MammoGrid — a prototype distributed mammographic database for Europe

Warren, R.; Solomonides, A.E.; del Frate, C.; Warsi, I.; Ding, J.; Odeh, M.; McClatchey, R.; Tromans, C.; Brady, M.; Highnam, R.; Cordell, M.; Estrella, F.; Bazzocchi, M.; Amendolia, S.R.

doi:10.1016/j.crad.2006.09.032

« Previous Next »Clinical Radiology
Volume 62, Issue 11 , Pages 1044-1051, November 2007

MammoGrid — a prototype distributed mammographic database for Europe

R. Warren
- Department of Radiology, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge
- Guarantor and correspondent: R. Warren, University of Cambridge, Department of Radiology, Cambridge Breast Unit, Box 97, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK. Tel.: +44 1223 586959; fax: +44 1223 217886.
A.E. Solomonides
- CCCS Research Centre, University of West of England, Frenchay, Bristol, UK
C. del Frate
- Insitituto di Radiologia, Universita di Udine, Italy
I. Warsi
- Department of Radiology, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge
J. Ding
- Department of Radiology, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge
M. Odeh
- CCCS Research Centre, University of West of England, Frenchay, Bristol, UK
R. McClatchey
- CCCS Research Centre, University of West of England, Frenchay, Bristol, UK
C. Tromans
- Department of Engineering Science, Oxford University, Oxford
M. Brady
- Department of Engineering Science, Oxford University, Oxford
R. Highnam
- Siemens Molecular Imaging, Oxford, UK
M. Cordell
- Siemens Molecular Imaging, Oxford, UK
F. Estrella
- CCCS Research Centre, University of West of England, Frenchay, Bristol, UK
M. Bazzocchi
- Insitituto di Radiologia, Universita di Udine, Italy
S.R. Amendolia
- ETT Division, CERN, 1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland

Received 12 May 2006; received in revised form 18 September 2006; accepted 29 September 2006.

This paper describes the prototype for a Europe-wide distributed database of mammograms entitled MammoGrid, which was developed as part of an EU-funded project. The MammoGrid database appears to the user to be a single database, but the mammograms that comprise it are in fact retained and curated in the centres that generated them. Linked to each image is a potentially large and expandable set of patient information, known as metadata. Transmission of mammograms and metadata is secure, and a data acquisition system has been developed to upload and download mammograms from the distributed database, and then annotate them, rewriting the annotations to the database. The user can be anywhere in the world, but access rights can be applied. The paper aims to raise awareness among radiologists of the potential of emerging “grid” technology (“the second-generation Internet”).