Wivern: a Web-Based System Enabling Computer-Aided Diagnosis and Interdisciplinary Expert Collaboration for Vascular Research

Abstract

A complete analysis of the vascular system is a complex task since a large number of parameters are involved. In the research herein reported we present a novel medical framework called web-based integration for vascular expert research networks (Wivern) to be used in a multi-clinical department environment for the analysis of micro and macrocirculation. This tool can manage clinical information of several specialties, such as Neurology or Ophthalmology, and provides computer-aided tools to automatically analyze retinographies, carotid ultrasounds and blood pressure monitor signals, and to automatically compute cardiovascular risk stratification. Wivern is a web-based application with a user friendly interface that provides cross-platform compatibility and device independence. Several automated procedures are integrated within the framework, as a service on the web, to extract relevant parameters from clinical data, physiological signals and medical images. The application is planned for collecting and analyzing data in several clinical studies in different hospital centers to test their behavior and practical use of the different tools of the platform. The usefulness and validation of the system was achieved after the inclusion, by the different medical units, of 800 patients to analyze their hypertensive profile. Moreover, 800 retinal images were processed as well as 400 carotid were analyzed. Wivern provides a unique opportunity for vascular research since it enables an interdisciplinary and integrated study of the vascular network, allowing a more comprehensive evaluation of the consequences of any abnormality. The application also includes automated methods to process patient data in order to simplify the physician tasks.