Data Distribution
Data Distribution
Due to the storage limitation of the instruments, all data are supposed to be removed from the local storage of the instrument after two weeks. CSIC supports six methods for data distribution. You need to specify it in your research agreement with CSIC. Different liabilities are associated with each method. The following is a brief introduction.
| Method | Description | Availability | Access | Who prefers |
| External Drive | Research coordinator brings in external storage device. Our technologist will export the data set on it. Research coordinator checks data consistency instantly and sign off. | Varies by data size. Could be minutes to a few tens minutes after the scan. | Research coordinator takes it away instantly. Original data will be erased in about two weeks without further notice. | Pilot and TD projects |
| CD/DVD | The technologist will burn CD/DVD of the data set at the end of the day | Next day on site pick up. | Research coordinator picks it up next day. Original data will be erases in about two weeks without further notice. | Small funded projects and non-Emory projects |
| CSIC cluster | The technologist will upload data set to the CSIC data cluster after each study. | 1-2 hours after scan. | The team members are assigned personal cluster access. | Long term users and data processing users |
| External PACS | The technologist will upload data set to the external PACS server after each study. | 1-2 hours after scan. | The team members will access their PACS server for the data. | Entity users who have their own PACS server |
| Internet Uploading | The technologist will upload data set to the user specified web interface at the end of the day. | By end of the day. | The team members will access the database behind the external web server for the data. | Entity users who has their own data server with web interface |
| Cron Job | The technologist will upload data set to the CSIC data cluster after each study. A cron job will synchronize this data to a user managed server overnight. | Next day. | The team members will access their own server for the data. | Groups who has their own storage and data processing server. |
| Method | Available time | Viewer | Warranty Period | CSIC Backup/ Sharing/ Processing | Cost |
| External Drive | 30 minutes | No | 2 weeks | No/No/No | up to 1/2 hours scan price |
| CD/DVD | Next day | Native | 2 weeks | No/No/No | Free |
| CSIC cluster | 2 hours | Linux and Web | Up to 6 years but user has to confirm consistency within 2 weeks | Yes/Yes/Yes | Free |
| External PACS | 2 hours | User End | 2 weeks | No/No/No | Free |
| Internet Uploading | End of the day | User Client | 2 weeks | No/No/No | up to 1/2 hours scan price |
| Cron Job | Next day | User End | Up to 6 years but user has to confirm consistency within 2 weeks | Yes/No/No | Free |
Multiple methods can be combined.
Confidential project can request instant data removal from instrument console, but the 2 weeks warranty will be voided.
Dicom data are treated as properties of the research group. It will not be deleted without informing the PI within 3 years after the acquisition date.
| Method | Description | Limitation |
| Console view | The technologist can show you the images acquired within two weeks before it is deleted. | This can only be done when there is no scheduled scan. Contact your technologist for availability. |
| Satellite console | At the EUH MRI site, there is a satellite console for users to view MRI images. | Only available at EUH MRI. |
| Native viewer | There is a native MRI image viewer on the data CD/DVD created by Siemens MRI scanners | Only runs on Windows. |
| Web based viewer | The web based data access of CSIC's data server includes a preliminary image viewer. | Your data has to be archived on CSIC data cluster. Slow. |
| Data processing applications | Many MR data processing applications installed on the CSIC data cluster include image viewers. Like fsleye, interactive AFNI, aeskulap, and MRIcron. | Remote image viewers through X-Windows perform badly. You may need nomachine for better speed. |
| Third party viewer | Download/purchase needed. Some common free medical image viewer are Mango, and ImageJ. | Installation needed. |
If you need to do interactive 3D rendering, it is recommended that you install your desktop workstation with GPU for this.
Your PACS or web based data server should provide image viewers.
The Twix application of the Siemens MR scanners can extract k-space data. This is time consuming. Our MR technologist usually can only do it at the end of their work day. And due to the storage size limitation, a k-space data set acquired at early morning may not survive to the end of the day. So, if you do not want to pay MR scanning rate for k-space data extraction, please schedule your scan the last one of the day. The extracted k-space data is usually 50GB or more for each scan, and has to be copied off instantly from the MRI console. CSIC data cluster does not provide unlimited storage for k-space data. If you use the cluster as temporary k-space data storage, they will be purged without further notice within 1 month. Please process it in time. Alternatively, you may copy the k-space data to your external storage device, and CSIC has no liability for consistency of k-space data.