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From "low hanging" to "user ready": initial steps into a HealthGrid
Sílvia D Olabarriaga1, Tristan Glatard, Kamel Boulebiar
1Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, NL.
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics
|June 19, 2008
Summary
Developing user-friendly grid systems for medical research, like the Virtual Lab for functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), is crucial. Enhancing usability ensures end-users can fully leverage powerful grid infrastructures for brain activation studies.
Area of Science:
- Medical Informatics
- Computational Neuroscience
- Grid Computing
Background:
- Grid computing offers powerful infrastructure for medical research and healthcare applications.
- Developing HealthGrids faces scientific, technical, and cultural challenges, including a gap between developers and users.
- Usability is critical for end-users to fully exploit grid potential in healthcare.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a retrospective of the Virtual Lab for functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) project.
- To detail the evolution of a grid-based system designed for end-user accessibility in fMRI research.
- To share lessons learned from developing a user-friendly grid system for brain activation studies.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of a three-phase project development: "low hanging fruit," "trying out," and "end-user ready."
- Detailed discussion of software architecture evolution impacting the user front-end.
- Implementation of a user-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) and a Virtual Resource Browser (VBrowser) for accessing grid resources.
Main Results:
- The project evolved through distinct phases, yielding valuable lessons at each stage.
- Software architecture changes significantly improved the user front-end.
- The current architecture enables access to local and grid resources via a single, user-friendly GUI and a virtual desktop.
Conclusions:
- A user-centric approach is essential for successful grid system development in medical research.
- The Virtual Lab project demonstrates a viable path towards making advanced grid infrastructures accessible to end-users.
- The VBrowser facilitates seamless access to distributed resources, enhancing fMRI research capabilities.
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