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We have complied an extensive list of User Tests that demonstrate how to install and use DASHER, and will test that it is working correctly on your system. These tests include the installation and customisations required for RTTQA and ARTNET. Please work through these tests and report any issues or comments via DASHER gitlab repo Issues page.
DASHER is a server that transfers data off-site. You will need IT support to install DASHER. It requires SSL certificates to be issued and administrative privileges and has a minimum hardware specification.
When reporting an issue, please include your xnat.cfg file, your system setup (OS, memory, cpu etc) and the output to:
docker image ls
docker ps
INSTALLING BEHIND A PROXY: If you are installing DASHER behind a proxy, please contact us and read this
For a large multi-site project, imaging (DICOM and other formats) and non-imaging data from different hospitals are pseudonymised and sent to a central repository for analysis. To provide secure data transfer from different hospital sites to a central repository, we have developed a user-friendly solution based on software components designed for and established in large-scale clinical trials. This was designed with the primary purpose of Quality Assurance for radiotherapy clinical trials, however it can be used for general multi-center clinical trials and research projects.
XNAT is a platform that provides for easy data management, image viewing and synchronisation of data. We have developed a customised XNAT-based workflow and placed this within a Docker service for easy distribution, reliability and control.
DASHER consists of two separate XNAT servers running within the same Docker service, one hosting non-anonymised data, the other pseudonymised. DICOM images are pushed from PACS or placed in a network folder which is then automatically imported into the non-anonymised XNAT server. The local user can log into the XNAT server and view session details and visualise the images via the OHIF (Open Health Imaging Foundation) viewer. Data is pseudonymised either automatically, where subject and session IDs are generated using hashing, or manually assigned for clinical trials. Clinical Trial protocols are used to ensure data conforms to expectations (ROI labels, structures) before pseudonymisation. When data is pseudonymised, a link is created between pseudonymised and identifiable data to ensure all data can be identified by the clinical trial management.
DASHER can also be used as a local repository to store, organise and anonymise data for research.
DASHER has been designed to be multiplatform and to simplify the installation and maintenance of an XNAT-based system. This is not a standard XNAT and therefore no changes to the XNAT administrator settings should be required.
XNAT: an extensible open-source imaging informatics software platform dedicated to imaging-based research. XNAT is a Tomcat web application with a Postgresql database backend. Users interact with XNAT via a web user interface.
Docker: Docker is a technology that enables software and servers to be packaged into lightweight virtual machines - the software, operating system and dependencies are packaged into 'images' and these images can be run in 'containers'. In the Uplaoder, two XNAT servers are running in containers - one non-anonymised XNAT server, which allows users to import data; one is a pseudonymised XNAT server, allowing pseudonymised data to be sent to remote XNAT servers.
Users import data into a non-anonymised XNAT server using DICOM Push or by placing in a folder. A protocol filter checks to see if the data contains the correct modalities or is from a prohibited scanner listed inthe protocol file. If it fails the check data ends up in the QUARANTINE project.
Projects: data in XNAT is organized in Projects. In the non-anonymised XNAT, there are two projects - one named after a code for your hospital, the other is a QUARANTINE. On the pseudonmyised XNAT server, there can be many projects. Each project is linked to a remote XNAT server. In the figure below, there are two pseudonmyised projects - Anon Project 1 and Anon Project 2. Data sent to the Anon Project 1 pseudonmyised project will be synchronised to Remote XNAT Server 1.
When Pseudonymising, the user can choose to pseudonymise for general research or for a specific clinical trial. The user also has to select which pseudonymised Project (and therefore remote XNAT server) to pseudonymise to.
Pseudonymisation: If a key is kept linking the anonymised and the non-anonymised data, it is technically pseudonymisation, not anonymisation. Only data with no link (and no possible way to retrieve the original data) is fully anonymised. DASHER keeps a record of all anonymisations therefore it performs pseudonymisation.
Dasher was developed by the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences at King's College London, in collaboration with the Centre for Medical Image Computing at University College London and RTTQA. This project received funding from RTTQA (NIHR funded). The development of this tool was also supported by the Wellcome/EPSRC Centre for Medical Engineering [WT 203148/Z/16/Z, NS/A000049/1], ART-NET (Cancer Research UK Advanced Radiotherapy Technologies Network) [A219932], STFC Global Challenge Network+ in Advanced Radiotherapy (ST/N002423/1) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London.
We are grateful to all the testing sites that provided feedback during the project development.
Copyright 2020 Dasher Developers
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