Clinical Imaging: Focus on Service

Novartis’ open-source platform, ImagEDC, first rolled out in 2010 (see, “Novel IT Platform Helps Novartis Gain Control of Clinical Imaging Data,” Bio•IT World, Nov 2010), continues to make waves in the IT and informatics world. It garnered a Best Practices Award (IT & Informatics category) at this year’s Bio-IT World Expo, in conjunction with Novartis Image Analysis Interface (NIAI), the company’s fully automated image analysis workflow system.

ImagEDC, a nifty combination of service-oriented architecture (SOA) and grid computing, gives researchers greater control and ownership of imaging data across multiple clinical trials. Basically, it enables smooth data transfer between trial partners, using caGrid-enabled Web services for high performance and security...