l “Acquisition for Clinical Purpose.”
l “Acquisition for Research Purposes.”Then the sequence type to be recorded is selected and the
acquisition phase begins.
The acquired data is transferred through the DICOM protocol
(images) and dedicated protocols (EEG and MRS) to a data classi-
fication structure.
Data is classified into:
l Usable data for clinical purposes.
l Usable data for research purposes.The Central Server receiving the acquired data identifies the
typology of the data (by reading the header); thus, data processing
for the storage phase begins.
The sequences of captured data (images and signals from exter-
nal devices) will be processed and the results will be made available
to medical users under a cooperation model that will also enable
them to intervene with further processing on the sequences.
The integration of acquired data is to be understood as an
integrated view of the various image sources, but above all as
image processing and signaling aimed at obtaining the association
of the information typologies of the different techniques to the
same anatomical structures and, when assimilated, even electro-
physiological signals, including the temporal dimension.
In case the data were transferred with the “EEG” protocol,
conversion of the raw data into the EEG interchange format is
expected.
In case the data were transferred with an MRS protocol, con-
version of the raw data into MRS interchange format is expected,
and in this case also occurs before storage in the repository, if it is a
sequence of Type R (Acquisition for Research Purposes). If this is
not the case, preprocessing is performed.
Figure5 shows how to use the integrated platform to extract
from MRI 3D images anatomic 3D structures of interest. Such
structures can then be used to create models of computational
fluid dynamics or to create real models by 3D printing technique.2.3 Future Trends
for Automated Data
Analyses in Biology
Technological breakthroughs and developments continue to give
the experimentalists ever more tools, with increasing spatial and
temporal resolution, to investigate living tissues and cells. For
instance, metabolomics—a post genomic research field concerned
with developing methods for analysis of low molecular weight
compounds in biological systems (cells, organs, or organisms)—is
currently investigated with an impressive array of techniques: no
less than 14 different common analytical techniques for metabolo-
mics were already listed by Hollywood [21].Imaging and Systems Biology 351