion cards to enhance graphic performance, redundant design, and remote management functionality to enable easy maintenance. Due to its ideal component placement, additional full-length medical proprietary cards could be used without problem. Redundant design for hot-swap HDDs, power supply units (PSUs), and cooling fans also boosted ASMB-310IR system reliability beyond the specified project requirements.

 

ASMB-310IR integrates well with the customer’s equipment, providing high product reliability, backed by Advantech’s co-validation service support. The system also supports huge storage capacity: up to 16TB when configured with an Advantech server-grade chassis HPC-7480 with its eight SAS/SATA hot-swap hard drive cages.

Unlike a commercial server provider, Advantech has decades of IPC experience including flexible configurations that ensure compatibility both within the system and with attached equipment. We know that equipment vendors need more than a server product; they need a total solution that optimizes their applications. When an equipment vendor encounters an integration problem, a dedicated Advantech application engineer responds immediately to solve the problem. This saves not only development time but also costs.

Benefits

‧	3-5-7 service: three levels of service, five-year extended warranty, and seven year product supply
‧	Co-validation support during development stage
‧	Customization and flexible configurations
‧	Strict revision control support for all components

Suggested Application Implementation

ASMB-310IR Intel Dual 5500/5600 Processor CEB Server Motherboard with 6 SATA