AIM is the first project to propose and create a "standard" means of adding information and knowledge to an image in a clinical environment, so that in the future image content can be easily and automatically searched. AIM provides a solution to the following current imaging challenges:

• No agreed upon syntax for annotation and markup
• No agreed upon semantics to describe annotations
• No standard format (for example, DICOM, XML, HL7) for annotations and markup

The solution is made up of various components, including the AIM Model and Toolkit, AIM Template Service, AIM Template Builder, [AIM Data Service], and AIM on ClearCanvas® Workstation. The AIM Model and Toolkit defines common descriptive elements for an image. AIM Template Service is a web service application that makes it possible for you to publish and download AIM templates created using a caBIG® Annotation and Image Markup (AIM) tool such as AIM Template Builder. AIM Template Builder allows you to generate a set of well-defined questions and answer choices to facilitate collecting the annotations and markup of an image in a XML document. The AIM Data Service then stores the XML documents in a database via caGrid. AIM on ClearCanvas® Workstation is reference implementation of the AIM model.