Medical image computing raises new challenges related to the scale and complexity of the required analysis, for example in studies that require the federation of large data sets or in complex models and processing. Grid technology is addressing problems related to large data sets manipulation over wide computing networks, providing tools for exchanging data and computing power and additionally serving as a vector for structuring the user communities as they enable cross-enterprises collaborations.

In the medical imaging area, grids provide a foundational layer that can be exploited e.g., to build patient-specific models, reduce computing time to meet clinical practice constraints, algorithms validation and optimization, or collaborative studies on rare diseases. Specific grids initiatives are emerging worldwide, demonstrating a growing interest from the health community for such infrastructures and impacting the way to conduct medical research. However, deploying medical image analysis applications on grid infrastructures requires a proper understanding of the specific needs in this area.

The scientific objectives of the MICCAI-Grid workshop are both to demonstrate the current achievements of grid technologies within the medical imaging community and to precisely identify the fundamental problems limiting the adoption of existing systems and methods. The workshop also intends to stimulate the community to build new collaborations by taking advantage of the sharing capabilities of grids. The MICCAI-Grid workshop will be held on 6 September 2008, in conjunction with the MICCAI conference.


Topics:
We kindly invite you to submit papers including the following topics:

• Medical image analysis application using grids
• Medical image pipelines and workflows
• Distributed and heterogeneous medical databases
• Medical data representation, structure and annotation
• Large scale and statistical studies
• Content-based retrieval and data mining
• Methods evaluation and parameter sweep studies
• Medical data visualization using grid resources
• Dedicated grid infrastructures
• Standards for exchanging data and algorithms

Paper Submission:

Please submit papers of up to 10 pages until April 28 following the format and instructions at www.i3s.unice.fr/~johan/MICCAI-Grid

The workshop proceedings will be distributed in CD-ROM and published as a special issue of the Insight Journal. Extended versions of selected papers will be invited for a special issue of Medical Image Analysis.


Important dates:

Deadline for submission: May 9, 2008
Acceptance notification: June 20, 2008
Camera ready: July 18, 2008
Workshop venue: September 6, 2008




Workshop organizers / Contacts

Silvia D. Olabarriaga, Amsterdam Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, NL - s.d.olabarriaga [AT] amc.uva.nl

Johan Montagnat, CNRS / I3S, FR - johan [AT] i3s.unice.fr