Is this a problem the OSS community could handle?

[William Park]

On Mon, Jan 30, 2006 at 07:42:17PM -0500, William O'Higgins Witteman
wrote:
> I was talking to a doctor the other day who is working with hospitals
> in the developing world.  He said something that I thought was
> interesting, and I wanted to bounce it off the list.  Apparently, he
> can get his hands on a number of USB powered ultrasound wands (the
> kind used to see images of babies in utero), which would greatly
> assist doctors who otherwise have no access to useful diagnostic
> tools.  While the wands could be purchased and taken to hospitals in
> Africa, there is no way to license the software to use them.
> 
> The question is, if all you had was a bunch of these wands, could the
> OSS community create driver and imaging software for them?  I know
> it's beyond me, there are some incredibly talented people out there
> who might be interested in this challenge.  Any opinions?  -- 

Yes, and for free, too.  Get a graduate student to do his/her thesis on
one of this thing.  Generating 3-D picture, when all you have is 1-D
impluse response, is black art. :-)

-- 
William Park <opengeometry-FFYn/CNdgSA at public.gmane.org>, Toronto, Canada
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