Collaborative Systems for Analyzing Tissue Microarrays

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Tissue microarray technology holds great potential for reducing the time and cost associated with conducting investigative research in cancer biology, oncology, and drug discovery. TMA's make it possible to construct a carefully planned array such that a 20-year survival analysis can be performed on a cohort of 600 or more patients using only a few micro-liters of antibody. However, capturing, organizing, updating, exchanging, and analyzing the data generated by this technology creates a number of significant challenges. The sheer volume of data, text, and images arising from even limited studies involving tissue microarrays can over time quickly approach those of a small clinical department. The central objective of this revised renewal application is to (1) build upon the progress made in the first phase of research by expanding the reference archive of imaged TMA specimens and correlated clinical data to include a wider scope of malignancies, tissues and biomarkers; (2) develop advanced imaging, computational and data management tools to support automated analysis of tissue microarrays in collaborative frameworks; and (3) increase dissemination of the query-enabled image archive and imaging and data management tools to the clinical and research communities for research, education and clinical decision support. The aims of the proposed project will be achieved through the development and implementation of advanced computational, imaging, and pattern recognition tools and new technologies.