Frequently Asked Questions

Microsoft is contributing GPU and storage

Google is contributing GPU and storage

Nvidia is contributing DGX-2 superservers

Acontrario.law is contributing legal expertise

ImFusion is contributing 3D DICOM labeler functionality

QUIBIM Precision® is a CE marked web application software for the visualization and non-invasive analysis of medical images compliant with the DICOM standard and running on any computer. To upload a study to the platform follow these steps:

1. Log in to QUIBIM Precision® platform through https://imagingcovid19.quibim.com.
2. On the left menu, click on the ‘Upload tab’ and then click on ‘Add study’ to start the imaging uploading process.
3. Select the project ‘COVID-19’ and click ‘Next’.
4. Create a subject or select an existing one. To create it, assign a patient ID and an inclusion date. Finally, click on ‘Save’ or ‘Save and set’ to use the subject in the moment.
5. Drag and drop your case or folder with the study to the grey area or click on it and a dialog window will open in which you must select the folder or folders to be uploaded. NOTE: To ensure correct operation of the upload process Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browser must be used.
6. Preview the DICOM files to prevent errors or avoid unnecessary series. Click ‘Next’. NOTE: Series can be excluded from the uploading process pressing on the trash icon.
7. Press the blue button ‘Anonymize and reidentify’ to start the anonymization process. This tool delete the DICOM header data and re-identifies the study with the project-specific patient ID.
8. Press the blue button ‘Upload’ to start the uploading process, this will take a few minutes and will depend on the speed of the internet connection, as well as the size of the studies to be uploaded.
9. Enter your user password to confirm the upload and double authentication of the study.

MIUC (Medical Imaging Universal Connector) is a toolkit developed by QUIBIM team to close the gap between hospital IT systems and the QUIBIM Precision® Cloud solution. Whereas the Cloud satisfies the processing requirements, MIUC handles the functionalities related to communications and management of DICOM objects among the hospitals and radiological centers. It allows users in hospitals and radiology departments to have a seamless integration of QUIBIM Precision® imaging biomarkers analysis within the radiological workflow, due to the MIUC capabilities combined by the QUIBIM Precision® Cloud computing environment and the interoperability features implemented in the system. Both image upload and data retrieval are fully automated and users only need to access the PACS when they are notified that a new analysis report is available.

MIUC is placed inside the hospitals and clinics and it is responsible to establish all the required communications between the PACS and QUIBIM Precision®. During the analysis of imaging biomarkers, the study is anonymized, sent to the Cloud and analyzed. The final result is a one-page report which is retrieved from MIUC or can be directly visualized in the QUIBIM Precision® Cloud web interface. Furthermore, in clinical environments, the report is converted into DICOM objects and stored in the PACS as a new series within the original study. To identify the original study, the MIUC implements backward traceability in the client side to reidentify the anonymized studies. The traceability storage is located on premises, on the same server where MIUC is deployed within the hospital.

The anonymization and reidentification process of the studies depends on the the study upload process:

WEBPLATFORM UPLOAD
During the uploading process the user will create/assign a patiet ID code that will be used to identify the patient on the QUIBIM Precision® platform. Next, the platform removes all the sensitive data from the DICOM header. This anonymization/reidentification process is done completely in the user browser, DICOM headers are erased in the browser, so no sensible information is uploaded to QUIBIM Precision® servers.

MIUC UPLOAD
When QUIBIM Precision® platform receives imaging studies from the hospital, the MIUC toolkit allows to parse DICOM headers, modify their contents, and write the modified headers along with the original images on new DICOM files in a separate folder. Only the DICOM files included in such separate folder are uploaded to the cloud, ensuring that no sensitive data leaves the local network of the center. For the anonymization of the images, the DICOM header tags of the images that allow to identify the patient are deleted and reidentified by a new randomly generated code.

The study proposal describes the pseudonymization procedure in the data collection section.
To be clear, NKI or QUIBIM will not be able to identify the data subjects. Only your hospital will have the key file.