Subject: Medical Image Data Type in HealthVault - looking for feedback<br>
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:04:22 -0700<br>
From: Khan Siddiqui <<a href="mailto:Khan.Siddiqui%40microsoft.com" target="_blank">Khan.Siddiqui@microsoft.com</a>><br>
To: Khan Siddiqui <<a href="mailto:Khan.Siddiqui%40microsoft.com" target="_blank">Khan.Siddiqui@microsoft.com</a>><br>
<br>
Hi,<br>
The HealthVault<<a href="http://www.healthvault.com/" target="_blank">http://www.healthvault.com/</a>> team has posted the initial draft design for medical image data type to their data type blog. Please visit <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/healthvaultdatatypes/archive/2009/07/09/for-review-medical-image-study.aspx" target="_blank">http://blogs.msdn.com/healthvaultdatatypes/archive/2009/07/09/for-review-medical-image-study.aspx</a> and give them feedback.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
<br>
Khan<br>
<br>
Khan M. Siddiqui, MD | Principal Program Manager | Medical Imaging<br>
Health Solutions Group | Microsoft Corporation<br>
5404 Wisconsin Ave | Suite 600 | Chevy Chase, MD, 20815<br>
Office: (301) 771-8568 | Mobile: (443) 847-5106 | Fax: (301) 771-8184<br>
[cid:<a href="mailto:image001.png%4001CA03F0.24921BF0" target="_blank">image001.png@01CA03F0.24921BF0</a>]<br>
<a href="mailto:khan.siddiqui%40microsoft.com" target="_blank">khan.siddiqui@microsoft.com</a><mailto:<a href="mailto:khan.siddiqui%40microsoft.com" target="_blank">khan.siddiqui@microsoft.com</a>> | <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/hsg" target="_blank">www.microsoft.com/hsg</a><<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/hsg" target="_blank">http://www.microsoft.com/hsg</a>><br>
<br>-------------------------------------------------<br><br><h4 class="BlogPostHeader">For Review: Medical Image Study </h4>
<div class="BlogPostContent">
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: normal;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">We've
had several requests for a new data type to store medical images and we
are now at a point in our research and design that we'd like to hear
from our larger HealthVault community. We've found that DICOM is the
generally accepted format for storing medical images today so we've
designed this data type to include structural and metadata similaities
while limited the exposed data to what we believe is the most consumer
friendly. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: normal;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"></span>There are a few scenarios we've targeted in the design of this data type:</p>
<ol><li>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: normal;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Systems
generating medical images can now store those images in a patient's
HealthVault record instead of creating a DVD, CD or other portable
media. Today, when a patient requests a copy of their medical images
from a CT, MRI, mamogram, etc, those images are burned to portable
media which gets added to the shoebox of all the other studies the
patient has requested. The intent of this data type is to help replace
that shoebox full of discs.</span></div></li><li>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: normal;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">The
shoebox full of discs serves a purpose of being an electronic history
of various studies that can be taken for a second opinion or further
analysis. For systems that understand medical images, they should also
be able to understand medical images stored in HealthVault. </span></div></li><li>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: normal;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">The
consumer should be able to accurately transfer their existing medical
images to their HealthVault record. This new data type should be
capable of storing all existing medical images that can be uploaded by
a consumer.</span></div></li></ol>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: normal;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">We
fully expect consuming applications to crack open the actual image
files to get all the details of the study, series, but we hope that the
defined schema will help make the decision on what to open a bit easier.</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: normal;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">The image
data stored using this data type will be large in both quantity and
size and our current XML storage approach doesn't optimize for binary
content like images. To help mitigate this, HealthVault provides
seperate binary storage we call blob storage (blobs). Each instance of
data in HealthVault can also include a blob of additional data and with
the introduction of this data type, the HealthVault platform will
support multiple named blobs per data instance. You'll find in this
data type that we use blobs in a few places. Specifically, blobs are
used to store the set of medical images, a directory listing all blob
names for the original images, a collection of key images, and a
preview image for a study, series, and images. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: normal;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">We have a few specific questions that we'd like your help in answering: </span></p>
<ul><li>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: normal;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">The
first is around the use of c-FIND. In our research, we found that
there are additional required elements for c-FIND that are perhaps less
meaningful for consumers. If you use c-FIND today and/or have scenarios
where it applies to HealthVault data, please let us know. W<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">e
expect consuming applications to crack open the actual image files to
get all the details of the study, series, but we hope that the defined
schema will help make the decision on what to open a bit easier.</span></span></div></li><li>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: normal;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">The
second question is around XDS-i support. The data type design below
includes a single element for all XDS-i information you might want to
include with a medical image study. It uses the anyType definition so
you are not limited to a single schema. We would like your feedback on
how you are planning to use this element in your scenario so we can
better determine if this design is sufficient.</span></div></li><li>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: normal;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">The
last is whether the list of elements we have defined is the right set.
We've picked the ones we think are meaningful for consumers and that
represent the data being stored. </span></div></li></ul>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: normal;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Take a look and let us know what you think by using <font face="">the </font><a href="http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/HealthVaultDataTypes/threads/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"><font face="">Data Types forum</font></span></a><font face="">. </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: normal;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"></span> <a href="http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/HealthVaultDataTypes/threads/">http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/HealthVaultDataTypes/threads/</a><br>
</p></div>