Characterizing stroke lesions using digital templates and lesion quantification tools in a web-based imaging informatics system for a large-scale stroke rehabilitation clinical trial

摘要

Previously, we presented an Interdisciplinary Comprehensive Arm Rehabilitation Evaluation (ICARE) imaging informatics system that supports a large-scale phase III stroke rehabilitation trial. The ePR system is capable of displaying anonymized patient imaging studies and reports, and the system is accessible to multiple clinical trial sites and users across the United States via the web. However, the prior multicenter stroke rehabilitation trials lack any significant neuroimaging analysis infrastructure. In stroke related clinical trials, identification of the stroke lesion characteristics can be meaningful as recent research shows that lesion characteristics are related to stroke scale and functional recovery after stroke. To facilitate the stroke clinical trials, we hope to gain insight into specific lesion characteristics, such as vascular territory, for patients enrolled into large stroke rehabilitation trials. To enhance the system's capability for data analysis and data reporting, we have integrated new features with the system: a digital brain template display, a lesion quantification tool and a digital case report form. The digital brain templates are compiled from published vascular territory templates at each of 5 angles of incidence. These templates were updated to include territories in the brainstem using a vascular territory atlas and the Medical Image Processing, Analysis and Visualization (MIPAV) tool. The digital templates are displayed for side-by-side comparisons and transparent template overlay onto patients' images in the image viewer. The lesion quantification tool quantifies planimetric lesion area from user-defined contour. The digital case report form stores user input into a database, then displays contents in the interface to allow for reviewing, editing, and new inputs. In sum, the newly integrated system features provide the user with readily-accessible web-based tools to identify the vascular territory involved, estimate lesion area, and store these results in a web-based digital format.