[Insight-users] MICCAI 2011: SimpleITK TUTORIAL : Sept 22nd.

[Luis Ibanez]

If you are attending MICCAI 2011 in Toronto.


Please join us at the "SimpleITK" Tutorial:
http://www.itk.org/Wiki/ITK_Release_4/Outreach/Conferences/MICCAI_2011/SimpleITK


On the afternoon of September 22nd:

   http://www.miccai2011.org/workshops


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"Simple ITK: Image Processing for Human Beings"

Abstract

Researchers adept in C++ and generic programming can exploit the wealth of
algorithms and techniques available in the Insight Toolkit (ITK). For the
clinical researcher or beginning image analysis student, the complexity of
generic programming and the ITK pipeline can be prohibitively daunting. We have
seen this hesitation to use ITK in the clinic, in the classroom, in the
research lab, and in the product development team. \textbf{SimpleITK} is a
thin, simple application programmer interface (API) layer that eases the steep
learning curve of ITK, yet exposes the powerful algorithms of ITK. This new
API, built on top of the existing ITK API, is available in C++ and in several
common scripting languages. Our goal in this tutorial is to teach the
fundamentals of SimpleITK to humans, e.g. the clinical scientist and the
beginning image analysis student, enabling easy application of ITK's powerful
techniques to day-to-day research.  Academic Objectives and Relevance to MICCAI

The primary objective of this tutorial is to enable students, clinicians and
researchers to access the tools available in the Insight Toolkit (ITK) in a
facile manner. While ITK is widely regarded as the most powerful biomedical
image processing library, it requires a deep knowledge of C++ and the ITK
programming paradigms. As a result, ITK is difficult for beginners to approach
and use. To enable more broad spread adoption of ITK, the National Library of
Medicine launched a program providing approachable access to ITK's fundamental
algorithms; SimpleITK is the result of that program. This tutorial is of high
relevance to the MICCAI community because many MICCAI papers rely on ITK in one
manner or another. SimpleITK will aid tutorial participants to efficiently and
easily use ITK in their research.


On completion of this tutorial, participants will:

   1. Have an understanding of the architecture of SimpleITK
   2. Have hands-on experience using SimpleITK on realistic problems
   3. Be able to make informed decisions as to the applicability of
SimpleITK to imaging problems.

Tutorial Format

This 4 hour tutorial will introduce participants to the architecture of
SimpleITK. The tutorial will be divided into two alternating sections: lecture
and hands-on practice. Each participant will be provided with a USB stick
containing a pre-configured Ubuntu virtual machine. Participants are expected
to bring their laptops to the tutorial. The virtual machines will be available
for download prior to the tutorial. After each lecture topic, participants will
put the lecture into practice by completing short projects using SimpleITK. The
tutorial organizers will assist to help participants through each exercise.


    * Lecture Introduction, Architecture, Images, IO, Filters, Registration
    * Hands-on Building SimpleITK in C++, IO, ITK interface, filters
    * Lecture Bindings to other languages
    * Hands-on Python, Java, Ruby, R, (other languages as requested)
    * Lecture Extending/interfacing SimpleITK with new ITK and C++
    * Hands-on Adding new filter to SimpleITK, interface to other C++ code
    * Lecture Wrap-up, questions and answers, open topics


We expect each segment to require approximately 30 minutes, and the entire
tutorial to be a half-day (3.5 hours of lecture and hands-on, 15 minutes break
and 15 minutes for questions).

Speakers

The primary speakers will be:

    * Daniel Blezek, Mayo Clinic
    * Luis Ibanez, Kitware Inc.
    * Bradley Lowekamp, Lookhed Martin / NLM
    * Gabe Hart, Kitware Inc.

They are the primary developers of SimpleITK and some of them have been
involved in ITK development for over a decade.

Organizers

    * Daniel Blezek, Ph.D. Mayo Clinic
    * Luis Ibanez, Ph.D. Kitware Inc.

MICCAI Links

    * http://www.miccai2011.org/workshops