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Home > About the NLM > News & Events > Press Releases > High-Technology Medical Awards Announced |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 14, 1998 |
CONTACT: Robert Mehnert Kathy Gardner (301) 496-6308 publicinfo@nlm.nih.gov |
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) announces 24 contract awards totaling $2.3 million to medical institutions and companies to develop innovative medical projects that demonstrate the use of the capabilities of the Next Generation Internet (NGI). The NGI program, announced in the fall of 1996, combines the resources of such government entities as the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, NASA, and NLM.
According to NLM director Donald A. B. Lindberg, M.D., "If we are to benefit from the fruits of modern medical science we must be able to transfer massive amounts of data-instantaneously, accurately, and securely. These projects are an important step in that direction." Among the NGI capabilities widely expected to be available are virtually error-free service, security and medical data privacy, "nomadic" computing, network management, and infrastructure technology for "collaboratories."
Michael J. Ackerman, Ph.D., NLM Assistant Director for High Performance Computing and Communications, and coordinator of the projects, said that "The availability of the NGI will lead to a whole new set of applications that are based on the ability to control, feel, and manipulate devices at a distance. To get an idea of what we foresee, one need only read the terms used in the descriptions of the projects: telepresence, tele-immersion, teletrauma, telemammography, internetworking, and nomadic computing." The word "haptic," used in several of the descriptions, refers to the sense of touch and motion.
The NLM is funding these demonstration projects with the goal of improving our understanding of how the Next Generation Internet can affect health care, health education, and health research systems in such areas as cost, quality, usability, efficacy, and security. There is a link to more information about the NGI and telemedicine on the NLM home page at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/.
A list of the projects follows.
Pathology Image Database System.
Yale University is
planning a pathology image database system, Pathmaster, accessible via the
World-Wide-Web. When a pathologist is confronted with a slide containing a cell
whose nature is uncertain, a digital image of the cell can be submitted to
Pathmaster, along with certain clinical information about the specimen.
Pathmaster will automatically compute descriptors and pass back images to the
user along with their cell types and diagnoses.
Contact: Perry L. Miller,
M.D., Ph.D. Yale School of Medicine
Center for Medical Informatics
333
Cedar Street, P. O. Box 208009
New Haven, CT 06520-8009
Phone:
203-785-6753; Fax: 203-785-6664
Networked 3D Virtual Human Anatomy.
The goal is to build
a virtual human cadaver based on the Visible Human dataset. An online virtual
cadaver would be available to a wide range of students who can explore the
virtual cadaver with a variety of tools. High-end applications will have a
haptic interface.
Contact: Victor M. Spitzer, Ph.D.
University of Colorado
Health Sciences Center
4200 East Ninth Avenue
Denver, CO 80262
Phone:
303-274-0501; Fax: 303-315-4729
Rural Health Science Education.
This project will develop
a plan to evaluate the use of computer and interactive compressed video
technologies to support rural health science education. It will enable delivery
of interactive educational programming, such as grand rounds and continuing
medical education, clinical information systems, library services, and
consultation. Beneficiaries will be students, residents, and health care
professionals.
Contact: Dr. Leo Bairnsfather, Ph.D.
Louisiana State
University Medical Center
1501 Kings Highway
Shreveport, LA
71130-3932
Phone: 318-675-6536; Fax: 318-675-7757
Biomedical Tele-immersion.
By combining teleconferencing,
telepresence, and virtual reality, tele-immersion enables teachers and students
to interact with three-dimensional models. Tele-immersion combines several
virtual reality systems with advanced network capabilities for learning
especially in surgical education. NGI guarantees data privacy and security, and
will allow tele-immersive environments derived from models of patient
data.
Contact: Jonathan C. Silverstein, MD
University of Illinois at
Chicago
School of Biomedical and Health Information Services
1919 W.
Taylor
Chicago, IL 60612-7249
Phone 312-996-5112; Fax: 312-996-8342
National Emergency Medicine Information Extranet.
The
National Emergency Information Infrastructure Consortium (EIIC) will create a
plan for implementation of a secure National Emergency Medicine Information
Extranet to improve emergency care across the nation. The primary application to
be developed will enable interlinked standards-based emergency encounter
registries, then feedback to providers 'just in time' multimedia educational and
treatment protocol services. The project will create an open architecture to
enable other layered applications in the future.
