NAC Grid Enabled ITK

Administration

• Supplement to the 2007-2008 BWH NAC grant
• Subcontract to Kitware

Workplan

1. Extend ITK to support batch processing in distributed environments. We will provide a framework for wrapping ITK’s filters so that they can run as services in a distributed processing environment. Specific examples will also be developed to demonstrate the use of that framework to run ITK segmentation and registrations methods on a Condor grid (www.cs.wisc.edu/condor). The Condor grid computations will be directed by the open-source, freely available BatchMake system (www.batchmake.org).
2. Provide a development environment that integrates method compilation, testing, monitoring, and comparison. The CMake and CTest tools of ITK ensure cross-platform compilation and consistent test results during method development. Consistency testing for an ITK method, however, is typically accomplished by determining success or failure on a single dataset. Such consistency testing does not promote incremental method improvement or quantitative method comparison. We propose to leverage the framework proposed in Aim 1 and to integrate BatchMake with CMake so that routinely testing on hundreds of datasets will become an inherent part of the ITK method development process. In that manner, developers will be able to track the subtle as well as the acute effects of code changes. Furthermore, by processing massive collections of data, statistically significant comparisons between methods can be made.
3. Demonstrate the use and utility of the technologies of Aim 1 and 2 by developing user-friendly grid modules for ITK method parameter tuning. To effectively use a method, it is essential to understand its parameter space in the context of the application domain. Such understanding is gained via factor analysis. Experience with ITK and other toolkits has shown that factor analysis is particularly important when applying deformable registration strategies, including the parallelized registration methods that were developed during the previous (8/1/2006 to 7/31/2007) funding period on this grant. We propose to develop stand-alone modules as well as 3D Slicer-based modules that provide intuitive interfaces for conducting factor analysis experiments using batch processing. We will apply those modules to the registration methods developed during the previous funding period in the domain of inter-subject head MRI registration for atlas-based segmentation.
4. Document. We will document the framework, code, classes, modules, and applications to meet the rigorous standards of ITK. Material will be added to the Insight Software Guide textbook. Articles will be submitted to the Insight Journal.
5. Final Report. We will submit a final report describing the technologies, their uses, and their benefits.

Adjunct Tasks

1. Validation
   1. STAPLE
      • Parallelize EM framework of ITK
   2. Automated validation of slicer modules
      • http://www.insight-journal.org/nlm
2. Registration
   1. Group-wise registration
   2. Fluid registration
   3. Registration for EMSegmenter
3. Data handling
   1. IO streaming
   2. Data providence
      • XCede : http://www.nbirn.net/tools/bxh_tools/index.shtm