Bitbox: A Cloud-based data sharing solution for medical images.

Area of Science:

• Digital Health and Medical Informatics
• Biomedical Imaging and Data Transfer

Background:

• Modern healthcare digitization necessitates robust medical data exchange.
• Biomedical imaging data volumes are rapidly increasing due to multi-site collaborations.
• Existing systems face technical and regulatory hurdles in secure data transfer.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present Bitbox, a novel web-based application for secure medical imaging data exchange.
• To demonstrate a reliable and straightforward service for transferring diverse biomedical data.
• To showcase Bitbox's utility in a large-scale clinical research project.

Main Methods:

• Development of a web-based application, Bitbox, for secure data transfer.
• Implementation of a system capable of handling large volumes and diverse types of imaging and non-imaging data.
• Utilizing Bitbox for data aggregation from independent external sites to a centralized server.

Main Results:

• Bitbox provides a reliable and straightforward service for secure exchange of medical imaging data.
• The system successfully transfers both imaging and non-imaging data from various sources.
• Demonstrated application in the COVID-19 Clinical Neuroscience Study (COVID-CNS) project.

Conclusions:

• Bitbox effectively overcomes technical and regulatory bottlenecks in biomedical data exchange.
• The application facilitates secure and efficient transfer of complex medical data for research.
• Bitbox is a valuable tool for multi-site studies, exemplified by its use in COVID-CNS.