Georgetown University

Georgetown University Chuck Wolfe wolfec@georgetown.edu

Campus Description • Medical Center (GUMC) • 8 Research Buildings • Main Campus • 32 Campus Buildings including Dorms,Staff and Academic • 6 Ancillary Buildings connected via 100Mbps

GUMC Network • Gigabit Core • Building Distribution Frames (BDFs) have a Dual Gigabit connection to the core • Floor Switches have a Gigabit connection to the BDFs • User provided with 10/100 connection

Main Campus Network • OC-12 ATM core • Server Farm has OC-12 connections to the core • BDFs have dual OC-3 connections to the core • Floor Switches have 100-200Mbps links to the BDFs • User provided with 10 or 10/100 connection

Remote Site Connections • OC-3 ATM • Frame-Relay • FNS (10Mbps) • T-1

Internet 2 • Connected via ATM utilizing Unspecified Bit Rate (UBR) • Primary connection to Abilene through MAX • Currently being used to test teleradiology application in the study of ALD

What is ALD? • Adrenoleukodystrophy is a rare genetic disorder that is often fatal in young boys. • It affects 1 in 20,000 people world-wide • A neurological disorder that destroys the myelin in the brain • Myelin insulates nerves and allows conduction of impulses between parts of the body • MRI permits early detection of nervous system damage and is a sensitive indicator of disease progression

Why are Multi-Center Clinical Trials Needed • No institution has enough patients to perform a randomized control study • ALD trained physicians are few due to the rarity of disease • Sharing of film images is difficult in an analogue world

Solution – Digital ALD MRI Network • Multiple sites can send data to a centralized database • Consolidation of data provides sufficient patient pool for therapy evaluation • ALD trained physicians have immediate remote access to the exams

Project Description • Development of DICOM network • DICOM database resides at KKI • Receives MRI studies from multiple institutions in US and world-wide • Permits query/retrieve of studies by ALD trained physicians for review • Utilizes secure technologies to ensure patient confidentiality and data integrity • Works over standard Internet and NGI

UMN –ISIS – KKI • Requested data from UMN over NGI • Upon receipt, immediately sent it to KKI over standard Internet • Recorded transmission times • Ran the test 7 times • Results: • ISIS – UMN averaged 242.5 seconds • ISIS – KKI averaged 2062.2 seconds

Transmission Time UMN – ISIS – KKI(Seconds) ISIS – KKI 45 miles UMN – ISIS 1100 miles

ISIS – KKI • Requested studies from KKI DICOM server to ISIS • Ran the test 78 times over standard Internet • Ran the test 83 times over NGI

NGI =296 n=83 Internet =67 N=78 Throughput: Internet vs. NGI

Results • Moving digital images is better than using film for sharing information • Standard Internet is unpredictable for moving large data sets • NGI supports real-time teleradiology • Future enhancements of the NGI will be evaluated

Current Projects at GU • Wireless Testing with authentication to LDAP • VoIP • Multicasting • QOS • Gigabit Connection to the Internet

Thanks to Betty Levine and MaryLou Ingeholm in ISIS for ALD testing info

Georgetown University