The Research Informatics Core is dedicated to delivering high quality solutions that exceed customer expectations. Each solution requires a great deal of commitment to develop, test and support. We work closely with our clients through the entire development process to ensure the product meets their needs.

 

VIEW OUR PROJECT PORTFOLIO

Virtual Microscopy

The Virtual Imaging for Pathology, Education & Research (VIPER) is a custom built software solution that combines several technologies and delivers the means for pathologists to review digital images of slides over the internet. With this capability, patients can quickly obtain input on their tissue from expert pathologists from across the nation. By utilizing Virtual Microscopy (VM), the technique of digitizing microscope slides using common microscope objective magnifications, the BPC is able to provide digital images of diagnostic quality. Project VIPER utilizes various technologies including Apache Tomcat, Hypertext Markup Language, JavaScript, JavaServer Pages, and MySQL to provide a web-based review system.  An alternate version of the system has been developed using ASP.NET with a SQL Server 2008 database.

In collaboration with study owners, the Research Informatics Core has designed and implemented a data collection system for managing multiple clinical trials. The study’s design emphasizes data capture using optical character recognition technology that funnels data to a central database at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. The informatics system provides an extract, transform and load process that transfers the relevant data to a master database where it can be managed by authorized users. The secured portal features view and edit capability with field validations for quality controls, form calculations, a change history attribute and reporting.

The trials data management system is built using an Outsystems Platform for rapid form development and Microsoft SSIS for data extractions and transfers. Both databases described are SQL Server 2008 and Teleforms technology is used for converting paper faxes and scans into the preliminary data set on the front end.

STARS is an internal portal application to enable each Biopathology Center member and customer to more efficiently perform their duties and to participate in a seamless workflow from the receipt of protocol-specific specimens and documents, through processing, into improved inventory and banking, and then tracking of the distribution to researchers and pathology reviewers.
It is a true portal application, dynamically creating a friendly interface for each role assigned in the entire BPC process. Further requirements are: full auditing and tracking of records and centralization of all disparate data sources.

Using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology and an Open Source software development platform, we developed a system, to monitor pediatric outpatients for psychiatric adverse effects associated with antidepressants. PhaST makes IVR calls to teenaged outpatients taking antidepressants, or to parents of younger children. These calls administer a research-based assessment that screens for adverse medication events. If PhaST detects a possible event (e.g., suicidal thought), it alerts a clinician who uses PhaST to call the patient and conduct a telephone interview to triage the risk. If the clinician judges that there is a possible adverse event, he/she will alert an on-call psychiatrist by secure email.

DOCUSAM is a family of applications that provides a scalable enterprise print management and document archive system.
DOCUSAM provides a database for storing document descriptions and indexing information and an electronic vault for storing document images. It includes provisions for describing and indexing document image files and importing them into a document vault. Search tools permit documents to be retrieved from the vault based upon the indexing information. Documents are stored in the vault directory specified during the installation of the DOCUSAM application.

The DocuSAM .NET architecture puts heavy emphasis on Web services. Web Services permit a means of standardized data exchange between applications and institutions. Documents can be easily accessed from any environment or application that is http: and xml capable.

The DocuSAM XML Web Service provides an easy to use Web based Document Service. The software solution utilizes various Microsoft technologies including SQL Server 2000, ASP.NET and XML Web Services to implement the tracking of the submitted specimen documents and forms.