The project sets itself the research goal of systematically recording existing problems in the exchange of data carriers with medical images in the field of research and developing solutions that support both creators and recipients of data carriers in the exchange of image data carriers.

The project is already tackling the roots of existing problems, namely the quality of the exchanged image data carriers. In practice, the structure of the data carriers is specified by the DICOM standard (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine). Against this background, two measures will be taken in the planned project. Firstly, software tools for pseudonymising, labelling and assembling medical image media for use in clinical research are to be created, which will provide DICOM data media of high data quality and made available to researchers. Secondly, recipients must be provided with a testing tool that examines incoming media for errors and presents the results of the examination in an appropriate, understandable form. Both steps can make an important contribution to the efficient and effective evaluation of clinical studies and can also be of great help in the field of patient care.All research centres that exchange medical image data via data carriers and are dependent on original data in DICOM format will benefit from the software developed. Especially for clinical studies, important tools are created that can be used widely and facilitate the implementation of studies.

The project is being carried out between 09/2010 and 08/2012 at the OFFIS Health Department. It is funded by the EU.

El Gazzar, O.; Onken, M.; Eichelberg, M.; Hein, A. (2012): A Comprehensive Framework for Quality Assurance in Clinical Trials. SPIE Medical Imaging, 4 - 9 February 2012, San Diego, California, USA, in print.

El Gazzar, O.; Onken, M.; Eichelberg, M.; Hein, A. (2011): Software tools for DICOM media exchange in clinical research: the SWABIK project. Proc. of CARS 2011, June 22-25, Berlin, Germany, Int J CARS (2011) 6 (Suppl 1): S69-70