In previous years we demonstrated an imaging informatics system designed to support multi-institutional research focused on the utilization of proton radiation for treating spinal cord injury (SCI)-related pain. This year we will demonstrate an update on the system with new modules added to perform image processing on evaluation data using immunhistochemistry methods to observe effects of proton therapy. The overarching goal of the research is to determine the effectiveness of using the proton beam for treating SCI-related neuropathic pain as an alternative to invasive surgical lesioning. The research is a joint collaboration between three major institutes, University of Southern California (data collection/integration and image analysis), Spinal Cord Institute VA Healthcare System, Long Beach (patient subject recruitment), and Loma Linda University and Medical Center (human and preclinical animal studies). The system that we are presenting is one of its kind which is capable of integrating a large range of data types, including text data, imaging data, DICOM objects from proton therapy treatment and pathological data. For multi-institutional studies, keeping data secure and integrated is very crucial. Different kinds of data within the study workflow are generated at different stages and different groups of people who process and analyze them in order to see hidden patterns within healthcare data from a broader perspective. The uniqueness of our system relies on the fact that it is platform independent and web-based which makes it very useful in such a large-scale study.

Date Published: 17 March 2015
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 9418, Medical Imaging 2015: PACS and Imaging Informatics: Next Generation and Innovations, 941811 (17 March 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2081550

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9418:
Medical Imaging 2015: PACS and Imaging Informatics: Next Generation and Innovations
Tessa S. Cook; Jianguo Zhang, Editor(s)