Introduction

The caBIG® Annotation and Image Markup (AIM) project defines an information model and software tools to capture and create image annotations and markups using well-defined common data elements and controlled terminologies. The current release of the AIM version 3.0 model has AIM Toolkit and AIM implementation on ClearCanvas workstation. To facilitate creating AIM annotations, an XML schema and an open source application called AIM Template Builder (ATB) have been created. ATB assists clinicians, image researchers, or clinical trial study designers to create a set of controlled questions and related answers to each question for a particular type of imaging study, without requiring knowledge of the AIM information model. A study’s image interpreters can make simple and constrained annotations in a structured format based on AIM templates.

ATB creates XML documents that can be imported to the AIM workstation 3.0.4 or into an AIM-enabled application. Each question and answer is captured using a standardized vocabulary such as RadLex and SNOMED CT® or user-definable terms. ATB allows a user to create and store AIM templates on the user’s local computer. The ATB user interface allows a template owner to edit, rename, and delete a template or its contents. It automatically validates saved templates against the AIM template schema to ensure that the captured information matches the information that the AIM model requires.

The AIM model enhances interoperability and information exchange between imaging and health information systems. Annotations stored in a computable model such as AIM can be queried not only to find images containing similar image content but also to correlate human or machine image observations with other biomedical data.

Download the workstation.

Features in This Release

Support

If you need help, contact Application Support.

Technical support requests may be sent to AIMTeam@northwestern.edu.

Documentation

Web Sites