1. Function BIRN The ability to find a subject who may have participated in multiple experiments and had multiple assessments done is a critical component of the database’s usability. The federated database is developed to allow data exploration and synergy, rather than to serve as merely a data archive. The ability to find all subjects in the federated database who fit particular criteria (e.g., with a particular depression score or age) allows the user to retrieve experimental datasets which are only limited by the user’s imagination and the available data; it is not limited to the original designs of the contributing experiments. Thus new hypotheses can be tested on a moment’s notice. While many sites have their own ways of storing and retrieving imaging data, a common database schema ensures the information stored regarding each data point is complete and can be retrieved predictably. The Function BIRN Human Imaging Database builds on the Morphometry BIRN schema. Extensions to the schema enable the database to store information regarding the added complexities of functional MRI experiments. Such information includes the details of functional scans, behavioral data, and repeated measures within each visit. To establish the infrastructure, a common experiment has been included in all site databases. The flexibility of the database is derived from its modularity: Experiments are built out of segments, which can be clinical or scanning visits. Each visit can be defined uniquely based on what happens to the subject in the course of the experiment. This allows individual sites to define and include their own value-added experiments. Searching for Data Human Imaging Database Human Imaging Database and Initial Results Introduction: Conclusion: Function BIRN 2 1 The initial Function BIRN calibration study consisted of 5 human phantoms being studied at all Function BIRN sites. A database schema to store such data has been created (the Human Imaging Database) and implemented at all sites. Data collections at geographically distributed sites have been integrated. The psychological assessment data on all five subjects has been uploaded at all sites so that it is connected with the correct subject in each database. Each site’s imaging data will also be available via the federated database. The goal of the study was to assess variability/repeatability across sites, visits, and scans within a single visit, to develop methods to improve cross- site repeatability. The development of an inter-site fMRI calibration method has three phases: The first is inter-site assessment using a gel phantom (see QA demo). The second is an initial calibration study of five human subjects who were scanned at all sites, which has been completed. The third phase is to validate initial calibration methods on a new dataset of human subjects collected at each site. The collection and sharing of the 120 Gb of imaging data from the traveling subjects has motivated the development of the Human Imaging Database. The need for various data types such as clinical tests, behavioral data, anatomical images and the functional scans is combined with the knowledge that experimental designs and hypotheses are always novel, rarely repeated; this has led to a database designed to be powerful, flexible, and extensible, to both store and retrieve each data set in robust and predictable ways. Example subject data shown in 3D Slicer: primary visual, auditory, and sensorimotor areas were active during the fMRI task. Visualizing Results 4 MRI images are three-dimensional; the ability to navigate through the brain and see the data overlaid in a common space is critical. The 3D Slicer software package allows easy visualization of the results, both the individual data and group analyses. Areas of interest can be highlighted, identified, and linked to search databases such as PubMed, ArrowSmith, or Google. A user can quickly find literature relevant to the identified brain areas. For example, unexpected areas of activity can be researched to develop further hypotheses. Superior temporal gyrus (auditory) and post-central gyrus (sensory) identified in 3D Slicer Query Atlas Window showing the search for these and other areas, combined with the key word Schizophrenia The inter-site variability in the human fMRI data can be measured from the initial Function BIRN calibration study. The BIRN Virtual Data Grid allows an investigator with the appropriate permissions to download the entire data set and conduct their own analyses. The wealth of expertise available in a collaborative consortium like this test bed leads to a variety of measures of variability and reproducibility. The examples above show some of the measures of generalizability, sensitivity and specificity, and image smoothness that were derived from this unique data set. These approaches form the basis for calibration methods to correct for the inherent inter-site variability. Inter-site variability 3 Percent Signal ChangeCNRActivation Extent 3.0 T Siemens 1.5 T Siemens 3.0 T GE 1.5 T GE 3.0 T Siemens 1.5 T Siemens 3.0 T GE 1.5 T GE Above: Site data before regression corrections. Below: Site data after corrections, showing greater similarity. Brain Imaging and Analysis Center UCLA Stanford Brigham and Women’s Hospital Brain Imaging and Analysis Center