Contact: Edward Barthell,
M.D.
Infinity Healthcare, Inc.
1251 Glen Oaks Lane
Mequon, WI
53092
Phone: 414-290-6700; Fax: 414-290-6781
Personal Internetworked Notary and Guardian. The Personal
Internetworked Notary and Guardian (PING) project is designed to address the
control of a personal record that can be integrated with more traditional
sources of clinical information for patient use in the home, at work, and at
school. In particular, PING is focused on: 1)reconstitution of the patient
longitudinal records from both provider-based information systems and portable,
personal record systems, on the Internet; 2) providing simple and secure
authentication mechanisms; and 3) evaluation of the impact of PING upon the
process of healthcare.
Contact: Isaac S. Kohane, M.D., Ph.D.
Director,
Children's Hospital Informatics Program
300 Longwood Ave., Enders
150
Boston, MA 02115
Phone: 617-355-7821; Fax: 617-730-0456
Implementation to Serve Visible Human Datasets. This project
plans to implement an NGI production system to interactively serve Visible Human
datasets and anatomical data evaluation software. The image and knowledge data
objects will be accessed by NGI-enabled World Wide Web users and evaluators. The
system will provide to the user multi-resolution, anatomically labeled images
within these Visible Human datasets as requested.
Contact: Brian D. Athey,
Ph.D.
The University of Michigan Medical School
4771 Medical Science
Building II
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
1335 Catherine
St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0616
Phone: 734-763-6150; Fax: 734-763-1166
G-CPR and the NGI.
The Louisiana State University Medical
Center proposes to implement a system of longitudinal electronic health records
over the NGI that will integrate its ten public hospitals. This project is based
on the G- CPR, or Government Computer Based Patient Record, a collaborative
effort between the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Indian
Health Service, and the LSU Medical Center. The objective of this project is to
enable secure access and sharing of clinical information.
Contact: Richard
Ferrans, M.D.
Louisiana State University Medical Center
Department of
Public Health
1600 Canal Street, Suite 800
New Orleans, LA 70112
Phone:
504-588-3507; Fax: 504-588-3938
Secure Radiologic Collaboration on the Next Generation
Internet.
The goal is to plan the implementation and deployment of a
suite of collaborative medical applications to provide a secure, real- time,
interactive environment for viewing, analyzing, and comparing radiological
images in a clinical environment. This will provide clinicians and technologists
the ability to share, in real-time, diagnostic imagery and medical
data.
Contact: Douglas L. Long, Sr.
Principal Scientist
Odyssey
Research Associates, Inc.
Cornell Business & Technology Park
33
Thornwood Dr., Suite 500
Ithaca, NY 14850-1250
Tel: 607-257-1975; Fax:
607-257-1972
Open Architecture Multispecialty Data and Telemedicine Integration on
the Next Generation Internet.
The purpose of this project is to plan
the implementation of a multispecialty telemedicine testbed using NGI. The plan
will identify existing and new multispecialty applications in patient care,
continuing medical education, and patient education to be integrated into this
platform. The planning activity is to be conducted by a team of scientists and
clinicians from all pertinent parts of the proposing organization.
Contact:
Joseph C. Kvedar, M.D.
Corporate Director
Partners Telemedicine
1
Longfellow Place, Suite 216
P.O. Box 8941
Boston, MA 02114
Phone:
617-726-4447; Fax: 617-726-7530
Patient-centric Healthcare Management over NGI.
This
project will demonstrate a patient-centric approach for healthcare management
over the NGI. The demonstration will build upon the Electronic House Call system
developed by Georgia Tech and the Medical College of Georgia to allow patients
to videoconference with their healthcare providers and to monitor medical
measurements over a secure network. A simple graphical user interface enables
patients to control the system themselves. The system combines
videoconferencing, vital signs measurements, patient education resources, and
medical records, and enables patients to participate in their own
healthcare.
