NETHERLANDS
Population Imaging Flagship Node Rotterdam
In the dynamic landscape of medical imaging, access to the latest imaging technologies and expertise is crucial. The Population Imaging Flagship Node is at the forefront of developments in infrastructure for medical imaging research, tackling the challenges related to collecting, anonymizing, cleaning-up & structuring, storing, sharing, inspecting & annotating, processing & analyzing, and integrating imaging data. The Node is embedded within the department of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine at the Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam. Via its “Imaging Office” a comprehensive range of services aimed at supporting all aspects related to medical imaging are offered. From data storage to (software for) (automatic) image analysis to implementation in the clinic, the Imaging Office acts as a gateway to the combined knowledge and skills of the department. Through the Population Imaging Flagship Node, the Imaging Office is able to provide these services on a transnational level. The Population Imaging Flagship Node has/had a leading role in European projects that aim to develop infrastructure for medical imaging research, such as EuCanShare, EuCanImage, EOSC4Cancer, and EUCAIM.
Specialties and expertise of the Node
A structured database that adheres to the FAIR principles is crucial for the quality of imaging studies. The Node combines the expertise of research software engineers and data managers to accomplish such a structured database.
The Node has access to a wide range of fantastic (AI) tools, developed by their own researchers. With the help of experienced research software engineers, the Node can reuse these for new clinical applications.
In addition to the image analysis processing, an analysis pipeline can also be integrated in user-friendly software for a specific user.
Another goal of the Node is to minimize the gap between in-house developed software and patient care. So, is there a high demand for certain imaging software in the clinical workplace that cannot be met by a commercial product? In addition to developing the software, the Node also provides support in technical and legal implementation.
Next to experience from day-to-day practice and all kinds of research projects, the Node gained specific experience from large population-based studies like Generation R and the Rotterdam Scan Study in the fields of imaging infrastructure and analysis pipelines.
Offered Technologies and Services:
The offered technologies and services can be roughly divided into three categories. For each category some examples are listed, but the list is not exhaustive. Please reach out when you want to know more about a specific service:
- Digital image processing for clinical research
o Automatic organ segmentation
o (Semi-)automatic tumor segmentation
o Automatic prediction models
o Neuroimage analysis
o 3D photocephalometric measurements of the skull
o Quantification of epicartial fat
o Skin cancer risk assessment
- Data services for using imaging data
o Defacing
o (Pseudo-) anonymization (i.e. CTP)
o Data sharing
o Image data storage (i.e. XNAT)
o Linking of image data with clinical data
o Data curation
o Cataloguing and metadata exchange standards (i.e. EIBIR catalogue, img2gatalogue)
- Imaging software development
o E.g. software for image segmentation and annotation
o One could also think of software that includes one of the digital image processing solutions mentioned above
Additional services offered by the Node
The Node is more than happy to support you in any imaging-related request. Do you need support in data processing and analysis? Do you need support in setting up image analysis pipelines? Wondering what imaging data to use or how to make your image database FAIR? The Imaging Office is the opening to all knowledge and expertise of the department of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine of the Erasmus MC. Even if the Imaging Office is not able to provide the exact service that fulfills your request, the Node might be able to link you to someone who can.
The Imaging Office is closely collaborating with the Biomedical Imaging Group Rotterdam who are at the forefront of research in medical image analysis & artificial intelligence (AI).
Instrument highlights
XNAT is an open source imaging informatics platform developed by the Neuroinformatics Research Group at Washington University. It facilitates common management, productivity, and quality assurance tasks for imaging and associated data. XNAT is hosted as a service by the Node, in close collaboration with the Dutch Health-RI initiative. This XNAT instance is used by several national and international multi-center clinical studies to manage and share medical imaging data. It is a critical component of the infrastructure developed in European projects like EuCanImage, EUCAIM, and EOSC4Cancer. XNAT can also be hosted locally in your institute.
Testimonials
“We were very happy with the professional and accessible epicardial fat-analyses on our research CT-scans.” - Antonio Ribeiro, M.D., Ph.D. - ELSA-Brasil | Department of Cardiology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Contact details
Website: www.imagingoffice.erasmusmc.nl
Email adress: imagingoffice.radiology@erasmusmc.nl
Ilva van Houwelingen
Process Coordinator Imaging Office
Department of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Stefan Klein
Director of Population Imaging Flagship Node
Associate Professor Applied Medical Image Analysis
General Chair of Biomedical Imaging Group Rotterdam (BIGR)
Department of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands