Quantitative Imaging Informatics for Cancer Research

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Cancer Research
• Quantitative Imaging

Background:

• The National Cancer Institute (NCI) funded the Quantitative Imaging Informatics for Cancer Research (QIICR) project to advance cancer imaging informatics.
• QIICR addressed specific needs identified by the NCI Quantitative Imaging Network.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement open-source quantitative imaging (QI) tools using 3D Slicer.
• To standardize QI analysis outputs using the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard.
• To improve integration with The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA) and foster collaboration.

Main Methods:

• Developed 14 new QI tools for head and neck, glioblastoma, and prostate cancer research.
• Amended the DICOM standard with over 40 proposals for QI.
• Created reference implementations and contributed 8 datasets.
• Organized a connectathon and improved TCIA integration.

Main Results:

• QI tools were downloaded over 100,000 times, demonstrating broad adoption.
• DICOM standard enhancements and reference implementations were successfully introduced.
• Improved data curation and programmatic access to The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA).

Conclusions:

• The QIICR project's tools, DICOM standard enhancements, and datasets have been adopted by the cancer imaging community.
• Collaboration is essential for addressing national and international imaging informatics challenges.
• QIICR's innovations are contributing to the development of the NCI Imaging Data Commons.