Download Paper - TERENA Networking Conference 2005

Belgrade Children’s University Hospital’s Infrastructure, HIS
and Grid-Based 3D Visualization
Authors
Zoran Jovanović, Branko Marović, Lovro Ilijašić, Jovana Vuleta, Mara Bukvić
Author Affiliations
Zoran Jovanović, Belgrade University Computing Center, Kumanovska bb, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia and
Montenegro, E-mail: [email protected]
Branko Marović, Belgrade University Computing Center, Kumanovska bb, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia and
Montenegro, E-mail: [email protected]
Lovro Ilijašić, Belgrade University Computing Center, Kumanovska bb, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia and
Montenegro, E-mail: [email protected]
Jovana Vuleta, Belgrade University Computing Center, Kumanovska bb, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia and
Montenegro, E-mail: [email protected]
Mara Bukvić, Belgrade University Computing Center, Kumanovska bb, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia and
Montenegro, E-mail: [email protected]
Keywords
Hospital information system, electronic medical record, medical imaging, 3D visualization, Grid computing
Abstract
Children's University Hospital in Belgrade, the largest children’s hospital in Serbia, has a gigabit internal
network with a large number of IP telephones and several clinical and diagnostic devices attached to it. It is
connected to the NREN and in the near future it will have 1 Gbps connection to the national backbone. This
network is used to host the internal communication, HIS, feed of high-resolution videos of surgical interventions,
remote consultation during surgery by using 3D ultrasound. The network will allow the Grid-based visualization
of 3D images and remote storage of multimedia and DICOM files generated by diagnostic medical devices on a
Grid cluster and Storage Area Network server located in Belgrade University Computing Center. In this way, the
NREN is being used as a testbed for distributed medical visualization, storage, and computing. The pilot HIS is
running at the departments of Cardiology, Haematology, and Nephrology. It is being built around the concept of
integration of hospital-wide workflow with patient’s electronic medical records. The Web was the medium of
choice in a heterogeneous hospital environment with many client workstations. The HIS has a sophisticated
scheduling system accommodated to special requirements of the hospital and clinic treatments, which allows
web interaction for incoming patients and informing about their scheduled examinations via SMS messages and
e-mail. It features computer supported mustering that uses pre-recorded voice sequences for inviting patients,
electronic medical records with Web based access, powerful search engine and attaching mechanism for any
type of multimedia file (including DICOM files) to the patient records. It also includes a mechanism for
automatic opening and viewing all types of attachments created by diagnostic devices and provided by the local
PACS. The web-based Grid-enabled Volumetric Image Visualization Environment (VIVE) is being integrated
into hospital’s HIS. It is an experimental interactive analysis tool for 3D medical images, facilitating diagnosis,
surgical planning, therapy evaluation, and remote 3D examination. It improves understanding of complex
anatomy by providing a portable and interactive three-dimensional environment with simple user interface.
Various virtual tools, like surfaces, cutting planes, callipers, dicers, and annotations allow analysis of various
imaging modalities. The lightweight VIVE client based on Java and VRML provides user interaction and 3D
rendering within a web browser. It communicates with the Web Portal which hides the particulars of the Grid
behind, performing job submission and mediation between the Java client and the server process running on the
Grid. It also maintains non-transient data, as the catalogue of working datasets, saved user sessions, and cache of
generated surface meshes. The server part of the system is dedicated to computing and memory intensive
processing of volumetric data. It can start with partially loaded segments of data, which, together with high
bandwidth to data storage, reduces the start-up lag caused by loading of huge datasets. The traffic between the
server and client is dedicated to updates of visualization tools, requiring a low bandwidth to the end user. The
Grid technology provides VIVE with access to storage and computation resources, and data transfer, security and
replication mechanisms. VIVE is also the regional Grid application of SEE-GRID initiative that joins together
the countries of South-Eastern Europe, with the goal of seamless integration of the Grid infrastructure being
developed within participating countries. One of the goals of the initiative is to run selected regional applications
within SEE-GRID virtual organization, sharing the benefits from their usage. VIVE’s deployment on the Grid
will help the SEE-GRID community to build the expertise in developing, deploying and sharing the results of an
application dedicated to the very specific domain of interactive visualization, and promote the Grid by providing
a tool and resources needed in healthcare.
Acknowledgements
The development of the gigabit internal network in Children’s University Hospital was donated by CISCO
within their Community and Philanthropy grants and donations.
The development of VIVE is supported by the SEE-GRID project, an initiative funded by the European
Commission under the FP6-2002-Infrastructures-2 Programme.
References
B. Marovic, Z. Jovanović, Visualization of 3D fields and medical data and using VRML. Future Generation
Computer Systems. 1998: Vol. 14, pp 33-49.
Z. Jovanović, B. Marović, L. Ilijasić, J. Vuleta, V. Radulović, Infrastructure and integration of multi-media in
the HIS of Belgrade Children's University Hospital, Proceedings of EuroPACS-MIR 2004 in the enlarged
Europe 22th International Conference
Z. Krstić, Z. Jovanović, B. Marović, Belgrade Children's University Hospital HIS and future telemedical
cooperation, Proceedings of EuroPACS-MIR 2004 in the enlarged Europe 22th International Conference
Vitae
Zoran Jovanović is the professor and Chairman at Computer Engineering Department, Faculty of Electrical
Engineering, University of Belgrade and Director of Belgrade University Computing Center, University of
Belgrade. He is also the Director of the NREN AMREJ, although it doesn’t exist as a legal entity. Coordinates
the development of the NREN of Serbia and Montenegro. Education: Dipl. Eng. EE 1978 University of
Belgrade, M. Sci. EE 1982 University of Belgrade, Dr. Sci. CE 1988 University of Belgrade. Specialization:
parallel and distributed computing, networking. Awards: Best diploma thesis at the Faculty of Electrical
Engineering, Best Ph.D. thesis at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering.
Branko Marović received his BS, MS and PhD in degrees in computer engineering and computer science from
University of Belgrade in 1993, 1998, and 2001. He is with Belgrade University Computing Center since 1994,
currently leading its Center for Software Development. He worked at UCLA Radiology Science Department,
participating in UCLA Virtual Aneurysm Project. His work is focused on development of eGovernment
solutions, medical 3D visualization, and grid computing.
Lovro Ilijašić got his BSEE in 2001 and MSEE in 2004 at Faculty of electrical engineering, University of
Belgrade at Department for computer engineering and computer science. He is with Belgrade University
Computing Center since 2001. He works on several projects concerning network management systems,
eGovernment and healthcare.
Jovana Vuleta received BSEE in 2003 at Faculty of electrical engineering, University of Belgrade at Department
for computer engineering and computer science. She is with the Belgrade University Computer Center since
2003. She works on several projects concerning eGovernment and healthcare.
Mara Bukvić got BSEE in 1991 and MSEE in 1996 at Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade.
She worked on interprocess communication in network environment and development of network services. She
was a member of a team that built the first campus network in former Yugoslavia. Since 1996 she is with
Belgrade University Computer Centre as a head of a department for communications. She was engaged in
several projects in the field of computer networks, and in tasks of the Serbian NREN development and
maintenance.