About   EPIX, Inc.

COMPANY BACKGROUND

EPIX, Inc. is a privately held company founded in 1983. From inception, the company's mission is to provide cost effective solutions to customers with demanding video and imaging requirements - acquisition, processing, analysis, storage, transmission, or display.

Customer needs are served with off-the-shelf computer hardware and software, as well as customized products, superior technical support, and consulting services. An engineering oriented company, over 75% of employees hold technical or engineering degrees, or have equivalent training.

PRODUCTS

EPIX, Inc. designs and manufactures computer hardware, software, and printed circuit boards to convert, manipulate, and store images and graphics. Typical requirements are to acquire images from analog video, digital video, or scanner - converting the imagery to array(s) of intensity data ("pixels"). Images are processed or enhanced by the host computer, digital signal processor (DSP), or dedicated circuitry - improving appearance, adding graphics, or combined with other images. Images are analyzed - determining the size, position, and relationship of features. Images are displayed - converted from pixel format to analog video, digital video, or printed. Images are transmitted - through the Internet or other technologies.

EPIX® imaging products are compatible with "common" video formats such as NTSC, S-Video, or PAL, as well as non-standard formats including line scan cameras, high resolution or high frame-rate area scan cameras, and medical imaging equipment.

Off-the-shelf, ready-to-run, interactive programs offer end-users immediate and convenient imaging tools. "C" libraries provide the basis for OEM-written application programs.

SERVICES and SYSTEMS

Customization services provide added functionality, or a different "look and feel", for EPIX® imaging hardware, software, graphics, and documentation. Customized products or manufacturing designs & specifications can be delivered to OEMs. Training or application consultation is available in the use of EPIX® imaging products, or selected other products.

EPIX, Inc. supplies complete, customized, systems for machine vision, motion analysis, storage and transmission, and other imaging or video applications. Systems may include camera or scanner, lighting, imaging board, computer, display, and software - integrating components from multiple companies along with EPIX® imaging products.

APPLICATIONS

EPIX, Inc. products are used in a broad range of applications - anywhere analog video, digital video, scanned imagery, pixels or video, in any form or origin, are important. Example applications range:

  • from acquisition of charcoal sketches hidden within the great masters' paintings ... to creating graphic T-Shirts,
  • from inspection of clear hydrophilic contact lenses floating in clear water ... to counting boxes on a conveyor belt or detecting intruders,
  • from inspection of 'hot' nuclear fuel rods or eight-camera imaging of ordinance detonation ... to exhibits in science museums,
  • from preparation of images and graphs for publication in scholarly journals ... to snapping and processing photos for display on the Internet,
  • from experts in imaging, optics, electronics, or computers with in-depth understanding of imaging products ... to people in unrelated fields such as radiology, dentistry, chemistry, physics, biology, or art,
  • from research projects at NASA, USAF, NSWF, NIST, IBM, Bell Labs, and most major universities ... to amateur astronomers doing time lapse imaging, and hobbyists building robots,
  • from complete systems with significant budgets ... to products purchased with discretionary or personal funds ($195).

Machine Vision.

Most industries utilize visual inspection of manufactured products - checking for dimensions, surface metrology, visible defects, color, labeling, or correctness of assembly. For "unit" products, such as lenses, light bulb filaments, or integrated circuits, EPIX® imaging subsystems capture one or more images of each product through area or line scan cameras - including high speed or high resolution , as the application requires. For continuous stream or "web" products, such as textiles, sheet metal, optical fiber, or film, EPIX® imaging subsystems acquire snapshots with an area scan camera, or use a line scan camera for continuous viewing of rapidly moving material.

With suitable cameras, optics, or other auxiliary equipment, non-visual characteristics of products can be analyzed by EPIX® imaging subsystems. For example, the temperature gradient of sheet glass can be viewed with an infrared-sensitive camera, or embedded defects of various products viewed with ultrasound or X-ray imaging devices.

After capture, a high speed on-board processor (DSP) or the host computer executes algorithms that analyze and classify the images according to customer-specific criteria. The results may generate graphic displays, activate a reject bin, sound an alarm if flaws exceed a predetermined threshold, or directly adjust the manufacturing process's parameters.

Document Capture.

Images of documents, such as bank drafts, charge slips, or mark-sense forms, can be generated by line scan cameras attached to high speed document transport systems. A two-dimensional image is generated by taking successive samples as the document passes by the camera.

EPIX® imaging subsystems digitize the resulting video signals; several document images can be buffered on a single subsystem, and optionally compressed, before being transferred to workstations or mass storage devices. The images are then digitally enhanced, stored, transmitted, and later viewed on computer monitors.

Motion Analysis.

Experimental environments, such as fusion reaction and wind tunnel tests, require high speed, video rate, precise, sampling and storage of image data for subsequent analysis.

EPIX® imaging subsystems acquire and store sequences of images in real-time directly to silicon memories , or to disk drives, avoiding the degradation of analog video tape. Supporting software allows the experimenter to trade image resolution for increased sampling duration or frequency. Multiple subsystems acquire several views or scenes simultaneously, for multi-dimensional or multi-spectral analysis.

Medical Imaging.

EPIX® imaging products capture images from most medical imaging modalities. If the original image is X-ray film, a digital image can be created by focusing a high resolution camera on the film and digitizing the resulting video signal. If using a computed imaging modality, such as Magnetic Resonance (MR) or Computed Tomography (CT), an image can be digitized directly from the modality's video signal.

The acquired image can be enhanced, annotated, or compressed (without loss or distortion). The processed image can be transmitted to remote sites (teleradiology), analyzed and quantified, or filed for later retrieval (PACS).

Web Inspection.

In industries such as textiles, metals, or film manufacturing, the product is produced in a continuous stream. A two dimensional image is generated by taking successive samples from a line scan camera as the product material moves past a particular point. The images can be analyzed automatically to determine adherence to quality standards.

In sheet metal production, a flaw may be indicated if the thermal emissivity of the material varies excessively. Using an EPIX® imaging subsystem, an infrared-sensitive line scan camera is sampled repeatedly to build a two-dimensional image. A high speed on-board processor executes algorithms that analyze and classify the image data according to customer specific criteria. The results are reported to the host computer, which may generate graphic displays, sound an alarm if flaws exceed a predetermined threshold, or directly adjust the manufacturing process's parameters.

Sensor Development.

The flexibility and precision of EPIX® imaging products are valued by major camera manufacturers in the United States, Canada, and Europe who utilize EPIX® imaging products for R&D, production testing, and quality control, and/or demonstration of their precision camera systems. The flexibility allows a single EPIX® imaging product to accommodate a wide variety of sensors or cameras; the precision provides the accuracy and repeatability required for meaningful measurements.