Contact: Mr. John W. Peifer
Senior Research
Scientist
Biomedical Interactive Technology Center
Georgia Institute of
Technology
250 14th St., NW
Atlanta, GA 30332-0200
Phone: 404-894-7028;
Fax: 404-894-7025
Adopting the NGI as a Tool for Healthcare and Information
Access.
This project will assemble a team of medical informatics
users and networking advisors to analyze biomedical and healthcare information
processes and select those which best demonstrate the application of NGI
technologies and tool sets, while simultaneously providing demonstrable benefit
to healthcare practitioners and end users. Many information processes in
healthcare clinical services, biomedical education, and research will be
assessed. Once applications have been identified, the assessment team will
select viable candidates, then formulate an implementation strategy for one
application area.
Contact: Brent K. Stewart, Ph.D.
University of
Washington
Grant and Contract Services
3935 University Way NE
Seattle,
WA 98195
Phone: 206-616-1314; Fax: 206-543-3495
The Empathy Network: Improved Healthcare Delivery for Survivors of
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI).
The objective of the Empathy
Network is to employ virtual reality technology, high performance computing
centers, and NGI capabilities to dramatically improve the healthcare delivered
to MTBI patients. VR technology will allow clinicians to construct a virtual
world that simulates the cognitive and perceptual deficits experienced by an
MTBI patient. VR and NGI technologies will then enable a patient's other
healthcare providers, family, friends and co-workers to experience the MTBI
patient's problems in coping with everyday life. This will engender empathic
insight, support, and understanding that are crucial elements of an MTBI
patient's recovery and adaptation.
Contact: David L. Zeltzer
Sarnoff
Corporation
201 Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08540
Tel: 609-734-2975;
Fax: 609-734-2662
Remote, Real-time Simulation for Teaching Human Anatomy and
Surgery.
This project plans to demonstrate remote, real-time
teaching of human anatomy and surgery, using the NGI. A simulator architecture
will be developed to deliver real-time simulation and visualization technologies
to a diverse audience. The client component is a desktop PC or workstation. The
simulation server receives sensor and control input from the client and
transmits response streams. The NGI network-based architecture will allow for a
heterogeneous mix of client configurations ranging from simple mouse and color
displays to multiple high- resolution stereographic displays and haptic
devices.
Contact: Parvati Dev, Ph.D.
Stanford University School of
Medicine
SUMMIT
1215 Welch Road, Modular A
Stanford, CA
94305-5401
Phone: 650-723-8087; Fax: 650-498-4082
Interactive Medical Data on Demand: A High-Performance Image-Based
Warehouse Across Heterogeneous Environments.
The goal of this
project is to determine the requirements of a system for intuitive, real-time
access to patient-specific data records based on multimodal images and
multimedia. They will evaluate and select system architectures, software, and
network configurations to provide access over different network bandwidths and
platforms. This design will include scalability of the system and extensibility
to other healthcare applications.
Contact: Donald L. Stredney
Ohio State
University Research Foundation
Health Sciences Offices, B-030 Graves
Hall
333 West Tenth Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210
Phone: 614-292-9248; Fax:
614-292-7168
NGI-Aware, Scalable, Secure, and Adaptive Technology for Rural
Telemedicine.
The goal of this project is to develop a plan to
demonstrate telemedicine applications that will utilize NGI infrastructure.
Telemedicine scenarios include: 1) nomadic clinics; 2) public health station;
and 3) a consulting health station in rural clinics and hospitals. These systems
will be configured with a set of videoconferencing, diagnostic, and patient
monitoring equipment.
Contact: Y. V. Ramana Reddy, Ph.D.
West Virginia
University Research Corporation
886 Chestnut Ridge Road
Morgantown, WV
26506
Tel: 304-293-7226; Fax: 304-293-7541
Medical Nomadic Computing Applications for Patient
Transport.
The goal of this project is to transmit multimedia
diagnostic information in real time from ambulances to receiving physicians
using NGI technologies, thus enabling diagnostic and treatment opportunities
during transport.
Contact: David M. Gagliano
BDM International,
Inc.
1500 BDM Way
McLean, VA 22102
Phone: 703-848-6134; Fax:
703-848-6741
Distributed Revolutionary Medical Education
Environment.
The objective of this project is to develop a plan to
implement and evaluate a distributed, medical education environment on a network
testbed that simulates the characteristics of the NGI. These applications will
be delivered across the spectrum of medical instruction, from undergraduate to
postgraduate to continuing education.
Contact: Lael C. Gatewood,
Ph.D.
University of Minnesota
Office of Research and Technology
1100
Washington Avenue So., Suite 201
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Phone:
612-625-4909; Fax: 612-625-7166
Radiation Oncology Treatment Planning/Care Delivery
Application.
The goal of this project is to develop, implement, and
evaluate NGI capabilities for radiation oncology treatment planning and care
delivery. The application will provide diagnostic support, treatment planning,
and remote verification of proper operation of treatment equipment from the
Comprehensive Cancer Center to a remote JHU treatment facility. The proposed
project will have a strong evaluation component focused on quality of service,
security, privacy, and data integrity.
Contact: Joseph S. Lombardo
Johns
Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
11100 Johns Hopkins
Road
Laurel, MD 20723-6099
Phone: 240-228-6287; Fax: 240-228-6834
Applications Layer Security Solution for Stationary/Nomadic
Environments.
This project will evaluate extant security techniques
within the context of an open security architecture. The solution is based on
security shared among collaborating parties, nomadic computing, and the privacy
of medical information. The architecture includes user authentication, remote
access to medical databases, nomadic computing, and confidentiality of
data.
Contact: Brenda Garman
Motorola Space and Technology Group
1190
Winterson Road
Airport Square #14, Suite 350
Linthicum, MD 21090
Phone:
410-859-4761; Fax: 410-859-0787
Human Embryology Digital Library.
The goal of this study
is to develop a research and education network for medical image acquisition and
analysis. A high performance optical network testbed will link government labs
and universities with traditional medical research facilities. The focus of the
project is on the analysis and delivery of digital histopathology image data.
The proposal includes the definition of a set of demonstration projects that use
a collaborative consultation system for research, surgical planning, and basic
research.
Contact: George S. Michaels, Ph.D.
George Mason
University
Office of Sponsored Programs
4400 University Drive
Fairfax,
VA 22030
Phone: 703-993-1998; Fax: 703-993-1993
Integration of Security Mechanisms for Internet
Applications.
The goal of this project is to develop a plan to
integrate the PCASSO (Patient Centered Access Secure Systems Online) with
biomedical applications. It will be demonstrated through a testbed involving
medical treatment facilities in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey
and the Frederick (Md.) Biomedical Supercomputer Center in an information
technology infrastructure. The NGI infrastructure for this region is being
developed under the HUBS (Hospitals, Universities, Business Schools and
Communities) Initiative.
Contact: Raymond E. Cline, Jr.
Security
Applications International Corp.
(SAIC)
1710 Goodridge Drive, M/S
2-3-1
McLean, VA 22102
Phone: 703-749-8648; Fax: 703-821-1134
Telemammography Using the NGI.
The goal of this project
is to plan and implement a testbed to demonstrate the feasibility of a national
breast imaging archive and network infrastructure to support telemammography
using NGI technologies. The proposed infrastructure would: support traditional
breast screening; provide the opportunity to maintain and apply standard image
processing and computer-aided diagnosis software; permit access to breast
imaging experts for primary and secondary interpretations; and provide an
opportunity to study and understand epidemiologic issues in breast
cancer.
Contact: Mitchell Schnall
University of Pennsylvania
Research
Services
133 S. 36th Street, Suite 300
Philadelphia, PA
19104-3246
Phone: 215-662-7238; Fax: 215-662-3013
Teletrauma and the NGI.
The goal of this project is to
plan the implementation of an integrated system of trauma care for Southern
Louisiana using an NGI telemedicine network. This network will provide instant
access to the Trauma Team at the Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans
which will provide online assistance. Distance education training for emergency
personnel, network management, and quality of service issues are all elements of
the project.
Contact: Richard Ferrans, M.D.
Louisiana State University
Medical Center
Department of Public Health
1600 Canal Street, Suite
800
New Orleans, LA 70112
Phone: 504-588-3507; Fax: 504-588-3938
# # #
Last updated: 29 April 2004
First
published: 15 October 1998
Permanence
level: Permanent: Stable Content